Genesis 46:33

Two things made this advice acceptable to the king, and even his people. Genesis 45 records that Pharaoh had already declared his wish to give them the good of the land of Egypt, so that they might eat the fat of the land. And "every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians." So no one would object in the least to Israel taking up this work on the land best suited to it — land that also lay farthest from Egyptian eyes, out of their daily sight.

Goshen lay nearest for people who were only staying in Egypt. God had destined them to enter Canaan, the land He promised long before, when their father had not even one son. It was also near Joseph, and near the king. The people of the land visited it least of all, because herdsmen, shepherds and the like were an abomination to them, as Joseph let them know... They stated their occupation plainly, as it had come down from their fathers. The king not only agreed that Goshen was the most fitting place for them to live; he gave them a hearty welcome.

The Lord, without doubt, directed this move to Egypt. It kept the family from scattering, and from mixing with strangers, during the important period that had now come. That was the period when the family was to grow into a nation. In Canaan neither of these unwanted results could have been avoided. In Egypt neither could happen. Goshen gave ample room for their growing numbers, and the Egyptians' dislike of shepherds stopped intermarriage from tying the two peoples together.

It appears — and we must not say more when we go outside Scripture — that an invasion of Shepherd Kings from Syria broke the usual line of native rulers for more than two centuries, and that Joseph's sudden rise came under the last of these foreign rulers. If so, that largely explains the readiness to give a shepherd people a district as valuable as Goshen, close to the royal residence on one side and the border of Palestine on the other... The contempt for a shepherd lay in the eye of the native Egyptian. It was not in those who favoured Joseph and his brothers. It was in the native rulers who came back to power soon afterwards. They did not know Joseph, and they went on to persecute the chosen people. We leave this working of providence where it stands. God is above circumstances, though His wisdom is often shown in His use of them on behalf of His plans.

They were only shepherds, it is true, and such people were an abomination to the Egyptians. But Joseph "is not ashamed to call them brothers." He owns them in the presence of the king, of the palace, and of the nation. And the king proves to be of the same mind... A day is coming when all this will be made good in the great originals, Christ and Israel. He will return to them and say, "They are My people," and they will say, "The Lord is my God."

God expects His own people to have hearts like shepherds, caring for the needs of souls. The world (Egypt) not only ignores such shepherd care, but resents those who engage in it. In fact, too often even believers do not appreciate the pastoral care and concern that a godly person seeks to show them. For this reason we sadly neglect to take up true shepherd work.