Joseph Reveals His Identity
Review:
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- God is gradually preparing Joseph’s brothers to be leaders of his chosen people.
- God’s testing is having a significant impact on Jacob and his sons.
Lives are being changed.
Genesis 45:1-15 NLT
Joseph Reveals His Identity
45 Joseph could stand it no longer. There were many people in the room, and he said to his attendants, “Out, all of you!” So he was alone with his brothers when he told them who he was. 2 Then he broke down and wept. He wept so loudly the Egyptians could hear him, and word of it quickly carried to Pharaoh’s palace.
3 “I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. 4 “Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. 5 But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. 6 This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. 8 So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.
9 “Now hurry back to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me master over all the land of Egypt. So come down to me immediately! 10 You can live in the region of Goshen, where you can be near me with all your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own. 11 I will take care of you there, for there are still five years of famine ahead of us. Otherwise you, your household, and all your animals will starve.’”
12 Then Joseph added, “Look! You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that I really am Joseph! 13 Go tell my father of my honored position here in Egypt. Describe for him everything you have seen, and then bring my father here quickly.” 14 Weeping with joy, he embraced Benjamin, and Benjamin did the same. 15 Then Joseph kissed each of his brothers and wept over them, and after that they began talking freely with him.
Examine the Scriptures
Genesis 45:1-15 NLT
Joseph Reveals His Identity
1 Joseph could stand it no longer.
Moved by Judah’s speech and all of the events leading up to this point, Joseph is unable to control his emotions.
There were many people in the room, and he said to his attendants, “Out, all of you!” So he was alone with his brothers
Joseph would have been 39 years old, and away from his brothers for 22 years.
when he told them who he was. 2 Then he broke down and wept.
This was the third of five times Joseph wept over his brothers.
- Reasons for Joseph’s tears:
Genesis 42:21-24 NLT
21 Speaking among themselves, they said, “Clearly we are being punished because of what we did to Joseph long ago. We saw his anguish when he pleaded for his life, but we wouldn’t listen. That’s why we’re in this trouble.”
22 “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy?” Reuben asked. “But you wouldn’t listen. And now we have to answer for his blood!”
23 Of course, they didn’t know that Joseph understood them, for he had been speaking to them through an interpreter. 24 Now he turned away from them and began to weep. …
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- Joseph was overcome with emotion when he sensed his brothers’ remorse.
Genesis 43:27-30 NLT
27 After greeting them, he asked, “How is your father, the old man you spoke about? Is he still alive?”
28 “Yes,” they replied. “Our father, your servant, is alive and well.” And they bowed low again.
29 Then Joseph looked at his brother Benjamin, the son of his own mother. “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Joseph asked. “May God be gracious to you, my son.” 30 Then Joseph hurried from the room because he was overcome with emotion for his brother. He went into his private room, where he broke down and wept.
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- Joseph was overcome with emotion for the welfare of his father and his brother Benjamin.
This verse (Genesis 45:2)- God’s sovereignty
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- Joseph was overcome with emotion as he experienced God’s sovereignty in the life of his family.
The verse at the end of this passage:
Genesis 45:14-15 NLT
14 Weeping with joy, he embraced Benjamin, and Benjamin did the same. 15 Then Joseph kissed each of his brothers and wept over them, and after that they began talking freely with him.
Reconciliation (after decades)
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- Joseph was overcome with emotion as he experienced the reconciliation taking place between him and his brothers.
Genesis 50:14-17 NLT
Joseph Reassures His Brothers
14 After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to his father’s burial. 15 But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became fearful. “Now Joseph will show his anger and pay us back for all the wrong we did to him,” they said.
16 So they sent this message to Joseph: “Before your father died, he instructed us 17 to say to you: ‘Please forgive your brothers for the great wrong they did to you—for their sin in treating you so cruelly.’ So we, the servants of the God of your father, beg you to forgive our sin.” When Joseph received the message, he broke down and wept.
He wept so loudly the Egyptians could hear him, and word of it quickly carried to Pharaoh’s palace.
3 “I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive?”
Joseph’s love and concern for his dad are evident.
But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them.
- The brothers were experiencing amazement and fear.
If Joseph had not been submissive to the sovereignty of God he may have readily had his brothers executed.
4 “Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt.
- The process of reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers is coming to a climax.
5 But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.
Joseph recognized that God, not his brothers, had sent him to Egypt.
- Joseph saw, understood, and verbalized the sovereignty of God at work throughout this entire process.
***Because of Joseph’s understanding of the sovereignty of God, he was able to forgive his brothers.
- We miss out on so many of God’s blessings when we do not recognize God’s sovereignty at work in our lives.
***Pray that God will help us see, understand, and be able to verbalize his sovereignty at work in our lives.
Genesis 50:20 NLT
20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.
6 This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.
Conditions will be getting a lot worse.
7 God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors.
- Joseph understands, at least in part, the Abrahamic covenant and its promise of a nation.
Pray for an understanding of the bigger picture of God’s plan for our lives.
8 So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.
- God had put Joseph, an Israelite, in the position of governor of Egypt. (God can certainly do similar acts in 2020.)
9 “Now hurry back to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me master over all the land of Egypt. So come down to me immediately! 10 You can live in the region of Goshen, where you can be near me with all your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own.
The region of Goshen was a fertile region, suited for grazing the herds of Jacob.
Separate from the populated areas in Egypt.
Genesis 46:33-34 NLT
33 Then he said, “When Pharaoh calls for you and asks you about your occupation, 34 you must tell him, ‘We, your servants, have raised livestock all our lives, as our ancestors have always done.’ When you tell him this, he will let you live here in the region of Goshen, for the Egyptians despise shepherds.”
11 I will take care of you there, for there are still five years of famine ahead of us. Otherwise you, your household, and all your animals will starve.’”
If Joseph’s family did not move to Egypt, they would not survive the famine.
12 Then Joseph added, “Look! You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that I really am Joseph! 13 Go tell my father of my honored position here in Egypt. Describe for him everything you have seen, and then bring my father here quickly.” 14 Weeping with joy, he embraced Benjamin, and Benjamin did the same.
15 Then Joseph kissed each of his brothers and wept over them, and after that they began talking freely with him.
Genesis 43:34 NLT
34 And Joseph filled their plates with food from his own table, giving Benjamin five times as much as he gave the others. So they feasted and drank freely with him.
In Genesis 43 the brothers were drinking freely with the Governor of Egypt. Here they are talking freely with their brother Joseph.
- Joseph and his brothers experienced the joy of reconciliation.
Nothing is too hard for God!
