Genesis 33:3-7

Keep in mind that this was before Benjamin was born.

There is an order there. You cannot miss the difference. The way Jacob arranged the family with the maidservants and their children, then Leah and her children, then Rachel and Joseph. And Joseph is at the very end. Now, when they stepped forward to meet Esau, it is reversed. It is Joseph and Rachel.

Why a change in that order? It is so easy to miss unless you are analyzing it as we are right now. Why would Joseph step out of the order in which Jacob had placed him? Joseph stepped forward to protect his mom, most likely. He was worried that Esau might not receive them peacefully. He was a young man at this point, and so the message was “Look, but don’t touch.” He wanted to protect her. Joseph is exhibiting, right from the beginning there, leadership qualities.

Genesis 33:4-5

These verses are just an example of a principle that is shown in many, many places in the Bible. And that is that our children are gifts from God. They are His heritage, with the emphasis on the word His, they are His, but they are gifts to you and me. They are put in our care for a period of time for the purpose of development, but not really in the strictest sense as belonging to us. Yes, they are ours in the sense that they are our flesh and blood and they come from our bodies. But in the biblical sense, they are from God, they are His, even as He says, all the silver and all the gold is Mine, the earth is Mine, all the people on it are Mine.