Egypt was not the end of the covenant but part of its unfolding

Beersheba as a Place of Covenant Continuity

Beersheba stands out in Genesis as a sacred location where God affirmed covenant promises across generations. First, Abraham lived there and planted a tamarisk tree, calling on the name of the Lord [Genesis 21:33]. This act symbolized permanence, worship, and trust in God’s enduring covenant. Second, Isaac later encountered God at Beersheba, where the Lord reaffirmed the Abrahamic promise, assured him of divine presence, and Isaac responded by building an altar [Genesis 26:23–25]. Thus, Beersheba became a spiritual anchor, a place associated with God’s faithfulness, guidance, and reassurance.

So He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. 4 I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.” (Genesis 46:3-4).

When Jacob stood at Beersheba on the brink of traveling to Egypt, his fear was understandable and well-grounded. First, Abraham had gone to Egypt during a famine, acting out of fear rather than faith, which resulted in deception and moral compromise [Genesis 12:10–20]. God had told Isaac not to go down to Egypt [Genesis 26:2], reinforcing the idea that Egypt represented danger when entered without God’s command. Third, God had revealed to Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in another land, enslaved and afflicted for four hundred years [Genesis 15:13]. For Jacob, Egypt symbolized both provision and peril, survival and suffering.

 

At Beersheba, God spoke directly to Jacob, not to fear to go down to Egypt, for God would make him a great nation while there. Therefore, unlike Abraham’s earlier journey, this move to Egypt was commanded by God, not panic-driven. First, God reaffirmed the promise of nationhood, making clear that Egypt was not the end of the covenant but part of its unfolding. Then, God assured Jacob that He would surely bring him up again, preserving the hope of returning to Canaan. Finally, the promise that Joseph would put his hand on Jacob’s eyes spoke tenderly of peace, dignity, and familial care at the time of death.

 

From the time God called Abraham, it took 25 years to give him a son, Isaac, 60 years to add another son, Jacob, 50 or 60 years for Jacob to add 12 sons and one daughter. But in 430 years, Israel would leave Egypt with more than 600,000 men able to go to war (Numbers 1:45-46). While Moses says 70 [Genesis 46:27]. They were 66, plus Jacob himself, Joseph, and his two sons, went to Goshen, Stephen talks of 75 [Acts 7:14], the five could have been those born from Joseph (sons and grandsons) in Egypt.

 

Jacob’s journey to Egypt marks a turning point in redemptive history. What once represented unbelief (Abraham’s descent) now became obedient faith. What was once forbidden (for Isaac) now became ordained. Egypt became both a place of preservation and the crucible through which Israel would emerge as a nation. The same place that holds future suffering can also be the place of divine purpose, when God Himself goes with His people.

 

The plan to ask for the area of Goshen

God had a place for His people in Egypt. However, they needed to be segregated from the rest of the people to avoid intermarriages. God indeed had a specific place for His people in Egypt, but not for assimilation, rather, for protection and growth. This purpose is clearly seen in their settlement in the Land of Goshen. Through Joseph, God instructed his brothers to be explicit about their occupation, livestock keepers. This was not a social disadvantage by accident, it was God’s design.

. … that you shall say, ‘Your servants’ occupation has been with livestock from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.” (Genesis 46:34).

Living in Goshen achieved several divine objectives. First, Israelites maintained cultural and spiritual purity. Second, Israel remained distinct in worship, values, and identity. Third, God’s promise to Abraham were fulfilled. God had told Abraham that his descendants would sojourn in a foreign land [Genesis 15:13]. Fourth, they experienced, numerical expansion, free from assimilation pressures, Israel multiplied into a great nation. Finally, they had clear identity formation, by the time of the Exodus, Israel was no longer just a family, but a people.

 

God used jealousy from the half-brothers and cultural hostility to accomplish covenant holiness. What the Egyptians despised, God used as a boundary marker to preserve His redemptive plan. This reveals a profound truth, that God can use social distance and even rejection to protect His people from spiritual compromise.

George G. Ruheni, PhD.