Genesis 47:13: “There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine.”
Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. The children of Israel became attached to their new homestead and they turned the land of Goshen into a Garden of Eden. God blessed them in every way. Their livestock thrived and so did their families. At the same time the Egyptian population suffered tremendously. They had lost everything on account of the famine, including their freedom.
“I’m part of a government whose ethics I don’t support,” Joseph said to his wife one evening. He had come home from work exhausted and Asenath had dinner served outside, on their private patio, Joseph’s favorite spot.
It was the time of year when the Milky Way was clearly visible at night. The generous amount of stars looked like spilled milk on the horizon. Joseph took in the sight and sighed: “God’s beauty and majesty is written all over the sky. I wonder why He does not use His power to bring about much-needed change in Egypt.”
Asenath offered some grapes to her husband. “You have barely touched your dinner,” she said, “You need to keep your strength up.”
“I’m fine!” Joseph said a bit defensively, “but others are much worse off. It’s the Egyptian population I’m concerned about. Pharaoh’s latest move was to turn his people into slaves. Think about that! First he took the little income they had; then he took their fields and livestock and finally their bodies.”
With a worried look on her face Asenath tried to calm down her husband. “This is not your battle to wage,” she cautioned, “You have saved your relatives from an extraordinary famine, which you have predicted to Pharaoh. It was his choice to listen to your interpretations back then and now it is his choice to follow his son’s lead.” Joseph let out a frustrated sigh: “Yeah – Pharaoh has only ears for his son, and his son hates me.”
For the first time Asenath noticed Joseph’s advancing age. Her energetic and charismatic husband began to look like a tired old man. She got up from her seat, moved behind him and began to massage his tense shoulders, saying: “Let go of things that are not your responsibility. You are not God – you are His servant.” At last Joseph smiled and with a twinkle in his eye he replied: “Thanks for the lecture – and for the massage.”
Times were desperate. In Goshen, impoverished Egyptians had tried to steal wheat from the children of Israel. As a result, it was decided to beef up security around the campsite.
Dan’s and Gad’s shift had fallen on the last watch of the night. Sitting by the campfire, Gad said to Dan: “Our father plans to include Joseph’s sons in his will. What do you think about that?”
“Honestly, Gad, I don’t want to think about it and I can’t stress this enough: I don’t want to talk about it,” was Dan’s sullen reply. But Gad did not drop the topic as requested. He continued: “Here is what I think: History repeats itself. Again we are dealing with our father’s affinity for Rachel’s sons.”
“I said, I don’t want to talk about it!” Dan said indignantly. Gad scoffed: “If you want to continue to stick your head in the sand, so be it! I on the other hand am tired and sick of this situation and will do something about it.”
“There is nothing you can do about it,” Dan countered, “Remember, the last time we did something, it backfired majorly.”
“Well, this time we won’t need to do anything,” Gad replied, “We can just sit back and let Pharaoh’s son do the dirty work.”
In the flickering light of the campfire Gad’s eyes gleamed. Dan blanched: “This is crazy, Gad, and you know it. Pharaoh’s son is a snake. If you work with a snake it will bite you in the back.”
“Keep your voice down,” hissed Gad, “The camp is waking up.”
At the break of dawn the women came out to fetch water and start breakfast. Gad got up and stretched. “I’m off to bed, brother. Let’s talk about this later.”
“Or never,” Dan retorted. Both men had not noticed Benjamin and Judah in the shadows overhearing every word of their conversation.
“Unbelievable!” Benjamin hissed, “I’m gonna kill them!” Judah grabbed Benjamin by the collar and cautioned: “You’re gonna do nothing of the sort, little brother!” Benjamin’s face was flushed with anger. “They deserve to die,” he spat, “They are murderers, the worst kind! They conspire against their own family, their flesh and blood. Traitors!!”
Benjamin tried to escape Judah’s grip, but it was useless. Judah was a big man and he was determined to protect Benjamin from himself. “You’re emotional and you don’t think clearly – that’s a recipe for disaster,” Judah firmly stated, “We need to have a family meeting and discuss everything openly. Together we will decide what is in everybody’s best interest.”
“Fine! Let’s have a family meeting”, Benjamin scoffed, “But in the meantime we need to make sure these two characters are going nowhere.” Judah nodded and said: “Let’s go and bring Gad and Dan to our father.”
Over the years Jacob’s eyesight had become progressively worse and now he needed daily assistance. His daughter Dinah had seen to it that there was always a relative by his side. Today Judah’s daughter-in-law Tamar helped him out of bed. Jacob was having breakfast when Judah and Benjamin arrived with Gad and Dan in tow. Respectfully Judah greeted his father: “Good morning Dad – may we have a word with you?”
“Is this you, Judah?” Jacob replied, “Who else is with you? My eyes are getting worse by the day.” Benjamin spoke up and said: “Dad, it’s me, Benjamin. And we brought along Gad and Dan.”
Jacob’s facial expression turned wary. He set down his breakfast and asked: “What’s the matter? Why this unforeseen visit at this early hour?”
“Unfortunately, we have some bad news, father,” Judah replied. “Gad and Dan conspired against Joseph, and we have caught them red-handed.” Shocked, Jacob asked: “Say that again?” He couldn’t believe his ears. Meanwhile Tamar came out of Jacob’s tent. She had overheard the last few words that were spoken and with one look assessed the situation. She saw Jacob shaking in distress and quickly proposed: “Father, why don’t we go inside? Perhaps we can continue this conversation some other time.” Jacob lamented: “Why can’t my children live in peace?”
“But they do live in peace!” Tamar tried to calm the patriarch down. “Perhaps there are some misunderstandings.” She gave Judah and Benjamin a sharp look and added: “I am sure they can resolve this amongst themselves.” Now Judah and Benjamin felt embarrassed while Gad and Dan stared straight ahead, heads bowed.
Meanwhile Jacob resisted Tamar’s attempts to guide him to his tent. “I need to see Joseph – today,” he demanded. Judah rushed to his father’s side to help Tamar and with a reassuring smile said: “Yes father. We will contact Joseph today.” Jacob leaned against his son and said: “Ask Joseph to bring Ephraim and Manasseh.” Judah nodded and confirmed: “We will see to it at once.”
After Jacob had been led into his tent to lay down Tamar came out and spoke with the brothers in hushed tones. She whispered: “With all due respect – your unannounced visit was a very bad idea. Your father’s health is declining and things like that make matters worse.” Ashamed, the brothers looked at each other and finally Judah apologized. “I’m sorry – we had no idea that Dad was in such bad shape.” Benjamin added: “We will notify Joseph as soon as possible.”