So Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt, taking with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan. – Genesis 46:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 6, 2018): Genesis 46

On March 22, 1765, The Stamp Act of 1765 was passed by the British Parliament. The Act passed through the House of Commons with a 205-49 vote. The House of Lords passed the Act unanimously. The Stamp Act was aimed at the British Colonies, including the American Colonies, and went into effect on November 1, 1765. The Act required that all documents in the colonies be printed on paper that bore a British stamp. It was to be applied to everything from legal documents to Magazines to playing cards. Essentially, “The Stamp Act” was a tax that was justified as a way of paying for the presence of the British military who maintained peace and protected the citizens of the colonies.

In North America, the Act was criticized because it taxed the citizens without giving them representation in the British Parliament. “No taxation without representation” became the cry of those who opposed the implementation of the Act. “No taxation without representation” would evolve from a cry against a tax to a revolutionary cry of a colony about to become a nation. “No taxation without representation” was the cry that would give birth to the United States.

Although it seems counterintuitive, a nation in Palestine was essentially born on the day that its founder and namesake, Jacob (Israel), left Palestine. The problem that God possibly had to fix was that the sons of Israel were becoming too comfortable with the local gods of Canaan. They had freely intermarried with the local people, and as a result, these foreign gods had made their way into the homes of the sons of Jacob. And maybe the best way to allow this family to become a nation was to isolate them together away from the influence of these foreign gods. And that is exactly what would happen in Egypt. Although originally they would be welcome in Egypt, the people would not readily accept them there. There would be little opportunity for them to mix with the local people. They would be given their own land and would have to rely on each other and their God for survival.

Eventually, this burgeoning people would become slaves in this new land. And like the American cry of “No taxation without representation,” the descendants of Jacob, now slaves, would begin to cry out to their God for relief. And with the addition of a new leader, Moses, they would transition back to Palestine and become a nation.

But it is likely that none of that would have happened without Jacob packing up his possessions and leaving the land that God had promised to him and his descendants, just as a change in policy by King George III in 1765 might have prevented a Revolution. The future of a people was changed when Jacob left Canaan. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 47