Podcast Introduction

Today we’re going to read Genesis 44-47, and I’m calling the episode “Reconciled.”

Comments on Genesis 44-47

Let’s recap quickly what has happened in Joseph’s life, in relation to his older brothers.

He was the eleventh son of Jacob, but the first son through Rachel, his favorite wife. And Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons because he was born when Jacob was old. Of course Jacob made no attempt to hide his favoritism toward Joseph, and this caused his brothers to hate him. To make matters worse, when he was a teenager he had dreams in which the family would bow down to him…and he told them about the dreams. And his brothers hated him so much that they sold him into slavery, but they told Jacob that he had been killed by wild animals.

Then, through a series of events that saw Joseph become the supervisor of an Egyptian official’s household, then falsely accused of rape by this same official’s wife, thrown into prison, and elevated to the Pharaoh’s second in command because of his God-given ability to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams and devise a plan for Egypt to survive and even prosper through a coming seven year drought, his brothers find themselves bowing down before him, asking to buy food because the drought had caused a famine that spread beyond Egypt, even into Canaan. And Jacob remembered the dreams he had had as a boy when he saw them bow down to him.

Joseph’s brothers don’t recognize him, though he recognized them. 

This is where the story gets interesting. Joseph lets his brothers continue to think that he is an Egyptian and he accused them of being spies. 

In Genesis 41:38 Pharaoh said, “I don’t think we can find anyone better than Joseph to take this job! God’s Spirit is in him, making him very wise!” Even thought Pharaoh was not a believer in the true God, he was correct in his assessment. The Holy Spirit was in Joseph, and it was the Holy Spirit who led Joseph in his dealings with his brothers when they came to Egypt to buy food.

The things that have happened between Joseph and his brothers from the time they first appeared in his presence in Egypt, right up to where we are in chapter 44, have been to bring God’s plan for this family to fruition. Joseph misled his brothers, not to be spiteful or vengeful, but because God was using him to bring them to a place of correction and restoration. The brothers had to face what they had done to Joseph and their father.

When the brothers threw Joseph into the pit, he cried out to them, pleading for their help. As commentator Donald Barnhouse said, “A physicist could compute the exact time required for his cries to go twenty-five yards to the eardrums of the brothers. But it took twenty-two years for that cry to go from the eardrums to their hearts.”

And here in chapter 44, it looks as if the brothers have finally come to repentance. After the silver cup that Joseph had planted in Benjamin’s sack was discovered by Joseph’s servant, and it appears that he will become Joseph’s slave (remember, the brothers still do not know that this apparently Egyptian ruler is their brother whom they sold into slavery), all of the brothers plead with him to let them stay with Benjamin as slaves, instead of returning home without him.

But Judah, one of the brothers, makes an impassioned plea to Joseph from verse 18 to the end of the chapter at verse 34. Of this speech, F.B. Meyer wrote: “In all literature, there is nothing more pathetic than this appeal.” H.C. Leupold wrote, “This is one of the manliest, most straightforward speeches ever delivered by any man. For depth of feeling and sincerity of purpose it stands unexcelled.” Donald Barnhouse called it “the most moving address in all the Word of God.”

This desperate plea broke Joseph’s heart. In chapter 45, he made all the Egyptians who were in the room with he and his brothers leave, because he was overcome with emotion. Once they were gone, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers. At first, they were terrified by the realization, but he told them not to worry or blame themselves because it was God’s plan, because God used him to save the lives of people who would have starved from the famine, including their own family.  

After Joseph’s revelation to his brothers, he sent them back to Canaan to get their father and the entire family to bring them to Egypt so that he could take care of them because the famine was not yet over. And when Jacob heard that Joseph, his most beloved son was still alive, he was overjoyed and said, “Now I can die a happy man.”

All of the things that happened to Joseph were for a reason. The hatred of his brothers. Being sold into slavery. Imprisonment for a rape he did not commit. God used it all to preserve the family line from which the Messiah would come.

God is sovereign. No matter the decisions or actions of man, God’s plan will always come to completion. Yes, man has free will. He can choose to obey God, or he can choose to disobey. But God will have His way. On this, Spurgeon wrote, “How wonderfully those two things meet in practical harmony – the free will of man and the predestination of God! Man acts just as freely and just as guiltily as if there were no predestination whatever; and God ordains, arranges, supervises, and over-rules, just as accurately as if there were no free will in the universe.”

This kind of reminds me of the old saying, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

Beloved I would much rather be working *with* God than against Him. Wouldn’t you?

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 44 ERV, Ch. 45-46 CEV, Ch. 47 NKJV

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The Team

Transcript Correction: Lifespring Family Berean, Sister Denise
Podcasting 2.0 Chapters: Lifespring Family Berean, Brother Sean of San Pedro and Lifespring Family Berean, Brother Michael Haner
Show Art: Lifespring Family Berean, Brother Scott Snider and Lifespring Family Berean Jason Paschall
Newsletter Publisher: Lifespring Family Berean, Sister Brittaney

Transcript

Transcript not corrected.