April 15, 2025 • 17 mins
Joseph reveals his true identity to his brothers in an emotional moment of reconciliation, demonstrating how God transformed their betrayal into salvation for their family during the devastating seven-year famine.
• Joseph weeps loudly before revealing himself to his shocked and terrified brothers
• He reframes their betrayal as part of God's providence: "It was not you who sent me here, but God"
• Joseph has become "father to Pharaoh" and ruler over Egypt at age 39
• He invites his entire family to relocate to Goshen where he can provide for them during the remaining five years of famine
• Pharaoh providentially supports the plan, offering wagons and the best land in Egypt
• Joseph gives his brothers provisions, clothing, and special gifts for Benjamin
• Jacob initially disbelieves the news but his spirit revives when seeing proof of Joseph's survival
Join me next week as Joseph brings his family down to Egypt.
Email: nathan@nathandietsche.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Grace and peace to you from God, our Father and our
Lord and Savior, jesus Christ.
Today we're in Genesis, chapter45, where Joseph provides for
his brothers and his family,beginning at verse 1,.
Then Joseph could not controlhimself before all those who
stood before him and he criedMake everyone go out from me.
(00:25):
So no one stayed with him whenJoseph made himself known to his
brothers and he wept aloud.
So the Egyptians heard it andthe household of Pharaoh heard
it.
And Joseph said to his brothersI am Joseph, is my father still
(00:47):
alive?
But his brothers could notanswer him, for they were
dismayed at his presence.
So Joseph said to his brothersCome near to me please.
And they came near.
And he said and they came near.
And he said I am your brother,joseph, whom you sold into Egypt
.
And now do not be distressed orangry with yourselves because
(01:11):
you sold me here, for God hassent me before you to preserve
life, for the famine has been inthese land these two years and
there are five years in whichthere will neither be plowing
nor harvest.
And God sent me before you topreserve you a remnant on earth
(01:36):
and to keep alive for you manysurvivors.
So it was not you who sent mehere, but God.
He has made me a father to thePharaoh.
He has made me a father to thePharaoh and lord of all his
house and ruler over all theland of Egypt.
(02:01):
In our opening eight verses ofchapter 45, we find Joseph, the
very disciplined, wise andpowerful governor he has become
after having tested his brothersand heard Judah's sacrificial
plea, that he'd even lay downhis own life as a slave in place
of his brother Benjamin.
And he can't control theemotions that are overcoming him
and he begins to weep.
Joseph commands all of hisattendants to leave him so that
(02:22):
he can be alone with hisbrothers in private.
Despite the private nature oftheir meeting, joseph was so
overcome with emotion that hisEgyptian attendants, as well as
all of the Pharaoh's family,heard him crying.
After uncontrollable weeping,joseph gains enough composure to
(02:42):
speak and he says I am Joseph.
Is my father still alive?
When Joseph finally revealshimself and asks about his
fathers, the 11 brothers aregripped by fear.
The Hebrew word for fear hereis also translated terrified,
troubled or even panicked.
(03:04):
Translated terrified, troubledor even panicked.
The brothers here arespeechless.
They don't know what to say.
Could this really be Joseph?
Perhaps this governor is justusing a ruse or strange
divinations to pretend to beJoseph.
Maybe this is just more of hiselaborate trap to make them
slaves.
(03:24):
What are they going to say Then?
Seeing that his brothers areafraid and still confused,
joseph invites them to comeclose to him and see for
themselves, and as they camecloser, he explains how he is in
fact their brother, joseph,whom they sold into slavery.
(03:46):
Joseph acknowledges the hand ofGod in all things, that even
when they were committing actsof violence contrary to the
goodness of God's nature, godhad a preordained plan in all of
this to preserve the life oftheir family through this
ongoing famine that has nowconsumed the land.
(04:08):
Joseph is now 39 years old.
He's been governor for nineyears.
If we were to count from thegenerations of Adam, we know
that the earth is 2,298 yearsfrom creation, or more commonly
known as 1706 BC.
(04:29):
Joseph says that God has madehim a father to the Pharaoh.
Being a father to the Pharaohor a father to a king is a
common title associated withheads of state who advised kings
in ancient culture.
Joseph says that God has madehim the Lord of all of Egypt and
(04:52):
he is the advisor to thePharaoh, picking up in verse 9,
joseph says Hurry and go up tomy father and say to him.
Thus says your son Joseph.
God has made me lord of allEgypt.
Come down to me, do not tarry.
You shall dwell in the land ofGoshen and you shall be near me,
(05:16):
you and your children and yourchildren's children and your
flocks and your herds and allthat you have there.
I will provide for you, forthere are yet five years of
famine to come, so that you andyour household and all that you
have do not come to poverty.
(05:39):
And now your eyes see the eyesof my brother Benjamin.
See that it is my mouth thatspeaks to you.
You must tell my father of allmy honor in Egypt and of all
that you have seen.
Hurry and bring my father downhere.
Then he fell upon his brotherBenjamin's neck and wept.
(06:02):
And Benjamin wept upon his neckand he kissed all of his
brothers and wept upon them.
After that his brothers talkedwith him.
In verses 9 through 15, josephbegins to instruct his brothers
that they need to go quickly, gowithout delay to their father
(06:24):
and inform their father thathe's still alive, that God has
indeed made him the Lord of allof Egypt.
Additionally, joseph instructsthem to tell their father to
come down to Egypt with all thathe has and dwell here in the
land of Goshen so that Josephcan provide for the family,
(06:44):
because there's still five moreyears of famine to come.
Now, this land of Goshen thatJoseph is talking about is a
very fertile region in thenortheast area of Egypt.
It's actually the delta of theNile River.
It's very suitable ground forraising and grazing herds of
(07:06):
animals, and Israel will remainin Goshen until the time of
Exodus.
After Joseph reveals himself tothem and speaks intimately with
them about his father and hisplans for his family, the
brothers can now see, indeed,this is Joseph.
And Joseph tells his brothersagain.
(07:28):
And Joseph tells his brothersagain tell Jacob all the honor
that I've received here in Egyptand all of the power that I
have received over the land ofEgypt.
I am like a father to thePharaoh himself.
Then, as Joseph begins to hurrythem along and get them
prepared to go, he embracesBenjamin for the first time in
(07:51):
over 22 years.
As he embraces Benjamin, theyweep upon one another.
Then Joseph kisses all of hisother brothers and they talk as
they begin to prepare to leaveback to the land of Canaan,
(08:25):
verse 16.
And take your father and yourhouseholds and come to me and I
will give you the best of theland of Egypt, and you shall eat
the fat of the land.
And you, joseph, are commandedto say Do this.
Take wagons from the land ofEgypt for your little ones and
for your wives, and bring yourfather and come.
(08:47):
Have no concern for your goods,for the best of all of the land
of Egypt is yours.
In these verses, when thePharaoh was told that Joseph's
brothers had come down to Egypt,he, as well as his servants,
were happy to hear such news and, with the Pharaoh's approval
(09:09):
upon the family of Joseph, itgives a final seal for his
family to travel here to Egypt.
And then we see that Pharaohcommands Joseph to have his
family come down here, and hecommands Joseph to have them get
wagons and come down Now.
Considering the fact that the11 brothers hadn't left, even
(09:32):
while we had previously readthat Joseph was hurrying them
along to do so, the news ofJoseph's brothers must have
reached Pharaoh fairly quickly.
We can assume that Joseph'sweeping earlier that was heard
throughout the household ofPharaoh, triggered some concern,
and the news of Joseph'sbrothers quickly traveled to the
(09:55):
Pharaoh's ears.
In an act of divine providence,the Pharaoh himself restates
the very words of Joseph,inviting Joseph's entire family
to come down to Egypt and tohave the best of the land.
Pharaoh then commands Joseph togive his brothers wagons so
(10:15):
they can bring everything theyhave the women, the children and
their father back down to Egyptand enjoy the very best that
Egypt has Verse 21.
(10:45):
And five changes of clothes Tohis father.
He sent as follows ten donkeysloaded with good things from
Egypt and ten female donkeysloaded with grain, bread and
provision for his father on thejourney.
Then he sent his brothers awayand they departed.
And as they departed he said tothem Do not quarrel on the way.
(11:11):
In verses 21 through 24, we areagain reminded of the name that
God gave Jacob at Peniel when hecalled him Israel.
This verse looks forward to thenation of Israel coming from
Jacob's sons.
Here we see that the sons ofIsrael are doing what the
(11:32):
Pharaoh commanded.
Joseph generously gives hisother 11 brothers the wagons and
provisions for the journey,along with a change of clothes,
according to the command of thePharaoh.
An interesting cultural notehere is that it was, and it
(11:56):
still is, customary forprominent men in the East to
give a gift of fine clothing anddistinction to their friends.
However, to Benjamin, josephcontinued to show great
generosity, giving him 300shekels of silver and five
changes of clothes.
This great gift of favoritismalso showed how Benjamin was
very trusted by Joseph andconsidered to be the ambassador
(12:20):
of Joseph to his father.
Joseph then sends Israel hisfather a great bounty from Egypt
with the good things.
Finally, joseph's last remarkto his brothers before they
leave is counsel not to argue ontheir way home, knowing that
(12:45):
they're going to have a greatdeal to think about.
Their wickedness is soon goingto come to the light and they're
going to have to consider howthey're going to talk to their
father or tell their father thislie that they've been
contriving for years, how theyclaimed that Joseph died to a
wild beast.
They're going to have toconfess somehow, perhaps even
(13:09):
tell their father they sold himinto slavery On the way home.
It would be very likely theywould start to accuse and blame
one another Verse 25.
So they went up out of Egyptand they came to the land of
(13:36):
Canaan, to their father, jacobVerse 25,.
But when they told him all thewords of Joseph which he had
said to them, and when he sawthe wagons that Joseph had sent
to carry him, the spirit oftheir father Jacob revived and
Israel said it is enough, joseph, my son is still alive, I will
(14:01):
go and see him before I die.
In our final verses, wheneverything finally got prepared,
the wagons are now loaded, theeleven brothers leave Egypt and
they come back to the land ofCanaan and their father Jacob.
It's not a surprise.
(14:26):
When the brothers first telltheir father Jacob that Joseph
is alive and he's ruler overEgypt, jacob could not believe
them.
This would have been theperfect opportunity for them to
confess their sin, to bring tolight before their father the
wrong they had committed andcome clean before God.
However, there's no scripturalevidence that they did.
(14:46):
For years these brothers liedto their father about the death
of Joseph and spun many talltales.
Certainly, jacob was well awareof their ability to spin tales.
Jacob, now hearing yet anotherunbelievable story coming from
these brothers' mouths about hislong-lost, beloved son Joseph,
(15:10):
closes his heart to what hissons are saying.
But then the brothers speak thevery words of Joseph.
And when the words of Josephare spoken, Jacob begins to
recognize the wisdom of his sonand the words of his son and
hope springs forth in his heartand in his mind.
(15:33):
That hope is enough for Jacobto get up out of his depression
and go out, and he sees thewagons, and when he does so, his
spirit is renewed and he nowbelieves his son is indeed alive
, convinced that Joseph is aliveand having received the warning
(15:55):
about the famine lasting yetanother five years.
Jacob, this decision by Jacob,under the protection and
provision of his son, joseph, isa key turning point in the
lives of Israel, all as acontinued fulfillment of God's
(16:18):
prophecy to Abraham in Genesis,chapter 15, verses 13 through 16
.
What an amazing story ofwaiting upon the Lord's timing
and having our hearts renewed infaith, in hope and in love.
God is faithful to his people.
(16:39):
God is faithful to his people.
Join me next week as Josephbrings his family down to Egypt.
God bless you this week.
Grace and peace to you from God, our Father and our
Lord and Savior, jesus Christ.
Today we're in Genesis, chapter45, where Joseph provides for
his brothers and his family,beginning at verse 1,.
Then Joseph could not controlhimself before all those who
stood before him and he criedMake everyone go out from me.
(00:25):
So no one stayed with him whenJoseph made himself known to his
brothers and he wept aloud.
So the Egyptians heard it andthe household of Pharaoh heard
it.
And Joseph said to his brothersI am Joseph, is my father still
(00:47):
alive?
But his brothers could notanswer him, for they were
dismayed at his presence.
So Joseph said to his brothersCome near to me please.
And they came near.
And he said and they came near.
And he said I am your brother,joseph, whom you sold into Egypt
.
And now do not be distressed orangry with yourselves because
(01:11):
you sold me here, for God hassent me before you to preserve
life, for the famine has been inthese land these two years and
there are five years in whichthere will neither be plowing
nor harvest.
And God sent me before you topreserve you a remnant on earth
(01:36):
and to keep alive for you manysurvivors.
So it was not you who sent mehere, but God.
He has made me a father to thePharaoh.
He has made me a father to thePharaoh and lord of all his
house and ruler over all theland of Egypt.
(02:01):
In our opening eight verses ofchapter 45, we find Joseph, the
very disciplined, wise andpowerful governor he has become
after having tested his brothersand heard Judah's sacrificial
plea, that he'd even lay downhis own life as a slave in place
of his brother Benjamin.
And he can't control theemotions that are overcoming him
and he begins to weep.
Joseph commands all of hisattendants to leave him so that
(02:22):
he can be alone with hisbrothers in private.
Despite the private nature oftheir meeting, joseph was so
overcome with emotion that hisEgyptian attendants, as well as
all of the Pharaoh's family,heard him crying.
After uncontrollable weeping,joseph gains enough composure to
(02:42):
speak and he says I am Joseph.
Is my father still alive?
When Joseph finally revealshimself and asks about his
fathers, the 11 brothers aregripped by fear.
The Hebrew word for fear hereis also translated terrified,
troubled or even panicked.
(03:04):
Translated terrified, troubledor even panicked.
The brothers here arespeechless.
They don't know what to say.
Could this really be Joseph?
Perhaps this governor is justusing a ruse or strange
divinations to pretend to beJoseph.
Maybe this is just more of hiselaborate trap to make them
slaves.
(03:24):
What are they going to say Then?
Seeing that his brothers areafraid and still confused,
joseph invites them to comeclose to him and see for
themselves, and as they camecloser, he explains how he is in
fact their brother, joseph,whom they sold into slavery.
(03:46):
Joseph acknowledges the hand ofGod in all things, that even
when they were committing actsof violence contrary to the
goodness of God's nature, godhad a preordained plan in all of
this to preserve the life oftheir family through this
ongoing famine that has nowconsumed the land.
(04:08):
Joseph is now 39 years old.
He's been governor for nineyears.
If we were to count from thegenerations of Adam, we know
that the earth is 2,298 yearsfrom creation, or more commonly
known as 1706 BC.
(04:29):
Joseph says that God has madehim a father to the Pharaoh.
Being a father to the Pharaohor a father to a king is a
common title associated withheads of state who advised kings
in ancient culture.
Joseph says that God has madehim the Lord of all of Egypt and
(04:52):
he is the advisor to thePharaoh, picking up in verse 9,
joseph says Hurry and go up tomy father and say to him.
Thus says your son Joseph.
God has made me lord of allEgypt.
Come down to me, do not tarry.
You shall dwell in the land ofGoshen and you shall be near me,
(05:16):
you and your children and yourchildren's children and your
flocks and your herds and allthat you have there.
I will provide for you, forthere are yet five years of
famine to come, so that you andyour household and all that you
have do not come to poverty.
(05:39):
And now your eyes see the eyesof my brother Benjamin.
See that it is my mouth thatspeaks to you.
You must tell my father of allmy honor in Egypt and of all
that you have seen.
Hurry and bring my father downhere.
Then he fell upon his brotherBenjamin's neck and wept.
(06:02):
And Benjamin wept upon his neckand he kissed all of his
brothers and wept upon them.
After that his brothers talkedwith him.
In verses 9 through 15, josephbegins to instruct his brothers
that they need to go quickly, gowithout delay to their father
(06:24):
and inform their father thathe's still alive, that God has
indeed made him the Lord of allof Egypt.
Additionally, joseph instructsthem to tell their father to
come down to Egypt with all thathe has and dwell here in the
land of Goshen so that Josephcan provide for the family,
(06:44):
because there's still five moreyears of famine to come.
Now, this land of Goshen thatJoseph is talking about is a
very fertile region in thenortheast area of Egypt.
It's actually the delta of theNile River.
It's very suitable ground forraising and grazing herds of
(07:06):
animals, and Israel will remainin Goshen until the time of
Exodus.
After Joseph reveals himself tothem and speaks intimately with
them about his father and hisplans for his family, the
brothers can now see, indeed,this is Joseph.
And Joseph tells his brothersagain.
(07:28):
And Joseph tells his brothersagain tell Jacob all the honor
that I've received here in Egyptand all of the power that I
have received over the land ofEgypt.
I am like a father to thePharaoh himself.
Then, as Joseph begins to hurrythem along and get them
prepared to go, he embracesBenjamin for the first time in
(07:51):
over 22 years.
As he embraces Benjamin, theyweep upon one another.
Then Joseph kisses all of hisother brothers and they talk as
they begin to prepare to leaveback to the land of Canaan,
(08:25):
verse 16.
And take your father and yourhouseholds and come to me and I
will give you the best of theland of Egypt, and you shall eat
the fat of the land.
And you, joseph, are commandedto say Do this.
Take wagons from the land ofEgypt for your little ones and
for your wives, and bring yourfather and come.
(08:47):
Have no concern for your goods,for the best of all of the land
of Egypt is yours.
In these verses, when thePharaoh was told that Joseph's
brothers had come down to Egypt,he, as well as his servants,
were happy to hear such news and, with the Pharaoh's approval
(09:09):
upon the family of Joseph, itgives a final seal for his
family to travel here to Egypt.
And then we see that Pharaohcommands Joseph to have his
family come down here, and hecommands Joseph to have them get
wagons and come down Now.
Considering the fact that the11 brothers hadn't left, even
(09:32):
while we had previously readthat Joseph was hurrying them
along to do so, the news ofJoseph's brothers must have
reached Pharaoh fairly quickly.
We can assume that Joseph'sweeping earlier that was heard
throughout the household ofPharaoh, triggered some concern,
and the news of Joseph'sbrothers quickly traveled to the
(09:55):
Pharaoh's ears.
In an act of divine providence,the Pharaoh himself restates
the very words of Joseph,inviting Joseph's entire family
to come down to Egypt and tohave the best of the land.
Pharaoh then commands Joseph togive his brothers wagons so
(10:15):
they can bring everything theyhave the women, the children and
their father back down to Egyptand enjoy the very best that
Egypt has Verse 21.
(10:45):
And five changes of clothes Tohis father.
He sent as follows ten donkeysloaded with good things from
Egypt and ten female donkeysloaded with grain, bread and
provision for his father on thejourney.
Then he sent his brothers awayand they departed.
And as they departed he said tothem Do not quarrel on the way.
(11:11):
In verses 21 through 24, we areagain reminded of the name that
God gave Jacob at Peniel when hecalled him Israel.
This verse looks forward to thenation of Israel coming from
Jacob's sons.
Here we see that the sons ofIsrael are doing what the
(11:32):
Pharaoh commanded.
Joseph generously gives hisother 11 brothers the wagons and
provisions for the journey,along with a change of clothes,
according to the command of thePharaoh.
An interesting cultural notehere is that it was, and it
(11:56):
still is, customary forprominent men in the East to
give a gift of fine clothing anddistinction to their friends.
However, to Benjamin, josephcontinued to show great
generosity, giving him 300shekels of silver and five
changes of clothes.
This great gift of favoritismalso showed how Benjamin was
very trusted by Joseph andconsidered to be the ambassador
(12:20):
of Joseph to his father.
Joseph then sends Israel hisfather a great bounty from Egypt
with the good things.
Finally, joseph's last remarkto his brothers before they
leave is counsel not to argue ontheir way home, knowing that
(12:45):
they're going to have a greatdeal to think about.
Their wickedness is soon goingto come to the light and they're
going to have to consider howthey're going to talk to their
father or tell their father thislie that they've been
contriving for years, how theyclaimed that Joseph died to a
wild beast.
They're going to have toconfess somehow, perhaps even
(13:09):
tell their father they sold himinto slavery On the way home.
It would be very likely theywould start to accuse and blame
one another Verse 25.
So they went up out of Egyptand they came to the land of
(13:36):
Canaan, to their father, jacobVerse 25,.
But when they told him all thewords of Joseph which he had
said to them, and when he sawthe wagons that Joseph had sent
to carry him, the spirit oftheir father Jacob revived and
Israel said it is enough, joseph, my son is still alive, I will
(14:01):
go and see him before I die.
In our final verses, wheneverything finally got prepared,
the wagons are now loaded, theeleven brothers leave Egypt and
they come back to the land ofCanaan and their father Jacob.
It's not a surprise.
(14:26):
When the brothers first telltheir father Jacob that Joseph
is alive and he's ruler overEgypt, jacob could not believe
them.
This would have been theperfect opportunity for them to
confess their sin, to bring tolight before their father the
wrong they had committed andcome clean before God.
However, there's no scripturalevidence that they did.
(14:46):
For years these brothers liedto their father about the death
of Joseph and spun many talltales.
Certainly, jacob was well awareof their ability to spin tales.
Jacob, now hearing yet anotherunbelievable story coming from
these brothers' mouths about hislong-lost, beloved son Joseph,
(15:10):
closes his heart to what hissons are saying.
But then the brothers speak thevery words of Joseph.
And when the words of Josephare spoken, Jacob begins to
recognize the wisdom of his sonand the words of his son and
hope springs forth in his heartand in his mind.
(15:33):
That hope is enough for Jacobto get up out of his depression
and go out, and he sees thewagons, and when he does so, his
spirit is renewed and he nowbelieves his son is indeed alive
, convinced that Joseph is aliveand having received the warning
(15:55):
about the famine lasting yetanother five years.
Jacob, this decision by Jacob,under the protection and
provision of his son, joseph, isa key turning point in the
lives of Israel, all as acontinued fulfillment of God's
(16:18):
prophecy to Abraham in Genesis,chapter 15, verses 13 through 16
.
What an amazing story ofwaiting upon the Lord's timing
and having our hearts renewed infaith, in hope and in love.
God is faithful to his people.
(16:39):
God is faithful to his people.
Join me next week as Josephbrings his family down to Egypt.
God bless you this week.
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