23 Feb. Genesis 45:1-28

23 Feb. Joseph reveals his true identity to his brothers

“Joseph could not control himself in front of his servants any longer, so he cried out. ‘Have everyone leave me’. When only the brothers were left with Joseph, he told them who he was.”

“Joseph cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and the people in the king’s palace heard about it. He said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?’ But the brothers could not answer him, because they were very afraid of him.”

“So Joseph said to them, ‘Come close to me.’ When the brothers came close to him, he said to them, ‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold as a slave to go to Egypt. Now don’t be worried or angry with yourselves because you sold me here. God sent me here ahead of you to save people’s lives.’”

“’No food has grown on the land for two years now, and there will be five more years without planting or harvest. So God sent me here ahead of you to make sure you have some descendants left on earth and to keep you alive in an amazing way.’”

“’So it was not you who sent me here, but God. God has made me the highest officer of the king of Egypt. I am in charge of his palace, and I am the master of all the land in Egypt.’”

“’So leave quickly and go to my father. Tell him, “Your son Joseph says: God has made me master over all Egypt. Come down to me quickly. Live in the land of Goshen where you will be near me. Your children, your grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all that you have will also be near me. I will care for you during the next five years of hunger so that you and your family and all that you have will not starve.”‘”

“’Now you can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that the one speaking to you is really Joseph. So tell my father about how powerful I have become in Egypt. Tell him about everything you have seen. Now hurry and bring him back to me.’”

“Then Joseph hugged his brother Benjamin and cried, and Benjamin cried also. And Joseph kissed all his brothers and cried as he hugged them. After this, his brothers talked with him…”

“So the brothers left Egypt and went to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. They told him, ‘Joseph is still alive and is the ruler over all the land of Egypt.’ Their father was shocked and did not believe them.”

“But when the brothers told him everything Joseph had said, and when Jacob saw the wagons Joseph had sent to carry him back to Egypt, he felt better. Israel [Jacob] said, ‘Now I believe you. My son Joseph is still alive, and I will go and see him before I die.’”

          (Genesis 45:1-28)

 

 

When Judah pleaded with Joseph not to keep Benjamin as a hostage in Egypt, Joseph - one of the most powerful men in Egypt - could control his emotions no longer.

In c.1662BC – twenty one years after he was sold into slavery - Joseph made himself known to his brothers and forgave them. He told them not to be afraid or upset because God had his hand on the whole family, and it was really God – not them – who caused Joseph to come to Egypt: “No food has grown on the land for two years now, and there will be five more years without planting or harvest. So God sent me here ahead of you to make sure you have some descendants left on earth and to keep you alive in an amazing way. So it was not you who sent me here, but God.” (Genesis 45:7-8)

After an emotional reconciliation, Joseph sent his brothers to Canaan to bring his father Jacob back to Egypt.

When they arrived home, Jacob could not believe that Joseph was still alive after all these years. But when the brothers showed him the gifts Joseph had sent, and the wagons he had sent to carry him back to Egypt, Jacob was at last convinced and resolved to travel to Egypt to see his favourite son before he died.

The photo shows the entrance to Pharaoh Hatshepsut's mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari in Upper Egypt.

You can read more about the Egypt of Joseph’s day @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney2/24-the-journeys-of-isaac-jacob-joseph/joseph-becomes-vizier-of-egypt

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