The Great Revelation: Genesis 45:1-15
God wants us to talk to Him, to cast our cares upon His throne, and to celebrate life with us as we walk through it. God created creation and then created us to experience His creation. We should have joy with Him in His creation.
Joseph can’t take it any longer. He reveals his identity to his brothers. The problem is they find it difficult to believe the truth. They hear the words, but they can’t make sense of reality.
Joseph invites them closer. It’s easy to believe Joseph invited them closer to help them see the fine details of his face. There’s truth to that, but there is a much deeper reason. When Joseph shared a meal with his brothers, distance was kept. Egyptians didn’t want to pollute themselves by interacting with foreign cultures on an intimate level. When Joseph invites his brothers closer, he drops that barrier. He helps them realize the vizier before them isn’t truly an Egyptian. Wouldn’t a person from Canaan be most willing to be near other people from Canaan?
Drawing his brothers in, Joseph explains God’s work. He doesn’t ask for additional apologies or genuflection. They’ve demonstrated repentance, that is enough. His task now is not to continue to make the brothers feel bad but rather to help them understand and experience grace. Joseph helps them understand that while his life had difficult elements, God’s hand was behind it all and God was watching over him. God was developing Joseph into the leader He needed to save His people – and all the people around Egypt!
Joseph then invites his family to come and live in Goshen. They will settle in the fertile Nile region – not that it is particularly fertile during the famine. While this might seem like Joseph giving the prize land to his people, the Egyptians would not have minded this too much. Farming and shepherding are hard and dirty work. If foreigners wanted to come in and do it, this would only free up Egyptians to handle less dirty tasks. Joseph gives his family an opportunity to live in the most fertile area of Egypt, but in doing so they understand their role in a foreign land.
Joseph continues to give us a preimage of God. Joseph extends grace, but only after repentance is genuinely offered. Joseph invites his family to Goshen, which is not so much a geographic name but a name that means “a place to draw near.” This mirrors how God calls us into closer relationship with Him to enable us to feel His grace more deeply. Joseph also talks with his brothers casually – a far cry from being despised by them when he was younger. This mirrors the genuine relationship we have with God after our reconciliation to Him. God doesn’t want to be a god-from-afar. God wants us to talk to Him, to cast our cares upon His throne, and to celebrate life with us as we walk through it.
