A family is reunited, a people are saved, and a patriarch worships in joy. Goshen is the northern end of the Nile river, around the delta; known as lower Egypt because the Nile runs south to north. The Goshen region was fertile and good for crops and for livestock. Pharaoh called it the best land in Egypt. So why wasn’t it a center of their society? For one, it was good for livestock and apparently Egyptians held low regard for shepherds. It was also the end of the great river, the prize of Egypt and a realm of her gods. They preferred to be further up river, where it ran stronger and they were closer to the home of the gods. So Joseph wisely settles his family here, where they can tend the animals, farm, and stay separated from the main Egyptian centers. Jacob brings 66 immediate family/descendants from Hebron in Canaan to Goshen in Egypt. This is hardly a nation as God promised Abraham, but it will soon grow into one. And they do not go alone. God goes with Jacob, as he always stays near his people. Hebron (where the name Hebrew comes from?) was in the area of Mamre, south of Jerusalem. This was where Abraham had lived and where he and Sarah were buried. I got ahead of myself a couple of days ago. It is here in chapter 47 that we see exactly how and when Pharoah came to own all the land, livestock and people of Egypt. Apparently, the people of Israel were excluded from this, as they acquired land and remained distant from Egyptian life.
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AuthorDonovan Campbell, pastor of Greenville Presbyterian Church in Donalds, SC. Archives
June 2020
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