“¹So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. ²Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

³So He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. ⁴I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.”

– Genesis 46:1-4 (NKJV)

“So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. (As mentioned earlier, the Inspired Writer of the Scriptures omitted all details pertaining to the brothers’ journey from Egypt back to Canaan, presumably because it didn’t contain any mentionworthy principles, occurrences or significant experiences of eternal consequence worth documenting for posterity’s sake. Here however we do find such inclusions and must reverentially heed the call to pay close attention to all that is revealed here. Let us recognise for example already in these few short phrases the strong indications of the shaping of God’s Covenant Promises as they enter into the natural realm; having already been released in the spiritual-, as Jacob is now formally only referred to as “Israel” – denoting that not only is he the literal biological father of the sons who are set to represent and become the very Tribes of Israel, but is also a patriarch and father to The Nation of Israel for all generations to come: the very People of God. For we are now nearing a pivotal moment in the history of God’s People in that the twelve tribes, represented in the sons, are now being gathered together for the first time – since all repented and have been forgiven and redeemed from the wickedness and foolishness of their youth unto holiness – to formally form The Twelve Tribes. Even the phrase “with all that he had“ indicates Jacob [Israel’s] perfect alignment with this God-ordained purpose as he proves his worthiness by not looking back after putting his hand to the plough [Luke 9:62]. God’s patriarchal structure of the Fathers of The Faith is also once again very deliberately and very timeously reintroduced here, in Jacob’s attestation of his offering sacrifices to the God “of his father Isaac“; the very offering of sacrifice that testifies to Covenant with- and the wholehearted devotion to- and worship of-, The God of Israel, The One True God.) Then God spoke to Israel (as mentioned before Jacob is henceforth to be acknowledged and known by all in accordance with what he represents, namely Israel, and not in accordance with His individual personhood . . . ) in the visions of the night *, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” ( . . . and yet when God draws intimately near to His Children in relationship one-on-one, He cannot relate to them as anything but  their most individual, personal, unique selves and addresses them as a closest family member or friend would, by their given name to which they respond instinctively.) And he said, “Here I am.” (Here we recognise the words of a man saying “yes” to God, a man whose spirit has been revived and has determined in his heart to align himself with the Perfect Will of God, his spirit in harmony with God’s Spirit, the purposes of God become his purposes; a man humbled unto perfect submission, a heart yielded from a place of deep, deep gratitude, sincerely in awe of- and greatly rejoicing over- all that God has done for him; his hand to the plough, his eyes fixed before him upon the literal and spiritual “way of the Lord”.) So He said, “I am God, (recognise the “I AM” statement for posterity’s sake but also within these moments purposed to strike into Jacob the Holy Fear of the Lord, the reverential awe appropriate for such a Divine Interaction, for let us not forget the Words of Psalm 90:11 – “If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due” (NIV)) the God of your father; (here again we see God Himself instating the patriarchal foundation upon which our Covenant is forged) do not fear to go down to Egypt, (I cannot help but chuckle at the Perfect Wisdom in which God provides the reassurance once the Faith test has been won – after the fact; for in the moments in which Jacob wholly succumbed to doubt in his hopelessness – see Genesis 45:26, such Divine Assurance would have been of great help, yet our ultimate spiritual growth is far more important to God than our immediate, temporal relief, and therefore He remained quiet within the trial, until such a time as Jacob was able to overcome; here now The Father is generous in His definitive assurance however, His Gentle Comfort; A Balm for the soul) for I will make of you a great nation there. (God reiterates The Promise given and perpetually maintained in many places and through many generations, so beautifully set out also in Isaiah 60:22 – “The least of you will multiply into a thousand; the smallest of you will become a large nation. When the right time comes, I the Lord will quickly do this!“) I will go down with you to Egypt, (here we recognise not only the precious intimately close Promise of a tender, abiding relational God – again, as seen throughout the Scriptures, throughout the ages, as given to many of God’s Chosen People [also see Joshua 1:5 for example] – but we also see the harbingering revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God With Us, in yet another instance where the Second Member of The Trinity boldly enters into the narrative, as discerned by those who have “ears to hear” and “eyes to see”) and I will also surely bring you up again; (in that in many ways Egypt is still representational of the pagan world, we can also subtly discern an allusion made here to the Psalm 23 “yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me” or the Romans 8:38-39 neither “height nor depth“ that can separate us from the Love of God, as evidenced in the phrases “go down“ and “bring you up“ here; therein denoting not only a literal geographical reality, but a spiritual reality indicative of God’s perpetual and guaranteed abiding Presence with His Beloved whether in the Heavenly or the hellish; The Promise of the coming return to The Promised Land of Canaan out of the land of slavery and bondage, namely Egypt, is also being prophetically alluded to here, again for posterity’s sake, even if it has no practical bearing upon the temporal reality of Jacob during these final living years of his life upon the earth) and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.” (Apart from the absolutely Joyous confirmation for dear Jacob – again reassuring him after the fact – by God Almighty Himself, that indeed Joseph lives (!!), we ought to pay careful attention to the fact that yet another Messianic reference is given here as we are invited to remember and revel in the account of Our Lord healing a blind man in Mark 8:25 – “once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly ” [also Matthew 6:22], proving once more not only Joseph’s Christlikeness and his being inherently representational of Our Lord within this place and time, but also the prophetic announcement that the eyes of Jacob’s heart will be supernaturally opened that he might truly see with discerning and Godly eyes, not only the overarching reasons for all that has transpired, lending meaning and purpose also to his own suffering, but also what is yet to come, what will be, in accordance with God’s Masterplan, in the future, for the People of God, for generations to come.)

* The plural form of the word “visions” here indicates either that receiving visions from the Lord during the night is generally a regular occurrence in Jacob’s life, or is simply an overarching term denoting visions received by God’s People in general that are distinguished by the fact that they take place during the night i.e. being the type “of the night” as opposed to the type “of the day”. What is important to recognise is that they are clearly here being distinguished from dreams and undoubtedly carry a visual element, whether perceived by the natural or spiritual eyes. In this instance of course there is also a clear audible component in that “God spoke to Israel“; again whether heard by the natural or spiritual ears of the heart, or both, we cannot determine irrefutably.