Genesis 45:1-15
Then Joseph couldn’t control himself before all those who stood before him, and he cried, “Cause everyone to go out from me!” No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. He wept aloud. The Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Does my father still live?”
His brothers couldn’t answer him; for they were terrified at his presence. Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.”
They came near. “He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Now don’t be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance. So now it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says, “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t wait. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children’s children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. There I will nourish you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have.”’ Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here.” He fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him.
This is such an emotional moment. Joseph was so moved that he couldn’t hold back anymore. Even though he told the Egyptians to leave the room, they heard him anyway as he burst into tears. He told his brothers who he was but they stood there in terror. This may have been the most wonderful and terrifying thing they had ever experienced in their lives.
Not only was Joseph alive, he had become intimidating and powerful. Now they found themselves at the mercy of the one they had disowned. Even though they had done a great evil against Joseph and God, God had used Joseph to bring salvation to his family when they deserved the opposite. This is what the word “Grace” means. It is God’s favor for us that we don’t deserve.
We read here that Joseph was very sensitive about the message that his brothers would deliver to his father. He was probably aware that the land of Canaan was the most appropriate place for them to live, but Joseph made it clear that it was God’s plan for them to be saved in Egypt. It appears that Benjamin was to carry the message to his father so that it could be Joseph’s eyes convincing him to come.
Notice that even though Joseph’s people disowned him, it was God’s plan that they disown him so that their lives might be preserved. This is exactly what the Jewish people, through their leadership, did to Jesus. They rejected Him, but by it, God saved both them and the world. Also, remember that Jesus’ life as a child was threatened by Herod who killed all of the Jewish boys there two years old and under. Jesus’ father, also called Joseph, ran to safety in Egypt. It was not God’s intent for Jesus to stay in Egypt, but it did provide the safety he needed from Herod. All of this was a foreshadowing of things yet to come and demonstrates how miraculous the Bible really is.