Genesis 45 opens on an emotionally charged note. Joseph realizes that he loves his brothers. After all his angry posturing towards them, he breaks down. Joseph is weeping, and his brothers are, understandably, terrified. Here’s my question. What made the difference for Joseph? I think Judah’s love and kindness touched Joseph so profoundly. Kindness is a language everybody understands.

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Have you ever said, “If I ever see __________ again, it will be too soon.” Just fill in the blank. In our story today, Joseph’s brothers go to Egypt. Joseph hadn’t seen his brothers for 22 years. The last thing they expected was to see each other again! In their wildest imagination, they never expected to see each other again, but here they were. There were a lot of reasons why these people never wanted to see each other again. (Genesis 42-44)

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At this point, Joseph was 28 years old and had been in prison for about 8 years. He interpreted the dreams for two of the prisoners – the cupbearer and baker. He told the cupbearer that he’d be restored to his position and the baker that he would be put to death. The baker was put to death, and the cupbearer was restored to his position in service to Pharaoh. And really Jospeh had only one request…which was to put in a good word on his behalf. He said, “Mention me to Pharoah and get me out of this prison.” (40:14). Chapter 40 ends on a sad note, “The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.” (Genesis 40:23). We learn from Joseph that God is with us wherever we go, and he expects obedience, not perfection. We shouldn’t measure success by what others think of us or our station in life, but by what God thinks of us. Joseph truly believed the Lord was with him and working through him. (Genesis 40-41)

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The first 17 years of Joseph’s life were like a fairytale. Of his eleven brothers and one sister, his dad loved him best, and everybody knew it. His life was good. But his life quickly shifted from fairytale to nightmare. But why is this story important? If they didn’t know how they ended up in Egypt, they’d know after hearing the story of Joseph. And Joseph predicted that God would take them back to Canaan, and he did…470 years later. Joseph believed that while people may do hurtful things to us, God always uses those things to get us where he needs us to be. Genesis 38-39

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Joseph’s brothers didn’t even fake it with Joseph…they hated him and were jealous of him. Worse of all, they were indifferent to him as a human. They thought seriously about killing him. Then, they decided to make some money from him by selling him to the Ishmaelites. 

In this passage, Joseph comes across as a spoiled, arrogant know-it-all. He had two dreams, both of which indicated that he would be the patriarch and head of the family one day. Out of ten boys, he declares himself to be the one they all would look up to. But while Joseph may have come across as conceited, let’s not give the brothers a free pass. Their plan of revenge was even more despicable than was his conceit. Now, yes, in a roundabout way, and through his brothers, Joseph got what God had coming to him.

Genesis 37

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Before we close out this section about the life of Jacob…before we turn our attention to his boys, we need to take a brief look at chapters 35–36. This chapter begins with God reiterating his promises to Jacob. 

Why did He bother to do that? To remind us that Jacob was still the child of God's promise despite all the dirty water that had gone under the bridge. Despite lying to his father. Despite how he treated his brother. Despite his lies. It was a new day…and he was a new man in many ways. When God called him, he knew what he was getting. He knew that Jacob’s calling would take some time to be formed. 

God would do what he said he would do! That’s what I want us to remember. God will do what He says he will do. He did for Jacob and will for you too! (Genesis 35-36)

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As we continue the saga of Jacob, we come to a critical moment in Jacob’s life. He had done a lot of things that he probably wasn’t proud of and now he was having to face some of those things. Chapter 33 opens with these words, “Jacob looked up and there was Esau…” (33:1). The last time Jacob had seen his twin brother Esau was about 20 years ago. If this were an epic mini-series, there would be a flashback to when he deceived his father, Isaac, by pretending to be Esau and stole Esau’s blessing. (Genesis 33-34)

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The first half of his life could be summed up in one word, “con man.” Sure, he was a family man and businessman, and his name will be changed to Israel later in life, but what stands out most during that time of his life is that he was a hustler. He was calculating, sneaky, and shrewd at every turn! He manipulated people and situations to get what he wanted. All he needed to succeed was opportunity and rationale, and he was off to the races. Point is…Jacob was driven to use whatever means necessary to gain power and get what he wanted. But…he was about to meet his match. The tables are about to turn on him. (Genesis 29-30)

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It’s important to remember that even though God chose Jacob before he was born, He still needed to bring him to a place where he would encounter God and be radically changed from the inside out. The turnaround in Jacob’s life began with a crisis. He was stuck. He was afraid. And, in that situation, he did what many of us do when we are stuck and afraid—he prayed. Here’s the thing…He didn’t deserve to be loved by God. He knew that. Here’s what happened. Genesis 31-32

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Jacob was a wicked, deceitful, dishonest, and promiscuous man. Yet, despite his terrible behavior, he always came out on top. Jacob’s story is one long litany of self-centeredness, deceit, and success. As we read it, we need to ask the question: “Why?” Why was such a rotten character blessed so profusely? Through this process, we might gain insight into ourselves and our beliefs about God. Genesis 27-28

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