Although Jacob was cunning, he became a very spiritual man in his old age. When he went down to Egypt in his advanced years, he was very much different from what he was before. “And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh” (Gen. 47:7). This is a beautiful picture. Pharaoh was the ruler of a nation, yet as he stood before Jacob, Jacob appeared taller than he! This man had gone through years of wrestling and was finally at rest. When he stood up, Pharaoh, the monarch of an empire, stooped down! If the old Jacob had been there, he probably would have acted the same as he did when he met Laban, setting his eyes on Laban’s possessions. Pharaoh’s possessions were many times more valuable than Laban’s. But Jacob was a stricken man. His eyes were no longer on these things, but on the lessons he had learned from God. Spontaneously, he stood tall before Pharaoh. “And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage” (vv. 8-9). Here we find the release of this man’s spirit. He said, “Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been.” This described his whole life. This old man had gone through many sufferings before he could say this word. Our spirit has to enter into his spirit. A man who has experienced God’s smiting work is never haughty. We have to remember God’s promise to Abraham: “And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth” (13:16). God also promised Isaac, saying, “And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven” (26:4). At the time of Abraham, there was only a single descendant; there was no household, much less a nation. By the time of Jacob, there were seventy people in his household. God’s promise was realized in his household. Yet Jacob did not boast of this. On the contrary he said, I “have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” He was able to say this because he was smitten and humbled. “And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh” (47:10). He came in blessing Pharaoh, and he went out blessing Pharaoh. He had something to give to others. What a beautiful picture! The aged Jacob had changed. Now he was Israel; he was no longer the same. Here we should touch his spirit.

“And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was a hundred forty and seven years. And the time drew nigh that Israel must die” (47:28-29). We should notice that at his birth he was called Jacob but at his death he was called Israel. “And he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt: but I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head” (vv. 29-31). What a beautiful picture this is! We have to touch the spirit here. Here was a man who by nature was cunning and hard, who would do everything to satisfy himself and would ask for nothing less than the best. Yet on that day he said to his own son, “If now I have found grace in thy sight.” What tenderness! “I pray thee...deal kindly and truly with me.” He asked for kindness and truthfulness. “Bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt.” God’s place for him was Canaan. His promise could not be fulfilled in Egypt. Under God’s sovereignty he was about to die. Yet he asked for kindness and truthfulness that he would be buried in God’s promised land. Jacob was not doubting God’s promise. On the contrary, he asked Joseph to swear because he believed in God. He wanted Joseph to see the solemnity of the matter. Unless we touch his spirit, we will not understand what he was doing. “And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.” What a wonderful scene!

Let us also read Genesis 48. Verses 2 through 4 say, “And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.” He remembered God’s promises to him. He knew clearly that it was God’s blessing that gave him seventy people in his household. God had promised that he would be fruitful and multiply and that the land of Canaan would be given to his seed.
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