Joseph Reveals Himself Genesis 45

 

Genesis 45 – Joseph Reveals Himself

 

 

After visiting with his brothers and seeing Benjamin, Joseph becomes so emotionally charged that he cannot contain himself.  In the house of Pharaoh, they can hear the weeping.  Joseph says to his brothers, “I am Joseph.”  The brothers were terrified at his presence.  If you think they were afraid before, they were really terrified now.  It had been near to twenty-five years since they had seen him.  They are sure now that he will get his revenge.  Joseph is not angry, and he does not seek revenge. Joseph could see in all of this was that God had permitted it for a purpose. God was moving in all their lives. Our Lord knows just how to work in our lives to bring us to submission.  Joseph explained to them that God had sent him before them to preserve the nation so that Israel could be a blessing to all the earth. God’s purpose did not minimize their sins or negate their responsibility, but it did help to ease their fear and sorrow. Joseph was thirty-nine years old and has been living in the land of Egypt for twenty-two years.  The brothers stood absolutely spellbound, they had nothing to say as they listened to Joseph speaking words that seemed unbelievable. He fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and both wept.

Pharaoh heard the weeping and wanted to know what was happening.  When he heard that Joseph’s brothers were in the land, he was delighted.  He trusted Joseph and was pleased to have more like him in their land.

Joseph wants to bring them down to the land of Goshen which is the best part of Egypt.  It is in that land that God is going to make them a nation, sheltered from the rest of the world. Pharaoh ordered wagons to be sent. He told them that they will not need to bring anything extra, that he will furnish all their needs. 

The brothers went out of Egypt and came into the land of Canaan to their father Jacob.  They told Jacob that Joseph is still alive and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.  Jacob could not believe it was true.  Once he saw the wagons and all that was in them, he was finally convinced, and his spirit was renewed. The prospect of seeing Joseph certainly influenced Jacob to make the decision to go down to Egypt.  He probably intended to come back to Canaan but that never happened until he died and was buried there.

 

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J. Vernon McGee commentary, Nelson Commentary,  NKJ version.