The Book of Genesis
Part 90
Chapter 45:1-27
One more touching story can be found than that of Joseph’s making himself known to his brethren. Its simplicity and pathos warm the heart and captivate the imagination. His self-disclosure and his commission to fetch his father arrest and hold the attention of even the casual reader.
The Self-Disclosure
Three important features of this part of the narrative form a beautiful sequence: revelation of his person, reconciliation with his brethren, and review of his circumstances.
The revelation: The pent-up feelings of months could no longer be repressed, so Joseph calls for privacy. There are occasions in life altogether too sacred for the eyes of strangers. Moments in which the fountain of the emotions is opened and tears flow either in grief or gladness are not for the gaze of the public. Rumours may be heard by others, but such times of holy seclusion are an exclusive experience not to be vulgarized or fritted away.
This was the grand moment for which Joseph had been preparing himself. He was convinced of the reformation of his brothers, he knew his father to be alive, his full brother Benjamin stood before him; no further delay was necessary, “Joseph could not refrain himself… and he cried out, “Cause every man to go out from me…” while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.
Joseph had wept alone in his chamber as he dealt with his brethren (Gen. 43:30), testing them as to their characters and intentions, but now tears of joy flowed freely.
The reconciliation: One can realize the surprise of these men. The discovery that Egypt’s Prime Minister was the brother that they had hated and sold into slavery left them nonplused and troubled. The one who had taken time to test and prove his brothers was very quick to discern their silence and distress: “Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them,” but first, they had witnessed the most convincing evidence of what he had told them, “He fell on Benjamin’s neck, and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.”
Such scenes are ethically delightful in this day when men are so frequently without “natural affection” (2 Tim. 3:3), “hateful and hating one another” (Titus 3:3).
Joseph was the complete opposite of “Cain who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous” (I John 3:12).
The review: This retrospect of the past is another proof of the magnanimity of Joseph’s heart. He pictured his brothers who had treated him so cruelly as only agents in the hands of God. “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” (v. 8). Furthermore, he sought to relieve them fully of any guilt complex, saying, “Be not grieved or angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life” (v. 5). Joseph, with forgiving grace, released his brothers from all blame because he knew himself to be a divine provision, God’s man of the hour. He here traces the hand of God behind human failure and circumstance. If such reflections would result in a release from guilt in the heart of his brothers, even so would it release Joseph from the feelings of revenge and hatred.
The Commission
In sending his brothers to fetch his beloved father, Joseph spoke words of command, counsel, and caution.
The command: “Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt; come down unto me, tarry not.” Joseph was not only a man under authority, he was a man of authority. He would not permit any delay in the carrying out of his orders especially when they were for the benefit and good of his own father’s household. No time was to be wasted. What an illustration of the exhortation found in the sister Epistles, Ephesians and Colossians, “Redeeming the time.” If Joseph felt that time was too precious to waste, surely the Christian should be possessed by the same feelings, especially in these end times when the pilgrimage of the Church is nearly closed, and her period of testimony nearly ended.
The counsel: Words of counsel and instruction as well as words of promise were spoken to the brothers in order that they repeat these to their aged father. Joseph was understanding enough to know that it would be very difficult for so elderly a person to uproot himself and move to a foreign country; consequently, his message was both enticing and persuasive. Five years of famine still remained, years in which there would be no ploughing or reaping, but Jacob and all his family were to come immediately because the land of Goshen would provide them with both a home and a means of livelihood.
The land of Goshen lay between the eastern part of the ancient Delta and the western frontier of the Holy Land; it was, therefore, scarcely a part of Egypt proper. It could be that there were other Semitic fugitives there at that time, but this was not Joseph’s reason for assigning them properties there. Goshen was suitable to their needs and vocation; it was excellent for flocks and herds, and therefore ideal for the sons of Jacob. Furthermore, in Goshen they were more or less secluded and separate from the heavy Egyptian population in other parts of the country.
Pharaoh himself was ready to welcome the family of his great Administrator, and provided plenty of supplies for their journey as well as means of transportation. It was these that actually convinced Jacob of the reality and accuracy of his son’s report. Joseph instructed them that no one was to regard his “stuff.” Whatever they could not bring: sheds, troughs, and other permanent buildings and fixtures, although valuable for their work as shepherds, was to be abandoned without concern; everything necessary for their comfort and work would be there on their arrival.
The caution: Joseph’s last words to his brethren are significant, “See that ye fall not out by the way.” He feared lest they might reproach one another, attempting to throw the blame on those they considered chiefly guilty for his dreadful experience; there was to be no incrimination the one of the other. Such an attitude among them could lead to but one thing, a bitter quarrel.