Genesis 45:25-28 Revisited

So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. They told him, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.” Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, “I’m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” (Gen 45:25-28)

Before we leave this chapter, I just wanted to revisit Jacob’s reaction to the news that his sons brought him. Like Thomas with the resurrected Jesus, Jacob would not believe the truth that Joseph was alive until he had seen tangible evidence. And even as he was doubting, the evidence was coming toward him in the wagons that Joseph had sent. Jon Courson, in his Application Commentary: Old Testament, has fun comparing these “wagons” with the ones God has provided with us. He writes:

“Like Jacob, many times we don’t believe the Word we heard. But the good news is that Jacob’s disbelief did not derail the wagon train Joseph had sent his way to pick him up and bring him to Goshen. You might be going through dry times right now in which you are spiritually famished. But I have good news for you: The wagon train has been sent your way. What wagon?” (Courson, P.197)

And then Courson lists the five wagons that God has provided for us: the lunch wagon; the station wagon; the welcome wagon; the bandwagon; and the covered wagon. The lunch wagon is the one that brings complete satisfaction for our spiritual hunger and thirst - for FREE!

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. (Isaiah 55:1)

Jesus affirmed that he is the bread of life, and that all who come to Him will never again be hungry or thirsty (John 6:35). Nothing satisfies like Jesus!

The station wagon is the promise that your family will carry both you and your family:

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

Courson writes, “Your kids may have wandered away, but even if you’re pessimistic or full of doubt about them God promised that He will keep that which is committed to Him (2 Timothy 1:12), and will finish the work He began (Philippians 1:6) “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and not only you, but your family will eventually be saved as well,” declared Paul (see Acts 11:!4). The promises of God are intact gang. And even if you don’t believe it, the station wagon is headed in your direction to scoop up you and your family.” (Courson, P. 198)

Courson describes the welcome wagon as the amazing promise of I Corinthians 2:9.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”


Add to that the promise of John 14:2 in which Jesus promises that He is preparing a place for you and will, in fact, come to take you there, and you get the idea that we will truly be welcomed to our heavenly home, and that home will be beyond anything we could ever imagine!

The final two wagons Courson mentions are the band wagon (the one that guarantees we will all have a place in the heavenly choir that will be forever praising the LORD), and the covered wagon, that promises that ALL of our sins, past, present, and future, have been completely covered by the blood of the Lamb (Romans 5:1,2; Romans 6:14, and Romans 8:1-3).

My pastor often says, “The truest thing about you is what GOD says about you!” Jacob had believed a lie for more than 20 years. What lies have you been believing about yourself? That you are not good enough for God? That He would never accept you? Or maybe you believe that you ARE good enough on your own merits; that you deserve to be loved by God because you are such a righteous person?? We need to study God’s Word to know what is true about us. It is that truth that sets us free! God understands our doubts, and it amazes me that He so accommodates us! He sends in the wagons, or He allows a doubter to touch Him - whatever it takes! I love Jesus’ response to Thomas: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29) That’s us folks! We have not seen Him with our own eyes, but we have believed Him by faith.

Tomorrow we’ll see Jacob and his family load up the moving vans and head down to Egypt. Great stuff!

Genesis 45:6-15

But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. (Gen 45:7)

This is such a big “Aha!” moment for Joseph! The God of the universe had carried out His plan in bringing Joseph down to Egypt for “such a time as this.” While Joseph refers to their deliverance here as being from the famine they were then experiencing, we know this was also prophetic of the “great deliverance” from Egypt, which itself was prophetic of our GREAT deliverance from sin! And, even now, we are waiting for our final deliverance when the LORD comes again in His glory. History is HIS STORY. Everything that happens is within His sovereign plan. And He uses even evil deeds to bring about His plan (Joseph’s being sold into slavery, the crucifixion of Jesus the persecution of the church, your divorce, your financial disaster, etc.). God can and does bring good out of evil as He moves us to the end of history.

The death of Gadhafi yesterday reminded me of what an amazing year this has been historically. So much has happened in 2011, we can barely take it all in! The fall of several dictators last spring and yesterday points to the void in leadership throughout the world. While it was exciting to see these bad leaders fall, so far no one has stepped in to their vacancies to bring order out of the chaos. Where are the leaders ANYWHERE on earth??? This dearth of leadership certainly makes me look up for the return of Christ, because the antichrist can’t be too far behind! There will be such a need for a strong leader, the world will welcome him as their deliverer. Interesting to watch - we live in exciting times!

Back to Joseph and the boys. . . Joseph told his brothers to hurry back to get Dad and the rest of the family and bring them down to Goshen, where Joseph would be able to provide for all of them.

Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him. (vs.14-15)

Here is the precious reunion we’ve been waiting for! Finally Joseph embraces Benjamin and weeps over him. Then he kisses the other brother and weeps over them. Notice that it says specifically that Benjamin embraced him back, but we don’t see that with the other ten. Beth Moore says, “Not everyone is at the same emotional place at the same time.” Joseph had had more time to digest the reunion with the brothers . The brothers were still stunned by the revelation. “Afterward his brothers talked with him.” Wouldn’t you love to hear that conversation??

There are many more great things to share about this reunion - but they will have to wait until next week! I’m off to work!

 

Genesis 45:1-5

Confession is so good for the soul! Haven’t you seen in your own life that when you ‘fess up to your failures and accept your responsibility for the messes you’ve made that the way is opened to forgiveness? When Judah humbly came to Joseph ready to pay the price for their sin, it opened up Joseph’s heart to his brothers. Finally, he could contain himself no more, and the floodgates opened:

Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.


Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. (Gen 45:1-3)

As Beth Moore says, some moments are family moments, when it is time to send everyone else not in the clan out of the room. I’m certain Joseph’s attendants must have been completely baffled by his unusual behavior. They didn’t even have to put a glass to the door to listen to his cries - and it didn’t take them long to pass the news along to Pharaoh’s household! Talk about a news bulletin: "Joseph Comes Unglued!"

When he revealed himself to his brothers, they were terrified! Imagine their shock to find their “dead” brother, not only alive, but in such a place of high power. Joseph was in a perfect place to exact revenge, so I’m certain their chins had dropped to the floor and their knees knocked! The dark family secret was finally out in the open. Again, I’m wondering what Benjamin was thinking as Joseph uncovered the story, which was a far cry from the one he had grown up with!

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. (vs.4-5)

I’m certain that Joseph, up to this point, must have harbored some bitterness or anger - that maybe even he was not fully aware of. He had made a purposeful decision to forget what his brothers had done when he named his first son Manasseh, or forget. But whatever resentment he had harbored was completely released here, like the air out of a popped balloon. He draws his brothers close to him and assures them of their pardon, exhorting them to let go of their guilt and to see God’s plan and purpose in sending Joseph to Egypt. Wow! Don’t you wish we could carry that attitude with us always, so that, when the challenges face us we would alway respond with such grace and understanding of God’s sovereignty an absolute love for us?

Joseph was completely convinced of the goodness of God NO MATTER WHAT! And he had certainly been given years of opportunities to grow to this point. He had seen God’s faithfulness through so much injustice and personal suffering. We’ll see later in this same chapter how different this was from the character of his father, Jacob. And because He had experienced the mercies of God, he was able to turn around and extend them to his brothers.

If we harbor resentment and fail to look for God’s blessings in the midst of our trials, we will be unable to extend grace to others. And we will become the kind of person that others want to avoid! If you have a bent toward negativism and criticism, and if you feel burdened by the trials placed upon you, ask God to help you have the eyes of Joseph that LOOKED for God in everything, and ask him for the heart of Joseph that extended love and forgiveness to his undeserving brothers. After all, aren’t we ALL undeserving?? So much more great stuff to come in this chapter. . .