Genesis 44-45; Matthew 14:13-36; Psalms 18:37-50; Proverbs 4:11-13

Stepping back into the story of Joseph, in Genesis 44-45, we see the continuation of Joseph’s interactions with his brothers before the final reveal that he is indeed their brother (whom they all presumed to be a slave or dead after years of no contact). They are shocked, but Joseph tells them they did not send him to Egypt–God did. And with five more years of the famine to go, he knew the Lord sent him as a way to preserve his family.

Joseph tells his brothers to go back to their home and get their father, wives, herds, etc., and come back to Egypt so he can take care of them. They return to Jacob, and he is convinced of the news that his son is in fact alive, and he tells them he must see Joseph before he himself dies.

Now, I haven’t gone to seminary or had any formal Biblical training, so I’m not going to try to explain why Jospeh went back and forth with his brothers, accusing them of being spies, returning their money, accusing them of theft, and finally telling them that Benjamin would need to be made a slave in Egypt. But if I had to take a guess, it feels like Joseph was trying to get a handle on the current state of their collective character–I wonder if he wanted to find out for himself whether or not they had learned from their mistake, or if history would repeat itself.

Joseph’s brothers are unwilling to send another one of their own to this fate, and in their pledging with him, Joseph breaks. The way that the brothers vehemently protect Benjamin says a lot about the state of the family after Joseph was presumed dead. How terrible of an experience it must have been as a family to experience everyone you know believing that your brother is dead, only to know that you are the reason he will never return. I think that when Joseph saw this complete devotion to their brother Benjamin, he breaks and starts weeping because he can see the depth of their sorrow over what happened to him.

Joseph in these chapters doesn’t say the exact words “I forgive you,” but he does work to lessen the load of the guilt that has built up in their hearts. He points out that it was in fact the Lord’s hand in his arrival to Egypt, and while he doesn’t get into everything, you can see that the Lord has blessed him and made him prosperous. He is now able to provide the space and essentials to guarantee the survival of his family, and the lineage of Israel.

I wonder how Joseph would have proceeded in life had he never received this kind of closure. Would he have still recognized the truth of his situation, or would he have become bitter? What about us? Have we been badly wronged by someone in the past? Can we see the truth in the situation from our Heavenly Father? We may never receive closure in the way Joseph did in these moments, but we can accept the truth about the situation from the Lord. It’s important that we can accept, be real with our emotions and hurt around the situation, and then turn it over to God, whatever comes of the situation. Joseph got his moment of closure, but he had already in some ways forgiven and accepted what had happened. It’s our job to turn to the Lord and accept this same truth when we are processing through the hard events of life.

Tonight I’d encourage you to ask God how you can be more like Joseph. Can you forgive like Joseph? Can you accept the past and move forward like Joseph? Can you recognize the truth of the situations around you like Joseph? The more we can identify these things, the more the hurt and sorrow of the past will be unable to accept our present and future.