Beginning of the End

Jacob’s Sunset Years

Not long after their arrival, Joseph brought his father to be presented to the king. Jacob was a stranger in royal courts, but he had been close to a mightier Monarch in the grand scenes of nature. Now, in conscious superiority, he raised his hands and blessed Pharaoh. BOE 111.3

In his first greeting to Joseph, Jacob had spoken as if, with this joyful ending to his long anxiety and sorrow, he was ready to die. But seventeen years were still to be given to him in the peaceful retirement of Goshen. These years were in happy contrast to those that had preceded them. He saw evidence of true repentance in his sons. He saw his family surrounded by all the conditions they would need to develop into a great nation, and his faith grasped the sure promise that they would be established in Canaan in the future. He himself was surrounded with every token of love and favor that the prime minister of Egypt could bestow. BOE 111.4