"Joseph wept." [Genesis 50:17]
His father's last wish before he dies is that Joseph will forgive his brothers. And Joseph wept. Does he cry for the loss of his father? Or that his father doubted him enough that he felt he had to ask for his sons' forgiveness? Does he cry because he's reminded of the terrible pain that he endured at being rejected by his brothers? Or does he cry for all of their pain -- the pain of a father who saw his children at odds and, perhaps, suspected it was because of his favoritism shown to his youngest son; the pain of a son rejected by his brothers and sold as a slave; the pain of brothers having to live a lie for all those years? Joseph wept.
Even the great in Egypt, God's chosen, is not insulated from the pain of a family in conflict.
His brothers throw themselves down and offer to be Joseph's slaves. Ironically -- For their children will in fact become the slaves of Egypt. It's also ironic that by selling Joseph into slavery, Joseph's brothers have ultimately sold all of their children into slavery.
Joseph was the man for his time -- a ruler of Egypt during a challenging time of famine, a leader born of a dysfunctional family, a man of foreign birth and name who rose to leadership. Sound familiar?
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