Jacob is about to be reunited with the son he has mourned for more than twenty years.
Joseph asked his family to come to Egypt and to settle in the area of Goshen, a place of beautiful rolling pasture land where their flocks will flourish. Since ancient Egyptians considered all other races inferior to theirs, and since to them nomadic shepherding tribes were too "unclean" to associate with socially, Jacob and his sons and their wives and his sons' children will be segregated from the native Egyptians during their sojourn in that country. This is the divine protection of the Lord, for they will be kept in a cultural bubble there where their own customs, traditions, and religion can remain intact. Settling in the pastoral region of Goshen will also protect the Hebrew people four centuries later when the Lord rains down plagues upon the Egyptian-inhabited areas of the country and upon the capital city and the wicked, blasphemous king of that day.
As the family approaches Egypt's border, Jacob chooses Judah to go ahead of him as his representative. Judah, the son of Jacob's whose family tree will someday contain the Messiah, has earned his father's respect. All of Jacob's ten oldest sons have changed since their wild, angry, younger days, but Judah has changed the most. Judah has "manned up" more than any of the others and he has clearly become mature enough and responsible enough to hold the reigns of family leadership. "Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen." (Genesis 46:28a) It seems to me that although Pharaoh welcomes Joseph's family to his country, he doesn't especially want to parade them and their caravan and all their livestock down the main street. I think he prefers to have them quietly go on to their assigned homestead without stirring up a lot of attention and curiosity in the capital city. I am sure Jacob wants to see Joseph more than he wants to see anyone or anything in the world right now, but he's come a long way and he's elderly and tired. Judah is still in his prime and can quickly go to Joseph's palace for directions to their new home. After waiting more than twenty years to see the face of his long-lost son, Jacob is content to wait a few hours longer while he rests and regains his strength for the reunion.
Judah obtains the directions, hurries back to his family, and leads them into Goshen while Joseph heads out to meet them there. "When they arrived in the region of Goshen, Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel." (Genesis 46:28b-29a) Joseph has anticipated this day ever since he learned Jacob was still living when his brothers appeared unexpectedly before him asking to buy grain. Now the day has finally come and I picture him riding toward Goshen as fast as his horse can pull his chariot with his heart pounding and tears of joy ready to spill out of his eyes.
Joseph's family is getting ready to unpack and set up their first camp in Goshen when his chariot pulls up. I think as he halts his horse his eyes are searching the crowd for his gray haired father. Joseph is a well-respected and very dignified government official, second only to Pharaoh himself, but I believe he leaps from his chariot almost before it comes to a full stop and runs to his father. "As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time." (Genesis 46:29b) When Moses says he wept for a long time, he means it. Joseph wept for a long time. Joseph was unwillingly and cruelly torn away at the young age of seventeen from the only home he'd ever known and from the father who doted on him. He never expected to see Jacob's face again. Until his brothers appeared before him asking to buy grain, Joseph didn't know whether Jacob was dead or alive, but he knew that if his father was still living he was still mourning the alleged death of his favorite son. How this must have broken Joseph's heart, imagining his father's enormous grief. How it must have troubled Joseph knowing his ten older brothers were wicked enough to lie to an old man about the fate of his son. How it must have worried him knowing his younger brother Benjamin was living in a household where he too might be hated and done away with. He has struggled with these thoughts for more than two decades but he needn't worry any longer. The family has been made whole, by the overwhelming love and the indescribable mercy of Almighty God, and Joseph weeps tears of joy and relief and gratitude for a very long time, until he has no tears left to shed.
In this moment, Jacob feels completely satisfied with the way his life has turned out. If he had to die right now, he'd die a happy man. "Israel said to Joseph, 'Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive.'" (Genesis 46:30) Jacob isn't saying he wishes the Lord would take him on to heaven today. He's saying that the biggest wish of his entire life has come true. Day after day after day, for more than two decades, he's wished Joseph were still alive. And now he knows his son is alive. He's saying, "What more can I ask for? What more could the Lord possibly do for me than He's already done? If the Lord never did another thing for me, I wouldn't complain. My fondest dream has come true. I am no longer bereaved. If I had to leave this world right now, I'd be leaving it in peace."
Is there any better feeling in this world than a feeling of relief? Is there any better night's sleep than the one we enjoy when a disaster has been averted or when a dreaded event has been entirely avoided or when test results come back good instead of bad? I believe Jacob has the best night's sleep he's had in over twenty years. I believe Joseph and all his brothers do too. The Lord has done great things for them. All the worries and disputes and bitterness and deception and dysfunction of this family's past are in the past to stay. They will not be separated from each other again. Now they need only look toward the future and toward building a new life in a new land with the help of the Lord who has been, and will always be, faithful to them.
No comments:
Post a Comment