Stop Quarreling!

“Stop your quarreling RIGHT NOW!” When is the last time you heard your mother say that? If you are a teen it might have been just a few minutes ago. If you are my age it has been awhile.

As adults, we use the phrase but we are rarely on the receiving end of it. It is not that adults don't quarrel it is just that we are seldom rebuked for it. It is called arguing, fighting or maybe even bickering, but almost never quarreling.

The scene in Genesis 45 is a conversation among a group of middle aged men. These guys are between forty and fifty years old. They have families. They have been working for years. They ARE family.

As mentioned in another article, theirs has been a rather dysfunctional family but they have managed to stick together. In a bizarre way. But they are together.

Their younger brother, Joseph, whom they had sold into slavery some ten years earlier is now ruler of Egypt and these brothers have fulfilled their worst nightmare by throwing themselves down before him in utter terror. Joseph has revealed himself to them and is sending them back to get dad.

It was his final instruction just before they made their return trip that made me laugh out loud this morning. It is found in verse twenty-four where he says simply, “Do not quarrel on the way.”

The brother of the many-colored-coat, the favorite son, the hated because dad-loves-him-best guy seems to jab his brothers just once more. “Don’t quarrel boys!”

Just a few years earlier they might have retorted, “Okay MOM! We won't!” in a mocking voice. They probably would have beaten him up. Or maybe just have smoldered with anger while waiting for the appropriate moment to get rid of this little jerk.

However, this time it was different. Joseph was THE man. He ruled. They were the poor lugs who had come begging food. And, he had nailed their problem right on the head!

They could have blamed it on their dad. He did a lot of arguing. They could have blamed on their moms. They had done their share of quarreling. But this time they didn’t blame anyone. We hear nary a word. They had apparently learned their lesson. Arguing about killing Joseph, selling Joseph or anything else for that matter had been worthless chatter that had nearly killed their father and had cost them a lot of pain.

Are there things worth fighting about? Sure. But for the most part quarreling among brothers, sisters or any other family members for that matter, is more harmful than beneficial

So, stop doing it! And have a nice trip.