Gen. 45:4-104And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. 5Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. 6For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. 7And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. 9Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not: 10And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast: (Genesis 45:4‑10)
“And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.” v. 4 How tenderly Joseph now sought out their affections. True, they were not entirely comfortable when invited by the one whom they had once so cruelly cast out, for they did not yet understand the full working of grace and forgiveness. Joseph, seeing their hesitation and uncertainties, proceeded to quiet their fears: “Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.”
He would not allow any fears nor regrets to rise up and mar their enjoyment of his love.
Is this not a lovely picture of the One who now searches the heart and conscience and desires to draw all to Himself? Those who are afar off He is ready to bring nigh, through faith in His atoning blood shed for them. Joseph’s readiness to forgive his erring brethren reminds us too of His promise, “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Heb. 8:1212For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 8:12).
Joseph, now the exalted one, tells his brothers he is the same one whom they sold as a slave into Egypt. Yet beyond this he condemned them not at all, saying rather, “It was not you that sent me hither, but God.” We can only suppose that the hearts of these rough men were touched at this display of forgiveness, and that they experienced great relief to discover that he did not further relate their past deeds nor threaten to punish them.
If they were amazed at this display of love, how much more must they have been surprised to hear his further proposal: “Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph,... come down unto me, tarry not.” v. 9. And it was not only the aged father to whom the invitation was extended. All the brothers, with their entire families, were also to return and bring their flocks and herds with them. Residence was promised them in the land of Goshen; he could say, “Thou shalt be near unto me.” How welcome this prospect must have been to the famine-stricken sons as they contrasted the poverty of their land with the place where Joseph dwelt.
The picture of Israel, presently so long away from their Redeemer and in spiritual poverty, again comes in view in this wonderful story. If any of the house of Israel will now have blessing it can only be in the presence of their true Joseph—the Lord Jesus Christ—finding in Him a Saviour. Blessing will never be experienced while remaining away from Him, nor in the old rituals and commandments which have been replaced by a better way. It will be the portion of all—Jews or Gentiles —who accept His offer of mercy and call upon Him out of a true heart.
ML 10/22/1967