Part 3c Jacob returns to the land of his birth on the way he has an encounter with God and has a name change.

Part 3c Jacob returns to the land of his birth on the way he has an encounter with God and has a name change.

In this last part on Jacob we will be looking at Jacob's

journey back to the land of Canaan, and his wrestling with the Angel of the Lord who is the pre incarnate Christ.  

God's reaffirming the covenant with Jacob and 

establishes the name change He has given to Jacob.

1.  In Genesis 31 we pick up the story of Jacob.
As this is a very long chapter I will put down some points with the verses that go with them to highlight the different sections of importance in this chapter.

⦁ When Jacob left his uncle’s house after many years of service for his two wives and for his uncle’s flocks and herds.
Jacob was told by the Lord it was time for him to return back to his country.
Genesis 31:1-7

1 And he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father's; and of that which was our father's hath he gotten all this glory.

2 And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.

3 And the Lord said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.

4 And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock,

5 And said unto them, I see your father's countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me.

6 And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.

7 And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.

He also had enough of being ill used by his uncle and he and his wives decided to call it a day and head back to the land he came from taking with him the family God had given him plus the flocks and herds that he had built up over the years.  So the fugitive was returning home after being away for about twenty years.
Genesis 31:7-18

7 And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.

8 If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked.

9 Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.

10 And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.

11 And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.

12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.

13 I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.

14 And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house?

15 Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money.

16 For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children's: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

17 Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels;

18 And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.

Jacob was concerned that his uncle may try and stop him from leaving and stop him from taking his family, so he fled when Laban was busy elsewhere. 
 Giving him time to get away to have a good head start on him.
It must be noted that when he left him with his family in Genesis 31 to head back home, Rachel took the household gods with her.  Why she took the gods I don't know possibly to get back at her father.

⦁ As whoever had these gods would be blessed or believed to be blessed and would inherit the family’s fortunes.  See note on Genesis 31:30 below.
 When Laban came looking for Jacob and accusing him of stealing the gods,
 God warned Laban in a dream the night before he met up with Jacob not to speak ill by first speaking good then bad to Jacob. 
Genesis 31:20-31

20  And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled.

21 So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead.

22 And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.

23 And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.

24 And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

25 Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead.

26 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?

27 Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?

28 And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.

29 It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

30 And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?

31 And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me.

So when Laban came to Jacob, Jacob said search the tents etc and whoever had the gods would be cursed. 

⦁ Naturally Laban didn’t find them even though Rachel had the gods but sat on the camel saddle making out that she couldn’t get up due to her having the time of month.  
What point I am making here is that Jacob unwittingly cursed Rachel by saying whoever has the gods let them be cursed.  By saying this he brought a curse down on Rachel and that is perhaps why she died in child birth later on in Genesis chapter 35.
Genesis 31:32-43

32 With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.

33 And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the two maidservants' tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent.

34 Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not.

35 And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched but found not the images.

36 And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?

37 Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both.

38 This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.

39 That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.

40 Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.

41 Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

42 Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.

43 And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle are my cattle, and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children which they have born?

The rest of the chapter is about the covenant the two made between them as a witness between the two parties.  You can read the rest of the chapter for I will not be putting it in this section.

A note about the importance of the household gods Rachel stole taken from footnotes from the Amplified bible.

Genesis 31:30 Why was Laban making such a great commotion about some small idols? It had never been satisfactorily explained until the answer was found in the excavated Nuzi tablets (J. P. Free, Archaeology Illuminates the Bible), which showed that possession of the father’s household gods played an important role in inheritance (W. F. Albright, “Recent Discoveries in Bible Lands,” in Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible). One of the Nuzi tablets indicated that in the region where Laban lived, a son-in-law who possessed the family images could appear in court and make claim to the estate of his father-in-law (various authors cited by Allan A. MacRae, “The Relation of Archaeology to the Bible,” in American Scientific Affiliation, Modern Science and Christian Faith). Since Jacob’s possession of the images implied the right to inheritance of Laban’s wealth, one can understand why Laban organized his hurried expedition to recover the images (J. P. Free, Archaeology and Bible History).

Genesis 35:16-21

16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.

17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.

18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.

19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.

20 And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.

21 And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.

⦁ As I have mentioned above Jacob left Laban after twenty years of hard labor and his wages were changed numerous times by his crafty uncle.  Yet he left his uncle with a large family and numerous flocks and herds, maid servants and men servants.   
The Lord kept His promise to Jacob and He had looked after him in all of this time now He was bringing Jacob back to his father’s country.
Remember this was what God said to Jacob He will do for him when he was on the way to his uncle's place at Padan-aram, when he spent the night in Bethel.  You can go back to part 3b to read what God said to Jacob in Genesis 28:10-15 and what Jacob vowed he would do for God Genesis 28:16-21.

⦁ Now we come to an interesting point in Jacob’s journey up to now he has been only looking out for himself but in Genesis chapter 32, he was going to have an encounter with God that will change his life forever.

2.  Jacob has an encounter with God in the guise of an Angel Genesis 32:22-32

⦁ Jacob after twenty years away from his family and the land of Canaan is finally heading back home.  He is not sure if his brother still wants to kill him.

⦁ So he sends on a number of herds of livestock to try and sweeten his brother up with a gift.

⦁ He sends his wives and children on ahead of him over the brook Jabbok.

⦁ He has an encounter with the Living God in that he spent the night wrestling with the Angel of the Lord and the Lord at the break of day asked that Jacob release him.  However Jacob asked the Lord for a blessing before he would let him go and the Lord blessed Jacob and gave him a name change as well.  

⦁ Jacob is no longer to be called supplanter but Israel a prince who contends with God and man and prevails.  God also touched Jacob’s thigh causing him to limp the rest of his life so that he won’t forget the night he wrestled with the Angel of the Lord and prevailed.

Genesis 32:24 - 32 
24 And Jacob was left alone and a Man wrestled with him until daybreak. 

25 And when [the Man] saw that He did not prevail against [Jacob], He touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob's thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with Him. 

26 Then He said, Let Me go, for day is breaking. But [Jacob] said, I will not let You go unless You declare a blessing upon me. 

 27 [The Man] asked him, What is your name? And [in shock of realization, whispering] he said, Jacob [supplanter, schemer, trickster, swindler]! 

 28 And He said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob [supplanter], but Israel [contender with God]; for you have contended and have power with God and with men and have prevailed. 

 29 Then Jacob asked Him, Tell me, I pray You, what [in contrast] is Your name? But He said, Why is it that you ask My name? And ][the Angel of God declared] a blessing on [Jacob] there. 

30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel [the face of God], saying, For I have seen God face to face, and my life is spared and not snatched away. 
 31 And as he passed Penuel [Peniel], the sun rose upon him, and he was limping because of his thigh. 

32 That is why to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the hollow of the thigh, because [the Angel of the Lord] touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh on the sinew of the hip. 

⦁ Could it be that one of the future Messiah’s names is Israel, that Israel was one of the names the pre incarnate Christ as the Angel of the Lord’s was known by?  That the Angelo of the Lord gave Jacob one of His own names as el is part of the name of the Lord which is in Israel. 

Isaiah 49:3 
3 And [the Lord] said to me, You are My servant, Israel [you who strive with God and with men and prevail], in whom I will be glorified. 
 This verse mentions Israel as being one of the names of the servant of the Lord who is the Messiah.  Just a thought I would throw out there to consider.  
Also when Jacob asked the Angel for His name He said to Jacob why do you ask My name which makes me wonder if Israel was His own name that He gave to Jacob.

⦁ Jacob walked away from that encounter a changed man, he met up with his brother peaceably, but instead of going to Bethel where his father was living.
Jacob went to Shechem this was where his daughter Dinah was violated by the chieftain’s son of that town.  Genesis chapter 34 goes into details of what happened and how Jacob’s two sons Simeon and Levi dealt treacherously with the men of that town.  

3.  God reaffirms covenant with Jacob, reaffirms Jacob’s name change to Israel. Genesis 35:1-15

⦁ In Genesis chapter 35 God once again appears to Jacob and promises to look after him and to bless him, to make him a great people. 

⦁ He reaffirms the name change from Jacob to Israel.  
A side note on why God named Jacob Israel twice.
When God establishes a thing He does it twice like He has established the name change with Jacob to Israel twice.  
This is the show that it has been fixed by God this name change it has His stamp of approval on it.  Nowhere else in the bible do we read of a person's name being given twice to them by God.  Not even Abraham had his name change affirmed to him twice by God.
This name change was important to God because it was to become the name of the people group and great nation that God was going to raise up from Abraham through whom will come the Messiah.  Who will be His Son Jesus Christ the Savior of the world and the future priest king to rule the earth.
There is another account in Genesis where God does establish something and He shows what He intends to do by relaying the message twice and that was when Pharaoh had the same dream twice of seven good years followed by seven bad years.  
It is interesting that God used Joseph to interpreted that dream that Pharaoh had as Joseph was Jacob's son to Rachel.  
He was sent by God ahead of Jacob and his siblings down to Egypt to prevent his family from dying out from starvation due to the hard famine that was to come upon the earth.  
Joseph's name means may He add and God added to the family of Jacob and made them a numerous people while they were in Egypt. 
 I will give a more depth study on Joseph when I post the study I have written on Joseph and Moses in the next series of posts after these lessons on the Patriarchs.
Joseph states that when God establishes something He does it twice to show that it is fixed.  I will put the verses down here.  
Genesis 41:28-32

28 This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.

29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:

30 And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;

31 And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.

32 And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

So that you can see there is link between God naming Jacob Israel twice and God showing a famine coming on the land of Egypt in a dream twice to Pharaoh. 
 That is to say that when God establishes a thing He does it twice.  Whether it be a name change or a severe famine coming on a land.
To shows that the name of Israel is eternal, it is Holy, it is divine, it cannot be wiped out, removed, renamed the people or the land.  For God will see to it that the name Israel and Judah will be re established and it will remain forever.  It has God's divine seal of approval on it.
So those who think that they can push Israel into the sea, that they can destroy her people and try to take her land and city of Jerusalem for themselves.  
They cannot do so for God will deal with them what they plan to do to His people and land and His city of Jerusalem,  He will do to them and will make a complete end of them.
Here are some verses from Isaiah, Jeremiah about what God will do to those people or nations who will try and destroy His people and try to take the land for themselves and from Joel what God will do to those who will try and divide the land.  
Get the picture it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God especially when He is contending for His children His people woe betide anyone who dares do harm to them.  Especially when they call for Him to save them by His Son's name at the very end of this age.
Isaiah 49:25-26

25 But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

Jeremiah 30:7-24

7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:

9 But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

10 Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.

11 For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

12 For thus saith the Lord, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.

13 There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.

14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.

15 Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.

16 Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.

17 For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

18 Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.

19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

20 Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.

21 And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the Lord.

22 And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

23 Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.

24 The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he hath done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.

Joel 3:1-21

 1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,

2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

3 And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.

4 Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;

5 Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:

6 The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.

7 Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:

8 And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the Lord hath spoken it.

9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:

10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.

12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.

13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lordis near in the valley of decision.

15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

16 The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

17 So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

20 But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord Dwelleth in Zion.

Getting back to Jacob being renamed Israel.
In this passage of Genesis 35 Jacob is telling his household to put away their foreign gods, they are going to Bethel to raise up an altar to God there.
In this statement Jacob is acknowledging that El Shaddai is his God, he now knows Elohim personally as he has seen El Shaddai’s provision and protection for him and his household. 

⦁ Elohim is no longer just the God of his father Isaac or his grandfather Abraham, He is his God, he has had an encounter with Him and He can trust Him with his life

⦁ Also God promises to give to Jacob and his descendants, now named Israel the land that He had promised to give to Abraham and Isaac. 

⦁  So you can see the lineage that the promise of the land is going through, the covenant promise of the land was to Abraham then to Isaac the son of promise, then it went to Jacob renamed Israel and from him to his twelve sons, who are the Hebrew people.  
They were not called Jews until the end of the first exile, when they came back from captivity in Babylon.  The tribe that was carried off into captivity into Babylon was the tribe of Judah this is where the term Jew comes from.

⦁ The full account of Jacob going to Bethel and meeting with God is given in Genesis 35:1-15 for brevity’s sake I will include only the verses where God appeared to Jacob and reaffirmed his name change from Jacob to Israel and the promise of the land being his and his descendants after him.

Genesis 35:9-15

9 And God [in a distinctly visible manifestation] appeared to Jacob again when he came out of Padan-aram, and declared a blessing on him. 

10 Again God said to him, Your name is Jacob [supplanter]; you shall not be called Jacob any longer, but Israel shall be your name. So He called him Israel [contender with God]. 

 11 And God said to him, I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you and kings shall be born of your stock; 

 12 The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and to your descendants after you I will give the land. 

13 Then God ascended from him in the place where He talked with him. 

14 And Jacob set up a pillar (monument) in the place where he talked with [God], a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it and he poured oil on it. 

 15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God had talked with him Bethel [house of God].

⦁ In the above verses God states who He is that He is God Almighty the same God his forefathers knew and He commands Jacob to be fruitful and multiply the same command He gave Adam in the garden.  God wanted Jacob to be fruitful to multiply to prosper that nations and kings will come from him.  
Through the tribe of Judah will come not just a line of kings but also the chief of all kings the King of Kings will come through Jacob's stock.  
For God will send His Son to the earth to be born as a man through the seed of woman.  He will return to this earth as the king of all Kings from the line of Judah, the son of Jacob the son of Isaac the son of Abraham.

⦁ In my next post I will do an overview of the three main Patriarchs.  The post will be called where to from Here? 
Looking at what we are to do with the people of Israel today.  
As history is fast repeating itself, just as things were turning against the Jews leading into the second world war.  
So too things are turning more and more against not only the people of Israel but Christians as well.  God may want us who love Him to help His people during the time of the Great Tribulation to preserve a remnant alive for Him.  More on this in my next post.

⦁ After my final post on the patriarchs I will continue on in the study on the Olive Tree of Israel with the story of Joseph Jacob’s son and how God preserved the family of Jacob alive through Joseph going ahead of them down to Egypt.  The last days of Jacob will be included in this part as well.  

⦁ This next part of the history of Jacob’s family where Joseph goes down to Egypt is the transition period where the roots meet the trunk of the tree the interval of 400 years of silence – that is there is no further record of God communicating with the Israelites until the time of Moses - from the time the Israelites went down to Egypt to the time of Moses.