prince

And this is how the great story of Joseph ends: Everything that was foretold in his dreams, back when he was the little brother with the fancy coat, came true. And father Israel himself crowned it all with a blessing that ended with these words from Genesis 49:26:

 “Your father’s blessings are greater
than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
than the bounty of the age-old hills.
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of the prince among his brothers.”

Joseph was indeed the prince of his brothers, in more than one way. He not only showed the most noble behavior but he literally was crowned royalty in his adopted land of Egypt.

But Israel and Joseph both know very well who gets the glory in this fantastic story. The preceding two verses read,

“ . . . because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
because of your father’s God, who helps you,
because of the Almighty, who blesses you
with blessings of the skies above,
blessings of the deep springs below,
blessings of the breast and womb.”

God blesses us for a couple of reasons: to enable us to become more holy, and to enable us to bless other people. Joseph became a devoted man of God in servitude to Pilate and in the Egyptian prison. And then he blessed all of Egypt through Joseph.

And in doing so, God advanced the grand epic of his salvation plan. As I said before, to me this is one of the best parts of the whole Bible.