Fear & Loathing In Egypt? Yayigash

“do not be afraid of going down to egypt”

god

the almighty, in genesis 46:1-4, bewilders. 

joseph, now pharoah’s second- in-charge, invites his family to settle in egypt. in canaan, the revelation of joseph’s well-being uplifts his father jacob’s spirit. with the good news, jacob announces: “let me go see him [joseph] before i die.” genesis 45:28.

as readers, we should appreciate jacob’s enthusiasm for this bucket list road trip. was jacob’s exuberance to the point he booked a suite at the luxor and scored tickets to attend a young barry manilow concert? while we are not sure of jacob’s level of excitement, it is quite possible as mr. manilow actually was performing; after all- he does have lyrics asserting that he has been alive forever and he wrote the very first song. regardless, we can concur that jacob had no reservations with respect to going to egypt.

jacob’s canaan departure, however, did not to take place prior to a close encounter of the tetragrammaton kind. prior to hitting the highway, jacob-now known as israel- meets with the master of the universe. “and god said to israel in visions of the night, and he said, “jacob jacob!” and he said “here i am.” and he said “i am god, the god of your father, do not be afraid of going down to egypt, for i will make you into a great nation.” the master of the universe concluded the vision noting that “… joseph will set his hand on your eyes.” genesis 46:1-4

why speak of fear? jacob expressed no trepidation for the journey.

biblical fear takes many forms. adam was afraid to be seen naked. genesis 3:10; jacob, after fleeing from his home, experienced fear after his famous ladder dream sequence with angels. in that instance, he awoke and stated ” ‘the lord is actually in this place, and i didn’t know.’ and he [jacob] was afraid, and he said, how awesome is this place! this is none other than god’s house, and this is the gate of the skies!” 

after that, when fleeing to get back home after working many years for his father-in-law, jacob feared his father-in-law laban would take back his[jacob’s] wives. 

our brief survey on biblical “fear” must take us outside the torah and to the book of psalms. psalm 23, line 4, provides one of the hebrew bible’s most famous lines “even when i walk in the valley of darkness, i will fear no evil for you are with me; your rod and your staff – they comfort me.” this psalm traditionally is recited at funerals.

perhaps, there is no coincidence that jacob’s road trip was to a country that venerated their dead; a country with a valley of the kings where their rulers were buried. did this death culture death effect those visiting?

arguably, jacob’s encounter with the almighty was psalm 23 in action. the master of the universe’s comforting of jacob was signaling that he was soon to pass. jacob’s mission- as leader of his family- was concluding with joseph competently there to secure the baton. perhaps, the message is that jacob- after suffering over the loss of his son joseph and concern over his family’s future- could finally put down his staff down and let the almighty lead the way in passing.

be well!!

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