“I am God, the God of your father…Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there
I will make your family into a great nation. I will go with you down to Egypt,
and I will bring you back again...”
Genesis 46:3-4
Jacob was on his way to see the beloved son he thought was dead! With a grateful heart, Jacob stopped in Beersheba to offer sacrifices to the God of his father, and that is when he heard God speak again.
Beersheba was the place where Abraham had dug a well and planted a tree. It was there, in the shade of his grandfather’s first claim to the promised land, God reminded Jacob who He was… “I AM God,” the same God his ancestors had believed. Jacob KNEW this God, so he could TRUST what He said.
God indeed kept His Word: First, He promised to make Jacob’s family of seventy people into a great nation, there IN Egypt; and when the Israelites left that place, they numbered over two million! God used the extremely difficult circumstances there IN Egypt to form shepherds into a skilled, resilient nation. He watched over this family IN bondage and gave them faith to believe that the God of their ancestors would one day deliver them.
God also promised to bring Jacob back to Canaan; and when he died, Joseph indeed carried Jacob’s body back to the only piece of ground Abraham had owned. God always keeps His promises, even IN places of bondage and tears. No matter where we are, HE is working, even THERE!
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