20. Each sends their sons to find their elder brother. How did his unintentional decision change human history?

“You shall join these two wooden staffs together so that they become one in your hand.” [Colossians 37:17]

In early winter, the Hebron wilderness was cold and cold, valleys empty, and the sky gloomy. Jacob sat in his tent, lost in thought by the coal fire, with seventeen-year-old Joseph beside him, watching over his nearly ten-year-old younger brother Benjamin. Seeing their father deep in thought, the two children without a mother quieted down sensibly, listening to the cold wind howling outside the tent. Jacob was old, already 108 years old, and no longer had the energy to herd cattle and sheep. Nearly 40 years have eroded him from a robust man into a white-haired old man.

For the first twenty years, he worked for his uncle; for the last twenty years, he was wandering about, enduring all kinds of hardships and life-and-death separations. Forty years ago, he deceived his father’s blessing; forty years later, his parents were gone, and his beloved Rachel had gone, leaving Joseph and his brother Benjamin behind. But my father’s blessing from years ago still rings in my ears: “May all nations serve you, may all nations bow before you, may you be master of your brothers, may your mother’s descendants bow before you.” ”‭Before I knew it, I had grown old; it is time to offer my blessings to the children.

But how can God’s word be fulfilled? His elder brother Esau married at forty, and now his twelve sons each have many descendants, swelling east of Emin, forming a prominent clan. As for himself, although he had twelve sons, his eldest son Lü was not yet thirty, and his youngest son Ben Yamin was not yet ten.

The whole family set up tents as camps, herding in the mountains and fields, drifting among cattle and sheep. Father, how can your blessing come true? God, how will Your promise be fulfilled? How should I bless my children? How could the eldest Lü deserve the greatest blessing?

After Rachel’s death, while I was grieving, he committed adultery with her maid Bilah. Bila has given birth to two sons for me! How can I bless the second son, Simeon, and the third, Levi, who acted on their own to massacre the city and show their sword, becoming cruel by nature? What about the other children? Didn’t my son Joseph often tell me about their misdeeds? They all make me sad. Thinking of this, Jacob couldn’t help but fix his gaze on the two children inside the tent. They were the flesh and blood of the deceased Rachel, the two youngest children, and the comfort of his later years. Seeing them is like seeing Rachel.

Benjamin was still young, and Joseph was already an adult at seventeen. He balanced firmness and gentleness, was steady in conduct, upright and incorruptible, and simple-hearted—just what I liked. Especially the two strange dreams Joseph had—how can they be explained? The sun, moon, and eleven stars bow to him! Unscrupulous, he told his brothers all his dreams, only to be resented by them. From then on, the second and third brothers saw Joseph like a hungry wolf seeing a lamb—they were only wary of me, an old man, and didn’t dare bully him. But how could I ever feel at ease letting Joseph and them go out to graze?

The wind outside the tent grew even fiercer, causing it to tilt and sway. Jacob’s train of thought was interrupted. Listening to the sounds outside, his previously worried heart turned anxious. Ten children had gone out to herd cattle and sheep, and after more than a month, there was no news of them. Before leaving, they said they would go to Shejian and trade with the merchants. If the weather had been nice, they would have returned long ago.

The weather had been bad these past few days, and with their experience, they should have come back earlier. Why don’t they send a servant back to tell me about their situation? What if they get trapped in the wind and snow? Jacob lifted the tent and looked outside. Dusk was vast and desolate, covering the vast fields, with the cold wind howling, yet not a single living thing was seen.

Jacob returned to the tent, sat down in thought, and after a moment called out to Joseph: “My son Joseph, tomorrow morning you should go out and look for your ten brothers.” They went north to Shechem to graze, leaving the area three hundred li away.

They might be on their way back, so you might run into them halfway. Even if they’re still in the same place, you’ll walk to them in five or six days.

The weather was bad, so I told them to hurry home so I wouldn’t have to worry. “My son, put on the colorful cotton robe I made especially for you; it will keep you from the cold wind.” This cotton jacket is yours alone; your brothers will surely see it from afar and welcome you from afar. “And son, you must not walk at night, because wild animals roam at night.

Set out early in the morning, and by evening be sure to find a place to stay at the household, using the silver here to reward them. When you see your brothers, come back first. That way, I can know they’re all well and see you no longer worrying. Before Jacob could finish, a thunderclap suddenly roared, reaching the clouds. Benjamin instinctively hugged her brother and burst into tears.