The second thing God’s reassuring words to Jacob teach us is that God reaffirmed His covenant with Jacob by the words, “I am God, the God of your father,” there in Genesis 46:3. This was not an idle statement. If the God who was speaking to Jacob was the God of Abraham, He was therefore also the God of Isaac, both of whom He had led with absolute faithfulness. God was absolutely trustworthy with those men and He is trustworthy with the members of His church today.
God had led Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans, brought him to a new land, and there preserved him in the midst of natural disasters and external threats from enemies. He had kept and protected Isaac and now, Jacob knew he could trust God’s faithfulness.
What a God He is, this God of the covenant! He is Abraham’s God; He was faithful to Abraham throughout his long life, He is Isaac’s God, Jacob’s God, Moses’ God, David’s God, and He is your God and my God. This very continuity should strengthen us for whatever lies ahead.
The third thing God’s reassuring words to Jacob teach us is that God had a promise for Jacob. He told him not to fear going down to Egypt, and said: “for I [God] will make you into a great nation there.” In our lives we may not be able to discern what individual special promise God may have given to each of us personally, nevertheless, there is at least a promise analogous to Jacob’s—that God will work in us and others to build a people to the praise of the glory of His grace.
In chapter 46 this one happened to Jacob, but this one in a way reflects back on Isaac because in the earlier part of chapter 26 Isaac was in a quandary about what to do about something and he was thinking about going down to Egypt and God stopped him from going there. We know what happened to Abraham there. God let him go down there and he got into a bushel of trouble. But in this case God intervened and He stopped Isaac from going there and He reoriented him and said, Instead go to Beersheba, which is where he went. And there He appeared to him to reassure him that he had done the right thing.
Jacob was on his way to meet with Joseph and I am sure that he had second thoughts about going there because he knew what happened to Isaac when he went there and he knew what kind of a land Egypt was and he was not all that sure that was a good move for him to go there. It is interesting that he went to Beersheba apparently because he felt that there would be some contact with God in that place, and sure enough God appeared to him in a vision.
There is a similar call of Jacob. Jacob had started down to Egypt to see Joseph, but he had paused at Beersheba, being fearful of what might lie ahead.
God reassured him: “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he replied. This revelation was all Jacob needed. The next verses picture him going on his way confidently and we do not read of his being fearful ever again.
That was a very gentle way of telling Jacob that he was going to die there, and Joseph would close his eyelids.
