Genesis 45:1-20 NASB
Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried, "Have everyone go out from me." So there was no man with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. He wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard of 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 dismayed at his presence.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come closer to me." And they came closer. And he said, "I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. "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. "God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. "Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt. "Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, "God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. "You shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children and your flocks and your herds and all that you have. "There I will also provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, and you and your household and all that you have would be impoverished."’ "Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth which is speaking to you. "Now you must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and all that you have seen; and you must hurry and bring my father down here." Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. He kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him.
Now when the news was heard in Pharaoh’s house that Joseph’s brothers had come, it pleased Pharaoh and 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 ordered, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come. ‘Do not concern yourselves with your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’"
My thoughts -
You can't do much worse by your brother than Joseph's brothers did by him. They were jealous. Joseph was his father, Jacob's, favorite. He was the youngest and I am sure they thought of him as a spoiled little brat. When they did poorly Joseph reported their shortcomings back to their father. He was so favored that their father made for him a special colorful cloak. He got the preferential treatment most older brothers assume their little brothers always get.
When Joseph told his brothers and his father about a dream he had in which he ruled over his brothers the older brothers had enough. The next time he was sent out into the field to check up on them they tore off his cloak, threw him into a pit, sold him into slavery, slaughtered a goat, dipped the cloak in blood, and returned it to their father as proof that Joseph had been killed and eaten by wild animals.
Jacob wept, tore his clothes, and mourned the loss of his favorite son. Meanwhile Joseph, very much still alive, was making a good name for himself serving in Egypt.
A long, winding, complicated journey saw Joseph become the head of a household, falsely imprisoned, the head of a prison, the interpreter of dreams, and ultimately through his reputation for wisdom and interpretation the right hand man to the Pharaoh and the second most powerful man in all of Egypt. Not too bad for a Hebrew slave who had been sold by his brothers and imprisoned.
Joseph had correctly interpreted Pharaoh's dream that showed there would be seven years of plenty and then seven years of famine. Under Joseph's leadership grain had been collected during the time of plenty so there would be enough when famine struck. When the famine came Egypt was prepared and eventually Joseph's brothers were sent by their father to buy grain, as everyone came to know that Egypt had plenty of grain left despite the famine that struck all of the land.
Joseph recognized his brothers when they were sent to him and disguised himself so they could not recognize him. He then discovered that his father was still alive and well and that he even had a younger brother whom he had never met. So he hatched a plot to have this reunion.
Joseph had every reason to hate his brothers. In their jealousy they sold him into slavery and reported him dead. While ultimately things worked out well for Joseph they had no reason to suspect that things would turn out this way. They wanted him dead but couldn't muster the nerve to kill him themselves and so they did the next best thing. He was dead to them this way. They even got to make some money on it. That seemed better to them than killing him anyway. They had no concern for Joseph. They just got rid of him. They had the power to do that and so they did.
When they next encounter Joseph he now has the power to do whatever he wishes. The tables have turned. Surely they deserve to be punished for how they treated their brother. Surely he can now get his revenge. And he does mess with them. He accuses them of being spies and has them imprisoned. They fear for their lives and even decide that this may be God's punishment for them for how they treated their brother.
But Joseph does not exact his revenge with his power. He does something with his power that is far more gratifying. He orchestrates reconciliation with it. He arranges to reunite with his father and his brothers and even with the brother that he never knew he had. He blesses them. He recognizes that ultimately, though they did wrong by him, God has redeemed the situation by blessing Joseph and that blessing has enabled his entire family to live.
Keep in mind that this is a severe famine that will last for seven years. By year two things have gotten desperate. There are still five years left. But God has placed Joseph in a position to provide for his entire family through it. And God has place Joseph in a position to guide an entire nation through it.
God took the deplorable actions of Joseph's brothers and used them to work for good. They had power and used it to abuse their brother. God redeemed this. And when Joseph had power, seeing God's redemption, he used his power for reconciliation.
Through God's redemptive power a nation is saved from famine and a dysfunctional family is restored. Praise God.
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