Genesis 46: The God of Comfort

² And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

³ “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. ⁴ I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.” -Genesis 46:2-4

A word of comfort. After 20 years without his son Joseph, he received a vision from God promising that Joseph’s own hand would close his eyes. In other words, Joseph, the son Jacob thought was dead, would be with him at his death. Amazing!

In our English translations we often miss the word plays or structure of the text that takes place in the original language of the Old Testament. This is one of them. Jacob was afraid to enter Egypt. God sends him there. Jacob was afraid he would not return to his land if he traveled to Egypt. God promised to return Jacob to his land (though he spoke of his bones after his death). Jacob feared life without his son Joseph. God sent him to be reunited with Joseph.

The point? God often comforts us when we need it most. Whether through a vision, as in Jacob’s case, or in a myriad of other ways, God uses whatever method he wants to show us his love for us. He is there and he knows our fears. He has a plan that will help us both in this life and for life eternal. The question is whether we are willing to trust God with our lives today.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.