David Bahn – Reflections

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas.This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Genesis 46-47; Psalm 41.

Genesis 46:27-47:6

[This is a summary of the longer reading. Any necessary added words are italicized.]

All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy in all. Judah was sent ahead to show the way to Joseph in Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. Joseph went up to meet Israel his father, fell on his neck, and wept, and Israel said, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.”

Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s household that he would tell Pharaoh that they were shepherds who had brought their flocks and herds, so that they might dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians. Joseph then told Pharaoh that his father and brothers had come from the land of Canaan and were now in Goshen. Pharaoh asked their occupation, and they said, “Your servants are shepherds,” and asked to sojourn in the land because the famine was severe in Canaan.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if there are able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”

The curiosities of Joseph’s dealings with his brothers as well as with Pharaoh catch my attention. Why the big deal about them being shepherds? Why tell them that the Egyptians thought shepherds were an abomination? What’s the deal with Goshen as opposed to Egypt? Mysteries, yes. But there is a method to Joseph’s ways.

By identifying themselves openly as shepherds, Jacob’s family remained separate from Egyptian society, preserving their distinct identity, faith, and customs, since Egyptians kept their distance from those they despised. This same identification secured the land of Goshen for them – a fertile yet outlying region well suited for livestock – where they could grow without pressure to assimilate. Presenting themselves as shepherds also prevented political entanglement, for they posed no threat as officials or competitors to the Egyptians, ensuring safety and stability. In this way, God advanced his long-term plan, fulfilling his promise to Abraham that his descendants would sojourn in a foreign land, where they would multiply into a nation prepared for his later act of salvation – the exodus.

Isn’t that just like God? What Egyptians despised, God used. Shepherds were despised in Egypt, yet God chose shepherds to preserve his people. Joseph’s strategy shows deep trust in God’s providence. And it reminds me of how God uses the weak and foolish things of the world to shame the wise and save the humble.

Paul writes: “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:26–29, ESV) God’s choice of the weak and foolish is no better seen than in Jesus’ humility, suffering, and death on the cross.

This is God’s way. He calls us to trust in him in every situation, for his ways lead to life and salvation.