Joseph: Joseph reveals his identity
Joseph: God meant it for good • Sermon • Submitted
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Joseph Reveals God’s Plan
Joseph Reveals God’s Plan
vs. 1-2
Joseph un ashamedly weeps. He doesn’t tell anyone why.
vs. 3
Joseph reveals himself as Joseph!
the brother’s are speechless (they’re speechless until vs. 15!)
They were dismayed at his presence
contrast to Joseph’s response
Joseph was overwhelmed with joy and weeping at being reunited
The Brothers were scared speechless
vs. 4
Joseph’s response to his brothers unease - draw them in closer
repeats the news - I am Joseph, who you sold into Egypt
vs. 5
Joseph comforts his brothers
Do not be distressed or angry with yourselves
Joseph points his brothers to the goodness of God
God sent me before you
vs. 6-8
Joseph tells his brothers what God is saving them from (Famine)
7 years of famine
God will preserve our family
This is all God’s hand
vs. 9 - 13
Go and tell our father (the rest of the family
tell him who I am (2nd in command of all of Egypt)
Tell him to come to Egypt
I have prepared a place
vs. 14-15
He continues to love and comfort his brothers
They are finally able to speak
vs. 16-24
Pharaoh learns of Joseph’s brothers & Joseph’s plan. his reaction: Yes & AMEN! + do this all at my expense.
vs. 24 - Interesting thing for Joseph to say to his brothers, “Do not quarrel on the way”
25-28
Jacob hears the good news that Joseph is alive
27. Jacob comes alive when He believes (Belief brings life)
“Let’s go to Egypt!”
We’re continuing our series through the life of Joseph in Genesis.
We’ve been in the life of Joseph since the Sunday after Memorial Day (8 weeks). It’ll be at least 2 more. One of our values as a church is the word of God. One of the ways we live that value out is through the practice of expository preaching. That’s why we’re still in Genesis, and we’ll be here for a little longer...
Last we left Joseph, he was falsely accusing his brothers of robbery and threatening to keep Benjamin, his only full-brother, as a slave, and sending the other 10 brothers away.
Judah, of all people, makes an impassioned plea for the return of Benjamin, even offering himself as a slave so that his father would not be grieved at the loss of both of Rachel’s sons. That’s where we left off last week in , this week we pick up in
Genesis 45:1-28
1 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
2 And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.
3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.
4 So Joseph said to 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 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, 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 lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
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 tarry.
10 You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall 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, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come 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. Hurry and bring my father down here.”
14 Then he fell upon 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.
16 When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants.
17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan,
18 and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’
19 And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.
20 Have no concern for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ ”
21 The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey.
22 To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five changes of clothes.
23 To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey.
24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.”
25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob.
26 And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them.
27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.
28 And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
Pray
Illustration: Getting “News” but not understanding it
- Downtown Disney is not DisneyWorld
In verse 3 Joseph’s brothers are given earth shattering, reality altering news. This news is a game changer. It’s not news to us b/c we’ve been given the perspective of Joseph for this entire journey. It’s news to Joseph’s brothers
1 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
2 And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.
3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.
The 11 brothers were just given “news” but their own minds are barely able to comprehend what this means, much less what this means for them. We’re given two sentences on Joseph’s brothers reaction to this news in verse 3:
“The could not answer him”
they’re stunned, they’re speechless. They’re processing the fact that for over 20 years they assumed Joseph to be, at best, laboring away as a slaved, and at worst dead (because of them). But here he is, one of the two most powerful men in the most powerful country in the known world.
“They were dismayed at his presence.”
Their processing during their speechlessness led them to the only logical conclusion: We’re dead men.
Illustration: Put yourself in Joseph’s shoes
This has the makings of an incredibly juicy revenge tale. Our culture is full stories of revenge: Pretty woman, Shows: revenge scandal. We love a gotcha moment where the protaganist of the story finally get’s to put the people that have wronged them into their proper place. That’s why these brothers are dismayed.
They are hearing for the first time what should be great news! But because they don’t fully understand the implications of this news, they are dismayed.
Application:
This is how we are when we first hear the story of the gospel or rather when we first begin to understand the gospel. (Aside - I think for many of us who grew up in the church, we’re done a disservice b/c of our familiarity with the narrative, that we’ don’t get to experience the unveiling of the gospel story in the way these brothers are getting to hear the good news of their salvation).
When we first hear the truths of the universe it should lead us to dismay:
Walk through the 3 circles (Circles 1 &2)
God created all things and called Everything Good. It was a utopia!
Man sinned/rebelled against God bring brokenness to all creation. This world we live in is broken… This should lead us to be dismayed.
Back to the story of Joseph and his brothers....
4 So Joseph said to 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 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, 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 lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Genesis 45:4-
Joseph’s response to his brother’s being “dismayed”
in vs. 3. This word “dismayed” is translated in other parts of scripture as trembled, or alarmed, it implies an anxious sense of unease.
Joseph sees this and I want to pay special attention to Joseph’s response in verse 4.
Joseph tells his brothers “come near to me, please”
In their distress Joseph draws near to his brothers.
If you’re in fear for your life, drawing near might be the exact opposite of what you want to do,
But it can also be the most comforting, not needed thing to do.
He draws near to them and patiently teaches his brothers the parts of the plans the have yet to understand.
Do not be distressed or angry with yourselves
vs. 5 - “God sent me before you to preserve life”
vs. 6 - Famine (year 2 of 7) - This may not privileged info!
vs. 7 - “God sent me before you..
vs. 8 - It was not you who sent me here, but God.
Application:
In our unease, in our disbelief, in our doubt, in our times of uncertainty, God draws near to us to comfort us, to point us to his plan and his Glory
Let’s go back to those circles:
We’ve drawn two, but I want to tell you of a 3rd.
In the midst of our brokeness, in our sin and darkness, The God of the universe who is in control of all things chose to fix the world in a most surprising way… He drew near to us in our brokeness. in Jesus, God became one of us, lived a sinless life, died in our place, died the death we deserve to show us a way to the father. To show us a better way. To show us the path to restoration.
The God of the universe could have scrapped this broken world and start all over. He would have had every right to, but instead, he chose to do the unexpected… to draw near to his creation and restore right relationship with him
Joseph reveals an even more “good news”
Genesis 45:9-
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 tarry.
10 You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall 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, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come 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. Hurry and bring my father down here.”
14 Then he fell upon 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.
…after that his brothers talked with him
They’ve been speechless this entire time!!! The good news keeps coming. They probably would have been content with, “You’re not going to die or become slaves!” Remember thats what they were expecting in Chapter 44 but the revelation of Good news keeps coming.
This is how it is with God. Many of us come to faith with the same servant mind set as Joseph’s brothers. I’ll be a part of the church. I’ll fill this pew, give my offering and live a life of servitude as a thank you to God for saving me. This is a debtors mindset. Jesus didn’t die to collect an army of debtors, but to bring a multitude of people into the family of God to see and savor the glory of God forever.
Joseph tells his brothers:
Go get tell my father I’m alive
You’re going to leave a desolate land and come live in the kingdom with plenty
You’re flocks and heards and children will not know want
He kissed them, loved them and drew near to them.
The good news just keeps coming
Genesis 45:16-
16 When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants.
17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan,
18 and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’
19 And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.
20 Have no concern for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ ”
If all Joseph said was not enough, Pharaoh, the king says yes and amen and you’ll do everything joseph said at the kings expense. Not only will you not have to pay a dime, You all get new cars!!! to make this journey in!
you’ll eat off the fat of the Land - I don’t even know what that means but it sounds like something rich people say and do!
WHAT?!??!?!
The the multitude of little kids who think they’ve experienced disney world because they’ve been to downtown Disney, they’re only scrathing the surface of what it means to go to Disney World!!
It’s more than just a splash pad. There are rides!!!
Characters do more than walk down the street twice a day. They’re everywhere and they put on shows!
Being Joseph’s brother is more than not living as a slave and getting enough food during a famine. It bet’s you access to the fat of the land and enjoying the best of all the land of Egypt has to offer!!!
Being a Christian is more than going to heaven when you die, It’s living life in relationship with the creator and sustainer of life. It’s trusting him everyday for our provision, for his glory and our good!
The Gospel brings the dead to life
25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob.
26 And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them.
27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.
28 And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
Genesis 45:25-
Jacob revived! - For this entire story, starting in , Jacob has been little more than a tired old man.
Finish the 3 Circles presentation
Pray.
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