Why did God change His instruction and now permit Jacob to go down to Egypt?
God permitted Jacob to go down to Egypt because the time had come for the nation of Israel to multiply into a great nation, and God had already told Abraham this would occur in Egypt. Jacob’s family was still small, so Egypt was where Israel would begin to blossom.
Les teaches that this is quite a change. Earlier God had said, 'Don't go to Egypt. Stay in the land of promise, and I'll bless you.' But now, in a future generation, it was time for the nation of Israel to explode in population. God had told Abraham that this would be down in Egypt. So God came back to Jacob and said, 'Fear not to go down into Egypt,' explaining, 'I will there in Egypt make of thee a great nation.' Les emphasizes that this statement shows where the nation of Israel began to come into bloom—in Egypt. Up until this time there were only Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Jacob came back with the 12 sons and their children, which was still not much of a nation.