Genesis 45:1-15

¹ Then Joseph could no longer restrain himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Send everyone away from me.” So no one remained with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.

² And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the residents of Pharaoh’s household heard it.

³ And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, because they were troubled by his presence.

⁴ So Joseph told his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.

⁵ Now do not be troubled or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, because God sent me before you to preserve life.

⁶ Because the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.

⁷ So God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the land, and to keep alive for you many survivors.

⁸ So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and master of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

⁹ Go up to my father quickly and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says, God has made me master of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not delay.

¹⁰ You will dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.

¹¹ There I will provide for you, because there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, are not reduced to poverty.’

¹² And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you.

¹³ You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Quickly bring my father down here.”

¹⁴ Then he embraced his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck.

¹⁵ And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.

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seeing the mission

Joseph’s revelation of himself before his brothers could definitely have gone another way. He could have used the opportunity to inflict terror and vengeance upon them. Instead, he shows godly consideration. He removes all the bystanders so that they do not overhear anything about the way he came to be in Egypt. This was not out of embarrassment, but a means to protect his brothers from the consequences of their sin. Joseph looks back on his experience and regards it as the means that God used to send him on a mission – a mission that would mean survival and continued prosperity for his father and family.

LORD, help us to see your mission in the calamities and trials we face. And if we do not see the mission, help us to trust that there is one.