Joseph - episode 6

In the last post Joseph revealed himself to the brothers, in an atmosphere of forgiveness and new dialogue. Now the brothers have to return to Canaan to bring their father, the rest of the family and their properties and move to Egypt, in the land of Goshen, where they would be fed by Joseph. We are in chapter 45 and onward of the Book of Genesis. «They went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father. They told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” His heart fainted, for he did not believe them. They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them. When he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived. Israel said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” Israel traveled with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac. God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” He said, “Here I am.” He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation. I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph will close your eyes.”». So Jacob can finally hug his beloved son Joseph, after about twenty years since he was taken. «Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen. He presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”».

 

 

God has remained faithful to the promise made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In Egypt Israel will become a great people, the twelve sons of Jacob are the founders of the tribes of Israel (who will keep their names). Jacob can die in peace, blessing his family before expiring; he will be buried in the land of Canaan, as he wished, in the cave where Abraham and Isaac were lying with their wives. «Joseph lived in Egypt, he, and his father’s house. Joseph lived one hundred ten years. Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph’s knees. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am dying, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” So Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt». With these verses the book of Genesis ends; the Israelites are not intended to remain in Egypt, it is not the land which the Lord has promised to their fathers. God confirmed it to Jacob into the visions and Joseph also is aware of it: when the visit of God would occur the Israelites would have to carry his bones out of Egypt. That “visit” is told in the book of Exodus and will start several years after Joseph’s death with the call of Moses.

The Patriarchs’ cycle has shown us that God’s selection criteria are not similar to human ones. To say it with St. Paul «God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise. And God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong. And God chose the lowly of the world, and the despised, what is considered to be nothing, to bring to nothing what is considered to be something, that no flesh might boast before God» (1Cor 1,27-29). Abraham was a seventy-five year oldnomad when the Lord called him; Sarah his wife was barren, as well as Isaac’s wife Rebekah and Jacob’s wife Rachel. The Lord’s blessing never passed to the eldest son, as it should be according to the rules: Isaac is the second born, as Jacob. Joseph is one of the younger sons; neither is Judah, that Jacob blesses in a particular way (Gen 49,8-12) the firstborn. Jacob blesses Ephraim, Joseph’s second born, more than Manasseh, his eldest son (Gen 48). The God of the Covenant shows his power in human weakness.

The story of Joseph teaches us that brotherhood is not something we have by birth only, but must be achieved with hard commitment by all and with the help of some ingredients. First: a mature dialogue, made by good and truth (Joseph and the brothers find it in Egypt: before there were only evil speaking and a silence full of hate). Second: the willingness to forgive the inevitable wrongs suffered by the others (in the case of Joseph his kidnapping; in the case of his brothers the preferential love between Joseph and his father Jacob). Third: the altruism by those who do not hesitate to offer their lives for the others’ sake (as Judah did for Benjamin).

In the next post we will start to read the book of Exodus.