Genesis 44-45
Okay, here's the monkey wrench God throws into the works of Joseph's living his "good life" as an Egyptian. His brothers show up! He thought he could put this whole Hebrew past behind him, but God had other plans.
So now God is using Joseph to bring his family together in Egypt. Joseph instinctively knows from his relationship with the Lord that there is strength in unity. So he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, "Do not quarrel on the journey" (45:24).
He knew his brothers. He knew how they would argue and fight with one another since they were all boys together. So he admonishes them to not air their differences on this journey, but to let the joyousness of the situation unite them as a family. They had been divided long enough.
Bringing them all to Egypt is how God is preserving this family alive, and He will bless them in this land as long as Joseph lives and is remembered. They will grow from being a family into being a great Nation.
This story gives me hope that my family may some day come together and be united in love for one another. But God will have to do this, if it is ever to come to pass. Only He would be able to heal these rifts, as He preserved and grew Jacob's family into the Nation of Israel.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
