Free Bible Commentary
“Genesis 45:24-28”
Categories: Genesis“So he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, ‘Do not quarrel on the journey.’ Then they went up from Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. They told him, saying, ‘Joseph is still alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.’ But he was stunned, for he did not believe them. When they told him all the words of Joseph that he had spoken to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. Then Israel said, ‘It is enough; my son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.’”
---End of Scripture verses---
“Do not quarrel on the journey.” (verse 26) Joseph displayed tremendous wisdom in this admonition for peace among his brothers. He had previously overheard Reuben chastising the rest of them for their ill treatment of Joseph: “Reuben answered them, saying, ‘Did I not tell you, “Do not sin against the boy”; and you would not listen? Now comes the reckoning for his blood’” (Genesis 42:22). Joseph had every reason to suspect that this same type of finger pointing would occur on the ride home since they would most certainly be forced to finally tell their father the awful truth when they returned to get him. Condemning and reprimanding people for their past mistakes only serves to stir up unnecessary strife and bitterness, and besides, these brothers they each shouldered their own personal weight of guilt.
“Joseph is still alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” (verse 26) Put yourself in Jacob’s place and just imagine for a moment that you believed your favorite son had been dead for over two decades and then someone walks in and tells you he has been alive the whole time! Okay, and not only is he still alive, he rules over the dominant world government from the seat of power in the great capital city! Is it any wonder that he was shocked into a state of stunned disbelief?! Of course, Jacob wanted to believe that Joseph was alive more than anything in this whole world, no matter where he might be and what he might be doing. For Israel it was more than “enough” that his beloved son was “still alive” (verse 28). If only that could be true!
“When they told him all the words of Joseph that he had spoken to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.” (verse 27) It wasn’t until his sons pointed Israel’s attention in the direction of the caravan of donkeys parked out in the “driveway” loaded down with “the best things of Egypt” (verse 23) that Israel snapped out of his stupor and his “spirit…revived.” With the news that his favorite son was still alive and doing well, and the evidence that verified the truth of that report, Jacob had not felt so alive in decades! When he originally received the news that Joseph had been torn to pieces by a wild animal, “Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days” and “he refused to be comforted” (Genesis 37:34-35). With that report he had sunken into the deepest, darkest pit of his life, and with the wonderful news that Joseph lived, his spirits soared to the utmost heights of brightness of bliss.
“Right here, the die is cast. Jacob and all the children of Israel would go down into Egypt, where the long sojourn God had foretold to Abraham would begin. Note also, that Jacob is pointedly referred to here as ‘Israel.’ It is the covenant relationship of God to this whole people that dominates every word of the Book of Genesis. What a wonder is this record of HOW it happened! God over-ruled the hatreds, jealousies, and envious wickedness of men to place one of Jacob's sons on the throne of the land of Egypt, who, in time, brought the whole posterity of Israel to live there. The Egyptians detested foreigners, especially shepherds; and, thus there would be no easy possibility of Jacob's posterity forming marriages with pagans, as had already begun to happen in the case of Judah. Not only that, in Egypt, they would have the protective arm of a powerful central government which would secure them against hostile attack. The people would be pressured from outside by the culture where they were, by the prejudices of the people, absolutely rejected. Under those divinely appointed conditions, they would indeed grow into a mighty nation! How marvelous are the ways of God.” (James Burton Coffman)
Please read Genesis 46:1-7 for tomorrow
Have a wonderful day!
-Louie Taylor
