Chapter XIV.
Israel, having elevated himself, comes to the well of the oath, where he also sacrifices. God comforts him with promises and assures him that Joseph's eyes will be closed by his hand. Seventy-five souls enter Egypt, and finally Israel gathers his sons to him. And what are the mysteries of all these things?
81. And Israel, raising himself up, came to the well of the oath, and offered a sacrifice to the God of his father Isaac (Gen. 46:1). He is rightly elevated who hurries to Christ. Faith goes before devotion. He elevated himself first and then offered sacrifice. For he sacrifices well who has sought knowledge of divinity.
But God spoke to Israel in a vision at night, saying: Jacob, Jacob. And he said: What is it? And the Lord said: I am the God of your fathers, do not be afraid, go down to Egypt; for I will make you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will bring you up again forever (Gen., XLVI, 2 et seq.). Just as they read, they do not understand; and they reject Moses whom they praise, when they refuse to believe his writings. What is more evident than the fact that in this place they are invited to pass into the holy Church of God, and those who were previously confined within the narrow boundaries of Judea migrate to the people of God, who, gathered from the whole world, from all nations and peoples, has become a great nation? Finally, their sound has gone out into all the earth. Therefore, the people of the Jews are called by their sons, Jacob, that is, by Peter, Paul, John, and are invited to grace.
83. Our very own God Himself also encourages him with His own oracle, promising him the profitable fruit of his faith, saying to him: Joseph will lay his hand upon your eyes (Gen. XLVI, 4) . The holy Patriarch was not anxious about who would close his eyes; though even with simple understanding, moral feelings can be expressed. For if we often desire to embrace those whom we love, how much more are we delighted by the touch of our dear ones, when we are about to depart from this body, and how comforted are we by this provision for the journey? However, it is allowed for us to understand mystically that the Jewish people will come to know God afterwards. For this is a mystery, that the true Joseph will place his hands over his eyes, so that he who did not see before, may now see. Come to the Gospel (John 9:6), read how that blind man was healed, to whom Jesus laid his hands and took away his blindness. For Christ does not lay hands on those who are dying, but on those who will live; or if on those who are dying, then rightly so; because we die first, in order to come alive again. For we cannot live to God unless we die to sin first.
84. So seventy-five souls descend into Egypt, as it is written, and this is the mystical number of forgiveness; for after so much hardness, after so many sins, they would be deemed unworthy unless forgiveness of sins were granted to them. Judah, that is, the confession of error, meets him. The Jewish people send him as a forerunner. Therefore, Joseph, that is, the true arbiter and interpreter of divinity, meets him; for confession now precedes those whom perfidy formerly possessed. For Christ is the interpreter of divinity, because no one has ever seen God; except the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he has explained Him. In the last times, He will receive the Jewish people of old age, weary, not according to their deserts, but according to the choice of grace: and he will place his hands over their eyes, to remove their blindness. He has delayed their healing, so that the one who did not think he should be believed might believe in the end, and lose the prerogative of the earlier choice. And so the Apostle says: 'A blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles should come in, and so all Israel should be saved' (Rom. XI, 25).
The actions of the patriarchs are therefore mysteries of the future. Finally, Jacob himself says to his sons: Gather together, that I may tell you what will happen to you in the last days. Gather together and listen, O sons of Israel (Gen. 49:1-2).