Genesis 46: 1-4
Jacob trusted the Lord God with his children when he let his sons take Benjamin with them to Egypt, and God rewarded this step of faith by encouraging him in the knowledge of Joseph's being alive, and his ascendancy to being the Egyptian king's vizier, to be lord over the whole nation of Egypt.
So now Jacob, being more the Israel (Prince with God) than ever, he is acting on this new information, trusting that it is true.
(1) So Israel set out with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
Israel is offering worship to God, to thank Him for the good that He is doing for him in his old age, to be able to see his favorite son again, and to remove all the doubt and despair he had been feeling. Then he camps there for the night.
(2) God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, "Jacob, Jacob." And he said, "Here I am."
And now Jacob is having a dream.
(3) He said, "I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there.
God tells him that He is taking him out of Canaan, out from all the seductive cultures that surrounded his family there. Egypt will be the hot-house where God will grow Israel's family into a whole nation.
(4) "I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will close your eyes."
God promises that He will be with Israel while they are in Egypt, that Jacob will live the rest of his life there, and that Joseph, his favorite son, will be with him when he dies. He will have a peaceful going into the next plane of existence, Sheol, the place of the dead. And his body will be carried back to Canaan for burial, because Canaan is the land that God will give to the nation that he will engender. So his body will be laid to rest in their own land, not Egypt.
Egypt will only be temporary, and God will grow and strengthen this fledgling nation to be strong and capable to take possession of their land.
Israel entered Egypt a family; in time they will leave as a nation.
O my Father, Your plan was to take Abraham, whose great faith in You when he was the about only one who knew You then, to make his line into a whole nation, through his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. Now at this point in the plan, You are taking Jacob and all of his whole family into Egypt, out of all the attractions of the Canaanites around them, to grow them into the great nation Israel in the sanctuary of Goshen, the most prosperous neighborhood in Egypt.
And Father, You are also working out Your plan for me, even the little I will be able to do for Your Kingdom, You are working out in my life. Father, keep me in Your arms, close to Your heart, that my heart will beat in sync with Yours, and I will accomplish Your will as Your hands and feet.
O Father, send out all of Your children into all the world to tell every living person of Your love for all of us, and how they can be born into Your family, also. Let every person in every nation hear and understand.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
