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I’ve noted this before, but reading Genesis 46 & 47 this morning, I’m struck by the Pharaoh’s approach to the foreigners of Jacob’s family, despite the fact that they are members of a class despised by Egyptians (Gen 46:34)
Pharaoh
- provided resettlement assistance (Gen 46:5)
Pharaoh
- provided resettlement assistance (Gen 46:5)
- gives them the best of the land so as to establish a livelihood (Gen 47:6)
- receives the blessing of the patriarch Jacob, rather than presuming blessing could only go from host to guest (Gen 47:7)
- receives the blessing of the patriarch Jacob, rather than presuming blessing could only go from host to guest (Gen 47:7)
- sees the arrival of these downtrodden but skilled foreigners as presenting an economic opportunity, even in the midst of an economic crisis (Gen 47:6)
It’s jarring especially because, a few pages further into the biblical narrative, we’re introduced to a different Pharaoh, whose view toward the Israelite foreigners (Jacob’s descendants) is drastically different
He sees them as a national security threat (Ex 1:10) & responds with oppression (Ex 1:11) & eventually genocide (Ex 1:16) to the ends of population control
There’s a hint as to what accounts for this divergent approach: the latter Pharaoh “did not know Joseph” (Ex 1:8)
Knowing personally those different from us allows us to recognize them as blessings, not fear them as threats
The US Church could learn from the Pharaoh of Genesis
Knowing personally those different from us allows us to recognize them as blessings, not fear them as threats
The US Church could learn from the Pharaoh of Genesis
