Genesis 42-45 - the reunion, and the power of the truth
So, all is going well for Joseph when we last left him. He thinks he has moved on from the pain and injustice of the past - built a new life for himself. He names his son Mannasseh because God has made me forget all my trouble in my father's household (Genesis 41:51). However, this next instalment tells us that the story isn't over yet.
It is possibly not surprising that Joseph is mistrustful of his brothers when they arrive in Egypt. They did, after all, plot to kill him and then sold him into slavery. However, Joseph is clearly in a state of conflict - he starts to see that the brothers have come to see the error of their ways and is overcome with emotion (42:24), but still cannot trust them. He also desperately wants to know if his father and youngest brother Benjamin are still alive, but has to do so whilst testing his brothers' characters and not revealing his identity. And so, Joseph contrives a way of getting the brothers to bring Benjamin by holding Simeon hostage, and also of testing their character by falsely accusing Benjamin and seeing how his brothers react. The pass the 'test' - they do not abandon Benjamin but instead Judah offers to take his place (it is interesting to see the spiritual growth in Judah, when we compare this to his conduct in Chapter 38).
Whether or not Joseph's conduct was the 'right' way to approach the situation is not for us to say. It certainly seems deceitful and unnecessary to my contemporary eyes, and equally it may have been understandable and fitting for a man in his position. Neither make it right nor wrong. However, the true climax and shock of the story comes not with the deceptions or dramatic imprisonments, but with Joseph's words to his brothers as he finally reveals his identity.
‘I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no ploughing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.' (Genesis 45:4-8)
Joseph forgave his brothers and was able to be reconciled with them because he knew and believed and trusted the truth about God. Joseph already knew that God was in control and he had a plan - we examined this in our look at the previous few chapters. Now, from his particular vantage point, he can see what God was doing all along: It was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you he says (45:5). But the only reason he is able to see that is because he trusts that God is in control in the first place.
Knowledge of the truth that sinks down deep and becomes faith in the living, loving, and sovereign Lord really does have the power to change our hearts, and from that, our actions. Three generations previously, Abram believed God, and it was credited to him as righteous (Genesis 15:6). The story is the same here, but here we see that righteousness being played out in action.
When we truly know that God is sovereign, we are freed from the human need for retribution in order to bring to order our little corner of the world, knowing that God himself will bring justice to the whole universe. When we truly know that this sovereign God is love itself, we know that the plans he has are good and can stop being angry at our situation, trusting that God will use it for good. When we truly know that God listens, we can come to him in prayer and offload the burdens we carry. When we truly know how much we are forgiven, we are able to forgive others.
There is power in the truth - power to reconcile even would-be murderers with their estranged brother. Power to reconcile even sinful human beings with God.
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