Why did God have to tell Jacob not to be afraid to go down to Egypt? After all, he was about to receive the greatest blessing he could imagine – to see his long-lost son Joseph again. So, why would he be afraid to experience something so joyful?

Well, isn’t it true that even good changes in our lives can be scary? High school seniors are often a bit fearful when they go off to college. Teachers and students alike get a few butterflies on the first day of class. And how many brides and grooms have been nervous on their wedding day? Whenever we start a new chapter in life, it’s only natural to wonder what awaits us as we turn the page.

But the good news that we find in today’s passage is that God will be with us in the good times as well as the bad. Just as God promised to go with Jacob down into Egypt (Genesis 46:4), Jesus has promised to be with all of us, enabling us to serve Him until the end of time (Matthew 28:20). So, no matter what apprehensions we may have, we can be sure that we will not have to face them alone.

For that’s another wonderful truth that we find here: God keeps His promises. For if 70 members of Jacob’s family went down to Egypt (Genesis 46:27), then a great multitude would come up from there years later in the days of Moses: 600,000 men in addition to countless women and children (Exodus 12:37-38). Everything would happen just as God told Jacob it would (Genesis 46:3).

And we can be sure that God will keep His promises to us as well, promises of forgiveness and welcome for all who trust in Christ, promises to bless us and protect us, no matter what the future may hold. So let’s step out in faith. No matter what joys or sorrows this day may hold, we can be sure that God will be with us.

Genesis 46:1-6 (NASB)

So Israel set out with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
2 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.”
3 And He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make 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 close your eyes.”
5 Then Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their little ones and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
6 And they took their livestock and their property, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him.