Session 12
Genesis 45:1-15
Memory Verse: Genesis 45:5
We live in a world of broken relationships. Perhaps nowhere is that fact more evident than in the family. Recent statistics from the American Psychological Association indicate that approximately 40 to 50 percent of first marriages end in divorce. The divorce rate for second marriages is even higher. And recent information from the United States Census Bureau indicates about 1,300 new stepfamilies are formed each day.
Conflict in any family is inevitable. That fact is especially true in blended families. As you prepare to teach this Bible study, reflect on your family and how God may want to use you as an agent of healing. Identify steps you can take to make that happen and commit to following through with those ideas. Also, think about people in your group who may be experiencing conflict in their families. Ask God to use you to help them seek reconciliation with others by acknowledging God’s sovereignty.
Every human being who has ever walked on this planet has been wronged by someone. As difficult as it is to be mistreated by others, it is often more difficult to forgive others for what they’ve done to us. We may even think that reconciliation circumvents justice. We can learn from Joseph’s example that God is directing our lives for His purposes-even when we experience mistreatment by others. (PSG, p. 109)
After remaining loyal to God through years of trying circumstances, Joseph was rewarded. Pharaoh positioned Joseph as second-in-command in Egypt. Thus, the stage was set for Joseph’s reunion and reconciliation with his family. The seven years of abundant harvests were followed by famine. The food shortage was severe, and people from far and wide came to Egypt looking for food (Gen. 41:57).
The famine’s severity even reached Canaan, so Jacob sent ten of his sons to Egypt to purchase grain. Joseph’s brothers bowed before him in accord with Joseph’s youthful dreams. Although Joseph recognized them, they failed to perceive his identity.
Joseph accused his brothers of being spies and determined to test them to see if their attitudes had changed. His test focused on Benjamin, the only other son of Rachel. Joseph imprisoned Simeon until the others should return with Benjamin. When the family had depleted the grain supply from Egypt, Jacob again sent his sons to buy food. When Judah promised to take personal responsibility for Benjamin, Jacob reluctantly allowed his youngest son to accompany the others.
When Joseph saw Benjamin, he was overcome with emotion and left the room until he could regain his composure. In accordance with Joseph’s instructions, his brothers ate the noon meal at his house. They were astonished to discover they had been seated in order by their ages.
Determined to discover if the brothers had really changed, Joseph arranged one final test. He instructed his steward to place his silver cup in Benjamin’s bag of grain. Before the brothers had gone far from the city, Joseph instructed his steward to overtake them and find Joseph’s cup. Only the man in whose bag the cup was found would become Joseph’s slave. Of course, the steward uncovered the cup in Benjamin’s sack.
The brothers had changed. They refused to desert Benjamin. All returned to the city with the steward. Judah pleaded to remain as slave in place of Benjamin. After Judah concluded his plea, Joseph sent his attendants away before revealing his identity to his brothers. Terror gripped their hearts when they realized they stood in Joseph’s presence.
Joseph responded graciously by declaring that God had sent him ahead of them to preserve their lives. He then sent word for his father and all the family to join him in Egypt where he would settle them near him in Goshen.
When Jacob heard the news, he was stunned. But seeing the provisions that Joseph had sent, the elderly patriarch determined to journey to Egypt. Genesis 46:29 describes the touching reunion of Joseph with his father. With the arrival of Jacob and his sons, all those of Jacob’s household in Egypt were numbered at seventy (Gen. 46:27).
Read Genesis 45:1-15. What truth did Joseph know that made it possible for him to reconcile with his brothers? (PSG, p. 110)
EXPLORE THE TEXT
1 Joseph could no longer keep his composure in front of all his attendants, so he called out, “Send everyone away from me!” No one was with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers. 2 But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and also Pharaoh’s household heard it. 3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But they could not answer him because they were terrified in his presence.
(v. 1) Keep his composure: Joseph had restrained his emotions in his brothers’ presence prior to this point, but the circumstances finally got the best of him. The same Hebrew verb used here previously appeared in Genesis 43:31 where Joseph exited the room to regain his composure after being overcome with emotion upon seeing Benjamin. With Judah’s penitent plea on behalf of Benjamin and his aging father (44:18-34), Joseph could no longer sustain his ruse or control his tears.
Send everyone away
Joseph demanded privacy for this personal moment as he revealed his identity to his brothers. It’s possible that he sent his attendants away because he realized it was unwise for someone in his position to freely express his emotions before people under his rule.
Verse 16 indicates that evidently Joseph’s attendants were aware that Joseph’s brothers had arrived, and they must have reported the fact to Pharaoh. Also, Joseph may have simply wanted this occasion to be reserved for his family members.
(v. 1) Revealed his identity: This expression translates a form of a Hebrew verb that basically means “to know.” In the form used in this context, the term means “to make himself known.” The word can express acquaintance with an individual, as well as the most intimate of human relationships.
(v. 2) Wept so loudly: Weeping is a natural and spontaneous expression of strong emotion throughout the Old Testament. A person might weep out of joy, sorrow, complaint, repentance, or remorse. From the Hebrews’ perspective weeping was connected with the voice, whereas tears were associated with the eyes.
Thus the expression wept so loudly more literally means “gave his voice in weeping.” The Lord revealed through His prophet Isaiah that in His new creation “the sound of weeping and crying will no longer be heard” (Isa. 65:19).
(v. 3) My father: After identifying himself, Joseph immediately turned his attention to Jacob. Assuming that Joseph was seventeen when his brothers sold him into slavery (Gen. 37:2), he would have been about thirty-nine when he saw his father again. This figure is based on the fact that Joseph was thirty when he entered Pharaoh’s service (41:46). The seven years of plenty had then passed. Five more years of the seven-year famine remained (45:6).
So, Joseph had not seen his father in approximately twenty-two years. In Joseph’s speech to his brothers (vv. 3-13), his father was his dominating concern (see vv. 3,9,13). Joseph had already expressed his anxiety regarding his father’s well-being in 43:7,27.
(v. 3) Terrified: The Hebrew verb expresses the emotion of an individual confronted with something unexpected, disastrous, or threatening. It indicates the panic that overwhelms a person when suddenly faced with obvious doom. Thus, Joseph’s brothers rightly felt terror or alarm when they realized they stood in the presence of Joseph, who had become second in authority in Egypt.
Joseph’s brothers had treated him wrongly, and he possessed the power to repay evil for evil. The tables had turned. They had held his life in their hands when he was a youth (37:18-20). Now, some two decades later, their lives depended on his mercy. The term rendered terrified appears elsewhere in the Old Testament to depict the alarm accompanying the day of the Lord. See Isaiah 13:8 where the same verb is rendered “horrified.”
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please, come near me,” and they came near. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt. 5 And now don’t be grieved or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. 7 God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land
of Egypt.”
(v. 4) The one you sold: In revealing his identity to his brothers, Joseph described himself as the person his brothers had sold into slavery. This description helped validate Joseph’s claim because it pointed to an event that only he and his brothers would have known. Joseph’s next words demonstrate that he only mentioned this for identification purposes because he immediately assured them that God was in charge of how his life had unfolded.
(v. 5) Don’t be grieved or angry: Joseph wisely recognized that although his brothers had plotted evil, God had been at work for good in his adverse circumstances. The Hebrew word rendered grieved relates to both physical pain and emotional sorrow. The same verb appears in Genesis 6:6 to depict the grief in the Lord’s heart because of human wickedness.
The term translated angry literally means “to be hot” or “to burn.” The verb is always used in reference to anger. It differs from other Hebrew words for anger in that it stresses the kindling of anger like the kindling of a fire or the heat of that anger once it is kindled.
(v. 5) God sent me: Joseph interpreted his experiences-both good and bad-from a divine perspective. The verb translated sent occurs elsewhere in the Old Testament to describe someone sending another person on a mission. The same verb depicts Israel’s (Jacob’s) sending Joseph on a mission to check on his brothers (Gen. 37:13-14).
Of course, Joseph never returned to his father from that assignment. Instead, as he later recognized, God had directed events, even the ones his brothers meant for evil. As a result Joseph ended up as second-in-authority over all Egypt with the means to preserve many lives, including those of his own family. Joseph had lived out the truth of Romans 8:28. God does work things out to bless those He calls and who choose to pursue His purposes.
(v. 5) To preserve life: The Old Testament presents the possession of life as an intrinsic good (see Job 2:4; Prov. 3:16; Eccl. 9:4). It focuses on life as an experience, not an abstract principle of vitality. Rather than dividing individuals into body, soul, and spirit, ancient Jews viewed a person as a unified whole. Ultimately, a right relationship with God according to His standards determines success in life. Thus Moses challenged the Israelites to choose life by choosing to obey the Lord’s commands (Deut. 30:15-20).
Remnant
Verse 7 contains the first reference to what later becomes a significant Old Testament teaching. The word identifies something left over, particularly the Lord’s righteous people after divine judgment.
(v. 8) Father to Pharaoh: Joseph served as a special advisor to the king. The term father may designate a person held in high regard, even by the king (see 2 Kings 6:21). This description highlights the esteem of Joseph’s position in Egypt. Joseph correctly attributed his reception of this honor to God rather than to Pharaoh.
9 “Return quickly to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me without delay. 10 You can settle in the land of Goshen and be near me - you, your children, and your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and all you have. 11 There I will sustain you, for there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you, your household, and everything you have will become destitute.”’ 12 Look! Your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin can see that I’m the one speaking to you.
13 Tell my father about all my glory in Egypt and about all you have seen. And bring my father here quickly.”
14 Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept on his shoulder.
15 Joseph kissed each of his brothers as he wept, and afterward his brothers talked with him.
(v. 9) Lord of all Egypt: The Hebrew term rendered lord (see also v. 8) differs from the title discussed in previous sessions. The title used here is written in English as ’Adon. It typically, though not exclusively, refers to human beings. Sarah used the term to refer to Abraham (Gen. 18:12). The pharaoh of Egypt was also called by this designation (40:1, translated “master”). By stating that God had made him lord or master of Egypt, Joseph acknowledged that only God could have brought about this unbelievable turn of events.
Goshen
Pharaoh assigned the land of Goshen to Joseph’s family members when they came to Egypt. The area is generally located in the northeast part of the Nile Delta. The Hebrews, or Israelites, occupied this territory from the time of Joseph until their exodus from Egypt. The phrase is interchangeable with the expression “the land of Rameses” (Gen. 47:11). This Goshen differs from the Goshen mentioned in Joshua, which was located in the promised land (see Josh. 10:41; 11:16; 15:51).
(v. 11) I will sustain you: Jacob’s family made their living as herdsmen. During the extended famine, grazing land would have virtually been impossible to find. Therefore, Joseph stated that he would sustain his family during the remaining five years of the famine.
Joseph anticipated Jacob’s reluctance to depart the promised land to reside in Egypt. His promise of sustenance helped convince his father to move for the family’s welfare. Joseph kept his promise by providing food for all the family (see Gen. 47:12). The Hebrew verb rendered “provided” in 47:12 is the same verb used here.
(v. 12) Benjamin: This youngest son of Jacob was Joseph’s full brother. Rachel, Jacob’s favored wife, had died during Benjamin’s birth (Gen. 35:16-20) and named him Ben-oni, meaning “son of my sorrow.” However, Jacob called him Benjamin, meaning “son of the right hand.” Though small, the tribe of Benjamin later played a significant role in Israelite history. Saul, Israel’s first king, came from Benjamin (1 Sam. 9:21). And the apostle Paul also identified himself as a descendant of Benjamin (Rom. 11:1; Phil. 3:3-6).
(v. 13) My glory: This probably refers to Joseph’s esteemed position. Part of the Lord’s covenant with Abraham, the promise of a great name, was being fulfilled in Joseph’s rise to power (Gen. 12:2). The Hebrew term translated glory also means “dignity,” “splendor,” and “riches.” The basic meaning relates to weight, in the sense of being impressive or influential. Joseph’s upright behavior and dependence on God ultimately reaped God’s blessings (see Prov. 22:4).
(vv. 14-15) Wept: Public expressions of reunion among the Hebrews typically included kissing, hugging, and weeping (Gen. 33:4; 46:29; Ex. 4:27). The Scripture records that only Joseph and Benjamin wept on this occasion. The rest of the brothers talked with Joseph. This fact may reflect that the other brothers questioned Joseph’s kindness as genuine. Later when their father died, they revealed their fear that Joseph might retaliate (Gen. 50:15-18).
God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. (See Psalms 47:8; 103:19.)
Use other Scripture to help understand a Bible passage.
The initiative for reconciliation in the ancient world was typically made in one of two ways. A third party could help the two estranged parties reconcile, or an alienated person could take the first step. Read Genesis 45:1-15. In Joseph’s reunion with his brothers, who took the initiative to seek reconciliation? Read 2 Corinthians 5:19. Who took the initiative to restore our broken relationship with God? In seeking reconciliation with us, God, the injured party, took the first step. Now read Matthew 5:23-24. Is there some person with whom you need to take the initiative in seeking reconciliation? )