The God Who Fed Me

The Story

Jacob was old and dying. He had lived a hard life. He had tricked his brother and run for his life. He had worked twenty years for an uncle who cheated him. He had buried his beloved wife Rachel. For years he believed his son Joseph had been torn apart by a wild animal.

Now he lived in Egypt, where Joseph, alive after all, had become second in command of the whole country. Joseph had brought his father there during a great famine and given him land and food.

When Joseph heard his father was sick, he came with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Jacob gathered his strength and sat up in bed. He told Joseph, I never expected to see your face again, and God has let me see your children too.

Then Jacob laid his hands on the boys’ heads and blessed them. And he described God in a way no one in the Bible had before: “the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all evil.”

Reflection