(Gen 45:1 NASB) Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried, “Have everyone go out from me.” So there was no man with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
Gen 45:1: Judah had just finished his impassioned speech concerning his father and his younger brother Benjamin. He offered to take the place of his brother and to be Joseph’s servant forever.
Joseph was overcome with emotion.
(Gen 45:2 NASB) And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard of it.
(Gen 45:3 NASB) Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.
Gen 45:3: Joseph wept so loudly that the Egyptians nearby could hear it. He was overcome with emotions.
Joseph asked about his father, but the brothers were too flabbergasted to answer. They did not believe what they were hearing.
(Gen 45:4 NASB) Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come closer to me.” And they came closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.
(Gen 45:5 NASB) “And now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:5: Joseph is handling this with great maturity. He tells his brothers not to be angry with themselves. He knows that Elohim set this all up intentionally in order to preserve life.
If his brothers had not sold him into slavery, the famine would have destroyed most of the people in the world. It was all part of an intricate plan to save people on earth, especially the promised line to the Messiah.
(Gen 45:6 NASB) “For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.
(Gen 45:7 NASB) “And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.
(Gen 45:8 NASB) “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 45:8: The famine was only two years into its seven year life. There will still be five more years where there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.
Elohim sent Joseph to be a “father” to Pharaoh and to be a ruler throughout Egypt.
(Gen 45:9 NASB) “Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay.
(Gen 45:10 NASB) “And you shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children and your flocks and your herds and all that you have.
(Gen 45:11 NASB) “There I will also provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, lest you and your household and all that you have be impoverished.”‘
Gen 45:11: There is no sense in the family traveling back and forth for so many times during the years. The length of the route shown is about 350 miles. Joseph says for all of them to come to Egypt. This was prophesied to Abraham (Gen. 15:13).
(Gen 45:12 NASB) “And behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth which is speaking to you.
Gen 45:12: Joseph tells them to listen to him speaking to them in Hebrew, and to compare his eyes with those of Benjamin’s. They can be certain that he is who he says he is.
(Gen 45:13 NASB) “Now you must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and all that you have seen; and you must hurry and bring my father down here.”
(Gen 45:14 NASB) Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept; and Benjamin wept on his neck.
(Gen 45:15 NASB) And he kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him.
Gen 45:15: Up to this point, the brothers had not said a word. They were dumbfounded. Joseph kissed all of his brothers and wept over them.
(Gen 45:16 NASB) Now when the news was heard in Pharaoh’s house that Joseph’s brothers had come, it pleased Pharaoh and his servants.
(Gen 45:17 NASB) Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go to the land of Canaan,
(Gen 45:18 NASB) and take your father and your households and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you shall eat the fat of the land.’
Gen 45:18: The word got to Pharaoh that Joseph’s brothers had arrived and Pharaoh was greatly pleased. Pharaoh treated them like part of his own family just as he did Joseph.
(Gen 45:19 NASB) “Now you are ordered, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come.
(Gen 45:20 NASB) ‘And do not concern yourselves with your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.'”
Gen 45:20: Pharaoh told them to take carts with them so they can bring everyone back. He told them not to bring any goods back. They can have the best in all the land of Egypt when they return.
(Gen 45:21 NASB) Then the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them wagons according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey.
(Gen 45:22 NASB) To each of them he gave changes of garments, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of garments.
Gen 45:22: Pharaoh gave them changes of clothing from the best of Egypt. Their return in elaborate Egyptian clothing would help demonstrate the truth to Jacob also.
(Gen 45:23 NASB) And to his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and sustenance for his father on the journey.
(Gen 45:24 NASB) So he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the journey.”
Gen 45:24: Pharaoh sent provisions with them that were more than adequate for the journey. Joseph commanded them not to argue on the way. He probably thought they would blame each other for this whole thing. Joseph did not want any of that.
Benjamin (the only truly innocent one of the brothers) received much more in the way of gifts than the others.
(Gen 45:25 NASB) Then they went up from Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob.
(Gen 45:26 NASB) And they told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” But he was stunned, for he did not believe them.
Gen 45:26: Understandably, Jacob did not believe them.
(Gen 45:27 NASB) When they told him all the words of Joseph that he had spoken to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.
(Gen 45:28 NASB) Then Israel said, “It is enough; my son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
Gen 45:28: Jacob is not even concerned with the power and status of Joseph. He is not concerned with relocating. His only concern is to see his son again before he dies.
Patrick McGuire
Copyright 2014 Patrick McGuire and Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly All rights reserved, no portion of this Lesson may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews. Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly Fort Smith, Arkansas