Joseph is Alive
Genesis 43-45
Joseph is Alive, Genesis 43-45. In this portion of the Bible we see Joseph at his very best. After everything that has happened to him-his brothers selling him into slavery, Potiphar having him thrown into prison, and the cup bearer forgetting him so that he spent several years in prison-he now has the opportunity to pay back his brothers for the evil that they have done.
4 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. 5 And now do not be
distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God
sent me before you to preserve life. 6 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. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve
for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8
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. 9 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. 10 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. 11 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.’ 12 And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin
see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 13 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.” 14 Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck
and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 And he kissed all his
brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.
Genesis 45:4-15, English Standard Version
Joseph is Alive
Genesis 43-45
Today's reading includes one of the happiest portions of Scripture, because in Genesis 45, Jacob learns that Joseph is alive. In this portion of the Bible we see Joseph at his very best. After everything that has happened to him-his brothers selling him into slavery, Potiphar having him thrown into prison, and the cup bearer forgetting him so that he spent several years in prison-he now has the opportunity to pay back his brothers for the evil that they have done.
Is
that how Joseph perceives things when he realizes that his brothers
have come to Egypt to buy grain? He is second in the land of Egypt; only
Pharaoh, himself, is more powerful that he. He has the opportunity to do whatever he chooses to his brothers.
How
would you have handled this situation? How forgiving are you when you
have the opportunity to get back at people for the wrongs they have done
to you?
When his brothers realize that Joseph is alive, that is exactly what they are
thinking. They have been caught red-handed; here is their brother, who
now can do anything to them he wishes. After the evil way they have
treated him, they fear the worst. Joseph perceived their fear, but look
at his response to them.
"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. 7 And God
sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep
alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but
God."
How
do you view your circumstances of life? Do you see the hand of God in
everything, even in the bad things that happen to you, especially by the
hand of others? It is not easy, is it? God gave Joseph a clear
understanding of why everything happened in his life as it did, but that
is not always the way God deals with us. As a Christian,
we must, by faith, understand and accept the reality that, as servants
of God, we are totally in His hands. He works in and through the
circumstances of our lives to bring glory to Him.
By God's grace, let us remember the story: Joseph is Alive, especially when we are tempted to get even with those who have wronged us. Let us realize that God has used those events in life to teach us how much He has forgiven us for the wrongs we have done to Him.
We
are not able to see the completed tapestry of time as God does; we can
only see the few loose threads on the back of the tapestry that include
our life here on earth. Pray that God would grant you the faith to love
Him completely and to have peace that everything that happens in your
life is for a reason, known only to God.
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