The Surprising Family Reunion

~~~ Genesis 46:1-7, 28-30 ~~~ Psalm 37 ~~~ Matthew 10:16-23 ~~~

 

'...do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak...'

 

It is God the Father who speaks through Joseph

 as he finds himself in an awkward situation.

The very family members who wanted him dead were standing before him. 

Joseph does not respond in a typical human way instead

because it is God speaking through him he shows compassion to his brothers.

 

Because God is giving Joseph the words eventually

he is reunited with his elderly father, Israel.

 

 Jacob's name was changed to Israel after wrestling with an angel.

Jacob, the son who deceitfully received his father's blessing.

 

God upholds this blessings bestowed on Jacob...years later.

 

Jacob must have been overjoyed when he was told that Joseph was alive.

Not only is Joseph alive, but he is now in a position

 to save his family from starvation.

 

God assures Jacob that he should return to Egypt.

...Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt...

 

God was working in the lives of all parties in this story for generations.

 

 

In many ways Joseph is foreshadowing the qualities

we would see in the person of Jesus.

 

This is a mirror of the return of the prodigal son.

The difference is the son goes out to welcome his father.

...Joseph hitched the horses to his chariot
and rode to meet his father Israel in Goshen.
As soon as Joseph saw him, he flung himself on his neck
and wept a long time in his arms.

 

When our eyes are opened to our sins, 'running' to reconciliation

is the way we 'run' to meet our Father.

 

When we are forgiven,

 we too want to cling to our Father in gratitude and love.

We want to experience the arms of our Father surrounding us.

 

Israel can finally find rest in the God of his father.

He is humbled by how God had fulfilled his father's blessing.

A blessing that he truly did not deserve.

 

God shows Israel, now late in his life, just how a brother

should treat another brother.

Joseph acts with love, compassion, and justly.

 

God will provide for all that we need.

Not only will he protect us in times of turmoil;

he will give us the correct words to say.

 

Take delight in the LORD,
and he will grant you your heart’s requests.

 

Blessings are available whether you are the father

running out to meet your prodigal or

if you are the son rushing

out to meet your estranged father.

 

Blessings are in peaceful reunion.