Joseph is now 30 yrs. old and has been
in Egypt for 13 years, Gen. 41:42-46. Joseph begins to travel
throughout Egypt, gathering and storing enormous amounts of grain
from each city. During this time before the famine, Joseph has two
sons: Manasseh (meaning God has made me forget) and Ephraim (meaning
God has made me fertile). Gen. 41:46-57.
Joseph's two sons, Manasseh and
Ephraim, provide yet another example of a younger son winning out
over an older, Gen. 48. Later in the story, when Jacob arrives in
Egypt, he adopts Joseph's two sons into his own family, giving them a
share of the inheritance as if they were Jacob's own sons. As Jacob
(now Israel) prepares to bless the two boys, he places his right hand
on Ephraim, the younger son, and his left hand on Manasseh, the older
son. This is backwards, the right hand signifies the firstborn. We
see that Jacob has to cross his arms to do this. Joseph then tells
his father that his hands are backwards, and that Manasseh is the
oldest. This is what Joseph tells his father, "Not so, my
father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his
head." Jacob refuses and responds, "I know, my son, I
know; he also shall become a people and he also shall be great.
However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his
descendants shall become a multitude of nations. And he blessed them
that day, saying, by you Israel shall pronounce blessing, saying, may
God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh! Thus he put Ephraim before
Manasseh." Genesis 48:18-20. As a fulfillment of Jacob's
blessing, Ephraim became the most dominant of the tribes in the
kingdom of Israel. The name Ephraim became metaphorical for the
entire kingdom.
When the famine arrives in Egypt as
Joseph had predicted, Egypt is prepared. Joseph begins to ration the
grain, first to Egyptians and then to foreigners who begin to travel
to Egypt to buy grain.
Back in Canaan, Jacob's family is
feeling the famine's effects. Jacob sends Joseph's brothers to buy
some grain when he hears that Egypt has it for sale. Next, are two
parallels in some ways of the brothers’ two journeys to Egypt:
FIRST JOURNEY
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SECOND JOURNEY
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For 20 years Joseph has been estranged
from his family. Jacob has thought him dead and his brothers have
sold him into slavery. When Joseph sees his brothers he does not
reveal his identity to them. He wants and needs to know for sure
what kind of men his brothers have become. When Joseph accuses them
of being spies three times, he puts them in prison for three days so
that he can watch them. The brothers think this is God's punishment
for the horrible treatment toward Joseph. Joseph weeps after hearing
of their remorse. Wanting to make sure that the other brothers are
coming back, Joseph holds Simeon. Back in Canaan, they beg Jacob to
allow Benjamin return with them so that they can rescue Simeon.
Isn't it something that Reuben even offers his two sons as a
sacrifice to his father so that Benjamin could come with them? Gen. 42:37. But
Jacob was not going to bargain for Benjamin, his only survivor of his
favorite wife Rachael. It is only when the family begins to starve
that Jacob agrees.
In another test, Joseph returns the brothers'
silver to see what they will do with it. Remember, that years ago,
they had sold him for 20 pieces of silver. Joseph wants to test them
to see how they handle the situation having their treasures returned.
Joseph is testing them to see whether they keep quiet or return the
silver. With this test he will find out if they still love money
more than their brothers. When they returned with Benjamin, Jacob
welcomes them and sets Simeon free. Still he does not reveal himself
to them. He eats with them and asks them questions about his father.
In preparation for the final test, he plants his personal silver cup
in Benjamin's sack for the return journey. Joseph send his steward
after their brothers while they are going on their journey. He finds
the cup in Benjamin's sack. The brothers returned and Joseph sets
them a final test. He told his brothers that since Benjamin stole
the silver cup, he was going to become his slave and the rest were to
go free. In a humble speech Judah offers himself in place of
Benjamin. What a different Judah this is! Judah tells Joseph of
the special love that Jacob has for Benjamin and of his lost son
Joseph as sons of his favorite wife, Rachel. The remarkable thing is
that Judah is no longer bitter over this. His love for his father
and his desire to do what is right this time overrides his hatred and
bitterness. He begs for his father to be able to keep his son whom
he loves more than any of the rest. This is so touching! When
finally Joseph believes in his brothers’ repentance and sees that
his brothers have passed the test, he breaks down and weeps without
consolation. Then finally he reveals himself to them. He forgives
them and offers them forgiveness for their sin. This is what he
tells them, "Then Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph! …
I am your brother whom you sold into Egypt. And do not be grieved or
angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me
before you to preserve life....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."
Genesis 45:3-8. Joseph sends them back to Canaan with wagons so
they can bring Jacob and the rest of the family back to Egypt to
escape from the famine.
FASCINATING FACT: Judah was the 4th
son of Leah, but at the end of Joseph's story, he had the leadership of
the whole family. Reuben lost his place as firstborn when he slept
with his father's slave, Bilhah, Genesis 35. Simeon and Levi lost
favor for their revenge against the Shechemites in Genesis 34. Jacob
passes over the first three sons in his blessings of his sons, Gen.
49:3-12 and gives Judah the firstborn, blessing, saying, "your
father's sons will bow down to you." Judah's tribe became the
strongest and eventually became the southern kingdom when Solomon
died, the Kingdom of Judah, in fulfillment of this blessing. Our
Lord Jesus was born of Judah's line. Jesus' genealogy to this point:
Abraham - Isaac - Jacob - Judah and Tamar.
All through Joseph's long story, God
speaks directly only once, and it is not to Joseph. God speaks to
Jacob when Joseph's brothers return a second time from Egypt,
reassuring him that his promises to him will remain with him in
Egypt, Gen. 46:2-4. The promise of a great nation to Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob will still be fulfilled. God also promises that Jacob will
not be left in Egypt, but that his body will be brought back to the
promised land: "And God spoke to Israel in vision of the night
and said, "Jacob, Jacob." And he said, "Here I am."
And He said, "I am God, the God of your father; do not be
afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there.
I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you
up again; and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will
close your eyes." Genesis 46:2-4. When Jacob arrives in Egypt,
he and his family, receive the best land. Jacob's family prospers
and grows in their new land, thanks to Joseph even when the other
Egyptians are forced to sell their land to Pharaoh in exchange for
food.
Jacob's wish was to be buried in the Promised Land, and not in Egypt. Remember, God has promised him he
would bring him back to Canaan. After he had blessed his sons, he
instructed them about what to do with his remains, Gen. 49:29-31.
When he died, Joseph took Jacob's body back to Canaan burying him
there in a cave along with Abraham and Isaac, just as Jacob asked.
After his death Joseph reassures his forgiveness to his brothers saying. "Do not be afraid, for am I in God's place? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result to preserve many people alive. So therefore, do not be afraid, I will provide for you and your little ones. So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them." Genesis 50:19-21. This is such remarkable forgiveness! Joseph stayed in Egypt, he and his household, and lived 110 years. Before Joseph was about to die, he makes them swear to return his body back to the Promised Land.
Unfortunately, this promise is not fulfilled until Moses' time,
around 300 years later. This is fulfilled when Moses took the
children of Israel out of Egypt, "Now they buried the bones of
Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem in
the piece of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the
father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of money; and they became
the inheritance of Joseph's sons." Joshua 24:32.
Joseph appears in Hebrews 11, the
"faith hall of fame" as a giant of the faith because he
trusted God ordering the return of his bones from Egypt to the
Promised Land. "By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention
of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his
bones." Hebrews 11:22
The stories of Joseph foresee the
grace, mercy, faith and hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We see
self-sacrifice, forgiveness, and the regeneration of bitterly sinful
men. We see an example of a youth tempted in a strange place far
away from home, with nothing to lose and no one to disappoint except
God, and yet he stands true to his God. We see a father grieving
over the death of his son for twenty years because he believed a lie.
When he is presented with the truth, he at first refuses to believe
it! Finally there is the joyful reunion. God in His providence will
not disappoint us. If only we would believe that He knows what He is
doing!
May we learn from this beautiful story
of forgiveness and learn to have the heart of Joseph who died to
himself in order that he might bless those who had wronged him. In
doing this, Joseph fulfilled God's will and provided a privileged
refuge from the famine. May we always remember that, GOD MEANS
IT FOR OUR GOOD even when others have wronged us. May we free
ourselves of all bitterness as Joseph did.
Luci
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