Genesis 45: 1-15
The sons of Israel have come from Canaan to Egypt for the second time to buy food. The famine is still ongoing, and Joseph is done testing his brothers. He has learned that they have treated his little brother differently than they treated him, and are feeling guilty for what they did to him. And he is so joyful to have his family back, that he can hardly contain himself.
Now here's the big moment.
(1) Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried, "Have everyone go out from me." So there was no man with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
JOSEPH MADE HIMSELF KNOWN TO HIS BROTHERS! Now we will see how he did it.
(2) He wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard of it.
Joseph must have really been screaming-crying in finally releasing his pent-up passion for his family.
(3) Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?" But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.
Then he just comes out with it, to the shock and surprise of his brothers, who realize that this brother they were so mean to now has the power over them to destroy them!
(4) Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come closer to me." And they came closer. And he said, "I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. (5) Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. (6) For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. (7) God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the Earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. (8) Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Joseph gives his brothers his own viewpoint on what has happened and why; that God was the one who sent him to Egypt, not his brothers, so that he could save a lot of people from starving to death. So he doesn't want them to blame themselves. God is the one who made Joseph the ruler in Egypt by giving him grace in Pharaoh's eyes, so that he would be able to do this.
(9) "Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, 'Thus says your son Joseph, "God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay.
Now he tells them to go get their father Jacob, and bring him down to Egypt, too.
(10) "'You shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your herds and all that you have.
Goshen is the best neighborhood in all of Egypt, the high-dollar district, as far from the slums as you could get. There they will be near Joseph, and the family can be together again.
(11) "'There I will also provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, and you and your household and all that you have would be impoverished."'
Joseph says that he will be able to take care of them, as they could otherwise starve to death in Canaan because the famine will last another five years.
(12) "Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth which is speaking to you.
He tells them to believe their own eyes, that it really is him, their long-lost brother Joseph, telling them these things.
(13) "Now you must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and all that you have seen; and you must hurry and bring my father down here."
Then he tells them to hurry back to get their father, and explain to him that Joseph has all the wealth and authority to take care of them.
(14) Then he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. (15) He kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him.
And he hugged and kissed them all, and finally they were able to carry on a conversation with him.
If you remember, back when they first sold him to the caravan heading for Egypt, they were so blindly jealous of him that they couldn't even say a positive word to him. Now 22 years have elapsed, and they've had time to reconsider what they did, and realize what it did to their own father; and to treat his little brother who was in the same position he had been in as being Jacob's favorite, better, to accept the situation, and that Jacob loved them, too.
I wonder what Joseph would have done if his brothers had had the same attitude toward Benjamin that they'd had toward him. But, of course, God was working in their attitudes and relationships, and they all had their own families now, too, so they all had a little more wisdom with their increased age and experiences.
And God had kept Jacob alive, too, to witness the reunification of his family, and to see his beloved, lost son again.
O my Father, You are so good, and so wise, and so patient with us. You teach us Your patience when You let us wait on You to build in us the character qualities of Your dear Son. Sometimes it takes us a long time to learn, as You made Joseph wait so many years for his brothers to come to the point where they would be ready to reunite with him.
My Father, You have had me waiting on You for many years, also. I wonder when You will break things loose for me, to be able to fulfill my dreams to serve You. Strengthen me to continue to serve You in the small ways I have been, as I grow in patience and longsuffering, developing Christ's character as a member of His body.
O Father, send out Your children to witness to our neighbors and our cities and our nations, to demonstrate to the world Your love to counteract all the hatred being spewed out from our enemy. Wake up Your people, to see what is going on around them, and to understand the truth of what it means, so they will choose to respond in a righteous manner. Bring a great Awakening, and a huge revival, Father, so huge that the media cannot ignore it.
And send out Your children as Your messengers and missionaries to tell the world of Your love in Your Son. Bring every child to the birth in Your family, and fill Your great house with all of Your uncounted progeny.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
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