Genesis Bible Study: Genesis 45

Joseph Reveals His Identity

⁽¹⁾Joseph could stand it no longer. "Out, all of you!" he cried out to his attendants. He wanted to be alone* with his brothers when he told them who he was.

*alone: Pastor John Hagee believes that he wanted to be alone with them to show them his circumcision to prove he was indeed Joseph and not an Egyptian.

"Judah's speech convinced Joseph that his brothers had repented from their evil behavior of the past. It also convinced him that his brothers cared for Benjamin's and Jacob's well-being. Thus, Joseph was finished with his charade, and made his identity known to his brothers (mainly because he could no longer hold himself back): "I am Joseph! Is my father still living?" (verse 3). Touching is Joseph's concern first for the welfare of his beloved father." - Scripture Studies - Genesis 45: http://www.scripturestudies.com/Vol5/E8/e8_ot.html

⁽²⁾Then he broke down and wept aloud. His sobs could be heard throughout the palace, and the news was quickly carried to Pharaoh's palace.

"Judah and his brothers anxiously await a verdict from Joseph, one that will affect the course of their lives. Without knowing who Joseph is or what he intended to do, the brothers saw this potentate send everyone out of the room. They could perhaps see the tears flowing down his cheeks and his chest heaving with emotion. But what was the source of this great emotion? Was it anger, which would lead to further trouble? How could it be otherwise?" - The Fundamentals of Forgiveness: http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=123

⁽³⁾"I am Joseph!"* he said to his brothers. "Is my father still alive?" But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them.

*"I am Joseph!": Most likely, he said this in Hebrew which further confirmed that he was Joseph. This is going to happen again some day, when Jesus returns and reveals Himself to Israel. Zechariah 12:10: Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on all the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died.

⁽⁴⁾"Come over here*," he said. So they came closer. And he said again, "I am Joseph, your brother whom you sold into Egypt.

*Come over here: They would not get very close to Joseph because that would not have been allowed by the "secret service". Also, the brothers had kept their distance out of fear of what he might do to them.

⁽⁵⁾But don't be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it. He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.

⁽⁶⁾These two years of famine will grow to seven, during which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.

⁽⁷⁾God has sent me here to keep you and your families alive so that you will become a great nation.

⁽⁸⁾Yes, it was God* who sent me here, not you! And he has made me a counselor** to Pharaoh--manager of his entire household and ruler over all Egypt.

*God: Elohim

**counselor: Hebrew "Ab" - literally "father".

Genesis 50:20: As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil. He brought me to the high position I have today so I could save the lives of many people.

Joseph realized that God ruled his life, not men, circumstances, or fate. God was in control, and because God was in control all things worked together for good (Romans 8:28).

God directed the events to bring about the salvation of His chosen family. Originally, the brothers were going to kill Joseph. But then God used Reuben to convince the brothers to just throw Joseph into the cistern, then God used Judah to convince the brothers to sell Joseph rather than to leave him in the cistern to die. God was able to direct the actions of the brothers to further His will, even though the intentions of the brothers were evil. God did this in such a way so as to not Himself take part in the evil. If anything, God lessened the evil of the situation by directing the brothers away from the murder that they intended to commit.

Had God not sent Joseph to Egypt to preserve his brothers, there would never have been a nation of Israel - they would have simply been assimilated into the other Middle Eastern people. Joseph realized the entire purpose of God for his imprisonment, etc. when he saw his brothers at the first meeting. In telling his brothers what had happened to him, Joseph told the history from God's point of view, not from man's point of view - Source: "Scripture Studies - Genesis 45: http://www.scripturestudies.com/Vol5/E8/e8_ot.html"

⁽⁹⁾"Hurry, return to my father and tell him, `This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me master over all the land of Egypt. Come down to me right away!

⁽¹⁰⁾You will live in the land of Goshen* so you can be near me with all your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all that you have.

*Goshen: Region of Egypt which the Israelites inhabited during their sojourn in that country. It is described as situated on the eastern frontier of Lower Egypt (Genesis 46:28, 29; Exodus 13:17; I Chronicles 7: 21), forming an outpost of it (Genesis 46: 34); apparently not at all (or scantily) inhabited by Egyptians, but, in the estimation of shepherds, evidently "the best of the land" (Genesis 47: 6,11), since Pharaoh's cattle grazed there ( verse 6). Source: Jewish Encyclopedia http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=376&letter=G

Land of Goshen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Land of Goshen is the region around the city with the modern name Fakus in the eastern Nile delta in Egypt. It was there that Joseph had his house, and where he was laid to rest. Goshen was probably the province of Egypt nearest Canaan. The Israelites lived there in peace for 400 years, until a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph (Exodus 1:8) and reduced them to slavery. Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_Goshen

⁽¹¹⁾I will take care of you there, for there are still five years of famine ahead of us. Otherwise you and your household will come to utter poverty*.' "

*utter poverty: literally "ruin". In other words, in five more years, they would all have died or worse!

⁽¹²⁾Then Joseph said, "You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that I really am Joseph!

⁽¹³⁾Tell my father how I am honored here in Egypt. Tell him about everything you have seen, and bring him to me quickly."

⁽¹⁴⁾Weeping with joy, he embraced Benjamin, and Benjamin also began to weep.

⁽¹⁵⁾Then Joseph kissed each of his brothers and wept over them, and then they began talking freely with him.

⁽¹⁶⁾The news soon reached Pharaoh: "Joseph's brothers have come!" Pharaoh was very happy to hear this and so were his officials.

⁽¹⁷⁾Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Tell your brothers to load their pack animals and return quickly to their homes in Canaan.

⁽¹⁸⁾Tell them to bring your father and all of their families, and to come here to Egypt to live. Tell them, `Pharaoh will assign to you the very best territory in the land of Egypt. You will live off the fat of the land!'

Notice that Pharaoh doesn't mention Goshen. It's Joseph who works it out that they end up in Goshen.

⁽¹⁹⁾And tell your brothers to take wagons* from Egypt to carry their wives and little ones and to bring your father here.

*wagons: These were probably large, two-wheeled, covered ox-carts. Nothing this "advanced" in Canaan.

⁽²⁰⁾Don't worry about your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours."

⁽²¹⁾So the sons of Jacob* did as they were told. Joseph gave them wagons, as Pharaoh had commanded, and he supplied them with provisions for the journey.

*Jacob: Hebrew "Israel".

⁽²²⁾And he gave each of them new clothes*--but to Benjamin he gave five changes of clothes and three hundred pieces of silver**!

*new clothes: Why new clothes? Remember in chapter 44, that when the silver cup was discovered in Benjamin’s sack, all of the brothers tore their clothes.

**three hundred pieces of silver: Hebrew - 300 shekels, about 7.5 pounds in weight.

⁽²³⁾He sent his father ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten donkeys loaded with grain and all kinds of other food to be eaten on his journey.

⁽²⁴⁾So he sent his brothers off, and as they left, he called after them, "Don't quarrel* along the way!"

*Don't quarrel: Joseph knows their nature! What would they quarrel about? Quarreling may have been part of the bad report that he had given his father many years before (Genesis 37:2).

⁽²⁵⁾And they left Egypt and returned to their father, Jacob, in the land of Canaan.

This was a two-hundred-mile journey back to Hebron

⁽²⁶⁾"Joseph is still alive!" they told him. "And he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!" Jacob was stunned* at the news--he couldn't believe it.

*stunned: fainted - literally, began to cease beating. How would you react were you in Jacob's shoes? All that Jacob was hoping for was that Benjamin would return without harm and that the men would bring back enough food to keep them going. Did the brothers confess to their father their sins of jealousy and hatred that had led them to sell Joseph into slavery?

⁽²⁷⁾But when they had given him Joseph's messages, and when he saw the wagons loaded with the food sent by Joseph, his spirit* revived.

*his spirit: Literally his breath (ruach) returned.

⁽²⁸⁾Then Jacob* said, "It must be true**! My son Joseph is alive! I will go and see him before I die***."

*Jacob: Israel. When Jacob acts in faith, he is referred to as "Israel"

**It must be true: Literally, "It is enough".

***before I die: He lived another 17 years with Joseph in Egypt (Genesis 47:28).

Acts 7: 9-14 - (Stephen speaking): "These sons of Jacob were very jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him and delivered him from his anguish. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of all the affairs of the palace. But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery for our ancestors, as they ran out of food. Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons to buy some. The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and they were introduced to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all. So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did all his sons. All of them were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

From The Fundamentals of Forgiveness: http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=123:

Conclusion

If the key word for chapter 44 is repentance, then the key to chapter 45 is forgiveness. These two elements are essential for any genuine and lasting reconciliation: repentance and forgiveness. Let us give careful attention to this matter of forgiveness as it is illustrated in the life of Joseph.

A Definition of Forgiveness

While several Greek and Hebrew words are employed to convey forgiveness, essentially forgiveness means to release or set free. It is used of the cancellation of a debt, of release from a legal obligation, and of the termination of marriage by divorce (which frees the divorced party to re-marry). In general, we can say that forgiveness is a conscious decision on the part of the offended party to release the offender from the penalty and guilt of the offense committed. This release not only frees the offender from guilt and punishment, but it also frees the forgiver of anger and bitterness.

Forgiveness is not leniency or overlooking sin. Only once in the New Testament do we find reference to sin being “passed over”:

… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed, … (Romans 3:23-25).

Here, God “passed over” man’s sins not because He took them lightly, but because He took them so seriously that He shed the blood of His only Son. He “passed over” the sins of the past, knowing that the price would be paid when Christ appeared and was rejected of men and put to death on the cross of Calvary. When we pass over sins, it is because we do not wish to deal with them—ever, now or later.

Forgiveness is not free. Sin must always have a price that is paid. But forgiveness is the decision on the part of the offended to suffer the penalty due the offender. If a banker pardons a loan, it means that the borrower does not have to repay his debt, but it also means that the lender suffers the loss of the money loaned and not repaid. If society pardons a criminal, it means that society suffers the consequences of the criminal’s act, not the criminal. If I go to your house and break a vase and you forgive me for my error, you suffer the loss of the vase, not I.

This definition of forgiveness perfectly describes the pardon which God offers to men through the cross of Jesus Christ. All men have sinned against God and deserve the penalty of eternal destruction (Romans 3:23; 6:23). But God loved us and sent His Son to die for our sins so that we might have eternal life (John 3:16). God did not overlook our sins, but He bore the penalty for them. That is genuine forgiveness. And all who place their trust in Jesus Christ as the One who died for their sins will experience this forgiveness. It is this forgiveness which all men must either accept (resulting in salvation) or reject (resulting in damnation):

He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18).

Finally, our definition of forgiveness must include the fact that true forgiveness is not earned. If a man commits a crime and he serves out his prison sentence, he is not forgiven; he has simply paid his debt to society. If a man cannot pay back a loan within the time allotted but is forced to pay it out over some more extended period of time, his debt has not been forgiven. If our forgiveness is the kind that demands that the person “pay for it” before we will forgive, then we are not giving forgiveness. That may be justice, but it is not mercy. It may be law, but not grace. Just as we can in no way contribute to the forgiveness and salvation which Christ has accomplished on the cross of Calvary, so no one we forgive can be forgiven and yet forced to pay for their offense against us.

Principles of Forgiveness

Having defined biblical forgiveness, let us seek to lay down some principles of forgiveness which we learn from the example of Joseph in Genesis 45.

(1) Biblical forgiveness should be granted quickly. Joseph could hardly have granted forgiveness to his brothers here in chapter 45. The forgiveness that was expressed for the first time here by Joseph was first experienced here by his brothers, but long before this, Joseph had forgiven these men in his heart. How else could he have walked so closely to his Lord and so cheerfully and faithfully served, regardless of his circumstances? Joseph had experienced the freedom of forgiveness long before his brothers.

In the New Testament, anger is always to be dealt with quickly:

Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity (Ephesians 4:26-27).

The sooner forgiveness is granted and reconciliation is achieved, the better it is for all involved:

Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way; in order that your opponent may not deliver you to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison (Matthew 5:25).

(2) Biblical forgiveness should be granted privately. I see a great deal of wisdom in Joseph requiring his servants to leave the room while he dealt with the sins of his brothers. It made matters much easier for Pharaoh and the Egyptians to be ignorant of all the injustices these brothers had committed against Joseph. This, too, is according to biblical instruction:

Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions (Proverbs 10:12).

He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends (Proverbs 17:9).

And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother (Matthew 18:15).

We should always seek restoration and reconciliation on the lowest, most private level so that the fewer there are who are aware of the sin, the easier the offender can be forgiven and forgotten.

(3) Biblical forgiveness must be given freely and unconditionally. Forgiveness is free in that the forgiver willingly accepts the loss or pain personally. In brief, forgiveness is a matter of grace, not works, and grace does not make demands upon the one who receives it. Joseph must have forgiven his brothers long before they had come to repentance. He did not wait to see the anguish of their souls until he forgave them, but he did so freely and without requirement. This suggests also that forgiveness may be refused. As He was dying upon the cross, our Lord said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

That forgiveness accomplished by His death on the cross is rejected by many. Those who perish do not do so because there is no forgiveness, but because they have rejected God’s forgiveness.

(4) Forgiveness that is biblical must be granted sacrificially. The price of Joseph’s forgiveness was more than twenty years of separation from his father, slavery, and even a sentence in prison. Not a small price to pay, but then forgiveness does not come without sacrifice. Because of this, forgiveness is better shown than said. Joseph never actually used the word “forgive,” but his words and actions conveyed it. Just as it is too easy to say, “I’m sorry,” so it is possible to glibly say, “I forgive you.” Genuine forgiveness has a price tag, and few are those who are willing to pay it.

(5) Biblical forgiveness is not provisional, but permanent. Just as conditions cannot be demanded before forgiveness is granted, neither can they be laid down for forgiveness to remain in force. Seventeen years after Joseph assured his brothers they were forgiven, they feared that this grace had terminated at the death of their father (50:15-21). While we will hardly “forget” the transgressions of others against us, we can certainly refuse to call them to remembrance or to dredge them up in the future.

For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more (Jeremiah 31:34).

(6) Biblical forgiveness seeks the correction and restoration of the offender. I fear that what has been said might lead to the conclusion that once forgiveness is granted, all need for correction is gone. Not so! I believe that Joseph forgave his brothers years before he saw them, but remember that it was a year or so until he disclosed his identity to them. This was because he needed to be assured that they had changed their attitude toward their sin (repented).

When our children sin we may very well need to spank them as well as to forgive them. We may forgive the thief for stealing our money, which we may never see again, but the law still exacts a punishment for theft. A forgiving spirit dissolves our anger and animosity toward the offender, and it commits our vengeance to God, since He alone knows the extent of the sin (cf. Romans 12:11-21; I Peter 2:21-25).

Forgiveness, as I understand it, deals first of all with our personal animosity and violated rights in such a way that we can deal with sin impartially and lovingly, or we can commit the matter entirely to God where we cannot or should not take matters into our own hands. Forgiveness, like one facet of love, seeks the best interest of another, even at our own expense. But since we do seek the good of the other party, correction may be required (cf. Matthew 18:15ff.; Galatians 6:1).

Perhaps the best analogy comes from the dealing of God in the life of the disobedient saint. Since all the sins of the Christian, past, present, and future, are forgiven at Calvary, God will not punish the saint who is forgiven once for all. But there is still the need for discipline and correction. The forgiveness of our sins assures us that God is rightly related to us, but discipline causes us to draw more closely to him.

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.” It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:5-11).

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