Bible Commentaries
Genesis 45

Verses 1-28

Chapter 45

Then Joseph could not refrain himself before them that stood by him; and he cried and he said, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard him ( Genesis 45:1-2 ).

Actually he said, "Get out of here all you Egyptians". And then he let his brothers know who he was and he was crying just aloud, saying, "I'm Joseph, I'm Joseph". And they were standing outside the door; they all heard him. And they ran to Pharaoh and they said, "Hey, Joseph's brothers are here, having a big party, a reunion and all".

And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph; does my father still live? And his brothers couldn't answer him; they were speechless, they were troubled at his presence ( Genesis 45:3 ).

It wasn't such a happy occasion for them yet. They didn't know what he was going to do.

And Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me, I pray you. And so they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold to Egypt. Now therefore don't be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me: for God did send me before you to preserve life ( Genesis 45:4-5 ).

Don't be grieved. Don't be upset with yourselves because you sold me, God's hand was in it all.

We should never be upset with secondary causes that God uses to bring His primary purposes into our lives. Their selling of him was a secondary cause. "Don't be grieved over that. Hey, don't you realize God's hand was in the whole thing? He sent me down here in order to preserve the family." Joseph could see he had the advantage of hindsight, he could see how God's hand was in this whole thing. "God sent me before you. Don't be upset over yourselves and grieve."

For these two years have the famine been in the land: but there's going to be five more years, in which there will be neither earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives alive by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me here, but God: and he has made me a father to the Pharaoh ( Genesis 45:6-8 ),

Man, it's far out what I've got down here, you know. And God's done it. You didn't do this. God is the One that did this. Seeing the providential hand of God in the whole experience. Oh, how glorious when we can see beyond secondary causes and see the hand of God's providence working in all of the circumstances of our lives. "You didn't do this, God did it. And God just sent me down to providentially spare the family."

Now hurry, and go back to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith your son Joseph, God has made me the lord of all Egypt: come down and don't waste any time: And you will dwell in the land of Goshen, you and all will be near me, and all your children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that you have: And I will there nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest you, and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty ( Genesis 45:9-11 ).

Five years more could wipe him out. So come on down. I'll take care of you. I'll nourish you. You'll be near me and all.

And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, you can see that it's my mouth that's speaking to you. And tell my father of my glory in Egypt, and all that you have seen; and ye shall make haste and bring down my father. And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and he wept; and Benjamin wept on his neck. And moreover he kissed all of his brothers, and wept on them: and after that his brothers talked to him ( Genesis 45:12-15 ).

Finally, they said, "Well, I guess the guy's serious". He's crying and weeping and he doesn't intend us harm and so they were finally able to speak. They were so shocked. It was just a wipe out. They didn't know what had happened to Joseph. And now all of a sudden here is a guy. He's the lord in Egypt and all. "I'm Joseph, I'm your brother. You can see it's me. It's my mouth. I'm talking to you, man." And they just were wiped out over the whole experience. They just could hardly answer.

Now in this you remember Jesus said to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, He said, "Are you blind? Do you not understand the scriptures?" And He began with Moses and went all the way through and showed them where the scriptures spoke of Christ. To the Pharisees He said, "You do search the scriptures, in them you think you have life. But actually they testify of Me." Now the scriptures testify of Christ plainly and then in allegories and in analogies and in types and in various ways. The scriptures testify about Jesus Christ.

And Joseph as we pointed out before is a beautiful type of Christ. A type of Christ being sold, rejected by his brothers. They refused him. They rejected him and sold him into slavery. But now at their second coming, he makes himself known to them. He's revealed at the second coming who he really is. And as He is revealed unto them, He has great mercy upon them.

The Bible tells us that when Jesus comes again, that the Jews-it says they are going to look on Him whom they have pierced. They're going to weep and travail over what they have done. How could we have rejected our Messiah? How could we have rejected God's plan? And they will look upon him whom they have pierced. They said, "What are the meaning of those wounds in your hands?"

And rather than being vindictive and all, He said, "These are the wounds that I received in the house of my friends". But He's going to receive them. There's going to be a glorious acceptance of the Messiah and Christ accepting them and the grace and the mercy that He'll bestow upon them. And the riches of God's grace that shall be bestowed upon these people when they are brought back again and they receive the gracious forgiveness of their Brother whom they rejected, whom they despised, whom they destroyed.

And so Joseph's revealing of himself as a type of the future when Christ will come again to the nation Israel and will reveal Himself to them and they will recognize Him in truth and will be accepted and forgiven. The whole thing is just a beautiful picture of that which is yet future. Now go tell your dad, my dad, all the things God has done for me. Tell him how I'm lord down here in Egypt. I rule over the country and man, I just really have it made.

And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, as they said, Joseph's brothers are come: and it pleased the Pharaoh well, and his servants. And the Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto your brothers, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get unto the land of Canaan; And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat of the fat of the land. Now command this; that you take wagons out of Egypt for the little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Also don't worry about your stuff ( Genesis 45:16-20 );

Your utensils and all.

for the good of the land of Egypt is yours ( Genesis 45:20 ).

We'll replace anything you've got to leave.

And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and he gave them provision for the way. And to all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but unto Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment. And to his father he sent after this manner; ten donkeys loaded down with the good things of Egypt, ten she donkeys laden down with wheat and bread and meat for his father by the way ( Genesis 45:21-23 ).

His father had sent down a few little bits of dried fruit and some almonds and all. And so Joseph loads down twenty donkeys and sends it back full of stuff for his dad.

So he his brothers departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way ( Genesis 45:24 ).

In other words, have a safe journey.

And they went up out of Egypt, and they came into the land of Canaan and Jacob their father, and they told him, saying, Joseph is still alive, he is the governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not ( Genesis 45:25-26 ).

He thought, "Oh, come on, what are you guys come to now?" And he was just weakened by the words that they say. It just sort of wiped out.

And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived ( Genesis 45:27 ):

The spirit of Jacob. He saw all the loot and the spirit of Jacob revived. But it ends,

And Israel said, It's enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die ( Genesis 45:28 ).

And so in the next chapters we find the glorious reunion of the father and the son down in Egypt, and we'll finish the book of Genesis next Sunday night. So read on ahead; the story gets exciting and I'm sure you'll enjoy it thoroughly.

Shall we stand? May the Lord be with you and watch over you through the week. And may you experience the hand of God upon your life and may you recognize the work of God in your life, not just in the blessed things, in the good things, but even in the adverse things.

And may you realize that truly all things are working together for good to those who love God. And thus, as we walk according to His purpose, help us that we might accept, as from God the adverse secondary causes that are bringing to pass God's primary will within our lives. And may we see beyond the obvious. May we see those things, which are not seen by the normal person; God's hand working in and behind the scenes of our lives to bring forth His will, His plan. God bless you and watch over you and keep you in Jesus' love. "