JACOB GOES DOWN TO EGYPT It seems that Jacob harbored some doubt, as far as his going down to Egypt is concerned, despite the severe conditions surrounding him, and his longing to see his son Joseph. That is why God spoke to him in the vision of the night, and put his heart at ease. 1- God commands Jacob to go down to Egypt 1-7. 2- Those who departed with him 8-27. 3- Israel’s encounter with Joseph 28-34. 1- GOD COMMANDS JACOB TO GO DOWN TO EGYPT Jacob yearned to go down to Egypt to see his son Joseph. Yet, as he was a little fearful, “He took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. Then God spoke to Israel in the vision of the night, and said, ‘Jacob, Jacob,’ and he said, ‘Here I am.’ And He said, I am God, the God of your father, do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. I 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” (Gen. 46:1-4). That was the last time that God appeared to Jacob, and not to anyone in Egypt, until he appeared to the prophet Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3), for the sake of bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt. God appeared to Israel before he goes down to Egypt, and appeared to Moses for the sake of bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt; as though God cared both for his going down and his coming up. What does going down to Egypt means? Origen believes that going down to Egypt here, refers to the believer’s going down, as though to a spiritual battle, through which he grows, conquers, and returns victorious in the Lord, to enjoy the heavenly Jerusalem, saying: [It is fit for us to contemplate quietly in what the Lord said to Jacob in the vision, how he strengthened and encouraged, as though he was going to war, saying to him. “Do not fear to go down to Egypt,” as though he was going to “go against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age” (Ephesians 6:12). He is telling him, not to fear them, and not to be troubled; Why? “I will make of you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again.” We should not fear going down to Egypt, nor confronting the struggle against this world, or the battles against the devil, the enemy against whom the Lord came down to do battle. Listen to what the apostle Paul says: “I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). In Jerusalem, when he had been confronted by amazing struggle, because of the word and the preaching of God, God appeared to him, and addressed him with words similar to what he did to Israel, saying: “Be of good cheer, Paul: for as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome” (Acts 23:11)1.] Origen continues his comment on the going down of Jacob to Egypt, accompanied by the Lord, and strengthened by His promise that He will bring him up from there, by saying: [I believe that the text carries a mystery, that is much deeper than the apparent letter, as the following phrase strikes me as significant: “I will make you a great nation there; I will go down with you to Egypt; And I will also surely 1 In Gen. hom 15:5. 4 bring you up again.” Who was he, who became a great nation in Egypt, and who was he, who was brought up again? We may assume that it meant Jacob. But that was actually not true, as Jacob did not leave Egypt alive. He died there, and it is not rational to say that God brought Jacob up, when He did with his remains as “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:32). He means here, people, living, and in good health. Is not this a portrait of the descending of God to this world, and His growth in the great nation, namely the Church, that embraces the Gentiles? Then His ascension to the Father, after the death of everything, especially the first man, who came down to Egypt amid battles, as he was driven out of Paradise to confront the sufferings and pains of this world... God did not forsake those who are in this battle, but He is always with them. As to saying: “And I will also surely bring you up again;” I assume that He means, that at the end of days, as the Only-Begotten Son of God descended into the lower parts of the earth (Ephesians 4:9), for the sake of salvation of the world, He brings the first man up. Let us understand, that the talk here, concerns what was said to the thief on the right hand: “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). This proclamation does not concern him alone, but concerns all the saints, for whose sake the Son of God descended. By that, in Jacob, would be realized the saying: I will also bring you up again.” Therefore, I wish everyone of us descends (allegorically) to Egypt, amid the battles, in the same way, walking along the same route, to be worthy that God would not forsake him, but make of him a great nation. That great nation is the collection of virtues and righteousness, in which, the Book says, the saints grow and increase. By that the saying would be realized: “And I will also bring you up again; as, at the end, would be the perfection of everything, and the consummation of virtues. That is why the prophet David says: “Do not take me away in the midst of my days” (Psalm 102:24). “I will also bring you up again, is as though saying to him: “You have fought the good fight; you have finished the race; you have kept the faith. Finally there is laid up for you the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give, on that day, to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8)1.] In short we say that, if the first Adam descended to the world, as though to Egypt, amid a battle against the devil, yet God descended to be with him, to bruise the head of the serpent under His feet, to grant him conquest and victory; and to ascend with him raising him from the abyss to His heavenly Paradise. By descending to us through incarnation, he made of us a great nation, transforming our inner manger into His kingdom that embraces God, together with His angels and saints! That is the nation that brings joy to heaven, according to the words of God: “I say to you, there is joy in the presence of angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). The angels rejoice, seeing that God, Himself, descended into his heart, as though into the manger, to bring him up to His kingdom. As to God’s promise to Jacob: “And Joseph will put his hand on your eyes” (Gen. 46:4), this refers to the old custom in those days, for the nearest kin to close the eyes of the deceased. Origen comments on that phrase saying: [The true Joseph, our Lord and Savior, puts His (human) hands on the eyes of the blind, to restore for him his lost sight; and He puts (spiritual) hands on the eyes of the Law, that blinded the spiritual minds of the Scribes and the Pharisees, to grant them the insight; to open to them the books, and to grant them a spiritual vision, and a spiritual understanding of 1 In Gen. hom 15:5, 6. 5 the Law... I pray God, to put His hands on our eyes, so that we do not look forward to the seen things, but to the future things; to lift up the veil from over our hearts, to contemplate in the Lord with the Spirit1.] After getting those promises in Beersheba, after offering sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac (Gen. 46:1), the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the carts which Pharaoh had sent to carry him; taking their livestock and their goods which they acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to Egypt. Jacob, would not have received these promises, except in Beersheba, namely in the waters of Baptism, in which the Holy Spirit grants us the new birth to become members in the body of Christ, to be prepared, by this, for God to go down with us to Egypt, and to bring us back again from it. As to the sacrifices that he offered, these would reveal the source of every divine gift, which is the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Finally, the children of Israel set forth, carrying their father, their little ones, and their wives, together with their livestock and their possessions. If we set forth by our Lord Jesus Christ, to the spiritual strife, we set forth with the soul, as well as with the body, all capabilities and energies to have them all working in the kingdom of God, in the strange land. 2-THOSE WHO DEPARTED WITH HIM The book mentioned to us lists of 66 of Israel’s children and grandchildren, more than once, to confirm how they enormously grew and increased. In the book of Acts, St. Stephen mentioned that their number reached 75 souls (Acts 7:14); probably because he added to them the five grandchildren of Ephraim and Manasseh. 3-ISRAEL’S ENCOUNTER WITH JOSEPH Jacob sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out before him the way to Goshen, and to provide for their sojourn. If Jacob represents the Church, it cannot walk without Judas, namely, without the Lord Christ, who comes out of the tribe of Judas. He leads us on our way to the strange land. He is Himself, the Way. When Joseph encountered with his father, he fell on his neck and wept, staying on his neck for a good while, unable to let him go. And finally Jacob said to Joseph: “Now, let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive” (Gen. 46:30). Jacob, as a representative of the Church, when it encountered with its Joseph, risen from the dead, it was crushed with love before him and longed to set forth with Him. Joseph told his father and brothers that he will go up to inform Pharaoh of their arrival; and advised them to tell Pharaoh that they are shepherds, to let them live in the land of Goshen (Gen. 45:10). The reason behind his choice of that location was: (1) To be at the north-east of Egypt; the nearest location to the land of Canaan, as though, he wanted them, even in their sojourn along more than 300 years, to have their hearts set and prepared for the departure to Canaan. (2) To spare them the despise of the Egyptians, who considered the occupation of sheep shepherding an abomination. Living far away in Goshen would spare them of getting in contact with the Egyptians. (3) By living in Goshen, they would not be, as much as possible, affected by 1 In Gen. hom 15:7. 6 the pagan worship, and the evil customs.
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