Genesis 47:7-12: a reflection

7Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?” 9Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. The days of the years of my life have been few and evil. They have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” 10Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 11Joseph placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household with bread, according to the sizes of their families.

When Joseph brings his aged father Jacob before Pharaoh, Pharaoh asks how old he is, and Jacob answers with a striking phrase: The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years; the days of the years of my life have been few and evil. He calls his life a pilgrimage, a sojourning, as though he were a traveler passing through, not a settled resident. And he speaks honestly of his years as few and hard. Jacob saw his life as a pilgrimage through this world, a journey toward a destination beyond it, holding this life as a sojourner rather than a permanent home.

Notice how Jacob viewed his life: as a pilgrimage, a sojourning through this world. He did not speak of his years as a settled possession, a permanent home; he called them a pilgrimage, the years of a traveler passing through. This world was not his final home; he was a sojourner in it, journeying toward something beyond. That view shaped how he held his life and its troubles, few and hard as his years had been; he held them as a pilgrim holds the stages of a journey, not as a resident clinging to a permanent home.

That view of life as a pilgrimage is worth taking to heart, for it reshapes how we hold this world. We can live as though this world were our permanent home, our final destination, clinging to it and settling into it as though we would never leave; but Jacob saw his life as a pilgrimage, a sojourning through toward a home beyond. To see your life as a pilgrimage is to hold this world more loosely, as a traveler holds the stages of a journey, knowing your true home lies beyond. Do not settle into this world as though it were your permanent home; hold it as a sojourner, a pilgrim passing through toward a home beyond, as Jacob called his life a pilgrimage. Let the sense that you are a pilgrim, journeying through this world toward your true home, loosen your grip on this passing world and set your hope on the home beyond, as Jacob held his years as the pilgrimage they were.

Lord, when Joseph brought his aged father Jacob before Pharaoh, Pharaoh asked how old he was, and Jacob answered with a striking phrase: the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years; the days of the years of my life have been few and evil. He called his life a pilgrimage, a sojourning, as though he were a traveler passing through, not a settled resident. Jacob saw his life as a pilgrimage through this world, holding this life as a sojourner rather than a permanent home. Show me how Jacob viewed his life: as a pilgrimage, a sojourning through this world. He did not speak of his years as a settled possession; he called them a pilgrimage, the years of a traveler passing through. This world was not his final home; he was a sojourner in it, journeying toward something beyond. That view shaped how he held his life and its troubles. Take that view to my heart, for it reshapes how I hold this world. I can live as though this world were my permanent home, clinging to it and settling into it as though I would never leave; but Jacob saw his life as a pilgrimage toward a home beyond. To see my life as a pilgrimage is to hold this world more loosely, knowing my true home lies beyond. Keep me from settling into this world as though it were my permanent home; help me hold it as a sojourner, a pilgrim passing through, Lord, as Jacob called his life a pilgrimage. Let the sense that I am a pilgrim loosen my grip on this passing world and set my hope on the home beyond.