How was Joseph able to give his family the good land of Goshen?
Joseph, holding Egypt’s second-highest government position, controlled grain during the famine. Because his family faced starvation in Canaan, he used his authority to give them the fruit of the land, Goshen, the fertile region around the Nile. Scripture also shows God’s sovereign plan directed Jacob to go down into Egypt.
Les explains that Joseph had the grain and food, while the eleven brothers, Jacob, and the family were about to starve in Canaan. They learned there was grain in Egypt, and they ended up going down there. Joseph, being the second-highest man in Egypt, was able to give them the very fruit of the land around the Nile River, which the Old Testament called Goshen. Those twelve sons then became the setting for the population explosion seen later in Exodus. Les also points out that in God’s sovereign plan, God told Jacob in Genesis 46:3 not to fear going down to Egypt, because He would make of him a great nation there.