GENESIS: Power and Authority Given by God will Give You Favor With Man; Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land."

Then he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out before him the way to Goshen. (Genesis 46:28) 

And they came to the land of Goshen. So Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; and he presented himself to him, and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. And Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive.” (Genesis 46:29-30) 

After over 20 years, Jacob and Joseph are reunited! How emotional and wonderful all at the same time, for a parent to be reunited with a child he believed to be dead. Many people have lost loved ones, but the loss of a child has to be one of the most difficult to accept.  Even if Joseph had really died, Jacob should have, and all parents who are Christians should have the same hope as King David would one day express after his son died, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” (II Samuel 12:22-23)

One day we'll all be reunited with those we've loved, if they were saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:8-9) Children are saved by grace without having to make a confession of Christ Jesus. (Romans 10:8-10) How merciful is our God! But fortunately for Jacob, Joseph was really alive, because as Joseph had declared to his brothers, "God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt." (Genesis 45:7-8)

As second in command in Egypt, Joseph was in a position to make sure his family would be welcomed in the land. Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and those of my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. And the men are shepherds, for their occupation has been to feed livestock; and they have brought their flocks, their herds, and all that they have.’ So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ that you shall say, ‘Your servants’ occupation has been with livestock from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.” (Genesis 46:31-34) 

Why were shepherds an abomination to the Egyptians? Read "Why were shepherds detestable to Egyptians?" But more than likely, Joseph being a wise man wanted to make sure that his family and all they had could live independently in an area that was fertile and had a water supply, so that the Egyptians wouldn't feel like they were trying to come in and be taken care of or be treated as if they were Egyptians. Pharaoh liked Joseph and the people respected his position in the land because it helped them, but that same courtesy wouldn't necessarily be extended to all his family.

Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in the land of Goshen.” And he took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.” And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” (Genesis 47:1-4) 

Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.” (Genesis 47:5-6) 

Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?” And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” So Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh. (Genesis 47:7-10) 

And Joseph situated his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. Then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with bread, according to the number in their families. (Genesis 47:11-12)