So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father's house. Joseph lived 110 years.
Genesis ends with a long, quiet stretch of years. Joseph stays in Egypt, and that raises a question: what does a believer do with comfort and honour in a land that was never promised to him?
Years far beyond the crisis
The famine had ended long before this verse. L. M. Grant notes how long Joseph lived past it, and what did not change in him:
L. M. GrantJoseph remained in Egypt till his death at 110 years of age, far beyond the end of the famine. Before his death he became a great, great grandfather of Ephraim's descendants and also of those of Manasseh (v. 23). But his years in Egypt did not change his attitude as regards the promise of God. He still had his heart set on the land of Canaan. Though Joseph himself would not enjoy the land, he fully desired that the nation Israel would, as was true of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Egypt gave him honour, never a home
He stayed, but he never belonged. William Kelly sets Joseph's whole career in Egypt beside what he still believed:
William KellyHe had served God in Egypt, but to him it was always the strange land. He lived there, ruled there, had a family there, and died there at 110 years old, fuller of honours than of years. Yet he feels that Egypt is not the land of God. He knows that God will redeem His people from it and bring them into Canaan. It was beautiful fruit in its season: no change of circumstances interfered with the promises of God to the fathers. Joseph waited as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Earthly honours did not settle him down in Egypt.
How far the generations reached
The phrase in the next verse about "the third generation" has been counted in different ways. Darby gives the reckoning plainly:
J. N. DarbyThe third generation means three, not counting the point of departure, and as Jacob's sons' sons went down, there is nothing to fix the fourth generation necessarily within seven from Jacob inclusively.
Rooted in Egypt, but not resting there
By now the family looked permanent in Egypt. Hamilton Smith shows what faith saw instead:
Hamilton SmithJoseph had been long in Egypt; he saw Ephraim's children of the third generation (v. 23). They were thoroughly established in the land of Egypt. To nature, nothing looked more unlikely than that a day would come when they would leave Egypt for a land they had never seen. But faith rises above the things it can see, and refuses to reason the way nature does. Faith sees clearly that the people of God may live for a time as strangers in the land of Egypt, and yet Egypt is not the land of rest that God has promised for His people.
Faith reading the future on a bright day
Nothing in the family's circumstances hinted at trouble ahead. Bellett paints the scene as anyone living in it would have seen it:
J. G. BellettThe children of Israel were at that time very happy in the land of Egypt. They had the king's full favour. They held the richest district in the country. And they saw one of their own as the second man in the kingdom. Not a single symptom of danger or of change appeared in all their condition. And Joseph himself was as happy as circumstances could make him.
Joseph still expected trouble ahead. Bellett names what shaped his view of the future:
J. G. BellettGod's word was his wisdom. God's word in Genesis 15 had warned that Egypt would afflict Israel, but that God would befriend them and bring them back to Canaan. This word from God was everything to Joseph, everything to faith. Appearances were nothing. God had spoken it. Joseph believed it and remembered it. And so by faith Joseph saw Israel's suffering on the day of Israel's brightest promise and prosperity. He saw Egypt's hostility in this day of Egypt's friendship. He saw brick-kilns and taskmasters in the fair fields and sunny harvest of Goshen.
Summary
- Length. Joseph's 110 years ran far past the famine that made him great; the crisis was brief, the staying was long.
- Honour. Those years brought him rank, family and comfort. He died "fuller of honours than of years" — Egypt could decorate him, but it never owned him.
- Reach. He saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. The family was settled in Egypt for good, as far as anyone could see.
- Sight. Faith read the situation by God's word, not by the view from the window. It saw taskmasters in the middle of a prosperous harvest.
- Result. A lifetime of changing circumstances never loosened his grip on the promise. His heart stayed set on Canaan to the end.