Joseph's brothers were afraid for their lives. They had been told that someone important wanted to talk to them.
And now, as they're standing in the presence of the Prime Minister, who's dressed in Egyptian clothes, cloaked with Egyptian insignias and symbols of authority, who had been speaking in the Egyptian language all this time, he suddenly speaks to them in Hebrew. Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors is a familiar story. It's full of intrigue and betrayal and reads like an adventure novel. But God's purpose in telling the story goes much deeper than a fascinating read.
Today on Renewing Your Mind, Dr. R.C. Sproul returns to his series on the life of Joseph to show us that in reality, this story gives us a picture of the gospel. We have just looked at the impassioned plea that Judah gave to Joseph in behalf of his brother Benjamin. This has to be one of the most eloquent pleas for mercy ever recorded.
So often in the movies and on television, we see dramatic responses to the pleas of the defense attorney in the courtroom and so on, but life rarely corresponds to those kinds of situations. But the question we face today is what happened after Judah promised to be a surety for his brother Benjamin in order not only to save Benjamin, but to save his father Jacob from more grief? Chapter 45 of Genesis gives us the answer to that question as we read in the first verse these words. Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, Make everyone go out from me. Now remember that Joseph has been playing this game.
He has been trying to lead his brothers to a deeper awareness of the seriousness of their sin. And we went through all of these machinations about the hiding of money in the sacks and now the hiding of his silver cup in the sack of Benjamin. And through all of this game, Joseph has been pretending. He has been pretending righteous indignation against his brother's alleged theft of grain and of money and so on. And sometimes it's hard for a person to carry on a charade of that sort without letting the cat out of the bag.
I don't mean to be punning here about letting the cup out of the bag, but without revealing that it is a matter of pretense. But we hear at the beginning of chapter 45 that Joseph reached the end of his self-restraint. After he hears this plaintive cry from Judah and the offer of being a surety, Joseph is moved to such a deep level that he can't contain himself anymore.
It's Judah who brings the game to the end by his heroic offer to be a substitute for his brother. And so Joseph cries out, make everybody go out for me. All of his servants, all of his staff depart. So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it. So when he's moved in this passion, he cries out, everybody leave me to his staff.
And obviously with the authority of the prime minister that he had, they would obey him instantly. And so they scurry out of his presence, leaving Joseph alone with his brothers. And Joseph breaks down in weeping and wailing and groaning and sobbing to such a loud degree that those Egyptians who had departed from his presence and were no longer in the room could hear his crying and his weeping.
Now remember, try to conceive of that. Try to conceive of White House staff personnel being dismissed by the president of the United States. And as they leave the Oval Office and they go out into the halls and the other rooms of the White House, they can hear the wailing of their president. And that's what's going on because functionally Joseph is the president of Egypt.
And they are wondering, what in the world is going on? But he wants them out of his way as he loses his restraint and makes himself known to his brother. Verse 3 of chapter 45 obviously is one of the most dramatic statements in this whole episode and certainly one of the most dramatic statements ever heard by the brothers of Joseph in their lives. We read in verse 3 these words, then Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph. Now notice that earlier in all of the meetings that Joseph had with his brothers, he communicated with his brothers through an interpreter. And Joseph's name in the Egyptian land was the name Zapnath Panea. But Joseph doesn't say to his brothers here, I am Zapnath Panea.
But speaking in his native tongue, he reveals himself by his name. I am Joseph. Now just think of the emotions that are boiling inside the brothers.
They're already in the midst of terror having been caught with this business of the hidden cup. They're already emotionally drained as they listen to the plea of Judah to let him be a substitute for his brother Benjamin. And now as they're standing in the presence of the prime minister who's dressed in Egyptian clothes, cloaked with Egyptian insignias and symbols of authority, who had been speaking in the Egyptian language all this time, he suddenly speaks to them in Hebrew. And he said, I am Joseph.
But he doesn't finish with that. He says, I am Joseph. Does my father still live? You know, the man we've been talking about, the man I've inquired about, the man Judah you just said would surely go down to his grave if you don't go home with Benjamin.
How do I know that you're not lying to me about that? How do I know that he hasn't already died? Judah, I am Joseph.
Does my father still live? But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. This was such a stunning shock to their systems. Joseph.
The Joseph, our brother Joseph, he just said he was Joseph and he asked if his father, he asked us if his father, our father is still alive. They couldn't even answer him. Well, words came to their mouths. They're absolutely stunned and speechless before him. I might also add they couldn't be anything else but terrified.
Sometimes terror gives us lockjaw. We are so frightened. We are scared, to use the expression, stiff, scared, speechless.
And that's the situation. Here he is, the prime minister, wailing, crying, stops crying for a second. They don't know why he's crying.
They don't know why he's sobbing. And all of a sudden he stops. They're standing there listening, and he says, I'm Joseph. And so Joseph said to his brothers, please come near to me. And so they came near.
Again, there we have that understatement. He doesn't command them to come. He invites them to come. They're speechless.
They're terrified. Joseph said, please come here. And I suspect it was something in his voice, in the tone of his voice, that assured them that it was safe.
In any case, they came near. And then he said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now do not, therefore, be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here. For God sent me before you to preserve life.
For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you and the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God. And he has made me as a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. I am Joseph, your brother. I am Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. I am Joseph, whom God has sent before you to be, in earthly terms, your savior.
I have been sent here to save your lives. You who wanted to take my life, and you who sold my life for a few pieces of silver, have been placed here for this moment in history to be your salvation in the providence of God. We'll expound on that later when that subject comes up again between Joseph and his brothers. Verse 9, hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, not thus says the prime minister of Egypt, but thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me, do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your children, your children's children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have.
And there I will provide for you, lest you and your household and all that you have come to poverty, for there are still five years of famine. And behold, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my mouth that speaks to you. So you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt and of all that you have seen, and you shall hurry and bring my father down here. Twice he tells them, hurry up. I've played this game long enough.
I can't stand it anymore. Will you guys go home and get father and bring him here as fast as you possibly can? Go home and tell him that I am alive, that I am well, and that I am the lord of all of Egypt. Then he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. Moreover, he kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers talked with him. Now I find that touching. First he goes and he kisses Benjamin, and he weeps, and then he goes around and he kisses every one of them.
He doesn't say, no Simeon, I'm not going to kiss you. And then they have this little talk among themselves. Now the report of it was heard in Pharaoh's house saying, Joseph's brothers have come.
So it pleased Pharaoh and his servants well. Now that's an interesting statement, isn't it? That the word of this reunion, everybody in the palace is talking. You hear the prime minister in their ear screaming and crying and weeping. What's going on? They're fearing the worst, and the word gets passed quickly among them. Hey, it's good news.
He's crying for joy. Our prime minister's brothers have come. Now I can only assume at this point that sometime in the relationship that Joseph had with Pharaoh and with the staff of Pharaoh's house that the story of Joseph's past had been related. They all knew that Joseph came from prison, and when he was brought into the court from prison and was exalted over the rest of the Egyptian administrators in the land, everybody was asking his pedigree. Everybody was asking about his background. They knew he was a Hebrew.
How did he come to be in Potiphar's house in the first place? And so I'm sure that those who were intimately associated with Joseph had some idea of this past estrangement with his brothers. And now they're buzzing. Joseph's brothers are here. That's what all this emotion is about, and it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. You know, one of the most beautiful things that we can witness is genuine reconciliation between estranged people, not just a guarded truce, but when there is real reconciliation.
We all delight in that when love triumphs over hatred. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Do this, load your animals and depart, go to the land of Canaan, bring your father and your households and come to me, I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, you will eat the fat of the land, now you are commanded, do this, take carts out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and your wives, bring your father and come. And do not be concerned about your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours. I'm not giving you an invitation, Pharaoh said, this is a command. Bring the whole family, not just your father, but all the children and the grandchildren, the livestock and everything, and don't tell me that there's not enough land for you, I'm giving you the best parcel of land in all of Egypt, I'm going to give you the land of Goshen. And not only that, don't tell me that the journey is going to be too arduous and you're not going to be able to bring the things that are precious to you.
I'll take with you all kinds of carts, all the carts that you need to transport everything that you want down here. What an offer by Pharaoh. Then the sons of Israel did so, and Joseph gave them carts according to the command of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey. He gave to all of them, to each man, changes of garments, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of garments. He gave them fortunes, what he gave them, and he sent to his fathers these things, ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and food for his father for the journey. And so he sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to them, see that you do not become troubled along the way. Another translation is, see that you don't argue with each other along the way. We've just had peace.
We've just had reconciliation. I can't wait to see my father and the rest of the family here. Now guys, on the way home, don't blow it. I mean, what wisdom. Can you imagine these brothers walking out of there stunned in disbelief?
They're going home. They have good news to tell Jacob. They can't wait to tell Jacob, your son is alive, he's prime minister.
But they're also afraid. What do you mean he's alive? How did he get to Egypt?
I thought you guys said he was killed by an animal. There's some truth that's going to come out in this meeting. And Joseph is thinking, on the way home, these guys are liable to kill each other. You can hear Simeon arguing with Reuben, and Reuben arguing with Jacob, I told you not to do this, or this was all your idea, and they could destroy each other before they ever got back to the homestead to tell Jacob the good news.
And so they went up out of Egypt, came to the land of Canaan to Jacob their father, and they told him, saying, Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And listen to this, and Jacob's heart stood still because he did not believe them. How could his heart do anything else? How could he be possibly more strained to believe a report about anything than to believe about this, afraid to believe it? And the expression is used, his heart stood still.
He couldn't take it in. And what follows from that moment is even greater drama, as now Jacob has to wrestle with his own faith before God about the news that he has just heard. Who says the Bible is boring? This is one of the great stories that we read in Scripture. That's Dr. R.C. Sproul with a message from his series, The Life of Joseph.
I hope you'll stay with us here on Renewing Your Mind, because R.C. will have a final thought for us in a moment. For Joseph's brothers, the news that he was still alive was almost more than they could handle, but their wonder was mixed with fear. What if Joseph would take revenge? What would they say to their father?
Well, the story continues, and we'll find out what happens next Saturday. If you've missed any of the series along the way, we're making all of the messages available to you, 20 in all. Just contact us today with a donation of any amount. The series, The Life of Joseph, is part of a bundle of teaching series we call The R.C. Sproul Teaching Collection. You'll receive eight complete teaching series, including The Parables of Jesus, Knowing Scripture, Ecclesiastes, Galatians, and Knowing Christ. You can reach us with your gift when you call us at 800-435-4343.
You can also find us online at renewingyourmind.org. Well, we don't want to leave Joseph's story just yet. Let's listen to a final thought from R.C. In the Old Testament, the most precious vessel in the tabernacle and in the temple was the Ark of the Covenant. In the Ark was contained, of course, Aaron's rod, a pot of manna, and most significantly, the tablets of stone that gave the Ten Commandments.
And the Ark was covered with a heavy lid, and it represented the throne of God. But the throne of God in its covering was also called the mercy seat. And the Greek translation of that word for mercy seat is the word helosterion, which has a close link to another Greek word, which is the word katilage, the New Testament word for reconciliation. Because the drama of redemption on the Day of Atonement for Israel was all about reconciliation, the reconciliation of human beings who had become estranged from God. That's what the Bible is all about, reconciliation. That's what the gospel is all about, reconciliation. And here we're seeing reconciliation at a human level made incarnate, when the brothers of Joseph come to peace. And we'll continue this beautiful story of reconciliation next Saturday. We hope you'll join us for Renewing Your Mind.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-02-04 04:08:25 / 2024-02-04 04:16:29 / 8