Story: Jacob and
Joseph Reunited
Passage: Genesis 46:28-34
Characters: Joseph, Jacob, Joseph’s
whole family
Summary: Jacob sent
Judah ahead of them to Joseph. Joseph
met Jacob in Goshen. He wept on his neck
for a long time. Israel was ready to die
in peace. Joseph told his family to tell
Pharaoh that they were shepherds so that Pharaoh would let them stay in Goshen
since shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians.
Notes: It is
interesting that Judah led the way for Israel to enter Egypt. Judah appears to have taken his place as the
one in the Messianic line in the family.
The meeting between Joseph and Jacob was emotional. Jacob’s whole attitude was transformed. He was ready to die in peace for he knew
Joseph was alive. Jacob had spent twenty
years grieving the loss of his son. Now
that he is face to face with the son he thought was dead, he is at peace
again. God had formed the Egyptian
culture in such a way that the Israelites could develop and grow untainted by
the culture of sin around them.
Ironically, He accomplished this throught he Egyptians’ pagan religion
which deemed sheep as unclean. It is
ironic that while the shepherd Israelites were unable to obey God’s commands to
not mix with the sinful cultures of the Canaanites around them, the Egyptians
were able to follow their convictions and not mix with the shepherds. God was preparing an entire culture for the
Israelites.
Questions: Did Jacob
regain his trust in God at this point?
Why did the Egyptians find sheep unclean? What emotions went through Joseph when he saw
his father? How much stronger were they
than when he saw his brothers, specifically Benjamin?
Lessons: We can learn
a lot about trusting God through this story.
Jacob’s family was dealing with a famine and now they were living in a
foreign country, but God was behind it the whole time. They had no idea what a huge role this played
in God’s redemptive plan for the world.
I think sometimes we have no idea how our circumstances fit into God’s
plan. Sometimes our misfortunes are not
misfortunes at all in the big picture.
If we take our focus off of ourselves and instead focus on God like Joseph
did, we can be used to our full capacity for God. If we focus on our circumstances like Jacob
did, we are almost useless.
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