Joseph can bear it no longer. He has seen the change in Judah and his brothers and is satisfied.
He orders all except his brothers to leave the room and wept out loud so much so that the people outside heard him. I’ve got a feeling that Joseph had confided in his steward, otherwise being the faithful servant he was I’m sure he would have made some attempt to go back in and protect his master if he thought he was in distress.
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One writer asks – Why do you think Joseph put the Egyptians out? He didn’t want them to hear what his brothers had done to him those years before. There was no telling what they may have done to them had they found out what had been done to their hero. The wisdom of Joseph when overwhelmed with emotion was just as astute as when guiding a nation. Such a discovery may have jeopardized the entire future of the coming nation of Israel.
It is not a sign of weakness to weep. Do we weep enough? I’m talking about real tears. Jesus wept over the grave of Lazarus; He wept over Jerusalem; He wept in the Garden of Gethsemane at the prospect of the cross and the burden of sin He would be taking upon Himself on Calvary.
Do we weep over the lost? Or do we just come and go not giving it a thought? Some of us pray, “LORD save souls” but do we all?
FC Rideout said, “More tears are shed in our theatres over fancied tragedies than in our churches over real ones.”
How often do we wear ‘a mask’ when we come to church? We must throw away those masks and be real.
God wants to set us free, and this could be the beginning of His blessing. Let us not develop any false art of weeping. Men are not supposed to weep; here we see the most powerful man in Egypt, weeping.
The late Derick Bingham told of George Duncan giving him an outline of the book of Nehemiah – He wanted to rebuild the walls – He took it to heart and he wept; then he took it to God and he prayed; finally, he took it in hand and he worked. It all started with a man weeping. If we shut our hearts, no-one and nothing will benefit, and we shall be the losers. Tell me what a man cries at and I’ll tell you what kind of man he is.
Those brothers did not deserve any of this kind treatment or any that followed and there was much more to come. They were privileged beyond belief and description. AND SO ARE WE – A God who is rightly offended by our sin and unbelief – Yet He weeps over us, and Jesus shows us His wounds, wounds obtained to save us and set us free from sin and self, the world, the flesh, and the devil. How can we remain unmoved and unchanged?
Back to v3 Why does Joseph say, “I am Joseph, does my father still live?” Did he not believe them when they told him of their father? They were astounded. “They couldn’t answer him because they were terrified.”
Then Joseph said, (v4) “Come closer; I am Joseph your brother who you sold into Egypt”, I believe he had to add the last phrase because it was apparent that they needed assurance – if he wasn’t Joseph and how did he know the name (because I don’t think they told him their lost brother’s name) he wouldn’t have known that he had been sold by them into Egypt?
There is not a hint of anger or resentment in Joseph, “Do not be grieved or angry with yourselves …. for God sent me before you to preserve life, “
Despite what his brothers had done to him Joseph bore no resentment or anger towards them.
That’s how we should be. Many may feel they have been hard done by but let’s face it none of us have been dealt with like this – dumped, sold, away from his family for at least twenty years, falsely accused, and falsely imprisoned for at least 3 years and yet he saw it as God’s doing.
v8 “For it was not you who sent me here, but God.” He then tells them to hurry back home to bring his father and all their families and belongings to Egypt – “You shall dwell in the land of Goshen and be near me …. “ (v10) “I will provide for you … lest you come to poverty for there are still five years of famine left.”
v6 tells us how old Joseph is now – 39 years of age, approx. 22 years since he was thrown into the pit.
v14 He threw his arms round Benjamin, and they wept together. Moreover, v15 he kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and his brothers talked with him. Now there’s a thing! You wouldn’t normally expect someone who had been dreadfully wronged to treat his brothers that way.
Isn’t this a picture of Jesus – that’s what He does to us despite the fact that we have treated Him so badly? This is shown not only in our initial salvation but every moment of our lives. How can we remain unmoved and unchanged?
How characteristically Joseph bore his testimony to God as he had done so often before. He gives all the credit and glory to God. This was the same Joseph, yet not the same – he had learned much over the last 22 years and was very different to the youth they threw into the pit.
v16-24 Pharaoh and the rest of his house receive the news and “It pleased Pharaoh and his servants.”
I think it was very wise that Joseph had not told him of all the past. He was, not only the rescuer of his household, but also of the whole of Egypt. Had it not been for him, they would all have died from famine.
Whatever the circumstances and however we might be treated, we should remain faithful to our God.
In the United Kingdom in 2019/20 – We have seen how our leaders have been treated by the media. The bible tells us that God appoints governments, and we should respect them and pray for them whether we agree with their politics or not. We must continue to pray that God will “Deliver us from evil.” I believe God sometimes gives us the leaders we deserve. Let us pray that in His mercy we get the ones we need. Left to some we would have anarchy; in the newspaper I read that some were inciting people to march against the government to bring down the democratically elected government, ignoring the ballot box. We are on a knife edge. How we need godly leaders and the intervention of God Almighty.
Sadly, Tim Farron the leader of the Liberal Democrats had to step down from leadership because it clashed with his Christian beliefs. It is not for me to condemn him even though I don’t agree with all his views. He struggled to get his message across and left a lot to be desired. I agree that we are not to impose Christian morals on the public, but we are here to be salt and light.
Who would have foretold that we would, in March of 2020, be thrust into a pandemic of the covid19? We were in a lengthy period of lockdown. Something that only those in prison experienced. Our actions had been severely curtailed and for many weeks we had not been able to go to church and have fellowship without our fellow believers. I do believe that we have learned many lessons through it.
Our Prime Minister and all members of parliament desperately need the prayers of God’s people.
Let us pray for ‘Josephs’ to be raised up in our country. There are Christians in parliament. They won’t always be popular but let us pray they will be faithful to God and His Word.
Let us pray for a Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Peter, Paul, and Silas who will stand up for God even if it means torture.
Pharaoh commands Joseph to tell his family to come and dwell in the best part of the land and have the choicest produce. (v18) He commands that they take carts to bring their little ones and their wives and their father. v24 “See that you do not become troubled along the way.” They were to hurry, time was of the essence, he wanted to see his father and carts would speed up the journey.
The brothers arrive home and tell Jacob (v26) “Joseph is alive” “Jacob’s heart stood still” Wouldn’t yours? Amazingly he didn’t believe them. But (v27) when “he saw the carts” – his spirit revived.
How often it takes tangible proof to convince us of God’s greatness and goodness. Where is our faith?
How sad that many will not believe unless they see a miracle. Yet the miracle happens daily in that lives are rescued from sin and death and changed by the power of God thro’ faith in The LORD Jesus Christ.
Thomas said he wouldn’t believe unless he saw the nail prints, but Jesus said, “Blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed. “ The Israelites witnessed many miracles on leaving Egypt, but most, in fact all but two – Joshua and Caleb, never reached the Promised Land because of their unbelief.
It is faith that brings blessing. We want to see results but let’s not blur our vision by the lack of them. We do not need to see results to know if we are doing God’s will. He will choose how it should be done – we must be faithful. Don’t wait for the carts to prove God is blessing – press on, keep going. God will prove Himself; He will have the glory. For 40 years, my friend Horace Banner laboured as a missionary in Brazil without seeing a convert! He knew he was doing God’s will, but the blessing came after his death.
Some of my close friends know that I have wrestled with this recently – not seeing lasting results from our witnessing in prisons. God has graciously given me one or two, but I have learned that I must press on whether I see the results or not.
Jacob always needed visible proof. Even when wrestling with the angel he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (32v26) His doubts are removed “It is enough, Joseph my son is alive, I will go and see him before I die.”
