Joseph reunites with his family with forgiveness. (Genesis 42-50)

42:1-2

Sometimes, when trouble is upon us, we are paralyzed by fear or confusion. If a problem seems very large, we often don’t know where to start and so we don’t do anything. Jacob sees this happening in his sons and gives them some fatherly chastisement. “Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.”

When faced with hardship and trials, the best course of action is to move. There needs to be action. Get up out of your chair and move your feet. Pick up the phone and start dialing a number. Whatever it is…we must stop simply looking at each other and ‘get down thither.‘

42:25

I think Joseph forgave them but wanted to test them whether they had changed or were they still murderous, greedy liars. One of his tests was to include their money in their sacks of food. This would illustrate whether they were honest or thieves. “Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.”

43:12, 20-23, 29-30

Thankfully, Jacob helped them be honest when they returned to Egypt to buy more food. “And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight.”

They explained all of this to Joseph when they arrived. “And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food: And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand. And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks. And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.”

Again, I think Joseph was testing their honesty. He also wanted to be sure that they hadn’t harmed or murdered Benjamin. I’m sure Joseph worried that, if they would sell him into slavery, that they might also harm Benjamin - as he was Rachel’s second son.

Joseph was very joyous to see his brother Benjamin. “And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.”

Joseph still had an additional test for them so he couldn’t reveal himself.

44:33

Joseph’s final test was to put a silver cup in Benjamin’s bag. He wanted to see if his brothers valued Benjamin’s life or would they quickly sacrifice him to save themselves.

After his brothers left, he sent his servants out to catch them and tell them that one of them stole the Pharoah’s cup. Of course, they found it in Benjamin’s sack.

Rather than sacrificing Benjamin, they rent their clothes and all returned back to Joseph. Joseph made the point by commanding them to leave Benjamin to be his servant and return to their father.

Judah, who had sworn to Jacob that he would return with Benjamin explains the whole story. Then, he offers to sacrifice himself for Benjamin. “Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.”

This was the point to the whole exercise. Joseph was able to see that they had indeed changed. Instead of sacrificing Benjamin for their own good, they were willing to risk their lives and even stand in for Benjamin so Jacob wouldn’t suffer. It was a great test. Joseph was a wise and discreet man.

45:5-8

Joseph finally reveals himself to his brothers. He immediately attempts to console them for their horrible behavior to him years before. “Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” He wanted them to know that it was God that actually sent him to Egypt to preserve life.

Let’s put ourselves in Joseph’s shoes. He was thrown in a pit, sold as a slave and sent to prison because his brothers were jealous of him. How easy would it have been to have held a grudge that only built and magnified over the course of his years in bondage.

He could have fixated on how he had been wronged. His feelings of anger might have grown over time as he thought about how evil his brothers were (rightly so). He could have plotted the various ways that he could exact revenge if he was ever released. It is part of the natural man to want revenge. We have a sense of fairness that can get in the way of our progress.

He didn’t do that. He made his thoughts productive. He had an eternal perspective. As a result, he was able to shed those hard feelings and progress.

We should learn from him. Imagine how his spiritual growth would have been stunted if he was fixated on revenge. Consider how more productive it is to look at these trials as part of God’s plan for us. It does is no good to relive the events that seem unfair.

Joseph learned from his trials and took advantage of opportunities to progress and move forward - regardless of the specific situation. Let’s be like Joseph.

47:16-17, 20, 25

Joseph deserved the truth of Pharoah. Not only did he prepare Egypt for the famine, he made good decisions that benefited Pharoah (and the people too).

When money failed, Joseph allowed for a barter system. “And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail. And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.” He traded the people bread for their cattle and the cattle became Pharoah’s. It was a good deal for the people and Pharoah both.

When they ran out of cattle, they had only their bodies and their lands. So, Joseph bought their lands. “And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s.”

He then gave them seed with the requirement that they give 1/5 of the harvest to Pharoah. This was a good deal for the people. They were grateful. “And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”

Every business owner should have a manager like Joseph.

48:5

Jacob adopted Ephraim and Manasseh as his own children. “And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.” This is significant as they were now on equal footing as Jacob’s other sons. They became part of the twelve tribes of Israel.

48:17-20

Before Jacob died, he wanted to bless Ephraim and Manasseh. Joseph arranged them that Manasseh would be under Jacob’s right hand. But, Jacob switched hands so that Ephraim was under his right hand. This caused a disagreement with Joseph. “And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head. And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.”

Obviously, the Spirit had prompted Jacob to give Ephraim priority in the blessing. “And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.”

What is the significance of this? There is a lot written about the responsibilities of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh in the latter days. I encourage you to research it.

49

This chapter includes the blessings that Jacob gives his sons. I need to study in depth what each one means. The blessings on Judah and Joseph are most significant.

Judah. This blessing points to the royalty of King David and Jesus Christ.

Joseph. Joseph’s blessing refers to his descendants being Lehi and crossing the ocean to the Americas.

There is a lot written about Jacob’s blessings. We should study each as it gives us a better understanding of each tribes role in the gathering of Israel. I believe that people will be given different assignments during the millennium based on their tribe.

50:15, 18, 19-20

Joseph’s brothers were concerned that, once their father died, that Joseph might exact some revenge on them. “And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.” They have not moved past the past. They also appear to be concerned about themselves.

Thankfully, they were humble about it. “And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.” Often, when people feel threatened, they also get defensive. Fortunately, this didn’t happen here.

Joseph handled this with much grace. “And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” The key phrase here is ‘but God meant it unto good.‘

How great would it be if we if we viewed every trial in our lives with this same principle? Instead of stewing over the unfairness of the trials that inevitably show up in our lives, we can move forward with faith that God is in charge and what happens to us is meant unto good.