18. Band of brothers (Genesis 35-45)

Genesis 45:4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother. (KJV)

Rachel was gone, and Jacob missed her more than he could imagine. So he cared for her children with a special love because they reminded him of her. He called them Joseph and Benjamin, because Benoni was too sad to name a child. He gave them special presents and new clothes, and watched them more carefully than the rest. He didn’t want Rachel’s children to run too fast or climb too high or play too hard. They had to stay healthy. They had to survive. They were all he had left of their mother.

At dinner, Jacob would arrange Joseph and Benjamin’s fruit into silly faces on their plates, and at bedtime, Jacob would sing Rachel’s sons extra songs while the other children watched. And their hearts hurt. Because Jacob ignored them like he had ignored their mother. They had inherited hurt. It began with Abel and Cain. It continued with Isaac and Ishmael, …