Genesis 46:1

Genesis 46:1 says, And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.  While Israel was on his way to Egypt, he stopped at Beersheba to offer sacrifices to God, referred to as the God of his father Isaac.  Beersheba was a place where Abraham and Isaac had worshipped God, and Israel was seeking God's guidance in whether or not to go to Egypt. him.  God had forbidden Isaac to go down to Egypt when there was a famine in Canaan.  This may have been what Israel, or Jacob, was thinking about when he consulted God as the God of his father Isaac.  Wherever we are going or whatever we are doing, we need to stop and make sure that it is where God wants us to go and what He wants us to do.  If we are followers of Christ, we look to God as our God and not just the God of our fathers.  We must have that personal relationship.  Also, just because God has closed a door to someone in the past doesn't mean that it is closed to us.  Verse two states, And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.  God spoke to Israel in visions at night, but God called him Jacob twice.  He responded by saying,"Here am I."  Matthew Henry says God called him Jacob to remind him of his lowly estate at this point.  Whenever God calls us, we can only answer, "Here am I."  We can also be certain that God knows everyone who is a follower of Christ.  Verse three declares, And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:  God identified Himself to Jacob.  God then told Jacob not to fear going down into Egypt, because God would be with him and make him a great nation.  Things may not have been going well for Jacob, but God had not forgotten His promise to Him.  When things are not going well for us today as followers of Christ,, we can be certain that God has not forgotten us.  Like Israel, or Jacob, we simply need to worship God.  Verse four adds, I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.  God said He would go with Jacob to Egypt and that He would also bring him out again.  Though Jacob died in Egypt, his bones were returned to Canaan, and his descendants returned also.  As followers of Christ, we can be certain that He will be with us wherever we go and He will bring us home to heaven.  Jacob would also be comforted by Joseph, whom he had thought was dead.  Verse five states, And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.  Israel and his family loaded up and headed to Egypt.  Once God told Israel to go, he didn't wait any longer.  We need to be the same way.  Verse six adds, And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:  They took everything they had with them.  As followers of Christ, we must bring everything we have to Him.  Verse seven says, His sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.  Along with all his possessions, Israel brought all his family.  It would be ideal if we could bring all our family to a saving relationship with Christ, but it is a decision that they must make on their own.