Introduction

For many traveling is an adventure; for others it's a pain and not worth the packing of the suitcase. There are some folks in Australia who have never left their city, much less their state. They figure they have everything in town; why do they need to leave? Fair enough. But if you are like me, and love to travel, you will find things to do, people to meet, historic attractions to visit and experiences to have in traveling.

Our heroes of the Bible are not exactly heroic all the time. So we have seen in Adam and Eve, in Abraham and Isaac and certainly in Jacob. Now Jacob is old, about 130, and still has a lot of years left. And he gets on a traveling wagon and sets off again from Beersheba to his new home, his penultimate home, in Goshen, Egypt, a fertile section in the South East of the Nile plains. Is this a heroic trip? Is he acting out of fear or out of love or out of what emotion? I believe it's so many things. Any older person whom you have ever moved from their favorite house to their new flat, or into your house in their own in-law's flat or into a nursing home, must have some pain. This is due to the fact that each carries a different weight, but all carry the bother and pain of travel, travel at an apparently old age. So carrying pain is a bit heroic. And let's see how Jacob does in today's episode.

The covenant renewal

Jacob was used to traveling in his youth. He had fled his brother's ire and father's disdain, although blessed, to run off to Uncle Laban's house. After 20 years of work there he returned Machanaim and came back to Hebron and Bethel and settled eventually in Hebron. But now as our story begins today, they leave and set out first for Beersheba. This was the Southern city where Abraham had dug a well (Gen 21.30) and had lived after offering Isaac (22.19). Isaac lived in Beersheba (26.23) and it was from the home in Beersheba that Jacob left for Laban's house to find a wife. God appeared to Hagar in Beersheba (21.17) and to Isaac (26.23), and now it's Jacob's turn.

In the game of pi�ata, the children of Latin countries choose one to be blindfolded and swing a bat of sorts at a stuffed-with-candy hanging paper animal. The thrill of actually hitting the animal-like play toy gives the child hope to hit there again. But of course the toy is hanging on a rope and the object moves by the time the child swings again. It looks like a very long cricket match at times with sweep shots that miss. We like children always go back to the last place we knew where an item was, in order to find it. Makes sense to me.

Same with things lost or hidden. We return to the location where we last saw the keys or last hung the coat, etc. So it's no different in the religion world.

We return to the place where we last heard from God, whether the synagogue or the church or the little gum tree with the yellow flower by it, in order to hear the message again from the Almighty.

Sacred sites are rare in Protestantism; they abound for Catholics and for Jews and for Muslims. Mention Mecca or Lourdes or F�tima or Jerusalem and you ring the bell for some group. The name of the town, the place of title, carries with it the meaning of the events that took place or will take place there. Each synagogue worldwide has its ark and Torah facing the city of Jerusalem. We pray to that place and trust that God will hear us and remind us of His love and grace. We are attempting to get God's attention, to dial his number, to send him the right email, to get the prayers answered for which we long.

Jacob builds an altar, (v 1) and offers a sacrifice in the presence of his family. A man has to do this. He has to pray; he has to be religious in front of his family. He has to do the right thing.

So in his building and offering and praying, he hears again from the Lord. He hears God and God renews the covenant yet again. The hero is traveling and meets God, it's God who makes us a hero.

This is an exact duplication of the words to Isaac. "Gen. 26:24 And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, �I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.�

God is very creative. However he is using this phrase; this sentence is intended to draw history to the present and the future into the past. He is the Eternal God whose nature is to promise and to fulfill. He gives us hope in promises. He gives us assurance in the fulfillment of his continued grace in us. What he said is true. What he will say is true. What is true is what God will say and how he will live and where we can find him.

He calls to Jacob twice. Similar to "Martha Martha" (Luke 10) or "Samuel Samuel" (1 Sam 3), we hear the name of the person on the lips of the Almighty. This reminds me to be personal with people. This tells me that God knows my name. We see intimacy in the repetition. "Abraham, Abraham" (22.11) and "Saul, Saul" (Acts 8) are other evidences. Once to get us to hear, the other to hear his love and affection.

Egypt had been a place of trouble for the family in times past. Abraham and Isaac had both lied to Abimelech there. Would Jacob find pain in returning? God assures him that going to Egypt will not be a bad thing for the family. Off they go to start the engines on the old ute. Traveling is a good thing for this family of heroes.

God's blessing on Jacob

The progeny of the 70, the 66, the 75...let's deal with that, are a blessing. The Genesis 12 covenant promised Abram to be fruitful and multiply. The promise to Adam and Eve is coming true. We are taking over. There are people who are learning and growing in God. And the covenant people are representing the Lord; that's the point. It's not world dominance like every good (and most of the bad) Hollywood movies commends, but it's for the sake of global representation of the Almighty.

Now the 75. In Acts 7.14 Stephen says that "75 in number" went to Egypt. Obviously, the detractors say, Stephen was wrong and the entire New Testament is suspect due to such errors. Silly people. Stephen wasn't coming up with anything new. He was simply quoting the Septuagint, the translation by 70 rabbis in 200 BCE, from Egypt. They changed the number to 75 to include Manasseh's 2 sons, and Ephraim's 2 sons and one grandson. Thus the number is simply put at 75. But detractors often show their teeth before they really ask questions, don't they?

One more thing of note. The meticulous detail of the Hebrew Scriptures related to the keeping of a genealogy. From what tribe will the messiah come? Judah of course. So the Scripture teaches. But how will we know who is from Judah... anyone of you from the tribe of Judah? No, of course not. We don't know. No one knows, since the records were destroyed in 70 CE at the time of the Temple's destruction. Thus the Messiah had to come before that so that his yichus could be verified. It's not initially a matter of personal charisma or of 3 miracles which would prove him to be messiah. The true Messiah had to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5.2) and had to be from the tribe of Judah. No "Holy spirit will reveal it to us" (as Maimonides avers) will suffice. We had to have the printout. Only Jesus fulfills this along with all the other prophecies.

God's goodness in reunion

So Jacob and Joseph fall on each other and hug. This scene drips with emotion. It's so weepy even for the biggest rugby thug among us. Hear the sobs of grown men. Feel the passion of a son for his aging daddy. Warm up to the experience of the son who was lost and is now found again. It feels just like the story of the Prodigal Son. The falling the weeping the long hug. What is in the hug? Restoration. 20 years of missing life. Pain. Sorrow. Apologies. Welcome. You feel it all.

There's nothing like reunion and restoration to get our juices going. The men, the heroes of the story fade into each other's arms in the tenderness and sympathy, the love of father and son.

Summary

Here are some things I see as we conclude, and you can add your thoughts to your own list.

1. Waiting on God is not an option for the child of God and will bring eventual fulfillment
2. The plan of God includes pain and joy
3. The mercy of God brings pleasure to all who receive it
4. Family restoration is worth all the agony and tsuris of having family

Dear friends, we have eternal life due to the Saviour Y'shua, due to His love and forgiveness. His Resurrection has proven His new covenant. His teaching is great, and yet it goes well beyond that to His life and death. No amount of good works will give us enough information to help us overcome evil. No amount of information will help us overcome our own evil inclination. Only the messiah can repair our relationship with God, which will in turn give us pleasure with Him.

If you have never experienced this eternal and new life about which we are speaking, if you are yet outside the relationship with God, then pray with me. If you haven't yet been restored into fellowship with Him, do so today. Won't you pray this prayer and ask God to forgive you of your sins, whatever they might be, and come home to pleasure with God? Lord forgive me in the name of the Messiah, the Serpent Bruiser, Y'shua himself. Forgive me for all my sins, and make me clean again. Give me eternal life in the name of Y'shua and make me born again. I trust you.

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* Index - Mendelsohn's Sermons on Joseph * Scripture text: Genesis 46

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