ALL THE SOULS
Genesis 46:26 All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six; 27 And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.
Genesis 46:28 ¶ And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. 30 And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.
The words of our title appear three times in the first two verses of our context. And they appear again in Exodus 1:5. They are to show the unbelievable contrast of how the Lord multiplied Jacob’s family in order to fulfill that promise, I will make there of thee a great nation. (Genesis 46:3). For we read in Exodus 1:7, And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. Then we find in Exodus 12:37, And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children.
This multiplying was a direct blessing from the Lord God! Psalm 105:24 And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies. He used Egypt as it were, to be the ‘womb’ in which he birthed the family of Israel (Jacob), into the nation of Israel. And he did so under two very different Pharaoh’s. The first one greatly accepted and appreciated Joseph, even placing his ring on Joseph’s hand. And in doing so he relegated to Joseph the very authority of the throne of Egypt.
But then we read: Exodus 1:6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. 8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. Yet, we know that this was the Lord’s doing, in order to form this family into a nation! Psalm 105:25 He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants. Deuteronomy 4:20 But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.
And the Lord had another purpose in doing this. Exodus 9:16 And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. Romans 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
And it worked! For we hear it in the words of Rahab as she spoke to the spies from Israel. Joshua 2:9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. 10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
In Noah’s flood the Lord took his family down to just eight souls, in order to recover a physical race. 1 Peter 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. Genesis 10:32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.
But here in Jacob’s sojourn into Egypt he took his family down to seventy souls in order to save a spiritual race. See Genesis 46:27 and Exodus 12:37 listed above. Deuteronomy 32:8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
Acts 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: (Take notice that in verse 27 all this was done in order for mankind to “seek the Lord.”)
But in the Lord Jesus Christ there was only one “seed,” willing and capable to be ‘planted’ in order to save a glorious race! John 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.
Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Revelation 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; Revelation 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Zechariah 4:10 For who hath despised the day of small things?
We also take note in verses 26 and 27 in our text that there two souls, born in Egypt. These were Ephraim and Manasseh, the two sons of Joseph and his wife, Asenath. And when Jacob first sees them we read: Genesis 48:8 And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who are these? 9 And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
But then we also find Jacob, in his spiritual capacity as a Patriarch incorporating them as equal to his other twelve sons in the house of Israel. Genesis 48:5 And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. 6 And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.
We just listed Revelation 5:9 in the previous column. It has the phrase in it that the Lord Jesus would save some souls “out of every nation,” And these two little boys represent those born in other nations who are to be brought into the family of God, equal to the house of Israel. For there are not two churches, but only one! Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Consider what the Lord states concerning Egypt. Isaiah 19:23 In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. 24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: 25 Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.
Then of the day of Pentecost, at the day of the sending of the Holy Spirit we also read of Egypt. Acts 2:5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
Then we read in verse 28 that Jacob sent Judah before him to guide the family into the land of Goshen. And Judah is identified as the lawgiver. Genesis 49:8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. 10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
And we find the spiritual significance of this in the Apostle Paul’s writing to the Galatians. For as Judah guided the family of Israel into Goshen to meet Joseph, so the law was as a ‘schoolmaster’ to guide us into the need and provision of grace, by Christ! Galatians 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
And as the law had fulfilled it’s purpose in directing us from the terror of Mount Sinai to the blessedness of the provision of Mount Calvary, so we never have another recorded word from the mouth of Judah in our Bibles. For Judah was but a shadowy figure of Christ, who alone provided our rest in this world, settling us in the land of Goshen. Hebrews 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Lastly we read of Joseph preparing his chariot and presenting himself to his father, Jacob. What a glorious type this is of the Lord Jesus, separated by the sin of his brothers, returning to the presence of the Father, in his glory! Daniel 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
We, like Jacob and his family, rumbled on slowly in the wagons sent to us to bring us to Joseph’s presence. For the conveyance of faith hath brought every elect individual, in every nation, down through the ages, safely to Christ! No matter what the dangers, toils or snares, faith has led us home! 1 John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
But our heavenly Joseph, who also lived his earthly life by faith, when it is time to return, comes in his royal chariot. For it was rewarded him by the sovereign of the land. Genesis 41:43 And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.
And so it was with the Lord Jesus!Philippians 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
And it states the Joseph ‘presented’ himself. This is the same word used when the Lord God ‘appeared’ to Abraham. (See Genesis 17:1, 18:1). In theme after the last ‘day’ has expired, the Lord Jesus, now on the throne of his mediation, shall return to his Father, in the presence of the entirety of the elect of God! But this will be the first time as, God, all in all! 1 Corinthians 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
None can possibly understand, nor realize the fulness of the love between the Father and his Son! There is more than can be understood in those words, and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. It is seen in the reunion of the father and the prodigal son. Luke 15:20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. But known by experience one eternal day. John 17:26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Pastor Gene Breed
October 27, 2016
