Joseph’s Big Reveal — Genesis 45

A text — Genesis 45:1-15
45:1 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
45:2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.
45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.
45:4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.
45:5 And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.
45:6 For the famine has been here these 2 years; and there are 5 more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
45:7 God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.
45:8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
45:9 Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay.
45:10 You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.
45:11 I will provide for you there–since there are five more years of famine to come–so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.
45:12 And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you.
45:13 You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father here.”
45:14 Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck.
45:15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

A reflection:

Joseph’s life story is a harrowing one. After he had been a favored son of his father through his whole childhood and adolescence, his brothers kidnapped him and sold him as property to slave traders.  He must have wondered many times why this terrible thing had been done to him. What destiny could God possibly have had in mind for him?

During those same years, the brothers stuck to their story about Joseph having been killed by wild animals. Whether they were ever plagued with guilt for lying to their father and for selling Joseph, we don’t know. But 20 years later, Joseph, having risen through the ranks of the slaves in Pharaoh’s household to the post of Pharaoh’s powerful assistant, is alone in the room with his brothers as they beg for assistance from this powerful Egyptian stranger, and he reveals who he is. And the brothers’ reaction, scripture says, is dismay.

Dismay. This is a very specific reaction. The dis means not or no, and the may means permission or possibility. To be dismayed, then, means to be stripped of your power and your possibilities. The brothers stood before Joseph, discovered he was their long-lost brother, and were stripped of their powers, their hopes of possibilities for the future.

Joseph had had a lot of time to think about what might happen if he ever met his family again – if he ever met the brothers who had sold him into slavery, or his father who had loved him so much. He surely must have wondered, if ever this moment occurred, what their possible reactions would be. And when he saw dismay, he was ready for it. Did he say, “Hah! Now you will feel a little bit of what you put me through!” No. He told them not to be distressed. Everything did and will work out for good. He himself, in his own journey, had seen things work out for good. He was an ambassador of hope, even, especially, to those who had wronged him. God had used it all for good, and Joseph claimed God’s goodness for his own future.

Is it possible to be like Joseph and find a God-given vocation, a destiny for our lives, even though we may have been the victim of malice or tragedy? How might finding such a calling help us move forward every day?

A prayer:

Gracious God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for bringing good out of bad. Help us always to claim your goodness for our future and be ambassadors of hope.  Amen.