Genesis 45:1-15

Genesis 45:1-15

[1] Then Joseph  could  not refrain  himself before all them that stood  by him; and he cried,  every man  to go out  from me. And there stood  no man  with him, while Joseph  made himself known  unto his brethren.  [2] And he wept  aloud:  and the house  of Pharaoh  heard.  [3] And Joseph  said  unto his brethren,  I am Joseph;  doth my father  yet live?  And his brethren  could  not answer  him; for they were troubled  at his presence.  [4] And Joseph  said  unto his brethren,  Come near  And he said,  I am Joseph  your brother,  whom ye sold  into Egypt.  [5] Now therefore be not grieved,  nor angry  with yourselves,  that ye sold  me hither: for God  did send  me before you  to preserve life.  [6] For these two years  hath the famine  been in  the land:  and yet there are five  years,  in the which there shall neither  be earing  nor harvest.  [7] And God  sent  me before you  to preserve  you a posterity  in the earth,  and to save your lives  by a great  deliverance.  [8] So now it was not you that sent  me hither, but God:  and he hath made  me a father  to Pharaoh,  and lord  of all his house,  and a ruler  throughout all the land  of Egypt.  [9] Haste  ye, and go up  to my father,  and say  thy son  Joseph,  God  hath made  me lord  of all Egypt:  come down  unto me, tarry  [10] And thou shalt dwell  in the land  of Goshen,  and thou shalt be near  unto me, thou, and thy children,  and thy flocks,  and thy herds,  and all that thou hast: [11] And there will I nourish  thee; for yet there are five  years  of famine;  lest thou, and thy household,  and all that thou hast, come to poverty.  [12] And, behold, your eyes  see,  and the eyes  of my brother  Benjamin,  that it is my mouth  that speaketh  [13] And ye shall tell  my father  of all my glory  in Egypt,  and of all that ye have seen;  and ye shall haste  and bring down  my father  [14] And he fell  upon his brother  Benjamin's  neck,  and wept;  and Benjamin  wept  upon his neck.  [15] Moreover he kissed  all his brethren,  and wept  upon them: and after  that his brethren  talked 

What does Genesis 45:1-15 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Joseph emotionally revealed his identity to his brothers. He assured them of God"s sovereign control of his life and directed them to bring Jacob to Egypt. He then demonstrated his love for his brothers warmly. This is one of the most dramatic recognition scenes in all literature.
Judah so impressed Joseph with the sincerity of his repentance and the tenderness of his affection that Joseph broke down completely. He wept tears of joy uncontrollably ( Genesis 45:1-2; cf. 2 Samuel 13:9). Joseph then explained his perspective on his brothers" treatment of him. He had discerned God"s providential control of the events of his life. Four times he stated that God, not his brothers, was behind what had happened ( Genesis 45:5; Genesis 45:7-9).
"This statement ... is the theological heart of the account of Jacob"s line (see Genesis 50:19-21; Acts 7:9-10). God directs the maze of human guilt to achieve his good and set purposes ( Acts 2:23; Acts 4:28). Such faith establishes the redemptive kingdom of God." [1]
"It is divine sovereignty that undergirds the optimism of Genesis. "God sent me to preserve life," says Joseph." [2]
"Happy is the man whose eye is open to see the hand of God in every-day events, for to him life always possesses a wonderful and true joy and glory." [3]
Part of God"s purpose was to use Joseph to preserve the house of Israel through the famine ( Genesis 45:7).
"In using terms like remnant and survivors, Joseph is employing words that elsewhere in the OT are freighted with theological significance. It may well be that in the deliverance of his brothers and his father Joseph perceives that far more is at stake than the mere physical survival of twelve human beings. What really survives is the plan of redemption announced first to his great grandfather." [4]
Joseph called God "Ha Elohim," the personal God, the God of their fathers ( Genesis 45:8).
"The theme of divine providential care is put into words by Joseph himself ( Genesis 45:7-8; Genesis 50:20), summing up the whole patriarchal story." [5]
Joseph had evidently been planning for his father"s family to move down to Egypt if or when his brothers would prove that their attitude had changed ( Genesis 45:10). Goshen (a Semitic rather than an Egyptian name) was the most fertile part of Egypt (cf. Genesis 45:18). It lay in the delta region northeast of the Egyptian capital, Memphis.
Joseph then embraced Benjamin and all his brothers to express his love and to confirm his forgiveness ( Genesis 45:14-15). The writer highlighted the genuine reconcilation between Joseph and his brothers by recording that they talked with him ( Genesis 45:15). Much earlier they could not speak to him ( Genesis 37:4). After a threefold expression of Joseph"s goodwill toward his siblings (weeping, explaining, and embracing), the shocked and fearful brothers gained the courage to speak. They now recognized Joseph as the one they had so cruelly abused and who was now able to crush them if he chose to do so.
Outstanding in this section is the way in which Joseph"s perception of God"s ways made him gracious, forgiving, and accepting rather than bitter and vindictive. He saw the loving hand of his God behind the cruelty of his brothers. He had accepted all that had come to him as the will of God, and therefore he experienced the blessing of God. Reconciliation is possible when there is forgiveness, and forgiveness is possible when there is recognition of God"s sovereignty.
"Some have questioned the morality of Yosef"s actions, seeing that the aged Yaakov might well have died while the test was progressing, without ever finding out that Yosef had survived. But that is not the point of the story. What it is trying to teach (among other things) is a lesson about crime and repentance. Only by recreating something of the original situation-the brothers are again in control of the life and death of a son of Rachel-can Yosef be sure that they have changed. Once the brothers pass the test, life and covenant can then continue." [6]
Though the Bible never identifies Joseph as a type of Christ, many analogies are significant. Both were special objects of their father"s love. Their brethren hated them both, rejected their superior claims, and conspired to kill them. Both became a blessing to the Gentiles. Both received a bride. Joseph reconciled with his brethren and exalted them, and so will Christ.