The Long Way to the Promised Land - Genesis 46:3-4

"I am God, the God of your father, the voice said. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make your family into a great nation. I will go with you down to Egypt, and I will bring you back again." Due to a great famine in the land and at the request of Pharoah and Jacob's son, Joseph, who was the prime minister of Egypt, Jacob and all his family, which included his eleven sons and their wives and children, moved from Canaan to Egypt. Their first stop on their journey was at Beersheba, so named 200 years earlier by Jacob's grandfather, Abraham, who lived in the area for a long time (vs. 21:34). In a night vision God re-affirmed His covenant with Jacob (Israel), but in a peculiar way. God promised He would make Israel a great nation in Egypt and then bring them out of Egypt to live once again in the land of Canaan. In other words, Israel had to get to the promised land by way of Egypt. The Israelites grew into a great nation in Egypt, yet they only received God's promise after they were subjected to Egyptian bondage and God delivered them. A pilgrimage like the Israelites in Egypt may be what those of us who need to learn obedience to God's will have to experience for ourselves. It's a long way to the promised land for some of us because of our hardness of heart and it may require us to live in Egypt for awhile! Sometimes, the working out of God's plans and purposes in and through our lives comes in unexpected ways that may include living through problems, difficulties, and even suffering in order to attain the promises and rewards of accomplishing God's will.