Till Shiloh Comes (43 page)

“He's changed, of course. I had remembered Joseph the way we last saw in Hebron, seventeen years old and slender with a fresh, glowing face.”

“He is changed much, my son?”

“As a man should, he has grown up. But you will know him. He is the same Joseph, although taller and heavier than we remember him.” He looked up and squinted into the distance. He did not speak for a moment, then jumped up and shouted, “It's him! It's Joseph!”

All the brothers rose to their feet and began looking at the road. A cloud of dust was coming, and as Jacob got painfully to his feet, he watched until he saw the glittering and flashing of the sun on metal. The chariot that bore the two men was pulled by two magnificent black horses. There were runners in front and Egyptian soldiers in the rear carrying long spears. As Jacob shaded his eyes, he said, “Is it my son, Benjamin? Is that Joseph?”

Benjamin put his arm around his father to support him. “Yes, Father, it is Joseph.”

Jacob watched as the tall, broad-shouldered man got out of the basket of the chariot, wearing beautifully colored clothes, a heavy gold chain around his neck, flashing in the sunlight.

“I will go to meet him,” Jacob said.

Jacob moved forward, his vision focusing on the son he had given up to the grave so many years earlier. He forgot his limp and forgot his age, and everything around him seemed to blur and disappear except for the sight of that face he had dreamed of and mourned over for so many years. He saw the clear eyes, the smooth face of a mature man accustomed to command, and as he moved forward, he saw the smiling lips form the words, “Father.”

As Joseph came close, he opened his arms, and Jacob moved forward, his arms extended. As the two men clung to each other, all of the brothers stood back. It was a scene in which none of them had any part. Benjamin watched as Joseph, towering over his father, enfolded him in his arms, but then he saw Joseph look down into the face of his father with tears in his eyes.

Jacob reached up and put his hand tentatively on Joseph's cheeks. He was looking into his face as if searching for something long lost. At first he saw an Egyptian face, but then as tears filled the big man's eyes, he realized—they were Rachel's eyes! Yes, they were the eyes of his beloved, his True Wife, long buried beside the road but here again in the eyes of the big man who held him. Jacob's own eyes filled with tears, and he let his head fall on the shoulder of his long-lost son, and he wept, his body quivering.

As for Joseph, it was not surprising that his own tears flowed. He had lived through terrible things, but always in the back of his mind or hidden deep in his heart was the hope that one day he would hold his aged father in his arms. The memories flowed back and forth through his mind, and suddenly, still clinging to Joseph, Jacob lifted his head. “You are my son. I see you again after all the years of sorrow.”

“We will put those years behind us, Father,” Joseph whispered. “Now we have found each other. We will never again be separated.”

“It is the great and almighty El Shaddai who has done this,” Jacob whispered. He touched Joseph's face again and said, “It is almost as if I were seeing my beloved Rachel again. I see her in Benjamin too, but more so in your dear face.”

As the two stood there for a moment longer, Joseph realized that Jacob was trembling with either emotion or fatigue. “Come, let us sit down,” he said to his father, pointing in the direction of the shady spot by the pool.

“No,” Jacob said, standing away. “Let me first look at you.” His eyes took in Joseph's green-striped costume, his yellow headdress with its gleaming ornaments, the costly gold chain, and finally the gold buckles on his sandals. “Joseph,” he said, “I have always feared the land of Egypt, and I fear it now.”

“Why do you fear it, my father?” Joseph said quietly. “I have brought you here for nothing but good.”

“I am afraid of the world outside of El Shaddai.”

“But El Shaddai owns the whole world. He made everything!” Joseph smiled. “I know what you fear—the idols of Egypt, the sins of the people—but it need not be that way with us.”

“I will depend on you, my son, to keep our people pure, as I am sure that you have kept yourself.”

“We will do that together. Come now. It has been a long journey, and I have prepared a place for you.”

Joseph looked up and led his father back to where his brothers were waiting and greeted them with great joy. “You have done a marvelous thing! Now we will go into the city and have a great feast and rejoice this night.”

****

After the arrival of Jacob and his band to the capital city, the days passed quickly. Joseph spent much time with his father, and the old man seemed to feed on Joseph as a starving man will feed on food. He touched him often, putting both of his hands on Joseph's cheeks, staring into his face and smiling, a smile that came from deep inside his heart.

Joseph settled the entire band in the land of Goshen, the most beautiful pastureland in all of Egypt, and he met with his father and brothers to give them strict instructions as to how they should act when they went before the pharaoh. “We must be wise,” he said, looking around the group. His father sat to his right, his eyes filled with pride as Joseph spoke. Joseph turned to him. “I have asked the pharaoh for an audience, and some of you will go with me to see him, including you, of course, Father.”

Simeon, who had spent more time in Egypt than the rest, said, “It is a fact, brother, that the Egyptians do not admire shepherds.”

“No, they do not, but for what reason I cannot tell. I will put it to Pharaoh that it would be well if he would appoint our tribe as overseers over his own flocks.”

“What is he like—this pharaoh?” Judah asked curiously.

“He is a winsome man, and he will welcome my family. I will take you, Judah, and you, Benjamin.” His eyes went over the rest of his brothers, and he chose Reuben and Zebulun to go as well.

Jacob sat and listened as Joseph gave instructions, and finally he said, “You have told him about our God?”

“He is very interested in God. Yes, I have told him everything, Father. He is a charming man, as charming as one can be with all that power.”

“Power usually corrupts a man,” Jacob said, “but it has not in this case, I suppose.”

“Not as much as usual,” Joseph said with a smile. “Come, now. We will go in three days.”

****

Pharaoh looked down at the brothers and father of Joseph from his throne and smiled. “I welcome you to Egypt, family of Joseph.”

The sons bowed low, and Jacob bowed as much as his aged back would allow.

Pharaoh studied them carefully. He was surrounded by a ring of palace officials and was adorned in glorious attire. He finally asked, “What is your occupation?”

Judah spoke up. “We are shepherds, Your Majesty. We have been brought up from our youth to tend animals.”

Pharaoh turned and declared, “The land of Egypt is before you. Take the very best of the land and make your home now in the rich land of Goshen.”

Joseph then nodded to his father, and Jacob moved forward slowly. He stood before the pharaoh, and the two men made a dramatic contrast—Jacob, the man who had spoken to the true God, and the young pharaoh who was so confused about God he could hardly frame his own thoughts.

Joseph watched closely and saw that there was a contest of wills between these two. He knew his own father could be stubborn beyond belief, and the pharaoh was accustomed to having the world bow down to him. But Joseph realized that Pharaoh Abadmon was surprised by Jacob's response. He was accustomed to people being stunned in his presence, and Jacob obviously was not.

Pharaoh finally said, “And how old might you be, father of the Provider?”

“The years of my pilgrimage on this earth,” Jacob said strongly, “are a hundred and thirty, sire.”

“And you are a servant of God, I am told.”

“I serve the almighty God, the supreme One who created all things.”

Pharaoh was overwhelmed by this old man, but he could not have said why. He stared at him briefly, searching for an appropriate blessing to confer on him, then finally said, “May your god give you many more years of life.”

Jacob studied Pharaoh, then lifted his hand and blessed him in return. He turned and walked away with a sort of majestic formality that left Pharaoh staring after him.

When the brothers had all bowed their way out of the throne room, escorting their father, who simply walked away with his back to the great god-king of Egypt, Pharaoh turned to Joseph and said, “Your father is not like other men.”

Joseph bowed slightly. “When a man has wrestled with God face-to-face, he cannot remain unchanged.”

“You have told me that story,” Pharaoh said with sadness in his eyes. “That old man has seen your god, and I, who long to see this god you speak of more than I long for anything else, cannot find him.” He turned quickly and walked away.

Joseph stared after the pharaoh and shook his head. “The most powerful man in the world and yet in some ways the saddest.” He hurried out of the throne room to join his father and brothers.

“Have you sent for my son Joseph?” Jacob's voice was thin, and he blinked at the face that hovered over him.

“Yes, master. He will be here soon.” Tamar looked down into the aged face of Jacob and asked, “Will you sit up and take nourishment now?”

“Yes, I believe I could eat a little.”

Tamar helped Jacob to a sitting position and fed him a little gruel. As the old man ate, his mind seemed to be far back in the past, and once he looked up at Tamar and asked, “Daughter, do you ever think of our home back in Hebron?”

“That was a long time ago—seventeen years,” Tamar said. She wiped away some of the gruel that had fallen into Jacob's beard and said, “God has blessed us here in Egypt.”

Jacob nodded. “I have been content here, but my heart, now as I approach death, goes back to the place of my birth and of my manhood.” He fell silent and sat very still. He had sent for his son Joseph, for he knew the time had come when he must leave this earth. Sitting beside him, Tamar said, “I hear animals approaching.” She got up and looked out the window of Jacob's house and came back at once.

“It is Joseph,” she said, “and his two sons are with him.”

“Yes,” Jacob replied. “I told him to bring them.”

Tamar stood back as the three men entered the house. Joseph spoke to her pleasantly, and then he went at once to his father's bed. While he spoke to his father, Tamar studied the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh. They were in their twenties now, dressed in the colorful and expensive garments of the court, with gold bands on their arms. Both of them stood back respectfully as Joseph embraced his father.

“Did you bring your two sons?” Jacob asked.

“Yes, they are right here. Are you ill, Father?”

“Not ill. Just old.” Something came into Jacob's face, and he asked, “Do you remember the promise you made to me, my son, about after I die?”

“Yes, I remember it well. I am to take you back to the tomb of your fathers.”

“Yes, I wish to lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me with them.”

“I will do as you have asked, Father.”

The promise seemed to relieve Jacob, and he said, “Bring your sons forward.”

Joseph gestured and the two young men approached the bed.

Jacob could no longer see well, but he embraced his grandsons and kissed them. He looked at the two young men and was silent for so long that Ephraim and Manasseh grew nervous. Then Jacob said, “And now these two sons who were born in the land of Egypt are mine just as Reuben and Simeon are mine, and their children shall be called mine.” Jacob studied the three men, and tears came into his dim eyes. “I never expected to see your face again, Joseph, and here God has let me see your children also. Blessed be the God of our fathers! Come forward.”

Joseph had prepared for this moment. He placed Ephraim toward Jacob's left hand and Manasseh toward Jacob's right hand so that Manasseh, the firstborn, would receive the blessing.

But Jacob suddenly reached out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head, and he crossed his arms so that his left hand rested upon Manasseh's head. Then, before Joseph could move, he said to them, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the Angel who has delivered me from all harm—may he bless the boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly upon the earth.”

Joseph was disturbed. “Father, this is the firstborn.” He put his hand on Manasseh. “Put your right hand on his head.”

But Jacob, with his characteristic stubbornness, shook his head. “I know it, my son, I know it. From him shall also come a great people. But his younger brother will be greater, and his children will become a multitude of nations.”

Joseph was disappointed, but there was nothing he could do when his father was in a mood like this. He could only accept the old man's blessing as it was given, and then he took his leave.

As soon as the three were gone, Tamar, who had heard all of this, came and saw that Jacob was very tired. “You must lie down, Father,” she said. “You must rest.”

“Joseph is disappointed, but God is always right. He has chosen Ephraim over Manasseh, the firstborn.”

Tamar put the old man to bed and stood staring down into his face. She knew his time on earth was short, and she also knew that before he died, he would call all his sons together, and at last he would identify which of his twelve sons would receive the blessing and through whom would flow the stream that would culminate in Shiloh, the One who would redeem His people. She covered the old man up and turned away, her thoughts deep within her.