It’s a nice title, but often times family reunions do not go well. In a growing number of families, they don’t even materialize.

The reunion of Jacob, his eleven sons, and their estranged brother Joseph went unexpectedly well. If it wasn’t a part of documented history with archaelogy to back up its validity, we would consider it fiction or even a fairy tale.

Young Joseph was tasked by his father to check on the welfare of his brothers in the fields with the sheep. He never returned home. Instead, they tossed him into an inescapable pit and sold him as a slave to a passing band of Ishmaelites headed for Egypt. There he was falsely accused of molesting a high-ranking Egyptian’s wife and thrown into prison to rot.

All because of his brother’s jealousy.

Many years pass and Joseph is freed only to become second in command to the Pharaoh in the Kingdom of Egypt.

In a very unlikely set of circumstances that was orchestrated behind the scenes by the King of the Universe, the brothers unite.

In most families the unfolding drama would be of vengeance and retribution. In this one, it became one of redemption.

This is God’s story. What the devil means for evil, God turns to good. He doesn’t do it alone though. We are not puppets. Without our willingness to cooperate with His goodness, stories do not end well.

The story of the sons of Jacob is not over. It continues in real time, and we are invited to play our role by the Master Playwright for our benefit and the salvation of many.

Twenty five years ago America was invaded by air. Two massive buildings in NYC were destroyed completely. They were the emblems of our financial empire. Soon after they crumbled to the ground, our enemy flew another passenger plane into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. The impact from the explosion almost destroyed it completely. It was our symbol of military might and superiority. If that wasn’t enough, a few more Muslim extremists seized control of another plane and headed towards our Capitol building.

There is no telling how many of our government officials would have died if a few courageous Americans hadn’t given their lives in a heroic attempt to foil their plan. They died along with all the passengers.

It only cost our enemies a handful of one-way tickets to change our way of living for the past 25 years.

We still haven’t recovered.

Today is also the biblical celebration of Rosh Hashana. It is considered the beginning of the year. Jewish tradition marks this year 5787. That date is calculated from the Creation of the world.

It’s a good idea to remember that this world has a beginning and it is God who began it. That means it will have an end, but only when He decides.

I am at peace with that, I hope you are too.

This episode is somewhat of a convergence of Rosh Hashana and a new beginning that occurred 25 years ago.

Imagine you were taken to the White House for a private meeting with the President.

However, ten years ago you were wrongly convicted of raping the wife of a high-ranking government official and still serving time in prison.

Before that, your own brothers tossed you into a deep cistern until Ishmaelite slave traders came and pulled you out, then sold you to an Egyptian.

How can you--so scarred by rejection and mistreatment stand before the most powerful man in the known world, and he is asking you for counsel?

We are about to learn how in this episode.

Spoiler alert; it would be impossible if not for the blessing that God gave to Abraham and his descendants through Jacob, which has now made its way to Joseph.