1 So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, "My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; they are now in the land of Goshen."
2 And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh.
3 Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were."
4 They said to Pharaoh, "We have come to sojourn in the land; for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan; and now, we pray you, let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen."
5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.
6 The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen; and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my cattle."
Joseph's brothers had been shepherds in Canaan. It is the business of our mind faculties (Jacob's sons) to tend those thought aggregations (flocks, herds) that pertain to our vitality. There were no sheep in Egypt, but Pharaoh made them "rulers" over his cattle. Cattle represent physical strength, which like all the powers of man on the natural plane, must be spiritualized. The faculties, having come down into a more material state of consciousness (Egypt), take dominion over and lift up the animal thoughts and tendencies in the body and unify them with Spirit. This is done by a transmutation of quality and is attained by right thinking, by putting the "cattle" under the control of the thoughts of reality or Spirit, represented by the Israelites.
7 Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
Joseph brought his father to the ruler, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. This shows that the power that rules the body, under the material regime, rules in obscurity or is without spiritual understanding. When imagination (Joseph) brings the higher understanding (Jacob) to the body consciousness (Pharaoh), the higher blesses the lower. Thus, the father and the brothers of Joseph took up their abode in the land of Egypt, and Joseph nourished them there. The imagination, which is our faculty of increase, when established in Truth, prepares the way for us. It inspires, encourages, and sustains the other faculties in us when they fall into a seemingly material phase of being, and ultimately brings about the spiritualization of the whole organism, mind, soul, and body.
8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How many are the days of the years of your life?"
9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my sojourning are a hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning."
10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.
11 Then Joseph settled 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.
It is thought that Rameses is the same name as Raamses, which means "son of Ra," "son of the sun," "sun's emanation." Rameses represents a consciousness of substance in the domain of the physical Ego (Pharaoh).
12 And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their dependents.
This "sun" or "light" consciousness, which in Pharaoh and Egypt is obscured or veiled by the life on the lower sense plane, works in conjunction with the higher religious thoughts (Hebrews) that are in servitude to the darkened sense consciousness symbolized by Egypt, and so this reserve substance (Rameses) is built up in Egypt.
13 Now there was no food in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine.
14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.
In the early stages of regeneration there are times when the developing soul has exhausted its resources and the outer world no longer satisfies. When it reaches this point man has to turn within and appropriate from the higher principles that which they have to give.
15 And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, "Give us food; why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone."
16 And Joseph answered, "Give your cattle, and I will give you food in exchange for your cattle, if your money is gone."
17 So they brought their cattle to Joseph; and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the asses: and he supplied them with food in exchange for all their cattle that year.
First he gives up to the higher principles the power and strength of the natural man (symbolized by money and cattle), then he draws on the fixed forces, the land (representing the body), until it is finally realized that the higher principles really are in authority.
18 And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year, and said to him, "We will not hide from my Lord that our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my Lord's; there is nothing left in the sight of my Lord but our bodies and our lands.
19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be slaves to Pharaoh; and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land may not be desolate."
20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe upon them. The land became Pharaoh's;
21 and as for the people, he made slaves of them from one end of Egypt to the other.
The center of the great solar plexus (Pharaoh) is also the conservator of substance and life in the organism.
When man is spiritually famished and feels the lack he is eager regardless of cost to go to the inner reservoirs of stored-up substance for sustenance. First he gives up to the higher principles the power and strength of the natural man (symbolized by money and cattle), then he draws on the fixed forces, the land (representing the body), until it is finally realized that the higher principles really are in authority. In the last analysis the "sun" (solar plexus) consciousness is actually the great distributor.
22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh, and lived on the allowance which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.
23 Then Joseph said to the people, "Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.
24 And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones."
The men (thought forces) were given seed to sow the land, and Pharaoh (the great distributing Ego) permitted them to have four fifths of the harvest for sustenance, while retaining one fifth (in the subconscious) to meet any usual demands.
25 And they said, "You have saved our lives; may it please my Lord, we will be slaves to Pharaoh."
26 So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh's.
The man now becomes aware of the presence of this subconscious Ego that, when spiritually instructed by the imagination (Joseph), will handle all the processes of rebuilding the body. Finally this becomes an established law. The priests, representing the higher spiritual life, are not subject to this law.
27 Thus, Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly.
28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred and forty-seven years.
Jacob's age is significant. The number seven symbolizes fullness in the world of phenomena. It is so universally used as a mystical number that its basis must be in some fundamental arrangement of the natural world.
29 And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son, Joseph, and said to him, "If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh, and promise to deal loyally and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt,
30 but let me lie with my fathers; carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place." He answered, "I will do as you have said."
The central thought in the two passages above is that Jacob is giving up old ideas and taking on new. The life of Jacob in a certain development was drawing to a close, and his desire was that his body be buried with his fathers in the cave of Machpelah. This indicates that a certain phase of the illumined intellect is sinking back into the subconscious (Machpelah). All experiences in life that have spiritual qualities and all realities gained in the land of unity (Goshen) are preserved in the subconscious. Joseph's placing his hand under the thigh of Jacob symbolizes the truth that the illumined intellect needs the encouragement and support and power of the imagination in order to effect spiritually the change that is about to take place.
31 And he said, "Swear to me"; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.
When this is granted, Jacob bows down in gratitude and thanksgiving to the Holy One and rests in the realization that all is well.