Gen 46-47 The brothers return after their shopping trip to Egypt with news that Joseph is alive! Imagine Jacob hearing this news! Because of their past, Jacob was stunned, and it took some convincing before Jacob could believe them. He might have tossed that invite back in their faces if they had not returned with the wagons. They had much to atone for, and it was hard for Jacob to trust them. Would this be just another of their ploys to gain his permission? Is it hard for you to believe someone who has broken your trust? Perhaps that is why God spoke to Jacob in a vision during their stop in Beersheba and said: Do not be afraid.

When God renewed His covenant with Abram, He added some extra details about his descendants. [Gen 15] They would be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they would end up being enslaved for 400 yrs. We wonder if Abraham ever shared about their pending slavery, and perhaps it could be why God spoke to him in a vision to say: “do not be afraid to go down to Egypt.”

Like many of us, the brothers have been untrustworthy, but God’s Word can be trusted even if men cannot.