Reflections on Genesis 45

 

Genesis 45 (Contemporary English Version)
1. Since Joseph could no longer control his feelings in front of his servants, he sent them out of the room. When he was alone with his brothers, he told them, "I am Joseph."
   
2. Then he cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him and told about it in the king's palace.
   
3. Joseph asked his brothers if his father was still alive, but they were too frightened to answer.
   
4. Joseph told them to come closer to him, and when they did, he said: Yes, I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt.
   
5. Don't worry or blame yourselves for what you did. God is the one who sent me ahead of you to save lives.
   
6. There has already been a famine for two years, and for five more years no one will plow fields or harvest grain.
   
7. But God sent me on ahead of you to keep your families alive and to save you in this wonderful way.
   
8. After all, you weren't really the ones who sent me here--it was God. He made me the highest official in the king's court and placed me over all Egypt.
   
9. Now hurry back and tell my father that his son Joseph says, "God has made me ruler of Egypt. Come here as quickly as you can.
   
10. You will live near me in the region of Goshen with your children and grandchildren, as well as with your sheep, goats, cattle, and everything else you own.
    
11. I will take care of you there during the next five years of famine. But if you don't come, you and your family and your animals will starve to death."
    
12. All of you, including my brother Benjamin, can tell by what I have said that I really am Joseph.
    
13. Tell my father about my great power here in Egypt and about everything you have seen. Hurry and bring him here.
    
14. Joseph and Benjamin hugged each other and started crying.
    
15. Joseph was still crying as he kissed each of his other brothers. After this, they started talking with Joseph.
    
16. When it was told in the palace that Joseph's brothers had come, the king and his officials were happy.
    
17. So the king said to Joseph: Tell your brothers to load their donkeys and return to Canaan.
    
18. Have them bring their father and their families here. I will give them the best land in Egypt, and they can eat and enjoy everything that grows on it.
    
19. Also tell your brothers to take some wagons from Egypt for their wives and children to ride in. And be sure to have them bring their father.
    
20. They can leave their possessions behind, because they will be given the best of everything in Egypt.
    
21. Jacob's sons agreed to do what the king had said. And Joseph gave them wagons and food for their trip home, just as the king had ordered.
    
22. Joseph gave some new clothes to each of his brothers, but to Benjamin he gave five new outfits and three hundred pieces of silver.
    
23. To his father he sent ten donkeys loaded with the best things in Egypt, and ten other donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other food for the return trip.
    
24. Then he sent his brothers off and told them, "Don't argue on the way home!"
    
25. Joseph's brothers left Egypt, and when they arrived in Canaan,
    
26. they told their father that Joseph was still alive and was the ruler of Egypt. But their father was so surprised that he could not believe them.
    
27. Then they told him everything Joseph had said. When he saw the wagons Joseph had sent, he felt much better
    
28. and said, "Now I can believe you! My son Joseph must really be alive, and I will get to see him before I die."
    
    

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    Recognizing God's sovereignty and His hand in the events of life does much to give one peace in all life's circumstances. With this view of life, one can recognize that even though others may attempt to bring us harm, God has a greater purpose in these events for those who love Him and seek His purpose. Whatever life's circumstances, we need to seek out the greater purpose God has for us. This was what the apostle Paul spoke of when he said, "We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose." (Rom 8:28) With this view, we can also be more easily reconciled to those who intend us harm because we know of God's greater purpose. Joseph told his brothers, "Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God." (45:8) Though their intent was evil against Joseph, he could look past that to God's intent.
    
    What was God's intent in sending Joseph to Egypt? Joseph mentions two purposes God had. The first was "to preserve life." (45:5) God spoke through Joseph to inform Pharoah of the coming famine and instruct him in how to prepare for it and preserve the lives of his people and of Joseph's family. A second purpose God had for Joseph in Egypt was "to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance." (45:7) This purpose was the ongoing fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham. His descendants, who now consisted of the family of Jacob, renamed Israel, were to grow up and form the beginnings of a nation from within Egypt.
    
    With Pharoah's blessing, Joseph sent his brothers to bring back the whole family to Egypt to live. Pharoah intended to bless the family of Joseph who had been so instrumental in the survival of Egypt.