Genesis 46: The Great Family Reunion

A father believes his son is gone forever, then suddenly he is standing face to face with him again. Genesis 46 gives us one of the most tender scenes in Scripture: Jacob arriving in Egypt and Joseph wrapping his arms around him, weeping for a long time. We talk through why this reunion lands so deeply, especially for anyone who has carried grief, regret, or years of unanswered questions about family. 

We also slow down to notice the quieter moments that carry the weight of faith. Jacob stops at Beersheba to worship, and God speaks to him in a vision with a direct word for anxious hearts: do not be afraid to go down to Egypt. That promise includes God’s presence, God’s purpose, and God’s long-range plan to form Israel into a great nation. If you’re looking for Bible teaching that connects Genesis, God’s promises, and real-life fear, this chapter is packed with guidance for Christian living. 

Then we work through the genealogy and the count of Jacob’s descendants, why the “seventy” matters, and how Joseph wisely prepares his family to speak with Pharaoh and settle in Goshen. We also wrestle with a hard truth: not every story gets a fairy-tale ending in this life, but God is still faithful, and He will make all things new. Subscribe for daily Bible breakdowns, share this with someone who needs hope, and leave a review to help more people find the podcast.

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Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hey everyone and welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. In this podcast, we will be breaking down the Bible one chapter a day. Whether you are a new believer or have been following Christ for a while, we believe that you will learn something new and fresh every single day. So thank you for joining us and let's get into breaking down the Bible together.

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Genesis Setup And Why It Matters

God’s Vision Tells Jacob Go

The Family List And Seventy Names

Joseph Weeps With Jacob In Goshen

Joseph’s Plan For Pharaoh

Grief Reconciliation And Heaven’s Reunion

Prayer And Final Encouragement

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. Today's title is The Great Family Reunion. The Great Family Reunion. This story right here today reminds me of a time when I had not seen some of my family for a really long time and I was nervous. I was getting ready to see them, and I didn't quite know how it was going to go. It was like, you know, we're all different people now and whatever. And it was amazing. Because for like five or ten minutes, it was cordial and kind of standoffish. And then I don't know what happened, but pretty quickly the time rolled back and we were just a big family again. And I can see that in this story today of this great reunion of father and son, of brothers, of everything. So if you're ready, you'll get your Bibles out. Chapter 46, we're going to dive into this great story. And as always, before we do, make sure you like and subscribe. Let me try that again. Like, share, and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure to leave us a five-star review on the podcast. It really does help. And make sure you go into the Bible Breakdown discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing group of people doing a wonderful job. You can find that Facebook page at The Bible Breakdown or go to our website at the Biblebreakdown.com. Well, once again, if you've been with us, we've been in this amazing story, this full circle story that begins with creation and it's going to end with how the nation of Israel got to Egypt. And remember, this story was originally written to the recently liberated Jewish people, probably at Mount Sinai, and they were looking back at Egypt at 400 years of bondage. How did we get here? What happened? Well, as we read yesterday, you know, Joseph is telling his brothers, hey, bring dad down here, and everything is going to be yours. They came to Egypt as welcomed friends. And we get to see that today as it happens. And I love this so much. It's this great family reunion. And Jacob and Joseph see each other again. So if you're ready, chapter 46, verse 1 says this. So Jacob set out for Egypt with all his possessions. And when he came to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac. During the night, God spoke to him in a vision. Jacob, Jacob, he called. Here I am, Jacob replied. I am God, the God of your father, the voice said. 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. You will die in Egypt, but Joseph will be with you to close your eyes. So Jacob left Beersheba, and his sons took him to Egypt. They carried him and their little ones and their wives and the wagons Pharaoh had provided for them. They also took all their livestock and all the personal belongings they had acquired in the land of Canaan. So Jacob and his entire family went to Egypt. Sons, grandsons, daughters, granddaughters, all the descendants. These are the names of the descendants of Israel, the sons of Jacob, who went to Egypt. Reuben was Jacob's oldest son. The sons of Reuben were Hanak, Paul, Hezron, and Karmi. The sons of Simeon were Jamuel, Jaman, Ohad, Jacan, Zorar, and Shual, and Shual's mother was a Canaanite woman. The sons of Levi were Gershon, Gohat, and Mere. The sons of Judah were Ur, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zira, though Erah and Onam had died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez were Hezron and Humu. The sons of Isakar were Tola, Poah, Joab, and Shimron. The sons of Zebulon were Sared, Elon, and Jahal. Then the sons of Le of Leah and Jacob who were born in Pedaram in addition to their daughter Dinah. The number of Jacob's descendants, male and female through Leah was thirty three. The sons of Gad were Zephon, Hagi, Shunai, Ezbon, Eri, Oridi, and Ari. The sons of Asher were Amna, Ashva, Ishvi, and Bera. Their sister was Sarah. Bariah's sons were Heber and Malkil. The sons of Zilpa, the servant given to Leah by their father Laban. The number of Jacob's daughter of descendants through Zippah were sixteen. The sons of Jacob's wife Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph's sons born in the land of Egypt were Manasseh and Ephraim. Their mother was Hazanath, the daughter of Potiphira, the priest of One. Benjamin's sons were Biah, Bekar, Ashbel, Gira, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Mumim, Humim, and Ard. These were the sons of Rachel and Jacob. The number of Jacob's descendants through Rachel was fourteen. The son of Dan was Hushim. The sons of Natali were Jazil, Guni, Jezir, and Shelem. The sons of Bilha, the servant given to Rachel by her father Laban, the number of Jacob's descendants were of Bilha were seven. The total number of Jacob's direct descendants who went with him to Egypt, not counting his sons' wives, was sixty-six. In addition, Joseph had two sons that were born in Egypt. So altogether there were seventy members of Jacob's family in the land of Egypt. And as they neared the destination, Jacob sent Judah ahead to meet Joseph and to get directions to the region of Goshen. And when they finally arrived there, Joseph prepared his chariot and travelled to Goshen to meet his father Jacob. When Joseph arrived, he embraced his father and wept, holding him for a long time. Finally, Jacob told Joseph, Now I am ready to die, since I have seen your face again, and know you are still alive. And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's entire family, I will go to Pharaoh and tell him, My brothers and my father's entire family have come to me from the land of Canaan. These men are shepherds, and they raise livestock. They have brought with them their flocks and their herds and everything they own. And then he said, When Pharaoh calls for you to ask you about your occupation, you must tell him, We, your servants, have raised livestock all our lives, and our ancestors have always done. And when you tell him this, he will let you live in the region of Goshen, for the Egyptians despise shepherds. That might be a little bit of foreshadowing as to what's to come, but that's for another day. Can you imagine the moment when Jacob and Joseph saw each other? On one end, you've got Jacob who has been since grieved. And you know, I've talked to people who have lost children, and they say you never get over it. There's always in the back of your mind, I wonder what would be happening if, and I wonder when, and all that. And if if you're listening or watching this today and you've lost a child, then it's still there, isn't it? Still, it's never not fresh. And so Jacob, who had thought his son was gone, looks at him in the eye. What an amazing moment. Then on the other side, you have Joseph, who we don't know how Joseph is feeling. We talked about that a couple days ago. I wonder if if maybe for a while he wondered, why didn't my father ever come find me? Maybe there was some animosity there, maybe there was some bitterness there, and then he finds out, well, I know why. He thought I was dead. So all that is gone, and now he just wants to see his dad. And then the moment comes. And all things are made new. Can I tell you? I wish I could say that in this life, God will bring everything full circle, everything will work out, and in the end it is a nice fairy tale story, and it's all good. But you know what? That's not always the way it happens. We don't always get this quote fairy tale ending the way that it happened in this story. But what I do know is God is faithful. And if you don't get to see that child on this side of eternity, you will one day. If you don't get to make reconciliation with that father figure in your life, one day you will. God is faithful. And if you know Jesus, and they know Jesus, one day you'll see each other in heaven. That's one of the things I can't wait. And that I don't know, I don't pretend to know exactly how things are gonna work in heaven, but you know, one of the things I do know is I know that it will be a great reunion. It'll be a great moment where all sin had been washed away, all pain and grief have been washed away. And I don't know how that's gonna work exactly because there's people in my life that I've lost that I would have loved to have had one more conversation. I would have loved to kind of, as they say, bury the hatchet, you know, just just kind of put some things away. And I never had a chance to have that conversation. And I know they knew the Lord, and so I can't wait to see them one day and we get to heaven. But at the same time, all fear and all pain and all sorrow has been gone. And I wonder if there's almost gonna be a moment to say, hey, listen, I don't know why, but I just need to tell you I'm sorry. I just need to tell you that I love you. And they're gonna say, you know, I don't know why, but I want to tell you the same. I don't know if that's the way that's gonna work or not. But what I do know is that if we serve the Lord, if we're faithful to him, he makes all things new. And maybe on this side of eternity, you get to reconnect with that wayward family member. On the side of this, on this side of eternity, maybe you get to have that reconciliation moment. But if not, God is still faithful. And one day, as long as you trust the Lord, all things will be made new. Let's pray together right now. God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, God, that you see us and that you know us. And in this moment, maybe because of this chapter where some of us look at it and we just celebrate what a wonderful moment. Others of us painful because we wish we could have that moment. I pray, God, that you will speak deeply to some of us and remind us that it's okay. That you're with us, and that in time, all things are made new. We celebrate that today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. God's word says in Genesis 1, verse 1, that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. If God is that big, anything's possible. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Genesis chapter 47.