Have you ever carried a secret so heavy that when you finally spoke it, the words came out in a rush of tears? That’s Joseph here in Genesis 45 and this is one of my favourite parts of the Joseph narrative. Let’s have a look.
Genesis 45 (ESV)
Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. And 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.
Judah had just offered himself up to stand in Benjamin’s place. The same Judah who had years before sold Joseph into slavery, had become the one who would willingly suffer in the place of his brother because of his great love for his father. The moment breaks Joseph, and he could no longer control himself. Joseph has tested them to see who they really were, and Joseph had seen their repentance. The time had come for him to show them who he really was. I always imagine that he rips off his Egyptian wig, wipes away his Egyptian makeup, and steps down from his dias to face his brothers face to face. Whether that is how it happened, I don’t know, but the brothers are stunned! In fact not just stunned, they are dismayed. They thought Joseph was gone forever. Now the one they betrayed is standing before them with all the power and all the cards and they were completely in his power.
So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”
This brings a tear to my eye, because this is the picture of us! Joseph doesn’t excuse their sin. He calls it out. “You sold me.” So too we cannot help our sin being exposed before the greater Lord. No fig leaves are going to be able to cover us up. There would be a litany a 100 miles long of all the ways we betrayed our maker. But Joseph lifts up his brother’s eyes to God’s plan and God’s providence. Yes, “You sold me”, but also “God sent me to preserve your life.”! Joseph understand this rightly. He frames their wickedness inside God’s sovereign plan to save. God takes what men mean for evil and turns it into salvation. Isn’t that amazing? It is that same truth that save us. What we meant for evil, God turned out for good. And that is why Jesus willingly dies on the cross for us.
“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 tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.
Joseph doesn’t just forgive. Instead he restores his brothers and he draws them in close. He rebuilds the family and gets his Father to come and join them. This will ultimately become the nation of Israel who come to live in Egypt and through whom God will bless the nations. For now it is just a family that is restored, but one day it will be every tribe and nation and tongue who are restored into God’s family.
That is why this passage is my favourite. It gives me goosebumps. Maybe it should give you goosebumps too.
Prayer
Father, thank You that You turn even what is meant for evil into instruments of Your saving plan. Thank You for the grace that not only forgives but restores. We confess our sins—the things we regret, the ways we’ve hurt others, the selfish choices we’ve made. We ask that You draw us near in Jesus , cover us with His righteousness, and help us live as those reconciled and restored. In Jesus’ name, Amen.