A Tearful Reunion
So Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; and he presented himself to him, and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.
It had been many years since Joseph had seen his father. He was torn away from his family at an early age and must have wondered many times if he would ever see him again. Now he was being reunited and shed many tears of joy as he hugged his father.
The next verse indicates Jacob’s incredible relief at once again seeing Joseph alive!
How many years had Jacob been grief-stricken by the loss of his favorite son? How many flashbacks did Jacob have to the fateful day when his sons had presented Joseph’s bloodstained coat to him? How many tears had he shed, believing he would never see his son again?
And now, against all odds and every expectation, Jacob was looking upon the face of the child he thought he had lost forever years earlier. For so long, Jacob had believed Joseph to be dead—and to see him again in the land of the living must have been emotionally overwhelming.
How many families have experienced Jacob’s pain without ever having the chance to feel the joy of reunion? How many mothers and fathers have endured the indescribable pain of losing a child, knowing they will never again see their precious son or daughter in this life? Parents across the world and throughout time have experienced that incomparable grief—but unlike Jacob’s story, there was never any reunion.
Not yet, at least.
Contained within the pages of God’s Word is the promise of a reunion so incredible, so awesome, that Jacob and Joseph’s tearful meeting will pale in comparison. The dead, “small and great” (Revelation 20:12), will one day be resurrected to life. Friends will be reunited with friends, husbands with wives, and parents with children!
We were reminded in yesterday’s Daily Bible Verse that God never forgets His promises—and this is perhaps His most powerful promise of all—the promise that “all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth” (John 5:28-29).
That world and those reunions are coming. It is a promise you can count on!
To learn more about the coming resurrections, check out our article “Resurrections.”
Tomorrow on the Daily Bible Verse Blog: “Forgiven, Not Forgotten.”
