GENESIS 45 - Reunion

Introduction

So the other night we had a free evening to sit and watch some TV—and since the Olympics were over we went back to one of our old standbys, Little House on the Prairie (I love streaming TV, where you can just put on a show and relax knowing you’re not going to get assaulted by all of the modern nonsense!)

In this particular episode, Jonathan Garvey gets scammed into thinking he can win a wrestling championship, which suckers the entire population of Walnut Grove into betting all their money on “a sure thing”—Harriet Olsen decides to bet the entire church treasury fund on the match because “Big John Garvey just can’t lose!!” (You can look up the episode on streaming if you want to see what happens).

Of course, everyone watching knows better because they saw all the scenes where the wrestling promoter was scheming to hustle the town—if the characters knew everything the viewers do, they would know it wasn’t a “sure thing”.

Now take this back to the life of Joseph that we have been studying because there is a big contrast here. The more you know about an earthly “sure thing”, the less you will be willing to bet everything on it. But the more you know about God and His purposes, the MORE you will want to bet EVERYTHING YOU ARE AND HAVE ON HIM!

The entire way through this account of Joseph and his family we have seen that YHWH’s purposes have not failed—His providence has brought them step by step along in every way to bring them right where they need to be for His promises to bless all the nations of the earth through Abraham’s seed.

Here in Chapter 45, there is something that I want you to consider about the way God faithfully keeps his promises to His people. Jacob’s family was the family through whom the Promised Seed of the Messiah would come. And so in order to keep His covenant with Abraham, YHWH would have to preserve that family. Chapter 45 is an account of how God not only keeps Hi covenant to Abraham, but does it in a way that blesses Abraham’s descendants.

The way I want to summarize this chapter today—the hope that I want you to take from this account—is that

If God's PROMISES are SURE, then He will surely PRESERVE His PEOPLE

This chapter divides up into three sections—in Verses 1-8, we see Joseph finally telling his brothers who he is. Then in Verses 9-20, we see Pharoah’s invitation to Jacob and his family to relocate to Egypt. Then in Verse 25 through the end of the chapter we are told about the moment when Jacob finds out that Joseph is alive.

So let’s look at each one in turn to see how God’s faithfulness to His promises brought great blessings to preserve Jacob’s family, His people.

So let’s start with Verses 1-8, as

I. Joseph is REUNITED with his family (Gen. 45:1-8)

Genesis 45:1–3 LSB

Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he called out, “Have everyone go out from me.” So there was no man with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. Then he wept loudly. And the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were terrified at his presence.

Imagine for a moment the utter shock that his brothers must have experienced—they had no idea who this Egyptian nobleman was. He would have been clean-shaven (so he could enter Pharoah’s presence), and dressed in the rich robes of his royal office, always speaking fluent Egyptian through an interpreter.

When I was working in India, I would very often be riding in a train or a bus, and the people around me would make comments about me, thinking that I didn’t know what they were saying. And then when I would speak Hindi to them and they realized that I understood what they had said, they would be shocked and embarrassed.

Now think back to all the conversations Joseph’s brothers had in front of Zaphenath-paneah about their brother Joseph, and all the time Joseph was standing there listening to them! No wonder they were terrified!

But what you see in these verses isn’t bitterness or hatred or revenge or threats—what you see in these verses is

Joseph’s love for his BROTHERS (Gen 45:1-3)

Even the fact that Joseph made all of the other Egyptians leave the room first is just as much for their sake as his—Joseph didn’t necessarily want his staff to see his emotional outburst, but neither did he want the Egyptians to see his brothers blindsided by his revealing himself.

And in the verses that follow, you do not see any of the carefully-rehearsed and long-nurtured speeches of resentment and anger and bitterness that you might expect from someone who has suffered because of their brothers’ hatred the way Joseph had suffered. He did not rant and rave at them, he did not threaten to expose them or throw them into prison so they could see what it felt like.

God had so worked in Joseph’s heart that he had long ago forgiven them for their sins against him—he had prepared all of that forgiveness and had it all gift-wrapped and waiting in the hall closet of his heart for the day when they came knocking so that he could offer it to them, freely and joyfully.

Make no mistake: This is only possible because of God’s work in Joseph’s life. But God was in the process of fulfilling His promises to Abraham, and in order for those promises to be fulfilled Joseph and his brothers had to be reunited—truly reunited, reconciled and forgiveness extended and accepted. And so this is why in Verses 4-8 you don’t hear anger or bitterness or accusation from Joseph toward his brothers.

What you hear instead is

Joseph’s trust in GOD (Gen 45:4-8)

Genesis 45:4–8 LSB

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” And they came near. And he said, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. “So now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. “For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. “So God sent me before you to establish for you a remnant in the earth and to keep you alive for a great remnant of survivors. “So now, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has set me as a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Here is the reason Joseph had nothing but forgiveness and love to give to his estranged brothers—because he could see God’s good hand behind everything that had happened. Joseph could see that everything he had suffered, everything he had lost was all being orchestrated and overseen by YHWH so that he could save his family!

If Joseph had looked at everything through the lens of how terrible he had been treated by his brothers, then his heart would have nothing to give them but hatred and bitterness. But because he could see the wonderful providence of YHWH to preserve him and his family through his circumstances, he could let go of all of that hurt and pain—notice that he doesn’t sweep it under the rug, either:

Genesis 45:4 LSB

... And he said, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.

But Joseph knew that God was able to use even the sinful actions of his brothers to bring about good—and when you can rest in that truth about God, you are free from that bitterness!

As God is in the process of making his promises to Abraham’s seed sure, see how he surely preserves His people. We see it here as Joseph is reunited with his family, and starting in Verse 9 we see it as

II. The family finds REFUGE in Egypt (Gen. 45:9-20)

In Verse 9, Joseph sends his brothers back with a message for his father:

Genesis 45:9 LSB

“Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, “God has set me as lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay.

Joseph knows that God had placed him there in Egypt to use him in His plan to keep His promises to Abraham’s descendents—He was going to use the most powerful, prosperous nation on earth

To RESCUE them from DEATH (vv. 9-15)

Joseph knew that there was another five years of famine to come, and Jacob had already purchased grain twice—

Genesis 45:11 LSB

“There I will also provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, lest you and your household and all that you have be impoverished.” ’

The only way anyone could be guaranteed survival through the seven years that the famine would desolate the earth was to be able to relocate to Egypt. Every nation wanted to come to Egypt; every family was desperate to find a way to survive the famine. When Joseph in his role as Zaphenath-paneah said that the brothers were coming to “spy out the land”, he wasn’t making an idle accusation; Egypt would have been a huge target for military attacks from other desperate nations on the brink of starvation. Imagine how many thousands of people would have been desperate to move there. But of all the clans of all the nations surrounding Egypt, only Jacob’s family was welcomed with open arms!

This comes home to us starting in Verse 16, when Pharoah found out that his beloved son Zaphenath-paneah’s family had arrived from Canaan:

Genesis 45:16–20 LSB

Now the news was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, “Joseph’s brothers have come.” And it was good in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go to the land of Canaan, and take your father and your households and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’ “Now you are commanded, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come. ‘Now do not concern yourselves with your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

See how the sovereign power of YHWH is mighty enough to bend an entire nation to serve His covenant people! Pharoah guarantees them the best of everything he has to offer—they can “eat of the fat of the land” (v. 18). But what God is doing here is more than just using Pharoah to rescue Jacob’s family from death—God intends to use their time there

To TRANSFORM them into a NATION (vv. 16-20)

Consider for a moment the contrasts between when Jacob’s family arrived in Egypt here in this chapter, and when they left Egypt four centuries later. As one commentator puts it:

When Israel and his family settle in Egypt, Pharaoh gives Joseph permission to come joyfully; when God’s people leave, a later Pharaoh gives Moses permission to go, but grudgingly. When they come to Egypt, Joseph, a Hebrew, is the head of Pharaoh’s house; when they leave, Moses, the Hebrew, is one who was raised in Pharaoh’s house. When Israel enters Egypt, God uses Joseph’s interpretation of dreams to grant him favor with Pharaoh; when they leave, God uses Moses and the plagues to harden Pharaoh… When Joseph’s family enters Egypt, Pharaoh lavishes wealth upon them to sustain them; when they leave, the Hebrews plunder the Egyptians… When they enter Egypt, God uses disaster to bring them; when they leave, God uses plagues to free them. Baucham, V., Jr. (2013). Joseph and the Gospel of Many Colors: Reading an Old Story in a New Way. Crossway.

Most striking of all, however, is the way Israel went from a family of seventy when they arrived (Gen. 46:20) to a nation of millions when they left! God was surely working out all of his covenant promises to Abraham’s seed—his descendents would not only survive this famine but would grow into a mighty nation that would endure for centuries. And it was all because of how God had providentially prepared and preserved Joseph through all of his trials and loneliness and isolation in Egypt.

See here that God’s sure promises mean that He will surely preserve His people—we see His blessings to Joseph and his brothers as he reveals himself to them in joy and forgiveness, we see His blessings on the clan of Jacob as they are freely welcomed into Egypt to live and grow and prosper, and we see it starting in Verse 25 as

III. Jacob is RESTORED to his faith (Gen. 45:25-28)

The brothers return to Canaan with the news that Jacob never thought he would ever hear:

Genesis 45:25–26 LSB

Then they went up from Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. And they told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt...”

Think of how this news would have landed on Jacob. Here he is, the last of the line of patriarchs of Abraham, living in their righteous and faithful shadows. What does Jacob have to show for his position in this great lineage? A broken heart over all his losses, a family in turmoil that hates one another, and a painful limp from a hip dislocated as he wrestled with YHWH himself one night many decades ago.

In fact, he has not heard at all from his Covenant Master since that night. When he was a much younger man, he saw the angels arising and descending from Heaven as his assurance that God was with him. But that was a long time ago. Since then Jacob’s life has seemed to be one disappointment after another, one heartache after another, one loss after another.

So it is a disillusioned, broken man that we see here in Verse 26. He is a man who has been disappointed and broken over and over again. The man who deceived his father by wearing his brother’s clothes has been deceived by his son’s bloodstained coat. The man who flees from his home because of the murderous hatred of his own brother now watches as his sons hate and try to murder each other. A man manipulated into a fourteen-year contract with his father-in-law for marrying Rachel, the girl of his dreams, and now who bears the shame of Rachel’s servant Bilhah having an affair with his son.

It is no wonder then, that this tired old man, full of the weight of regret and shame and disappointment and loss, when he is told that Joseph is alive just can’t believe it!

Genesis 45:26 LSB

And they told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” But his heart was stunned, for he did not believe them.

Jacob’s sons bring this news to Jacob that

He will SEE his SON again

The same men who told him Joseph was dead now insists that he is alive—the boys who lied to him that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal are now insisting that he is not only alive, but “ruler over all the land of Egypt!” No wonder Jacob didn’t believe them! What kind of fresh torment from the hand of YHWH is this? Is God just raising Jacob’s hopes only to dash them again?

It wasn’t until he looked and saw the rich chariots and caravans that Joseph sent for him that Jacob begins to realize that they might be telling the truth!

Genesis 45:27 LSB

Yet they told him all the words of Joseph that he had spoken to them, and he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him. Then the spirit of their father Jacob revived.

Can you imagine what went through Jacob’s heart and mind at that moment? That it really is true—his son that was dead is alive, the son that was lost is found, and that he will get to see his face!

Genesis 45:28 LSB

And Israel said, “It is enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

This is it—this is all Jacob wants. If he can just lay eyes on his boy Joseph one more time, his life will be complete. But God has much more in store for this tired, disillusioned patriarch.

Consider for a moment—at this point in the narrative, the future of the Seed of Abraham is already assured! After all, it is Judah who we know will be the line through whom the Messiah will come. Judah needs to survive, but Jacob’s importance to the survival of the Seed has already passed!

The continuation of God’s covenant with Abraham was not dependent on Jacob’s survival at this point; the Promised Seed would come into the world to bless all the nations of the earth whether or not Jacob ever saw Joseph again!

Do not pass lightly by this moment, beloved—Jacob is being brought to Egypt purely out of the grace and kindness and overflowing covenant love of YHWH for him! Jacob is going to see Joseph again, surely—but even more gloriously,

He will SEE God’s FAITHFULNESS again

All Israel knows right now is that his boy is not dead, and he is going to go see him. He doesn’t yet know how much the faithfulness of YHWH is overflowing to his family! He doesn’t know that they will be protected for another half-decade from this famine; he hasn’t yet met his grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh; he hasn’t yet seen the splendor of his son’s glory or the favor he has with Pharoah and the people; he has no idea just how deep and wide and long and enduring YHWH’s lovingkindness will extend for him. And God’s delight in Israel means that He wants him to know just how much He delights in him before he dies!

Throughout his life, Jacob tried to rely on his wits to get him ahead; he was constantly trying one scheme or another. Always looking for the angle, always playing the odds, always trying to sweet-talk himself into a deal (or out of a scrape). But here in his final years, Jacob the schemer who was always on the lookout for “a sure thing” finally found it—the one sure thing to stake his whole life on was the faithfulness of his God!

Beloved, see here in God’s Word that because His promises are sure, He will surely preserve you as He keeps those promises! The only “sure thing” in this world is the faithfulness of God to keep His promises! All of us seem to live our lives like poor Jacob—always setting our love on things that can be taken away from us; always striving and planning and arranging for a relationship or a fortune or a possession that will make us happy or bring us assurance and peace.

But the only sure thing in this world is that God never breaks His promises! When He vowed to Abraham that He would make his offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky, He made it happen by bringing a 75-member clan into a foreign nation to grow them into a multitude—and along the way He poured out blessing after blessing on that family! He protected and prospered Joseph, He turned the wicked hearts of Jacob’s sons back to Himself, and He renewed His steadfast covenant lovingkindness to Jacob himself so that he would spend his final years in the warmth and delight of intimacy with the God of his fathers.

Whatever dark or lonely turn your path is taking you, Christian—whatever burdens you have been groaning under this past week—none of them will lessen the faithfulness of God to complete the work in you that He promised!

He has promised never to desert you or forsake you, no matter how meager your circumstances,

Hebrews 13:5 LSB

for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”

He has promised that

Psalm 23:6 LSB

Surely goodness and lovingkindness will pursue [you] all the days of [your] life, And [you] will dwell in the house of Yahweh forever.

He has promised to

John 10:28 LSB

give eternal life to [you], and [you] will never perish—ever; and no one will snatch [you] out of [His] hand.

And He has promised you—the One Who cannot break His promises—that you will

1 Peter 1:4–5 LSB

... obtain an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, having been kept in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

And if He is faithful to surely keep all His promises to you, Christian, He is surely faithful to bless and strengthen and keep you all along the way!

You possess all of these blessings—you are the recipient of all of His covenant love—when your life is found in the One Who fulfilled Abraham’s covenant—the One Who died as the Last Sacrifice that God ever required for washing away sin. Jesus Christ—the Seed of Abraham—came to this earth to bless all nations through His sinless life, innocent death and glorious resurrection from the dead. When you come to Him and trust in His death to save you; when you put your hope in the New Covenant that He inaugurated with His blood and lay yourself before Him to follow Him and obey Him and delight in Him above any other promise for hope, peace and rescue in this world, then you can know that as He fulfills His promises to you He will keep you and bless you and hold you and sustain you no matter how dire the famine, no matter how dark the loneliness, no matter how heart-wrenching the loss or bitter the disappointment.

There is no other refuge; there is nowhere else you can go to be kept and protected and nurtured and cleansed. You have no other “sure thing” to cling to, no other hope for salvation, no other one that will love you and delight in you and rescue you and defend you like the One Who died and rose again for you—your Savior, Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION

Jude 24–25 LSB

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

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