In yesterday's study Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers and invited the whole family to come and live in Egypt to survive the famine that's going to continue for five more years. In today's passage Pharaoh hears about the family reunion and is thrilled for his friend Joseph. Then Jacob receives news he never thought he'd hear.
"When the news reached Pharaoh's palace that Joseph's brothers had come, Pharaoh and all his officials were pleased. Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'Tell your brothers, 'Do this: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan, and bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can enjoy the fat of the land.'" (Genesis 45:16-18) Pharaoh is saying, "Any brothers of Joseph are brothers of mine! They will lack for nothing here. I will see to it that they have plenty to eat and a good place to live."
Pharaoh continues, "You are also directed to tell them: 'Do this: Take some carts from Egypt for your children and your wives, and get your father and come. Never mind about your belongings, because the best of all Egypt will be yours.'" (Genesis 45:19-20) Ancient Egyptians thought their nation was the greatest, wealthiest, most sophisticated place in all the earth. The king can't imagine that anything the family possesses in Canaan could begin to compare with what he can provide for them. Pharaoh says, "Leave all your clothing and household goods behind. I'll give you new and better stuff when you get here. Don't bother taking time to pack. Come now and be reunited with Joseph and start living the good life in my fine country!"
"So the sons of Israel did this." (Genesis 45:21a) We've noted before that the Bible tends to use the names "Jacob" and "Israel" interchangeably when speaking of the father of these twelve brothers. But I think Moses deliberately calls him "Israel" here because the people who are going to become the nation of Israel are about to move to Egypt where they will grow and multiply for 430 years until, at the exodus, they truly are a nation. The Lord is removing them from the land of Canaan for now but will be faithful to His promise to Abraham to give them the land when the timing is right. While they are absent from Canaan, the Lord is going to give the pagan tribes of that land 430 years to repent and turn back to him. He knows (because He knows everything) that they won't repent, but because of His impeccable and holy character He cannot drive them from the land later on due to their wickedness without first giving them opportunities to repent. His integrity will never be questioned in the judgment, for no one from the land of Canaan will be able to stand before Him and truthfully say He never gave them a chance.
The Lord once told Abraham that his descendants would spend several centuries in another land where they would be harshly treated, but He never named that nation. If He had, no doubt none of Abraham's descendants would have set foot on Egyptian soil. The Pharoah who is Joseph's friend will keep his word to give them the very best, but he won't live forever. Another Pharaoh will arise who is intensely racist toward the Hebrew people and who, out of his irrational fear of them, will oppress them and force them into slavery. But even their eventual slavery in Egypt is part of God's plan. Just as the Lord used Joseph's years in slavery to put him in a position to become Pharaoh's right hand man, He is going to use Israel's years in slavery to accomplish something awesome for their whole nation. We can discuss these things in far more detail when we arrive at the book of Exodus. In addition, before we conclude Genesis, we are going to spend a study session talking about who the king of Joseph's day may have been and, if he's who we think he might be, why this caused him to treat the Hebrews with far more honor than his successors did.
"Joseph gave them carts, as Pharaoh had commanded, and he also gave them provisions for their journey. To each of them he gave new clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes. And this is what he sent to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other provisions for his journey." (Genesis 45:21b-23) It was the custom in Joseph's day for a wealthy man to show his closest male relative the most honor by showering more gifts on that relative than on others. He's not doing the same thing his father did, which was loving one child so much more than the others that he barely cared what happened to the others. Joseph is not these men's father and has no obligation to distribute affection or gifts to them equally. Benjamin is his only full brother. He's never been able to do anything for his little brother until now. He hadn't even seen him since Benjamin was a little kid, and I bet many times he lay on his fine bed in his beautiful palace and wished he had some way of sharing his good fortune with his younger brother. I believe Joseph loved all eleven of his brothers and would have done anything in the world to help them in any way he could, but he has the right to do as he pleases with his money. If he chooses to give more gifts to his closest male relative than to the others, he would not be behaving rudely or unfairly according to the customs of his times.
Joseph supplies the men with enough food to make the journey to Canaan and back. He goes out personally to see their caravan depart. "Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, 'Don't quarrel on the way!'" (Genesis 45:24) He sounds so fatherly when he says this, as if he is the eldest brother when instead he is the next to youngest. He sounds like he's admonishing a group of small children to behave well on the playground. But he knows their rough and tough ways and that there is a natural rivalry among them because they are the sons of four different women. He doesn't want them arguing about the best way to tell their father what they did to Joseph. He doesn't want anyone pointing fingers and placing more blame on others than they place on themselves. Each of them, with the exception of Benjamin, has some blame to bear for what happened to Joseph two decades ago. Right now, as they leave Joseph's presence, they are in high spirits due to the family reunion that just took place and the forgiveness they received from the brother they wronged. But they've got a long trip home, and large groups don't always travel well together, and if petty disagreements crop up about how far to travel each day or where to camp or what to cook over the campfire, he knows that bigger disagreements may rise up. Grievances they've held against each other over the years might rise to the surface and the next thing you know they'll be rolling and fist fighting in the dust among all the donkeys and carts.
"So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. They told him, 'Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.' Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, 'I am convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.'" (Genesis 45:25-28) It's very difficult for Jacob's mind to switch gears after all these years of believing Joseph was dead. He saw Joseph's torn and bloody coat. He's been without the company of his son for over two decades. He's mourned and shed many tears over the loss of his son, and although I doubt any parent ever "makes peace" with the loss of a child, I think he's come to accept that he won't see Joseph again until he gets to heaven. And now here these eleven sons are proclaiming that Joseph is not only alive and well but that he's as powerful as Pharaoh of Egypt! I picture the aged and gray-haired Jacob standing wide eyed and open mouthed outside the door of his home as he gazes on all the riches before him. Gradually, as his shock starts wearing off, the words of his sons start to make sense to him. He doesn't know any Egyptians, and even if he did none of them would send such largesse to his door. No one but his beloved son would do such a thing, so it has to be true that he's alive, that he's in Egypt, and that he's second-in-command to the king.
Moses doesn't recount for us the entire conversation that takes place between father and sons. The sons had to explain to their father what they did to Joseph. In explaining what they did to him, I think naturally they had to tell Jacob why they did it. Jacob seemed oblivious in his younger years to the rivalry among his sons. He failed to realize the family dysfunction he caused by loving Joseph more than all the others put together. I believe these men did a lot of confessing, apologizing, and forgiving during this meeting. Just as Moses pulled a veil of privacy down over Joseph's conversation with his brothers after he revealed his identity to them, Moses chooses not to tell us what Jacob and his eleven sons say to each other. These manly men wouldn't want us witnessing their tears. Moses thoughtfully shields them from our view.
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