I admire Jacob here because, although accepting this invitation to live among royalty and to be with his son Joseph again seems like the right thing to do, he stops and offers a sacrifice to God to ensure that what he is doing is truly acceptable in the Lord’s sight.

Appearances can be deceiving. I’m learning that, aren’t you? Jacob stops and says, “I want to make sure I’m going to Egypt with God’s blessing.” Why would he be so reticent? Perhaps it was because his grandfather had also gone down to Egypt in a time of famine, returned with a servant girl named Hagar, and set in motion a series of events for which the Middle East is paying the price to this day.