Joseph, Part 10
The coat of many colors.
In part 10, Joseph finally reveals his identity to his brothers, who 22 years earlier sold him into slavery. Click here for the recording of this 9/8 Service, and you can fast-forward to 30:51 to get to the start of the sermon.
Our text comes from Genesis Chapter 45.1-8
1 Then Joseph could not control himself in front of everyone standing before him, and he shouted, “Have everyone leave me!” So there was no one with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
2 Then he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard about it. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “ I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were terrified in his presence.
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 to Egypt.
5 Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me ahead of you to save lives. 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 So God sent me ahead of you to ensure for you a remnant on the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God;
Introduction…
At times, there are scenes in the life of God’s people that only He could orchestrate; scenes of poetic justice, where things come full circle.
Again, these are circumstances God orchestrated; we could not, even if we tried.
This is what makes them all the more powerful.
These are seminal moments, burned in our memory, long after the event has passed.
Ultimately justice, and vengeance, belong to God; He is altogether good, and right, and He will make things right, at the Bema seat (2 Cor 5.10, Rom 14.10); sometimes, in this life.
The backstory between ch41-44…
Ch42 - Jacob sends his sons to Egypt for grain; Simeon is taken hostage by Joseph as a ruse to gain access to Benjamin, his younger brother whom he has not yet met.
Ch43 - Jacob again sends his sons back to Egypt for yet more food; Joseph meets his younger brother Benjamin for the first time.
Ch44 - the brothers are initially allowed to leave Egypt, only to shortly be brought back; Benjamin is held as ransom until Jacob can be brought to Egypt.
What is happening in ch45…
V1- Joseph is finally overcome with emotion, and reveals himself to his brothers; he commands the room to be cleared; Joseph is now about 39 yrs old, so this scene was 22 yrs in the making (some things take time to come full circle in God’s economy).
V2- his emotion is both visible, and LOUD; the Egyptians in the house heard it, and Pharaoh heard about it (there are times when emotion is almost required; anything less is less than human).
V3- Joseph again shares his identity; notice he first asks about his father; his brothers are speechless, because they were terrified (bahal- dismayed) in his presence; it was as if they had seen someone come back from the dead.
v4- he calls his brothers closer to him- he is wanting to convey a message; he recounted the truth about what they had done (forgiveness does not deny the reality of the wrong).
V5- he tells them not to be “grieved” (atsav- vexed or tortured) or ”angry” with themselves because you ”sold” me here; again, he tells them the truth; he then gives a bad story a new narrative- ”He sent me ahead to save lives”- Joseph chose to see a new narrative rather than to be stuck in the old one.
V6- we are 2 yrs in to a 7 yr famine with neither plowing or harvesting.
V7- God sent me ahead to ensure a remnant (sheerit- a residue or a remainder of descendants); to keep you alive by a great deliverance.
He puts the story in God’s hands, not his brothers’.
V8- you did not send me here, but God did; he allows for the sovereignty of God, even at the expense of his own comfort.
How this applies to your lives…
In God’s own time, He will make things right; either in this life, or in the next; Joseph waited 22 years to confront his brothers.
Scenes of reckoning are often quite emotional, because the pain or pleasure runs deep; those in the East know how to express emotion better than those in the West; be glad if you were raised in a home where emotions could be expressed in a healthy way.
Those who are vindicated need to carry themselves well - Joseph was not out for blood.
There is a time and a place for loving confrontation spoken in a healthy way - speaking the truth in love, Eph 4.
Part of “praying through” is asking God to give you a new, healthier way of seeing and feeling about a past painful experience; Joseph- “He sent me ahead to save lives”.
Ultimately, our story is in God’s hands, not ours; He is sovereign, doing what He wants, when He wants, for His own purposes, even at the expense of our comfort.
