God Will Surely Visit You

[Mr. M]

Genesis 50:24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land

unto the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up

my bones from hence.

[H6485]-pakad=to visit; [H6486]-pekuddah=visitation

The Israelites for 400 years in Egypt clung to this prophetic promise from Joseph. This covenant oath between Joseph

and the people continued as a memorial and became the words used by God to introduce Moses as their deliverer.

The fulfillment of this promise becomes a remembrance of the Lord and is prominent in the narrative.

Exodus 3:16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord God of your fathers,

the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you and seen

what is done to you in Egypt”.

Exodus 4:31 So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel

and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Exodus 13:19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel

under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”

The Good News in the Old Testament

Job 10:12 You have granted me life and favor, and your visitation has preserved my spirit.

A deeper comprehension of this word is needed to fully grasp the statement: “your visitation has preserved my spirit”.

Pakad appears 90 times in the book we call Numbers, and is the basis for using this title.

The first four chapters recall a series of censuses that the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron to take of the Congregation.

Numbers 1:2 Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families,

by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;

3 From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron

shall number them by their armies.

Verse 2 describes a numerical count “take the sum” and is a head count. “By the polls” literally means “by the skulls”.

Verse 3 uses the word pakad, “number them by their armies”. So then what is the relationship between “to visit”,

and “to number” when the word pakad appears? The word more accurately means “to make an assessment”;

to observe to determine the mental, physical, and spiritual condition.

The key here is the phrase “that are able to go forth to war”. More than simply a head count,

it is a skills and abilities assessment.

And so in Exodus 4:31, “He looked upon affliction”. The visitation is concerned with the state of being.

This correct understanding of visitation forms the basis for ministry and fellowship.

James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble,

and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

This verse does not limit ministry to orphans and widows, but to all who are oppressed, with these two

as prominent examples from the Law.

Visitation also aids in defining the role of leadership within the Congregation.

Matthew 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, 

to give them meat in due season?

Remembering the words of Christ:

John 4:32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.

34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

Many translations use “your care”, rather than “your visitation”.

This must be clarified to include the understanding that the visitation can result in discipline, and even judgment.

For example;

Jeremiah 10:15 They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

And so this is found in the New Testament

Luke 19:43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you,

surround you and close you in on every side,

4 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone

upon another, because “you did not know the time of your visitation.”

1 Peter 2:12 Having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers,

they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God on the day of visitation.