The Story of Esau dramatized (Dallas Seminary)

Dr. Reg Grant, Department Chair, Media Arts and Worship & Professor of Media Arts and Worship, reenacts the story of Esau, emphasizing that those who forgive pry open the door that can lead to reconciliation and peace.

VIDEO by dallasseminary

Patriarhul Iacov (subtitrat)

Viata lui Iacob din Genesa 25-33. Film in limba Engleza cu subtitrare in Limba Romana.

VIDEO by Credinta Expusa

The Story of Jacob (2) the Father of Israel) Genesis 25-33

See Jacob – Father of Israel & Joseph(1)

Post includes charts of the 12 tribes of Israel and the lineage of Jesus, traced back to Jacob.

The Story of Jacob (2)

Click here to read Genesis 25-33, the Biblical account of the life of Jacob.

excerpts  from D.A.Carson’s ‘For the Love of God” Volume I:

by D.A Carson

Genesis 27 is in many ways a pathetic, grubby account. Earlier Esau had despised his birthright (25:34); now Jacob swindles him out of it. In this Jacob is guided by his mother Rebekah, who thus shows favoritism among her children and disloyalty to her husband. Esau throws a tantrum and takes no responsibility for his actions at all. indeed, he nurses his bitterness and plots the assassination of his brother. The family that constitutes the promised line is not doing very well.

Yet those who read the passage in the flow of the entire book remember that God himself had told Rebekah, before the twin brothers were born, that the older will serve the younger (25:23) Perhaps

Jacob blessed instead of Esau

that is one of the reasons she acted as she did: apparently she felt that God needed a little help in keeping his prediction, even immoral help. Yet behind these grubby and evil actions God is mysteriously working out his purposes to bring the promised line to the end he has determined. Certainly God could have arranged to have Jacob born first, if that was the man He wanted to carry on the line. Instead, Esau is born first, but Jacob is chosen, as if to say that the line is important, but God’s sovereign, intervening choosing is more important than mere human seniority, than mere primogeniture.

The name „Bethel” means House of God. The event that gave rise to the name (Gen. 28) was a mixed bag. There is Jacob, scurrying across the miles to the home of his uncle Laban. Ostensibly he is looking for a godly wife–but the previous chapter makes clear that he wishes to escape being assassinated by his own brother in the wake of his own tawdry act of betrayal and deceit. Judging by the requests he makes to God, he is in danger of having too little food and inadequate clothing, and he is already missing his own family (28:20-21)Yet here God meets him in a dream so vivid that Jacob declares,”How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, this is the gate of heaven” (28:17).

For his part, God reiterates the substance of the Abrahamic Covenant to this grandson of Abraham. The vision of the ladder opens up the prospect of access to God, of God’s immediate contact with a man who up to this point seems more driven by expedience than principle. God promises that his descendants will multiply and be given this land. The ulrimate expansion is also repeated: „All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring” (28:14). Even at the personal level, Jacob will not be abandoned, for God declares, „I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back over to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (28:15).

Awakened from his dream, Jacob erects an altar and calls the place Bethel. But in large measure he is still wheeler-dealer. He utters a vow: If God will do this and that and the other, if I get all that I want and I hope for out of this deal, „then the Lord will be my God” (28:20-21).

And God does not strike him down! The story moves on: God does all that he promised, and more. All of Jacob’s conditions are met. One of the great themes of Scripture is how God meets us where we are: in our insecurities, in our conditional obedience, in our mixture of faith and doubt, in our fusion of awe and self interest, in our understanding and foolishness. God does not disclose Himself only to the greatest and most stalwart, but to us, at our Bethel, the house of God.

When I was a child in Sunday School, I learned the names of the twelve tribes of Israel by singing a simple chorus: „These are the names of Jacob’s sons:/Gad and Asher and Simeon,/Reuben, Issachar, Levi,/Judah, Dan and Naphtali-/Twelve in all, but never a twin–/Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin.”

But many more years passed before I grasped how important are the twelve tribes in the Bible’s storyline. Many of the dynamics of the rest of  Genesis turn on their relationships. The organization of the nation of Israel depends on setting aside one tribe, the Levites, as priests. From another son, Judah, springs the Davidic dynasty that leads to the Messiah. Over the centuries, the tribe of Joseph would be divided into Ephraim and Manasseh; in substantial mesaure, Benjamin would merge with Judah. By the last  book in the Bible, Revelation, the twelve tribes of the old covenant constitute the counterpoint to the twelve apostles of the new covenant: this twelve by twelve matrix (i.e. 144, in the symbolism of this apocalyptic literature) embraces in principle the whole people of God.

Jacob meets Rachel by Raphael 1518

But, what tawdry beginnings they have in Genesis 30. The deceit of Laban in Genesis 29, which resulted in Jacob’s marrying both Leah and Rachel, now issues in one of the most unhealthy instances of sibling rivalry in holy Scripture. Each of these women from this family is so eager to outshine the other that she gives her handmaid to her husband rather than allow the other to get ahead in the race to bear children. So self-centered and impetuous are the relationships that another time Rachel is prepared to sell her husband’s sex time to her sister Leah for a few mandrakes. Polygamy has taken hold, and with it a mess of distorted relationships.

From these painful and frankly dysfunctional family relationships spring eleven sons and one daughter (the birth of the last son, Benjamin, is reported in chap. 35). Here are the origins of the twelve tribes of Israel, the foundations of the Israelite nation. Their origins are not worse than those of others; they are merely typical. But already it is becoming clear that God does not deal with this family because they are consistently a cut above other families. No, he uses them to keep his covenantal promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He graciously perseveres with them to bring about his grand, redemptive purposes. The tawdry family dynamics cannot possibly prevent the universe’s  sovereign from keeping his covenantal vows.

In Genesis 32 Jacob is returning home  and he is still frightened half to death of his brother…Jacob left the tents of his parents a single man, taking almost nothing with him, while here he returns home a rich, married man with many children.

But the deepest differences between the two journeys are reflected in Jacob’s changed attitude toward God. On the outbound trip, Jacob takes no initiative in matters divine. He simply goes to sleep (Gen 28). It is God who intervenes with a remarkable vision of a ladder reaching up to heaven. When Jacob awakens, he acknowledges that what he experienced was some sort of visitation from God (28:16-17), but his response is to barter with God: if God will grant him security, safety, prosperity, and ultimately a happy return home, Jacob for his part will acknowledge God and offer him a tithe.

Now it is rather different. True, God again takes the initiative: Jacob meets angelic messengers (32:1-2). Jacob decides to act prudently. He sends some of his people ahead to announce to Esau that his brother is returning. This spawns devastating news: Esau is coming to meet him, but with 400 men.

On the one hand, Jacob sets in motion a carefully orchestrated plan: successive waves of gifts for his brother are sent ahead, with each of the messengers carefully instructed to speak to Esau with the utmost courtesy and respect. On the other hand, Jacob admits that matters are out of his control. Bartering is gone; in „great fear and distress” (32:7) Jacob takes action, and then prays, begging for help. He reminds God of his covenantal promises, he pleads his own unworthiness, he acknowledges how many undeserved blessings he has received, he confesses his own terror (32:9-12). And then, in the darkest hours, he wrestles with this strange manifestation of God himself (32:22-30).

Twenty years or so have passed since Jacob’s outward-bound journey. Some people learn nothing in twenty years. Jacob has learned humility, tenacity, godly fear, reliance upon God’s covenantal promises, and how to pray. None of this means he is so paralyzed by fear that he does nothing but retreat into prayer. Rather, it means he does what he can, while believing utterly that salvation is of the Lord. By the time the sun rises, he may walk with a limp, but he is a stronger and better man.

Jacob’s story with his 12 children, who are the 12 tribes of Israel continues through Joseph. You can read Joseph’s story here (in English-including maps of Joseph’s journey when sold into slavery by his brothers) and you can read an English illustration of Joseph, the  foreshadow to the Savior here; also read a Romanian article (excerpt from book by Iosif Ton- Ce l-a tinut pe Iosif curat, aflat atit de departe de casa? Part 1 & 2). Lastly you can view the story of Joseph and his brothers in a film (English with Romanian subtitles)

The epilogue:

One of the most difficult things to grasp is that the God of the Bible is both personal–interacting with other persons–and transcendent (i.e. above space andtime–the domain in which all our personal interactions with God take place).As the transcendent Sovereign, he rules over everything without exception, as the personal Creator, he interacts in personal ways with those who bear his image, disclosing himself to be not only personal but flawlessly good. How to put those elements together is finally beyond us, however frequentlythey are frequently assumed in Scripture.

When Jacob hears that Joseph is alive, he offers sacrifices to God, who graciously discloses himself to Jacob, once again: „I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes” (Gen 46:3-4).

The book of Genesis makes it clear that Jacob knew that God’s covenant with Abraham included the promise that the land where they were now settled would one day be given to him and his descendants. That is why Jacob needed the direct disclosure from God to induce him to leave the land. Jacob was reassured on three fronts: (a) God would make his descendants multiply into a „great nation” during their sojourn in Egypt, (b) God would eventually bring them out of Egypt, (c) at the personal level, Jacob is comforted to learn that his long-lost son Joseph will attend his father’s death.

All of this provides personal comfort. It also discloses something of the mysteries of God’s providential sovereignty, for readers of the Pentateuch know that this sojourn in Egypt will issue in slavery, that God will then be said to „hear” the cries of his people, that in the course of time he will raise up Moses, who will be God’s agent in the ten plagues, the crossing of the Red Sea, the granting of the Sinai covenant and the giving of the law, the wilderness wanderings, and the (re)entry into the Promised Land. The sovereign God who brings Joseph down to Egypt to prepare the way for this small community of seventy persons has a lot of complex plans in store. These are designed to bring his people to the next stage of redemptive history, and finally to teach them that God’s words are more important than food (Deut 8).

One can no more detach God’s sovereign transcendence from his personhood or vice versa, than one can safely detach one wing from an airplane and still expect it to fly.

Jacob – (1) father of Israel (and of Joseph)

The reunion of Jacob and Esau (wikipedia)

A great over all quick view of Jacob, with charts and all. Coming in the next 2 Sundays are Part 2 – The story of Jacob & Part 3 Joseph – The consequences of sin:

THE DEVISING BROTHER – Gen 25:27-34

• He pressures Esau into trading his birthright.

THE DECEITFUL SON – Gen 27:6-29

• He tricks his father to receive the blessing.

THE DREAMING PILGRIM – Gen 28:10-22

• He sees a ladder set up from earth to heaven at Bethel.
• Angels are ascending and descending upon it.
• God confirms to him the Abrahamic Covenant.
• Upon awakening he anoints a rockpile and vows to serve God.

THE LOVE-STRUCK SUITOR – Gen 29:1-20

• He meets Rachel, his cousin and future wife, beside a well.
• Here begins one of history’s great love stories.
• He promises Rachel’s father Laban (Jacob’s uncle and future father in law) he will work seven years for her hand in marriage.

THE FRUSTRATED FAMILY MAN – Gen 29:21; 30:24

• He is deceived on his wedding night by Laban who secretly substitues Leah (Rachel’s older sister) for Leah.
• Jacob is furious, but agrees to work yet another seven years for Rachel.
• He now has two wives and would gather yet another two, for both Rachel and Leah present to him their personal handmaids for childbearing purposes.

THESE  FOUR  WOMEN  WOULD  BEAR  JACOB  TWELVE  SONS AND  ONE  DAUGHTER

You can find a great chronology of the birth of Jacob’s children, here, in the Grace Theological Seminary Journal.(12 page pdf). You can also read about the prophecies for the 12 tribes and some other pertinent facts here.

THE ENTERPRISING EMPLOYEE – Gen.30:25

• Jacob goes into business with Laban and becomes a wealthy man
• Upon being ordered by God to return home, he breaks camp without telling Laban
• Laban chases him down and accuses Jacob (among other things) of stealing his household gods
• Laban and Jacob come to a truce and build a memorial pile of stones

THE DETERMINED WRESTLER – Gen 32:1-33:20

• Jacob learns that Esau is on his way to meet him with 400 men
• Filled with fear, Jacob wrestles with God in prayer all night long by the Brook Jabbok.
• He is reassured by God for this and his name is changed from Jacob to Israel.
• The ensuing meeting between Israel and Esau is very friendly.

THE  ENRAGED  FATHER – Gen 34:1-31; 35:22; 38:1-30

• Over the sin of murder, committed by Levi and Simeon                           1) These boys trick a group of desert men (whose leader had seduced Dinah, their sister) into circumcising themselves. (2) On the third day when they are helpless to defend themselves because of their self-inflicted wounds, Jacob’s two sons slaughter them like animals.

• Over the sin of adultery committed by Reuben (Gen 35:22) Reuben lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine and all Israel heard of it.
• Over the sin of adultery, committed by Judah (1)To seek revenge upon Judah,Tamar his daughter-in-law, disguises herself as a common harlot and entices him. Tamar becomes pregnant and Judah orders her death until he finds out who the father of the child really is.

THE OBEDIENT PATRIARCH – Gen 35:1-15

• Jacob is ordered by God back to Bethel
• In preparation for this trip, Jacob instructs his household to destroy their idols and prepare their hearts.
• He builds an altar at Bethel and calls it „El Bethel”–the God of the house of God.

THE SORROWING SAINT – Gen 35:16-20; 37:31-35

• He loses his beloved wife, Rachel, in childbirth
• He buries his father Isaac
• He is led to believe that Joseph has been killed and eaten by a wild beast.

Beni si Nora Faragau – Comunicarea in relatie cu sot/sotie si cu copiii

Pastorul Beni Faragau impreuna cu sotia Nora vorbesc despre comunicarea in casatorie:

Ce fel de relatie o fi avut Isac si Rebeca? Noi avem impresia ca nu conteaza relatia dintre sot si sotie. Dragii mei, cred ca relatia dintre mine si sotie se transfera in viata copiilor mei. Si daca veti citi cu foarte mare atentie, veti vedea aceasta disfunctionalitate intre Isac si Rebeca. O veti gasi si intre Esau si Iacov, si-n toata istoria care a urmat si in toti descendentii lor.

Nu cumva instrainarea dintre mine si sotia mea este cauza instrainarii noastre de copii nostri? Nu cumva, asa cum a gandit Dumnezeu lucrurile in familie, pune doi oameni laolalta, un om si o femeie si ei devin originea, izvorul copiilor lor. Si cum este izvorul asa va fi si raul. Daca nu avem timp unul pentru celalalt, spuneti-mi: Nu-i logic sa n-avem timp nici pentru copiii nostri? Iar, daca nu avem timp unul pentru celalalt si tot timpul nostru il dam copiilor nostri, creiem o atmosfera absolut infectata in familia respectiva. Eu cred ca copiii nostri trebuie sa creasca simplu, fara multe filozofii, intr-o familie in care fiecare il iubeste pe Dumnezeu, se iubesc unul pe celalalt si-n care-si fac timp nul de altul.

Daca nu reusesc ca partener sa am o relatie buna de dragostecu celalalt partener si ma focalizez pe copiii mei, ajungem in situatia polarizarii in care au ajuns Isac si Rebeca. Noi avem nevoie de relatii si daca nu tinem cont de ceea ce Dumnezeu a creat si ne cere, ne imbolnavim noi si familiile noastre.

Intr-o astfel de situatie, ce ne vom face cand ramane cuibul gol? N-ai invatat 20 de ani sa vorbesti cu nevasta-ta, doar nu o sa inveti dupa aceea. Sunt si exceptii. Ce faceti atunci cand aveti timp unul cu celalalt? Despre ce vorbiti?

Daca lucrurile pleaca de la mine si de la sotia mea, atunci, un sfat simplu este: Faceti-va timp unul pentru celalalt. Vorbiti intre voi, bucurati-va unul de celalalt. Viata este extrem de scurta. Ar fi pacat ca la batranete venind din doua colturi ale cladirii, nestiind ce sa spuneti unul celuilalt, sa trageti patura peste picioarele reci ale partenerului care se pregateste sa plece (sa moara).

Primul pas pentru o comunicare buna intre parinti si copii este comunicarea intre parteneri.

(1)Sunt gata sa recunosc ca valoarea cea mai mare in viata mea sunt copii mei si sotia/sotul? Stati de vorba cu oameni care intr-o clipa au pierdut totul.

(2)Stai si gandeste-te la tot ceea ce ai adunat. Esti gata sa recunosti ca valoarea ultima peste care Dumnezeu te-a pus administrator sunt fiintele vesnice din casa ta?

(3)Am curajul sa vin in fata familiei mele sa ii spun ca in seara aceasta I-am spus Domnului ca ‘cea mai mare valoare pe care El a pus-o in viata mea sunteti voi’.

(4)Am curajul sa intreb, in ce anume, concret se vede faptul ca ei sunt cea mai mare valoare pentru mine?

(5)Am curajul sa-i intreb ce ar trebui sa schimb in programul meu, in atitudinea mea ca sa dovedesc lucrul acesta familiei mele?

Daca nu avem timp pentru copiii nostri vom fi ingropati cu desertaciunea pe care am adunat-o.

Nora Faragau incepe la minutul 34.

11 Noiembrie 2012 – Seara Familiei – Beni si Nora Faragau from Biserica Baptista Iris on Vimeo.

The Story of Jacob (2) the Father of Israel) Genesis 25-33

Click here to read Genesis 25-33, the Biblical account of the life of Jacob.

some excerpts taken from D.A.Carson’s ‘For the Love of God” Volume I:

by D.A Carson

Genesis 27 is in many ways a pathetic, grubby account. Earlier Esau had despised his birthright (25:34); now Jacob swindles him out of it. In this Jacob is guided by his mother Rebekah, who thus shows favoritism among her children and disloyalty to her husband. Esau throws a tantrum and takes no responsibility for his actions at all. indeed, he nurses his bitterness and plots the assassination of his brother. The family that constitutes the promised line is not doing very well.

Yet those who read the passage in the flow of the entire book remember that God himself had told Rebekah, before the twin brothers were born, that the older will serve the younger (25:23) Perhaps

Jacob blessed instead of Esau

that is one of the reasons she acted as she did: apparently she felt that God needed a little help in keeping his prediction, even immoral help. Yet behind these grubby and evil actions God is mysteriously working out his purposes to bring the promised line to the end he has determined. Certainly God could have arranged to have Jacob born first, if that was the man He wanted to carry on the line. Instead, Esau is born first, but Jacob is chosen, as if to say that the line is important, but God’s sovereign, intervening choosing is more important than mere human seniority, than mere primogeniture.

The name „Bethel” means House of God. The event that gave rise to the name (Gen. 28) was a mixed bag. There is Jacob, scurrying across the miles to the home of his uncle Laban. Ostensibly he is looking for a godly wife–but the previous chapter makes clear that he wishes to escape being assassinated by his own brother in the wake of his own tawdry act of betrayal and deceit. Judging by the requests he makes to God, he is in danger of having too little food and inadequate clothing, and he is already missing his own family (28:20-21)Yet here God meets him in a dream so vivid that Jacob declares,”How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, this is the gate of heaven” (28:17).

For his part, God reiterates the substance of the Abrahamic Covenant to this grandson of Abraham. The vision of the ladder opens up the prospect of access to God, of God’s immediate contact with a man who up to this point seems more driven by expedience than principle. God promises that his descendants will multiply and be given this land. The ulrimate expansion is also repeated: „All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring” (28:14). Even at the personal level, Jacob will not be abandoned, for God declares, „I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back over to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (28:15).

Awakened from his dream, Jacob erects an altar and calls the place Bethel. But in large measure he is still wheeler-dealer. He utters a vow: If God will do this and that and the other, if I get all that I want and I hope for out of this deal, „then the Lord will be my God” (28:20-21).

And God does not strike him down! The story moves on: God does all that he promised, and more. All of Jacob’s conditions are met. One of the great themes of Scripture is how God meets us where we are: in our insecurities, in our conditional obedience, in our mixture of faith and doubt, in our fusion of awe and self interest, in our understanding and foolishness. God does not disclose Himself only to the greatest and most stalwart, but to us, at our Bethel, the house of God.

When I was a child in Sunday School, I learned the names of the twelve tribes of Israel by singing a simple chorus: „These are the names of Jacob’s sons:/Gad and Asher and Simeon,/Reuben, Issachar, Levi,/Judah, Dan and Naphtali-/Twelve in all, but never a twin–/Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin.”

But many more years passed before I grasped how important are the twelve tribes in the Bible’s storyline. Many of the dynamics of the rest of  Genesis turn on their relationships. The organization of the nation of Israel depends on setting aside one tribe, the Levites, as priests. From another son, Judah, springs the Davidic dynasty that leads to the Messiah. Over the centuries, the tribe of Joseph would be divided into Ephraim and Manasseh; in substantial mesaure, Benjamin would merge with Judah. By the last  book in the Bible, Revelation, the twelve tribes of the old covenant constitute the counterpoint to the twelve apostles of the new covenant: this twelve by twelve matrix (i.e. 144, in the symbolism of this apocalyptic literature) embraces in principle the whole people of God.

Jacob meets Rachel by Raphael 1518

But, what tawdry beginnings they have in Genesis 30. The deceit of Laban in Genesis 29, which resulted in Jacob’s marrying both Leah and Rachel, now issues in one of the most unhealthy instances of sibling rivalry in holy Scripture. Each of these women from this family is so eager to outshine the other that she gives her handmaid to her husband rather than allow the other to get ahead in the race to bear children. So self-centered and impetuous are the relationships that another time Rachel is prepared to sell her husband’s sex time to her sister Leah for a few mandrakes. Polygamy has taken hold, and with it a mess of distorted relationships.

From these painful and frankly dysfunctional family relationships spring eleven sons and one daughter (the birth of the last son, Benjamin, is reported in chap. 35). Here are the origins of the twelve tribes of Israel, the foundations of the Israelite nation. Their origins are not worse than those of others; they are merely typical. But already it is becoming clear that God does not deal with this family because they are consistently a cut above other families. No, he uses them to keep his covenantal promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He graciously perseveres with them to bring about his grand, redemptive purposes. The tawdry family dynamics cannot possibly prevent the universe’s  sovereign from keeping his covenantal vows.

In Genesis 32 Jacob is returning home  and he is still frightened half to death of his brother…Jacob left the tents of his parents a single man, taking almost nothing with him, while here he returns home a rich, married man with many children.

But the deepest differences between the two journeys are reflected in Jacob’s changed attitude toward God. On the outbound trip, Jacob takes no initiative in matters divine. He simply goes to sleep (Gen 28). It is God who intervenes with a remarkable vision of a ladder reaching up to heaven. When Jacob awakens, he acknowledges that what he experienced was some sort of visitation from God (28:16-17), but his response is to barter with God: if God will grant him security, safety, prosperity, and ultimately a happy return home, Jacob for his part will acknowledge God and offer him a tithe.

Now it is rather different. True, God again takes the initiative: Jacob meets angelic messengers (32:1-2). Jacob decides to act prudently. He sends some of his people ahead to announce to Esau that his brother is returning. This spawns devastating news: Esau is coming to meet him, but with 400 men.

On the one hand, Jacob sets in motion a carefully orchestrated plan: successive waves of gifts for his brother are sent ahead, with each of the messengers carefully instructed to speak to Esau with the utmost courtesy and respect. On the other hand, Jacob admits that matters are out of his control. Bartering is gone; in „great fear and distress” (32:7) Jacob takes action, and then prays, begging for help. He reminds God of his covenantal promises, he pleads his own unworthiness, he acknowledges how many undeserved blessings he has received, he confesses his own terror (32:9-12). And then, in the darkest hours, he wrestles with this strange manifestation of God himself (32:22-30).

Twenty years or so have passed since Jacob’s outward-bound journey. Some people learn nothing in twenty years. Jacob has learned humility, tenacity, godly fear, reliance upon God’s covenantal promises, and how to pray. None of this means he is so paralyzed by fear that he does nothing but retreat into prayer. Rather, it means he does what he can, while believing utterly that salvation is of the Lord. By the time the sun rises, he may walk with a limp, but he is a stronger and better man.

Jacob’s story with his 12 children, who are the 12 tribes of Israel continues through Joseph. You can read Joseph’s story here (in English-including maps of Joseph’s journey when sold into slavery by his brothers) and you can read an English illustration of Joseph, the  foreshadow to the Savior here; also read a Romanian article (excerpt from book by Iosif Ton- Ce l-a tinut pe Iosif curat, aflat atit de departe de casa? Part 1 & 2). Lastly you can view the story of Joseph and his brothers in a film (English with Romanian subtitles)

The epilogue:

One of the most difficult things to grasp is that the God of the Bible is both personal–interacting with other persons–and transcendent (i.e. above space andtime–the domain in which all our personal interactions with God take place).As the transcendent Sovereign, he rules over everything without exception, as the personal Creator, he interacts in personal ways with those who bear his image, disclosing himself to be not only personal but flawlessly good. How to put those elements together is finally beyond us, however frequentlythey are frequently assumed in Scripture.

When Jacob hears that Joseph is alive, he offers sacrifices to God, who graciously discloses himself to Jacob, once again: „I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes” (Gen 46:3-4).

The book of Genesis makes it clear that Jacob knew that God’s covenant with Abraham included the promise that the land where they were now settled would one day be given to him and his descendants. That is why Jacob needed the direct disclosure from God to induce him to leave the land. Jacob was reassured on three fronts: (a) God would make his descendants multiply into a „great nation” during their sojourn in Egypt, (b) God would eventually bring them out of Egypt, (c) at the personal level, Jacob is comforted to learn that his long-lost son Joseph will attend his father’s death.

All of this provides personal comfort. It also discloses something of the mysteries of God’s providential sovereignty, for readers of the Pentateuch know that this sojourn in Egypt will issue in slavery, that God will then be said to „hear” the cries of his people, that in the course of time he will raise up Moses, who will be God’s agent in the ten plagues, the crossing of the Red Sea, the granting of the Sinai covenant and the giving of the law, the wilderness wanderings, and the (re)entry into the Promised Land. The sovereign God who brings Joseph down to Egypt to prepare the way for this small community of seventy persons has a lot of complex plans in store. These are designed to bring his people to the next stage of redemptive history, and finally to teach them that God’s words are more important than food (Deut 8).

One can no more detach God’s sovereign transcendence from his personhood or vice versa, than one can safely detach one wing from an airplane and still expect it to fly.