Joseph’s Family Reunion

Transcript

GRS 2-12
2/20/2005
Joseph’s Family Reunion
Genesis 42-46
Gil Rugh

We are in the Book of Genesis together, and we are in Chapter 42. So turn there on your Bibles if you would. Genesis in the 42nd Chapter as we have noted, as we move through this study, Genesis is crucial for understanding all the rest of scripture. It is also essential because it lays out in clear picture form for us, if you will. The sovereignty of God and his providential working in bringing about his purposes and his plans and what we see in situations of difficulty and trails, family turmoil, God’s purposes are being worked and accomplished to bring about what he has will to happen and that is true in the life of Joseph. Joseph comes from a family and seems to characteristic of the patriarchal families as you are aware of, you been in your studies, of what today they will call dysfunctional families. If you look at the Book of Genesis, you would just say were they are normal families. In biblical times, there is conflict, there is conflict between marriage partners as the wife is working behind the husband’s back, the husband is not fulfilling his role. You have multiple marriages, you have deceit going, you have rival among siblings that reaches the point of the desire to literally kill. Not just the kind of things that sometimes explore between brothers or sisters or brothers and sisters where I hate you, I would like to kill you, these are people that really plotted and planted . And in Joseph’s case, instead of actually killing him, they decide they will sell him. And so he ends up in Egypt. But it is all part of the plan of God, it clearly unfolds. What I remind myself of is we see the whole story laid out. Joseph is living it out hour by hour, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, he plots alone and now we stand from a distance and see the sovereign hand of God working his purposes. Now I am remind that is the way it will be with my life, your life, our lives. We stand and look back, see how God’s hand has worked and then will see all the difficulties, all the trials, all the turmoil’s, none of that frustrated God’s plan as he worked his will.

So when we come to Chapter 42, Joseph is in Egypt. Joseph has endured imprisonment, hardship, suffering 13 years of trials, ups and downs. He went down in to Egypt to be sold in the slavery when he was 17, remember. Chapter 41 verse 46, we are told that Joseph was 30 years old when he sits before Pharaoh. He had been brought out from detention, remember, to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams. 13 years have gone by since he was sold into slavery in Egypt. And now he stands before Pharaoh to be exalted beyond what anyone could have imagined. That’s in one day he will step from the donjon to being the most powerful man in the all of Egypt under Pharaoh. The famine comes as God has said it would. He told Pharaoh through a dream, Joseph interpreted the dream, it is emphasized twice there will be 7 years of overwhelming plenty, followed by 7 years of devastating famine.

As Chapter 41 ended, we have had the 7 years of plenty and now we are into the 7 years of devastating famine. And it is a famine that spreads far beyond Egypt up into Palestine where Joseph’s family is living. The famine has occurred, Joseph sees the hand of God. He has had two children, but elevated by Pharaoh to second in the land. Pharaoh gave him a wife be fitting his exalted position. Joseph had two children by the wife given to him by Pharaoh and the name of the first in verse 51 of Chapter 41, you will note, name of the first-born was Manasseh and he named him Manasseh, which means to be made to forget because God made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household, all that trouble that came into my life of the horrible experience of being sold into slavery by my own brothers. That is all behind me. Got another son Ephraim and God had blessed him, made him fruitful, even though he was in the land that it had been land of a fortune for, a land of slavery, it’s turned into a land of blessing.

Now Chapter 42 opens up, Jacob saw there was grain in Egypt and Jacob said to his sons, why are you starring at one another. They are sitting around and looking at one another wondering what are we going to do? We will starve. He said behold I have heard there is grain in Egypt, go down there and buy some for us from that place that we may live and not die. So chapter 42 is about Joseph’s brothers coming to Egypt to buy grain. And whom will they have to buy it from, but the brother that they sold into slavery. One of those Biblical stories that is so familiar to us. Verse 4, Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, I am afraid that harm may be fallen to him. There is still clear marked favoritism that divides this family and it will not be dealt with. Joseph will show the same kind of favoritism. The Bible never addresses that, there is never any rebuke to Joseph, never any rebuke to Jacob for his action here. This is just the way it is. Jacob has had children by 4 different women, you remember, the sons and a daughter. There is division in the family. They all share the same father, they don’t all share the same mother. And there is conflict in division and the favoritism show to the children of Jacob’s favorite wife. That’s the source of tension, remember Joseph, because of the favoritism showed him and special treatment and the honors given him. And here Jacob is willing to send all of his sons to Egypt to get grain, but he is not sending Benjamin because he loves Benjamin too much. He is afraid something bad may happen to Benjamin. I don’t want to put him in any kind of difficult situation. What have brought the other brothers? Is saying they are expandable? What did they say? Dad will you love me, you guys go to Egypt. If something happens to some of you that will be alright, but if something happens to Benjamin, I couldn’t bear it, And then you see the kind of situation that still exists in the family. I won’t send Benjamin because I am afraid harm may be fallen on him. I will send you, I am not afraid whether a bad harm would fall you. Harm to fall you, harm to fall you, but I couldn’t bear it if it came to Benjamin. So the other sons of Jacob head off to Egypt to buy grain.

Verse 6, Now Joseph was the ruler over the land. He was the one who sold all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and spoke to them harshly, said to them, where have you come from? They said, from the land of Canaan. But 20 years have passed since they sold Joseph in the slavery, they don’t recognize him and of course, he would be now dressed, haired and everything done as an Egyptian. His appearance has changed in 20 years. He is a man of about 37, you note that because they sold him to Egypt when he was 17. He was elevated when he was 30. you read that in Chapter 41 a few moments ago, 7 years of famine have plenty of passed, now were into the famine . And it will be more precisely dated for us, but about 20 years have gone by and you know what, the dream that Joseph had and related to them is now coming about.

Look at the end of verse 6, Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. Go back to Chapter 37, and you have a time line here in chapter 37 verse 2, Joseph when 17 years of age, he is still youth and he brings a bad report and then he has a dream, and he relates the dream to his brothers. Verse 6, please listen to his dream which I have had, for behold we were binding sheaves in the field, low my sheave rose up and stood erect and behold your sheaves gathered around and bowed down my sheave. His brother said to him, you are actually going to reign over us, or you really going to rule over us. They hated him all the more because of his dreams. Then he has another dream in his mother and father joined in bowing before him. Sold into slavery, even when he seems to be in a position of responsibility as a slave, he loses that and ends up in Pharaoh’s donjon, but time does not frustrate God’s plan, seeming, you know overwhelming circumstances, do not frustrate God’s plans. It will be as He has # to be appointed, so 20 years go by, it doesn’t mean God’s plan has changed and what he has revealed comes the path, so here are the brothers on their face before Joseph just as God revealed it would be.

In verses 8 to 17, Joseph accuses his brothers of being spies, he recognized his brothers, they don’t recognize him. Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about them. That’s what we just read 20 years earlier. Imagine what is going through his mind, he sees his brothers on their face before him. You think back to those dreams when he was 17-year-old young man and nobody would believe it. And here they are before him. These had to be all of sovereign hand of God. He accuses them of being spies and this is not to get vengeance because Joseph could treat them anyway he wanted. He could order them out to be executed his spies and it would be done. I mean, the only one with greater power than him is Pharaoh. If Joseph says to Pharaoh, these men deserve to die, Pharaoh has already given him his signet and full authority to do whatever he thinks is best. If Joseph said these are spies and have to die or they have to go to the donjon whatever it will be, it will be. So what Joseph is doing here is unfolding the plan that will enable him to find out if there has been any change of heart in his brothers over these 20 years. Do they have any more love and compassion for their father, then they demonstrated, when they sold his favorite son in the slavery. So he accuses them of being spies, they have come to spy out the land for a foreign power.

Verse 15, by this, you will be tested by the life of Pharaoh you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. So now here’s what you have to do, you have to bring the youngest brother. He has asked about their family life he knows, but his probing questions have drawn it out of them, and they have a youngest brother still at home. While here is the way I will find out you stories true. You have to bring your youngest brother down here, then I will know what was the true story, otherwise that is just a fabrication you made up as spies. So first plan is, I will keep all of you, but one. One of you can go back home and get your youngest brother and I will keep you here in prison until he returns. Then he puts them in prison for three days. So you see the power of Joseph, he doesn’t have to ask anybody, he just put these men in prison. So they spent three days in prison, then Joseph brings them back.

In verse 18, on the third day, he says do this and live, for I fear God, and you see you know I do fear God. I want to do as its right. so if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in prison, so instead of them all have to stay and one return, I will you what. I will just keep one brother here and all the rest can go back home. And you take grain back for your families. Bring your youngest brother to me. And then I will know you are genuine and I will release the brother I keep here as a prisoner. Now they started to talk among themselves, and you find out their guilty conscience has plugged them for the last 20 years. And what is the first thing that comes to mind when this calamity comes upon them. Verse 21, they said to one another, truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen. Back 20 years ago when we sold him, Joseph begged them and pleaded with them, to have mercy on him. But they saw the agony and distress he was in, they had a heart hard toward him and now they say, now his distress has come upon on us. We didn’t escape. We fought our father, but we didn’t get away with it. Reuben answered them saying there here talking in their own language.

They didn’t know Joseph understands their language. Of course, so they are talking to one another, they don’t care that he can hear because he is an Egyptian, he can’t understand them. He has been speaking to them in Egyptian through an interpreter. So they assume he doesn’t understand their language, but he does. Reuben answered them saying, did I not tell you do not sin against the boy, you would not listen. Now come to the reckoning for his blood. They did not know, however that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them. He is overwhelmed, this is a good sign, a good indication, they acknowledged their guilt, they acknowledged that this is punishment they deserved. It is waiting for what they did. 20 years later it hasn’t relieved that burden of guilt that is theirs. So he turns away and wept, then he comes back, speaks to them, he takes Simeon bound before their eyes. He is going to the dungeon. So he is bound him as a prisoner, just like you see in our modern court room and somebody stands before the judge and then he is going to be taken off to jail. They put his hands behind him and handcuff him and will come out of the court here. Simeon’s bound to be led away to the donjon. So they have this visible picture in their mind of their brother when they leave. And Joseph gave orders fill their bags with grains and he tells his servants and you put everybody’s money back in their bag. And he gave them provision for the journey and they loaded their donkeys their grain and departed from there. On the way back, one of them opened his bag to get feed for the donkey and he saw his money, and that was in the mouth of his sac, first thing he sees when he opens his bag.

Verse 28, then he said to his brothers, my money has been returned, it’s in my sac. Their heart sank, they turned trembling to one another, note this, what is this that God has done to us. They recognized God’s hand in this. But they are afraid. Now their brother is down in Egypt and something has gone terribly wrong because they have left Egypt and their brother has his money. They come back to their father, tell him the account and here’s what happened and it didn’t go well.

In verse 33, the man, the lord of the land said to us, by this I will know your honest men leave on of your brothers with me take grain . Verse 34, bring your youngest brother to me, then I may know that you are not spies, but honest men and I will give you your brother back then you may trade in the land. This is a bad news all around. But again we see Jacob is willing to sacrifice Simeon to save Benjamin. Though at this point, you won’t be willing to have Benjamin go down to prove the story is true and besides now we have the problem multiplying, not only did one brother get his money return, but now they opened their sacs to empty them to take the grain out.

Verse 35, every man’s bundle of money was in his sac. When they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were dismayed because they realized the problem. This is not the way we got the grain, we have got the money, but their brother Jacob’s one son is in Egypt and what are they going to do when they use up this grain. They are in a wretched situation. Jacob said to them, you have bereaved me of my children, Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin. All these things are against me. It’s a strange account here verses 35 to 38, verse 37, Reuben speaks up and he said to his father, you may put my two sons to death, if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care, I will return him to you. Reuben says I will take responsibility for Benjamin and if I don’t return with him, you can kill my two sons. The strange thing to say. These are Jacob’s grandchildren. I mean you offered to the grandfather, you can kill my two sons, your two grandchildren if I don’t bring Benjamin back safe. Just strange family situations, wouldn’t you in the patriarchal days. I mean you didn’t make such a thing. I mean it wouldn’t anybody even think of making such an offer to a grandparent today. I mean it is you know unbelievable that he thinks this would make Joseph, oh… well if I could kill your two sons if you don’t bring Benjamin back, then I let you go. I mean even such an offer is hard for us to comprehend. But Jacob said my son shall not go down with you. His brother is dead, he alone has left.

You see the strength of the favoritism in this family, I mean Jacob talked like Benjamin is the only son I have left. Joseph is dead, Benjamin is the only one I have. What do you mean, he as got 10 others, but he is willing to sell his other sons, you know if I lose Benjamin, then it would be like I don’t have any sons left. He alone is left, If I should be following him on journey, you were taking, then you will bring my grey hair down to sheol in sorrow. I mean there will be no. I will be overwhelmed. My grief will be such, there will be nothing left for me to die in my misery. The problems are overwhelming and there’s nothing to do. So we are running out of food, the grains being used up the famine, you see the hand of God, I mean here is the famine and the prime purpose of this famine that spreads throughout Egypt, throughout Palestine and who knows how much more of the world and God has a sovereign purpose in it. He is going to move one family down in the Egypt. You spread a famine over a large portion of the world, so that your purpose in moving one family down in the Egypt can be accomplished. Obviously, there are other purposes not dealt within scripture. One of the ways God brings judgment and wrath on a sinful world. Would you see his divine purpose in the line traced in scripture is what He is doing with the promised family. And no other development of what is going on with this family in other places because this famine in another places because it’s not relevant. What God is doing with the family of Jacob is relevant.

So Chapter 43, the brothers have to go back to Egypt. When they came about in verse 2, when they finished the eating grain what they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, go back and buy us a little food. Jude speaks up now. Reuben was the first-born, he had spoken to him in chapter 42, but he has lost his position because of his immorality. Jude speaks up, and Jude manifests the proper kind of leadership and he will become the dominant figure and the messianic line is going to come from this man. Jude spoke to him, however saying the man solemnly wanted, you shall not see my face unless your brother is with you. If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. But if you do not send him, we will not go down. The man said to what you will not see my face unless your brother is with you. You get an idea of something of the appearance and the manner of Joseph when he dealt with his brothers. You have the sense of being in the presence of a man of overwhelming power, and his word was law and Jude and his brothers are absolutely convinced when Joseph said, you will not see my face without your brother. He meant, you will not see my face without your brother and we are not going down. We will sit here and die, though we are not going back. So Jacob stuck and here he is called Israel. We will move from the name Jacob to the Israel which is a reminder of his covenant role. Israel said, why did you treat me so badly by telling the man whether you still had another brother? Why did have the blab? Why did you open your big mouth? Why did you tell him you had a younger brother at home? Would you realize this is not the issue. You know, The sovereign hand of God’s work is not they spoke too much, that was all part of the plan of God and besides Joseph already knew.

They said the man questioned particularly about us and our relatives saying your father alive, have you another brother? How would we know he would say, bring your brother down here. Jude said to his father Israel, verse 8 send the lad with me and we will arise and go there and we may live and not die. We as well as you are not little ones. I myself will be surety for him. You may hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame before you forever. This is a serious matter, we have seen the importance of the blessings of the father and Jude is in effect saying I will forgo the right to any blessing for you. And that will affect his whole line for ever, if I don’t bring him back. So these are serious matters, Jude when he declares he would be willing to forgo all right and all blessing and all claim, then he might have upon his father’s blessing, if he doesn’t bring Benjamin back. You see this is a serious matter and all the brothers recognized the role that Benjamin’s plays and how serious it is to try to get Jacob to let go of Benjamin. If we had not delayed surely by now, we could have returned twice. I mean we have already waited too long. We have to go, otherwise we are just all going to die, and that will include everyone including you, there will be nothing. So you won’t have Benjamin and you won’t have anyone because we all just die of starvation. Their father Israel said to them, if it must be so, then do this, take some of the best products of the land in your bags, carry them down to the man as a present, a little balm, a little honey, aromatic gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, almonds. These are the things that aren’t made at the Egypt. In fact if you go back to Chapter 37, when Joseph was sold to the Midianites these are the kind of things they were taking down into Egypt, the barter and sale. So take these things as a gift, again they don’t have the food they need to survive, that they are of a wealthy family and they do have things to barter with. So they take these gifts and then take double the money you have. So take the money that you have returned and also the additional money to buy more. I mean, we just got to do whatever we can to make this man realized that this wasn’t, you know, intentional deceit or thievery. Take your brother, verse 13, arise, return to the man, may God almighty grant you compassion in the sight of the man. So that it will release to you, your other brother and Benjamin as for me I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. What else can happen? I mean if we stay, you will die, I will be bereaved. If you go and the man doesn’t accept you, I will be bereaved. So I can only hope for the best. So after they go to Egypt. So the man did it, Joseph said to him, brought the men to Joseph’s house, now the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house, this doesn’t sound good. We had trouble before. Now we find we have all our money that we took back with us. Let’s face it. This man hasn’t indicated that he wants us to be his best friends, being invited to his house for dinner, that’s not good. It sounds like a final judgment scene for us. They are afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, it is because of the money that we returned in our sacs the first time where it being brought in that he may seek occasion against and follow up on # were slaves with their donkeys. So they came near to Joseph‘s house told, the one in charge of doing this and in charge of these men now and they explained to him. You know I guess what happened. We came down, we bought food, we don’t know what happened, you know we got home, we got all our money, we brought it back.

The end of verse 21, and we brought down verse 22 either money. We don’t know who put the money in our sacs. He said to them, be it is, don’t be afraid, Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacs. I had your money. Don’t worry about it. I know. Then he brought Simeon out to them. Evidently Simeon has been in the jail or the donjon up until this point. He doesn’t know what is going on either. Now I think its Joseph saw that he was provided for their, but he was still in the prison, there has been no revelation to him with this point either. Then the man they brought the men into Joseph’ house, he gave them water, horse to feed, gave them their donkeys’ fodder, they prepared the present for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they had heard that they are going to eat a meal there.

When Joseph came home, they brought into the house, they were brought into the house, they brought to him the present, which is in their hand. All these gifts that Jacob had said, take down and give to the man. They bowed down to the ground before him. The end of verse 28, they bow down in homage. Responding how is your father, is he still living, how is he? Always well and they are bowing before him, I mean, again that dream repeated, fulfilled again and again and again. Then Joseph sees his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, so you see these are half-brothers to others, but Benjamin is his full brother and he is overwhelmed. Is this your youngest brother? May God be gracious to you, He doesn’t reveal himself, then he goes out and weeps. He is overwhelmed with emotion at seeing Benjamin. He washes his face, comes back in and says alright, serve the meal and interesting the setup up here.

Verse 32, they served him by himself, so here you are in Jacob’s house, the big banquet room, Joseph has his own table. He eats alone, I mean he is the master and the Egyptian served himself and those who eats with Joseph and the kind of possession that they would eat with Joseph, the man of this stature. They have their own table and then Joseph’s brothers have their own table and the reason they served him by himself them by themselves in the Egyptians will eat with him by themselves because the Egyptians cannot eat bread with the Hebrews for that is loathsome to the Egyptians, because remember the Hebrews were shepherds and the Egyptians don’t have anything to do with them, insisting the ruler of Egypt and Pharaoh. He is himself a Hebrew and they were seated before him. The first born according to his birthright in the youngest according to the youth and the men looked at one another in astonishment. I mean, here Joseph has them seated according to age and they are all looking around, added anybody, no. They are just told there are signs, you here, you here, you here, you here with all sitting done, they are sitting in order. And then he took portions to them from his own table. Verse 34, but Benjamin’s portion was 5 times as much as any of the others. Then Joseph’s going to repeat this kind of favoritism. He honors Benjamin above them all in a major way, in a very obvious way, he gets 5 times as much as anyone else. They feasted and drank freely with him.

Chapter 44, Joseph has another final test. He commanded his house steward and saying, fill the men’s sac with food as much as they can carry, put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack, put my cup, the silver cup in the mouth of the sack of the youngest and his money for the grain. They did it. So they were set off, everything is ok, you brought your brother, go on your way. As soon as they were gone, Joseph says, in verse 4, to his house steward follow the men, overtake them and then say, why did you repay evil for all the kindness that was done to you? Why did you steel the cup of my master and he drinks from this cup and he uses it for divination, to discern and determine the will of the God. This is an important cup, why would you steel that?

So verse 6, he overtook them and spoke those words to them and the brother said, why would you say such a thing? We would never do that, verse 8, we brought the money back that we had and we showed you how honest we are. How could we steel something from our Lord’s house? And so verse 9, with whomever of your servants found let him die, and we will be our lord’s slaves, they are so sure to say that the person who has it, he can be put to death and the rest of us will be slaves. Verse 10, he said, let it be according to your words, to whom it is found, shall be my slave, the rest you been innocent, alright, I will accept, only one guilty person here, the one who has the cup and the rest of you will be free to go back home. This is obliviously all part of Joseph’s instructions to him. Part of his determination to find out of the brothers will sacrifice Benjamin for themselves, what is their attitude for Benjamin, the favorite son of his father as he was the favorite son. So they start and there is suspense to build here because the servant starts with the oldest and works to the youngest, and as every sacs opened, it is okay, it’s okay, but then he gets to Benjamin, the last bag, the last son and there is the cup in the mouth of the sac, verse 12, verse 13 they tore their clothes, each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city. Can you imagine the despair as they put all these things that had been just searched back on their donkeys and turn around to go back to face Joseph and what are they going to say? They have got the cup.

Verse 14, when Jude and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there, they fell to the ground before him. Joseph said to them, what is this deed you have done? Do you not know that such a man was I can indeed practice divination? He claims this pagan power continuing to play the role, I mean, I can divine, I know these things, the god speaks to me. Jude said what can we say to my Lord? What can we speak? How come we justify ourselves? God has found out the inequity of your servants. Now Jude knows they haven’t stolen the cup, but he knows their guilty before God. And this is fitting punishment for their inequity. God has found out the inequity of your servants, Behold you are my Lord’s slaves, both we and the one and whom the possession of the cup has been found were all slaves, we were in this together, we will all be your slaves. Joseph said, far be it from me to do this, the man in whose possession the cup has been found, he shall be my slave, the rest of you go and visit your father, the others are death. Will they sacrifice Benjamin? Will they sacrifice Joseph? Will they be glad to be get rid of Benjamin, when saved their own skin, get rid of the other favorite son, but things have changed. Jude approached him, you see how Jude has taken the dominant role, the prominent role, through this from the time of leaving and speaking to his father Jacob and leaving to go, each of these occasion Jude becomes the spokesman. Jude spoken, all my Lord, may your servant please speak a word in my Lord’s ears, don’t be angry with your servant, you are equal to Pharaoh and there is total of humility and humbling of themselves here. I mean, to speak to you is like speaking to Pharaoh and I am not one eligible to do this, but let me say something and so he gave the account of how precious Benjamin is to his father and what a disaster it would be for Benjamin to be kept in Egypt. And how they went through all of this and he talks about verse 27, your servant, my father said to us, you know that my wife bore me two sons, the one went out from me and I said surely he is torn in pieces, I have not seen him since. The loss of Joseph has been very vivid and key in Jacob’s mind these 20 years and so he reiterates the account and it will be you know the end of our old father, if Benjamin doesn’t return.

So he offers in verse 33, please let your servant remain instead of the lad. I will stay, let me be the slave, let me take his place, what a change from the time when it was remembered Jude, who suggested and came up with the idea instead of killing Joseph, let’s sell him as a slave. Now Jude is willing to take Benjamin’s place and to become slave in Egypt so that Benjamin can go free. Lord, that does demonstrate a remarkable change in the part of the brothers. Joseph can’t control himself any longer, that means he can’t continue, he is found out what he wants to find out, the brothers are responding differently than they did 20 years ago. They are treating Benjamin even though he is the favorite of their father, even though he is their half-brother that the father bestows this added attention on Jude’s willing to be a slave in his place. So he sends everybody, all the Egyptians out, there are only his brothers and you have the shocking revelation. Can you imagine? Joseph says It’s me, I am Joseph, can you believe it? Brothers, believe this, verse 3, I am Joseph, his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. I mean, this is not good news, this is bad news, is it Joseph? This is the one we sold in to slavery, now he has absolute authority over us. Now they can’t believe it, Joseph said to his brothers come closer, I am your brother Joseph whom you sold into slavery, immediately tells them, don’t be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me. What you mean don’t be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here? But he doesn’t want them. They feel bad about what they did, and you have to underline 2 expressions here which are key, you sold me, God sent me. From the human side you sold me, but from the divine side it was God who sent me. You sold me here, but I am here by the divine appointment. You sold me into slavery into Egypt, but it was really the hand of God sending me to Egypt for his purposes.

Verse 7, God has sent me and you should note the number of times, verse 5, God sent me, verse 7, God sent me, verse 8, it was not you who sent me here, but God, verse 9, God has made me lord of all Egypt. All this has been the hand of God. That excused the sin of the brothers, is that mean their sin wasn’t sin? No, God was using the sin. Joseph said the issue here is the sovereign hand of God and bringing me here. We get so caught up with the wrong that was done. I understand that the wrongs that others may do to me do not frustrate God’s plan for me. And even the wrongs that others do to you a part of God’s sovereign plan in using those wrong to accomplish his plans for good for you. How many times you here, I can’t see any good in this. I don’t know why God would do that. Well, Joseph didn’t know when he was sitting in the donjon and why either and something we all not only get to glory, but we can be assured and reminded it from accounts like this God’s hands in it. At disaster, a dastardly deed. These men would sell their brother into slavery and bring such grief on their father and lying about his death and you will say, God sent me, You sold me, God sent me, God sent me before you, verse 7, to preserve for your remnant in the earth, to keep you alive by great deliverance. Now therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. You think of all the time we waste doing and fretting over the wrongs done to us. We get to glory and look back and say it was the hand of God and be ever what they did hi, it was wrong, that so relevant, it was the hand of God using that to accomplish his will for thee.

So Joseph could say oh, that’s your relative, it was the hand of God, Isn’t it marvelous? God sent me to Egypt, God sent me here ahead of you to get things ready so that you could be spared and it is not focused on what a terrible thing you did and you are the one who to be overwhelmed with grief. I want you to be amazed with me if the sovereignty of God and how you worked to send me to Egypt. It was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt. I mean Pharaoh had authority finally over Joseph, but he submitted himself to Joseph. I mean, Joseph make the decisions, hurry and go up to my father and say to him, 'Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me today, do not delay. These are shaking events. So I just can’t imagine now, I wonder what the brothers are going to do and their details I do wonder why you know, I don’t want the bible to get enlarged, so I sometimes think you know what it had been nice if we had the Bible and then we had the subsequent volumes, it didn’t have to pay a lot of attention to be you could get the details. Because what are the brothers going to tell dad when they get home, Joseph is alive in Egypt, can’t be he died by the beast, yeah, he did. Remember, I saved that garment, it’s got the blood on it. Remember you brought it to me, there we have to tell you something, its goat’s blood, why? What happened to Joseph? You are not going to believe this. We sold him. What? The Bible doesn’t tell you any of that. I am just filling it in for you, this is just extra. You know the things that the bible leaves out. I read this and I say, what did the brothers tell Jacob, their dad? What did Jacob say when he found out? Over 20 years he had mourned and grieved and these sons of his had carried on this deception, amazing.

So look at verse 11, time line here, he tells them, I want you to go, get my father, bring your families down here to the land of Goshen and Egypt. I provide for you, verse 11 for there are still 5 years of famine to come, so you have a time line, Joseph was 30 years when he was elevated in Egypt and that began 7 years of plenty. 7 years of plenty are over, now we are going to have 7 years of famine, there are 5 years ago, so over, 2 more years into this, Joseph is 39 years old. 22 years have gone by since he was sold into slavery in Egypt. So I want you to go, bring my father back. Now Pharaoh hears that Joseph’s brothers have come to Egypt and he is excited because you know, he is in all of Joseph and Joseph’s like a father to Pharaoh even though he is a young man and he has his authority and Pharaoh’s more than happy to have Joseph’s family come to Egypt because that just secures Joseph in Egypt. And they won’t come a time when Joseph may want to go back to his family, so it is great to have his family here.

Verse 16, when the news was heard in Pharaoh’s house that Joseph brothers are come, it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to your brothers, do this: load your beasts, go to the land of Canaan, take your father, your households and come to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you will eat the fat of the land. Now you are ordered to do this, take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones, for your wives, don’t concern yourself verse 20 with your goods, leave there, don’t bring your possession, don’t worry about it, when you get here, I will place everything with more. And Pharaoh can do it. Basically saying the wealth of Egypt will be yours and that is not a small promise because Joseph rules, Joseph can give whatever he wants and Pharaoh reiterates it here. I mean here you have an audience with pharaoh. Pharaoh speaks and here’s what you do and here you take the carts from Egypt, so that you can come back with the relative comfort of these to carry your families, don’t bother about bringing your possessions because I will give you everything when you get here. So the sons of Israel, they saw Joseph gave them wagons according to the command of Pharaoh, provisions, to each of them he gave changes of garments.

Note this verse 22, he gives changes their garments of them, but to Benjamin, he gave 300 pieces of silver and 5 changes of garments. Joseph sees no problem with the favoritism in the family, that’s just the way it is, and he has a greater love for Benjamin than the other brothers, and Benjamin is more significant and more important to him than the other brothers and it’s just the way it is. And his father loved him more than the other brothers and that’s just the way it is. And the father loves Benjamin more than the other brothers and that’s just the way it is, and now we get on with life. I am not saying we are to treat our children with this kind of favoritism by the same talk and don’t worry about how you parents treated you or whether they treated you fairly or you think your brother or sister was treated better and raised differently than you, that’s what relevant, isn’t it? None of these things have any role in frustrating God’s plan for me. Oh, you don’t know how difficult it was in my parents favored this child and I was the, so what, forget it, get on with it, then here it goes right on. Benjamin honored above his brothers. Is he going to create more antagonism? Not if his brothers hand it, right. So they get on and he sends all these gift to his father as brothers leave and I love what tells them in verse 24, he sent his brothers away and as they departed, he said to them, do not quarrel on the way, I mean, he can see what happens. They will get into an argument and fight and it is your fault, I never wanted to sell him anyway, just get up there and get my father and get back here and don’t argue on the way. So they went up, there is the father they tell in verse 26, Joseph is still alive and indeed he is ruler over the land of Egypt, he was stunned, he didn’t believe them. Now we don’t know the rest of what they told, because I told you it is explaining the story, but they told him everything what Joseph had said. He sees all the wagons and the gifts and the spirit of their father Jacob revived. Israel said, it is enough, my son Joseph is still alive, I will go and see him before I die, and so we are going to have to move to Egypt, which begins 400 years of bondage and Israel in the land of Egypt. So say something about some ages here of some of these people as we move into the closing section of the book are remind you of some key time things. We put up some dates before and I just remind you. We talked about Jacob’s age now, but think about this, when Jacob got married, he was 83 years old. Then he has a series of children in rather rapid succession. Joseph being born when he is about 90. It is going to live to be quite an aged man. And we will see that as we move into these closing chapters, but you see some of the ages and events and so on and now we comes down in to Egypt. Isaac has died, his father 10 years earlier. So Isaac is not with them now, he died just 10 years before, Jacob now is going to come down in to Egypt and chapter 46 will begin the Egyptian bondage. You will note the time we have here and the date we are for 400 years they will be in Egypt until the events of the exodus will occur. God will bring them out, 70 will go down into Egypt, perhaps 2 million will come out. A family goes down and a nation comes out, and the God’s marvelous hand continues his work.

Let’s pray together. Thank you Lord that you are the sovereign God. Thank you for the unfolding of these events, which give us a greater understanding and appreciation of the way you have worked to fulfill your promises for your people Israel. Lord, even in the family turmoil, trials and difficulties, we are reminded that you are sovereign and your purposes are always accomplished. The sinful acts of men do not frustrate your purposes and plans. Lord may we keep that in mind that you people today so easy for us to despair, to become frustrated, disheartened because of difficulties, trials, disappointments, wrongs, suffered and yet Lord our hearts are blessed to be reminded that you are our God, your purposes for us for good will be accomplished and even the sinful acts of man will only serve to accomplish your plans for good for us as your people, God may our hearts would rejoice in the most difficult situations because we know our God rule over all. We prays in Christ’s name. Amen.