You would turn with me again
to Genesis chapter 44. So let's just read again what Judah says
here, beginning in verse 25. And our father said, go again
and buy us a little food. And we said, we cannot go down
if our youngest brother be with us, then we will go down for
we may not see the man's face except our youngest brother be
with us. He made it very clear to us when we left last time
not to come back and ask for anything else unless Benjamin
was with us. Judah continues to tell Joseph,
and thy servant, my father, said unto us, ye know that my wife
bare me two sons, and the one went out from me. And I said,
surely he is torn in pieces, and I saw him not since. And
that's speaking of Joseph, the very one that Judah is standing
before. Judah goes on to tell Joseph,
my father said, if you take him from me also, and mischief befall
him, he shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. Now, therefore, when I come to
thy servant, my father, and the lad be not with us, seeing that
his life is bound up in the lad's life. It shall come to pass when
he see it that the lad is not with us." If you keep Benjamin
here and we go back without him, see that he's not with us, that
he will die. My father will die. And the servant
shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant, our father, with
sorrow to the grave. It'll just kill him if Benjamin
doesn't return with us. And for thy servant became surety
for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee,
then I shall bear the blame to my father forever. Now therefore,
I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad, a bondman
to my lord, a slave. to my Lord, and let the lad go
up with his brethren. For how shall I go up to my father,
and the lad be not with me, lest peradventure I see the evil that
shall come on my father?" Now, chapter 45, beginning in verse
one. Then Joseph could not refrain
himself before all them that stood by him. And he cried, it
calls every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with
him while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And
he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. 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. Now, what do you think caused
Joseph to suddenly reveal his identity? Many of the commentators,
matter of fact, most of them that I read, simply believed
that Judah had successfully tugged at Joseph's heartstrings. That
they felt that Joseph had disclosed himself because he just simply
couldn't hold back his emotions any longer. I don't believe that
that explanation really holds water. On previous occasions,
as we've seen, Joseph had been emotionally touched. If you look
back at chapter 42, verse 24, we read, and he, speaking of
Joseph, turned himself about from them and wept, and then
returned to them again. And then in chapter 43 verse
30 we read, and Joseph made haste for his bowels did yearn upon
his brother. This is when he saw Benjamin
when they returned to Egypt. And he sought where to weep and
he entered into his chamber and he wept there and he washed his
face and he went out and refrained himself. It seems that Joseph
had always been able to refrain his need to reveal himself in
these very emotional times, so I don't believe that that was
it. It wasn't that now his emotions controlled him, but I believe
that Joseph's purpose had been fulfilled and realized here.
We've talked about this in several past lessons. Joseph is gonna
make his brothers aware of their sin. Judah's appeal did not change
Joseph's heart, but Judah's appeal revealed to Joseph that Judah
and his brother's hearts had undergone a significant change. Remember that it was Judah himself
who had 22, 23 years prior, earlier, suggested that the brothers sell
Joseph into slavery. And Joseph was now willing to
reveal his identity because of genuine repentance. This genuine repentance had been
evidenced in his brothers. We saw in chapter 42 that the
brothers had recognized and realized that their suffering was a result
of their sin. But at best, they only felt regret. Now I want you to think about
this with me. I honestly believe that they regretted selling Joseph
into slavery. I believe that they regretted
putting their father Jacob through so much suffering and so much
grief. Most every prisoner regrets their
crime in one way or another. I've seen a lot of men, women
alike, interviewed in prisons on some of the documentary shows,
and oftentimes, more than not, prisoners regret their crime,
even if it's only because they got caught. But repentance, repentance
has always been, it'll always be much, much more than just
regret. Something to note here, Judah
and his brother's regrets had not caused them for these 22
some years to confess their sin against Joseph to their father
Jacob. He still thought that he'd been killed by Beast, when
they brought him the coat of many colors stained with blood,
they had never told him any different. They'd lived this lie all these
years. Their regrets had not caused
them to make any attempt whatsoever to discover Joseph's fate themselves. We're never told where they inquired
or tried to find him or anything. For 22 years, they've just no
concern. But now, given the opportunity
to repeat their sin against Benjamin, there's been a change of heart.
And when they could have forsaken him and left him just as they
did Joseph, Joseph sees that there's been a change here, change
of heart and action on their part. They once had determined
to kill Joseph regardless of the impact that it would have
on their father Jacob, but now just the opposite is true. Judah
was willing to become a slave to Joseph if he let Benjamin
go free. He was willing to substitute
himself in Benjamin's place. What a difference, what a difference.
Even though he had been cleared of stealing the cup, Judas said,
take me and let Benjamin return home to his father. He couldn't
stand the thought of causing further suffering. And believe
me when I say that's genuine repentance. I believe that's
the lesson here in our study tonight. There can be no reconciliation
without genuine repentance. That is what caused Joseph to
delay so long in revealing his true identity to his brothers. And until we come before our
all-knowing God with not only the knowledge of our sin, but
with true repentance of our sin. There can never be any true or
real reconciliation with our Father. You know, the prodigal
son, We know that He demanded His inheritance, that He squandered
all that the Father gave Him with righteous living. And I tell you, I've pictured
Him so many times in that pig pen. I guess I can relate to
that, because that's where the Lord found me, in the pig pen,
eating pig food. And I pictured Him there, and
He's now suffering the consequences of His sin. I can assure you
of this, he regretted. At that point in time, he regretted
his sin and his actions. But his regrets eventually turned
to repentance. He came to his senses and he
returned home, the scripture says. He said, even if it's to
be a hard servant. He said, to be a hard servant
in my father's house is to live better than I'm living. And he
realized the foolishness of his sins. And he yearned for that
fellowship with his father. And he didn't come to his father
seeking justice. He came to his father seeking
mercy. He came with a genuine sorrow
and a genuine repentance for his sins. He had a change in
his way of thinking. He had a change in his way of
doing. And he forsook his sins, and
he was gladly and warmly received of his father. And I love where
the scriptures talk about his father saw him afar off and ran
to him. And it was his father that did
the kissing, not him. What a picture of God's mercy
and grace. And then on the other hand, you
have the rich young ruler. He came to Christ with no desire
whatsoever to change. It was all about being good for
Him. Good Master, what good thing must I do to be saved? He was good in His own eyes.
He had no desire to change His values, no desire to change His
priorities. He was doing quite alright on
His own. What must I do, He said. It was all about what He was
doing. And He went away sorry, the Scripture says. but not repentant
and not saved. Do you see the difference that
I'm trying to illustrate here? You see, he couldn't part with
his old way of life. I love to think about Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus, he evidenced genuine repentance and conversion. He
sought to make right the sins of his past. He said, Lord, he
said, the half of my goods I give to the poor. He said, and if
I've taken anything wrongly from anyone, he said, I'll restore
it to him fourfold. And you remember what the Lord
said to him? The Lord said, this day, your
salvation come to your house. There's a change, not just regret,
but a true, genuine sorrow and repentance for sin. To admit
guilt is one thing, but to be sorry for sin is a whole other
thing. Confession of sin simply means
that we admit to our wrongdoing, but true repentance is to be
sorry, be broken, to be truly regretful, sorry for our sin. Now let's concentrate for a few
minutes on the verses before us. here in Genesis chapter 45. Delighted at the change of heart
and grace found in the hearts of his brothers, Joseph couldn't
refrain himself. When I read the words here in
verse one about Joseph having every man to go out from him,
And it says that he there stood with no man with him. I thought
of a couple things just right off the top. First, I thought
about how our Lord Jesus is salvation. Salvation's in a person. There's no one or no thing that
can save us apart from Christ alone. high mountain of our Lord's configuration,
Peter, James and John saw Christ transfigured and he saw Elijah
and Moses talking to the Lord Jesus. And immediately they wanted
to honor all three by making each a tabernacle. You remember
that story. Peter said, Lord, one for thee
and one for Moses and one for Elijah. And the scriptures say
that while he yet spoke, A bright cloud overshadowed them and a
voice out of the cloud said, this is my beloved son in whom
I'm well pleased, hear ye him. And when the disciples heard
it, the scripture says they fell on their face and they were sore
afraid. And Jesus came and touched them
and he said, arise and be not afraid. And when they lifted
up their eyes, They saw no man except Jesus only. No man stood with him, friends.
Our Lord Jesus Christ stands alone. He is the only mediator. He is the only savior and redeemer. He's the only prophet, priest,
and king. He's the only one who can help,
comfort, and save For no one else can. And secondly, the second
thing that came to mind is that when Christ reveals Himself to
a chosen sinner, they'll see that He alone is the cause of
God's mercy and grace to them. We were chosen in Christ. God
loves his beloved son. We just read to you the account
of the transfiguration. This is my beloved son in whom
I'm well pleased. And God's only pleased with us
in him. Salvation is never Christ plus
anything. There stands no man with him
as he makes himself known to us. The one with whom the brothers
had to do. What a picture Joseph is of Christ. We've mentioned that many times.
The God with whom we have to do. The one with whom Joseph's
brothers had to do. Turns out to be none other than
the one who loves them dearly. And in verse two, we read that
Joseph wept aloud. and the Egyptians and the house
of Pharaoh heard. He had told them all to leave
and they did, but he cried and wept so loud that they heard
him anyway. But I'm telling you that this
was a, this weeping was a weeping of joy. It was a weeping of joy. I cannot help but to think of
what our Lord said in Luke chapter 15, verse seven. He said, I say
unto you that likewise, joy shall be in heaven over one sinner
that repenteth." This reconciliation between Joseph
and his brothers was in Joseph's hand. It had been all along. He could have revealed himself
to them the first time that he saw them. He could have let this
go on even longer. They had no idea who he was.
He didn't speak in their language of Hebrew. He was speaking in
Egyptian. He communicated with them through
an interpreter. This could have went on for a
long time. But when he saw that they had truly repented, His
joy couldn't be contained. And he made himself known unto
them. And what a picture of our redemption. What a picture of
God's joy in heaven over a sinner being saved, coming to repentance. Verse three, we read, 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. Now, don't miss what's going
on here. Joseph is filled with joy, as
I said, over their repentance, their change of heart. But they're absolutely terrified,
terrified. That word troubled there in that
verse three means trembling. They were anxious. They were
full of anxiety. They were scared and terrified
to death. And why wouldn't they be, considering
what they'd done to Joseph? You know, guilt, guilt, brings
great fear, doesn't it? They trembled and they were terrified
because they knew what they deserved. the revelation of who this powerful
ruler that stood before them struck great fear in them. And
then in verse four, he said, I'm Joseph, your brother, whom
you sold into Egypt. I'm the one that you've sinned
against. He reminds them again of their sin. And in that, what
our Lord said to Paul or Saul on the road to Damascus, he said,
I'm Jesus, the one whom thou persecuted. And you know, when
God first showed me my sin, I mean, when I really saw what I was,
that sin was not just something that I do, but sin is something
that I am. That sin is something that comes
from deep within. When I saw that my heart was
truly deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Do you
remember, child of God, when God showed you that? Oh, I'm
telling you, my guilt revealed to me what I deserved. I knew
that I deserved judgment. I knew that I deserved wrath.
There was no hiding it. And like Joseph's brothers, I
didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. I think about those folks on
the day of Pentecost. When they heard the words of
Peter, he said, you've with wicked hands taken and you've crucified
the Lord of glory. They weren't asking like that
young rich, young ruler, what must I do? They were going, what
can I do? What must I do to be saved? I
see what I am. I see what I deserve. Is there
any hope for me? Can you give me any hope? That's
the way that a true sinner feels when he sees his sin. Can you
imagine what's going through their minds? Can you imagine
what fear was running through their hearts? Now you try to
imagine yourself in their sandals. They're waiting a verdict from
this monarch, this potentate. They've been found guilty of
of stealing the cup, at least Benjamin had, and they're anxiously
awaiting the verdict. What's he going to do to them?
They see that this great Egyptian potentate, they see him send
everyone else out of the room. They had to be thinking, this
can't be good. This can't be good. They might
have well seen tears rolling down his cheeks. I don't know.
They might have seen his chest heaving with emotion. I've seen
folks that get mad. I've seen folks cry. And you
can just almost see their chest moving. Was this emotion of anger
that stirred him so? They must have thought the worst.
We always do. And then out of nowhere, this
Egyptian prince, ruler, blurted out in their own language, I
am Joseph. And that was the worst news that
they could have ever hoped for. It was bad enough to stand before
a powerful Egyptian governor who was angered at the theft
of his cup. But to realize that that Egyptian
ruler was their brother that they had sold into slavery, that
was just too much. Fear and guilt gripped their
heart. It was written on their face.
Terror and the unknown, as I said, gripped their heart. And that
fear and that guilt was proven by their silence. Wasn't nothing
to say. There was no appeal that they
could make. There was no defense that they could give. There was
no excuse that could be verbalized. None. They stood guilty in silence. And though Joseph's first words
identify his identity, what followed quickly was concern for their
father. And I, there again, I like to
try to picture myself in these situations and how I would react. I figure they must have stepped
back in fear. I remember, and I've told you
this before, but in my house, my mother was the disciplinary
one. Man, she was, my dad was, he'd
sit down and try to talk to you. I always liked it when dad did
the discipline, but not when mama did. And whenever Mama got
mad, I always stepped back a little bit just to try to be out of
smacking distance. Because she would lay it on you.
I always backed up a step or two. I always tried to get out
of striking range. But Joseph motions to them to
come near. He says, come near. I never did
like that either. That little finger doing this
saying, come here, boy. Wasn't a good thing. Those dreaded
words. And then look at verse four.
And Joseph said unto his brethren, come near to me, I pray you.
And they came near. Oh, can you imagine? They're
just shaking, I'm sure. And he said, I am Joseph, your
brother, whom you sold into Egypt. So it didn't get any better right
at first, did it? You know, I was thinking today
that the longer that I preach, honestly, the harder it is for
me to find the words to describe just how gracious our God is
to us in Christ. You can't find the words to truly
explain God's mercy and grace to us. Joseph says, come near. Those are frightful words to
one who's angry with you. But here's the gospel. In verse
five, Joseph says, now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with
yourselves that you sold me either. For God did send me before you
to preserve life. Our Lord, he stood and he said,
come unto me, all you that labor and heavy laden, and I'll give
you rest. Don't be grieved. Don't be worried. What words
of grace and comfort Joseph spoke to his brothers. And what words
of grace and mercy our Lord speaks to us. Come unto me. If you're
laboring, heavy laden over your sin, come unto me. I'll give
you rest. Everything's going to be alright.
Don't be angry with yourself. Come to Me. I'm not angry with
you, so don't get mad and angry with one another." That's what
Joseph's saying here. He said, don't blame one another
that you sold men to Egypt, that you sold men to slavery and prison. And if you remember, and I think
it was in chapter 42, that was exactly what Reuben said. Reuben
said, I told you guys. They were feeling guilty and
convicted about what they'd done to Joseph. And Reuben said, I
told you not to do evil against the child. You wouldn't listen. But Reuben didn't raise a hand
to stop it when it happened. I'm telling you, friends, this
is a confirmation of the divine will and purpose and providence
of God. Joseph said, I didn't wind up
in Potiphar's house because you sold me into Egypt. He said, I didn't wind up in
prison because you did this. I didn't wind up on the throne
of Egypt because you did this. He said, for God did send me
before you. And do you know why? To preserve
life. There's nothing that men and
their sin can do to alter the purpose of God. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Joseph said,
you sold me, but God sent me. You sold me, but God sent me.
Their purpose was to destroy Joseph, but God's purpose was
to save. Men may sin in doing what is
unacceptable to God, but they're only accomplishing what God has
purposed. Isn't that amazing? The sovereignty
of God assures us that while men may do the wrong thing for
the wrong reasons, God causes that evil to accomplish His good
and perfect will in everything. In everything. Folks worry about
so many things today. Who's got their hand on the button
that's gonna wipe us all out? I'll tell you who has the hand
on the heart of the man that has his hand on the button, and
that's the Lord Jesus Christ. God is in control of everything,
everything. No doubt that God hates all sin,
but it's His prerogative to bring good out of that evil. And He
does it all the time. No sin can be committed without
His knowledge. How do I know that? Because the
scriptures rightfully proclaim, for the wrath of man shall praise
Him. God's purpose in the whole life of Joseph, from beginning
to end, from beginning to end with salvation, not destruction.
What his brothers meant for evil, God meant for good. Look at verse
six. Joseph says, for these two years
hath the famine been in the land, and yet there are five years
in which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And I think that we've pretty
well proven We've discussed it enough that famine in the scriptures
pretty well pictures sin. It pictures being void of any
fruit of righteousness. Famine, sin produces no plowing,
no reaping. Famine, sin produces no fruit,
no harvest. And he says this famine now two
years long, it's got five years remaining to run its appointed
course. And in verse seven, Joseph again
reiterates God's sovereign providence by saying, and God sent me before
you to preserve you a posterity in the earth and to save your
lives by a great deliverance. And the word preserve here, I
was really pleased to see what it meant. It means made a remnant. You can look it up in the concordance.
To preserve here means made a remnant. Joseph is saying, God sent me
here to preserve a remnant, to preserve Abraham's seed. God
sent me before you to make provision for your future welfare, to preserve
you a future generation. If Jacob and his sons would have
not come down to Egypt, They would have starved. They would
have died, and Abraham's seed would have perished. But God
is faithful, they promised. God had promised their great-grandfather
Abraham time and time again, Abraham's seed would be as plenteous
as the stars in the sky. Abraham, look at those stars
in the sky. You see all those stars? So shall
your seed. See all those grains of sand
on the seashore? So shall your seed be." That's
what God's doing here in the story of Joseph. He's preserving
the seed of Abraham. He's preserving the lineage,
the posterity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ would come through
the tribe of Judah. is in fulfillment to what God
had told Abraham back in Genesis chapter 15. Also, He said, know
for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that's
not theirs, where they will be enslaved and they'll be oppressed
for 400 years. You remember we looked at that
way back in Genesis 15. He said, but I'm going to judge
that nation And I'm gonna bring your people out with all their
possessions. And of course, we see that in
the book of Exodus. But hear me on this, if God had
not sent Joseph before them, Jacob and his sons would have
not come down to Egypt. And if Jacob and his sons had
not come down to Egypt, their captivity into Egyptian slavery
would have never come to pass as God had promised that it would
to Abraham. And if their slavery in Egypt
had not taken place, then neither would have God's deliverance
by Moses. And if their deliverance by Moses
out of Egypt had not taken place, God would have never given Israel
the law. You see how all these things
fall into His perfect providence. Israel would have never entered
into the land of promise and rest. All these things came to
pass according to the will and the purpose of God. No accidents. No accidents. And I'm telling
you, I find great comfort in knowing that. I do. I find great comfort in knowing
that God is in control. Don't you? I wouldn't have it
any other way, would you? You know, I can rest in knowing
that if I belong to God, He's working all things together for
my good. I can rest there. I can rest there. I don't often,
but I can rest in knowing that He's working all things together
for my good. Whether I'm in Egypt, whether I'm in Goshen, whether
I'm in Israel, wherever I am, kept What a delightful word that
is. Kept by the power of God. Kept. That's the best news I ever heard.