“I never want to leave you again, Father!” Joseph clung to him, surprised at his father’s strength when he found himself encased in his arms.
Jacob cupped his veined hands over Joseph’s smooth cheeks and gazed into his eyes. “Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive.”
Joseph wiped the tears from his eyes and took his father’s hand in his. “Tomorrow you will meet my family and dine with me. And may our God grant you many more years so that you can hold my children’s children on your knees.” He kissed him, then told his brothers what they should say to Pharaoh when they met him. They could not live near him at the palace because Egypt’s people had such an avid disdain for shepherds, though he had never understood why.
How he wished he could live among his family instead of so far away in a house too grand for him. But he was where God had placed him. Looking at his brothers and his father once more, he realized that not only had God fulfilled his dreams, but He’d given him the greater blessing of reunion and reconciliation.
In all of his life, he would never consider anything better than the peace he had right now. The past was forgiven and the future bright. He had been restored as a beloved member of a family he thought he would never see again. He belonged in a way he never had. And they belonged to him. There could be no better feeling as long as he lived.
End Note
Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and take you back to the land of your fathers.”
Genesis 48:21
Four hundred and thirty years later, Joseph’s bones left Egypt with Moses as he led the people of Israel back to the land of their fathers, just as Jacob had said.
Then [Jacob] gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.”
When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
Genesis 49:29–33
Note to the Reader
Joseph’s story doesn’t end where I ended this book, but that’s simply because it’s an epic tale and the rest has mostly to do with blessings and burials. And though I did not include those details, which can be found near the end of Genesis, Joseph’s life was also one of blessings and burials.
He was blessed to be the firstborn son of the favorite of Jacob’s wives. You can read more about that love story in Genesis 29–35 and my fictionalized version in Rachel, book 3 in the Wives of the Patriarchs series. Some of Joseph’s story carries over from hers, but they can be read independently.
Joseph was also blessed with two separate dreams from God. In a way, that was the greatest of his blessings, because those dreams gave him a glimpse of what God had for his future. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see it then. Just like we cannot tell when our present is going to turn into great blessing in our future.
Joseph probably spent more time, as Jacob did, feeling as though he had been cursed and ended up in a horrible place. Slavery had to feel that way to a young man used to privilege. To anybody, for that matter. No one is so low or so poor that they deserve to be another person’s slave. But too often man’s inhumanity to man wins out, as we see with what happened to Joseph. His brothers let their jealousy explode into murderous hatred, and Joseph paid the price.
One thing that struck me most in the telling of this tale is the truth we see in Galatians 6:7–8. God declares through the apostle Paul, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
Judah fled from his father’s house, and while the Bible does not give us his reasons, we do know that it happened right after his bright idea to sell Joseph into slavery and lie to his father afterward. The shame and guilt had to have followed him, because eventually he knew the only way to feel right again was to make things right with his father. Judah was a classic case of the prodigal son. He reaped what he sowed, but like the prodigal son, he realized his sin and returned to his father, repentant.
Though Joseph was also a sinner—no one escapes that fact—he was the exact opposite of Judah in his behavior. Some consider him a type of Christ. In truth, we can’t really fault Joseph for much as we read Scripture. He was spoiled, yes. But he was humble too, and that is where he seems to mirror the character of Jesus. And he mirrors that character best when he forgives Judah, the ringleader betrayer, along with every one of his brothers.
Isn’t that what we love about a story? We want a happy ending. We don’t always get one in this life, but when we find true redemption, reconciliation, and restoration, we find the best story there is. We see this in Joseph’s life, which ultimately points us to Jesus.
May we see the contrast between the prodigal brother and the princely one. They each have a lesson to teach us if we are looking for it.
In His Grace,
Jill Eileen Smith
Acknowledgments
This book will always carry with it the fact that it was written during the unprecedented year of 2020. You might think that having more time on my hands—as in, there were few places we could go—meant that this book would have been written with ease and ahead of schedule. The truth is, this is the first time I had to ask for an extension to finish all of my drafts. (I edit a book many times.) And for some reason I also needed prompting, which is a strange feeling for someone who has always been highly self-motivated.
So my first thanks go to my dear friend and fellow author Hannah Alexander for meeting with me daily for months to “time-write” in order for both of us to get our books done. I don’t think I could have made my deadline without your support and motivation.
Special thanks also go to my editor Rachel McRae for giving me a few extra weeks to turn in the manuscript when a family need arose and took me away from finishing on time. I am so very blessed to work with everyone on the Revell team, including Jessica English, Michele Misiak, and Karen Steele. We’ve worked together a long time now, and I am most grateful for each one of you.
Wendy Lawton, as always, my thanks to you for taking me on and being so supportive throughout this adventure called publishing.
To my dear friend and fellow author Jill Stengl, thank you for brainstorming, chatting, and reading so many of my manuscripts ahead of time. I am so grateful that God brought us together as friends.
It is hard to list all of the people who have covered me in prayer through the years. One friend, whom I’ve never met in person because she lives in England, entered my life a few years ago. Avril Hooper and I pray for each other and share a love for Jesus and a love of writing. I often thank God for her and friends like her. She specifically prayed for this book, for which I’m most grateful.
To the rest of my friends—2020 was a hard year to stay in touch, but I thank all of you who worked to do so. We have a new appreciation for talking over a computer.