Sold Or Sent?
Opening Prayer
Holy One, I offer to You the sacrifice of praise. Take possession of my heart, my will and my love.
Read GENESIS 45
Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.
3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. 9 Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. 10 You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. 11 I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’
12 “You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. 13 Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”
14 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.
16 When the news reached Pharaoh’s palace that Joseph’s brothers had come, Pharaoh and all his officials were pleased. 17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan, 18 and bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can enjoy the fat of the land.’
19 “You are also directed to tell them, ‘Do this: Take some carts from Egypt for your children and your wives, and get your father and come. 20 Never mind about your belongings, because the best of all Egypt will be yours.’”
21 So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them carts, as Pharaoh had commanded, and he also gave them provisions for their journey. 22 To each of them he gave new clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes. 23 And this is what he sent to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other provisions for his journey. 24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, “Don’t quarrel on the way!”
25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. 26 They told him, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.” Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 And Israel said, “I’m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
Here we have a kindly providence smiling on a shattered family. It is amazing to behold.
Think Further
Sitting in a café today, I heard about a house sale that fell through. “Everything happens for a reason,” said one lady wisely. “There must be something better round the corner.” We nodded politely and blankly. No one dared to suggest who might legislate on reasons and happier outcomes; everyone felt better for the simple positive spin to
uncertainty. That is the pat conclusion of kindly atheists and agnostics. What a contrast to this emotionally charged climax of Joseph’s story! Who can fail to be moved by Joseph’s sobs, the coming together of theological mystery and uninhibited howls? As you watch the horrified brothers, unable to process what is unfolding, as you overhear Joseph identifying himself as their victim while also assuring them of his pardon, as you follow their journey home, mindful that confession is overdue but joy overrides it all, as you pause with the shell-shocked patriarch, do you feel dizzy at the touching, wild, awesome beauty and bounty of our God? Does the providence of the Lord, a concept which might seem slightly distant and technical, brim over here with color and texture, energy and zest? God was not disorientated by teenage arrogance or sibling resentment, by false accusation or social injustice: in it all, he was weaving his plan of deliverance, of reconciliation, salvaging the wreckage of human sinfulness and making it into a tapestry of divine salvation. Three times Joseph asserts the truth that has changed everything for him: “it was not you who sent me here, but God” (8).
So when I hear of asylum seekers enfolded by Christian blankets and bandages, or secret seekers, disillusioned by the religion of their forebears, responding to Jesus though the internet, or Yanfen’s mom visiting her from the Far East and meeting Jesus too, I am touched, overwhelmed, excited by God’s providence.
Apply
Praise and rejoice in God for his providence in your life!
Closing prayer
Sovereign Lord, I bow in amazement before Your powerful workings. I rejoice in the reconciliation taking place. You are the God whose purposes are never thwarted.
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