Genesis Lesson 18
GOD USES JOSEPH IN HIS REDEMPTIVE WORK
Genesis chapters 42-47, 50
Key Verse: 45:7
“But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant
on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.”
In the previous lesson we learned that the Lord was with Joseph whether he was in trouble or glory, and he blessed him with a victorious life. When the Lord is with us we can be successful in whatever we do and experience God’s grace even in our trials. Today’s passage presents the latter part of Joseph’s life, showing how the Lord used Joseph in his redemptive work. By studying today’s passage we can learn about true love, the faith it takes to believe in God’s sovereignty, and true hope. We pray that we may grow to be like Joseph, who was a man of faith, love and hope.
Joseph Trained his Brothers (42:1-44:34)
Joseph’s brothers needed a great deal of discipline in order to become the kinds of men God needed them to be to use them as ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel. They had to come to understand how terrible the result of their sin was. They also needed to experience the joy of forgiveness. Most of all, they had to learn true faith and obedience to God. The seven years of abundance had ended and the whole world was suffering from a severe famine. People of many nations came to Egypt to buy food. There was a famine in the land of Canaan, where Jacob lived. Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy grain; Benjamin was the only brother Jacob did not send. When Joseph’s brothers came to Joseph and bowed down before him, Joseph recognized them and remembered his dreams. His dreams had been fulfilled before his eyes, according to God’s revelation. If Joseph had not had enough faith to believe in God’s sovereignty and love for his brothers, he could have punished them immediately or tortured them in various ways. Instead, Joseph began to train them with God’s heart.
Joseph spoke harshly against them, saying that they were spies. He asked them to prove their innocence by bringing their youngest brother, Benjamin. Then he locked them in prison. After three days he released them and told them, "Do this and you will live, for I fear God: If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die" (18-20). What was their response? In 42:21,22 we read that “They said to one another, ‘Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that's why this distress has come upon us.’" Reuben replied, "Didn't I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn't listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood.” They remembered their sin of twenty years earlier, and they said that they had to give an accounting for Joseph’s blood. Their response shows that the passing of twenty years had not solved the problem of their sin. The problem of our sin is solved only when we receive God’s forgiveness. As soon as a man sins, his happiness disappears. There are wages of sin, and it is death (Ro 6:23a). Joseph turned away from them and began to weep, but then turned back and spoke to them again. His weeping shows his pure and sincere heart; it reveals how much he loved them in his heart. Joseph sent money together with the grain when they left him. They found the money on their way back and, trembling, said, “What is this that God has done to us?" Joseph gave them money out of his love for them, but they were terrified, thinking that God was punishing them.
When they returned home, they reported to their father Jacob everything that had happened. Jacob said that they were bringing his gray head to the grave in sorrow: he had lost Joseph, Simeon, and now he was going to lose Benjamin (36-38). Jacob should have trusted God in any circumstances. Instead of trusting God, he was grieved, thinking that everything was against him. However, everything was working for his good. We must believe that in all things, including unfavorable circumstances, God works for the good of those who love him (Ro 8:28).
In 43:1,2 we read that “the famine was still severe in the land. So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Go back and buy us a little more food." Then Judah told his father that they could not go without Benjamin. He persuaded his father by saying that he would be personally responsible for Benjamin’s safety. Then Jacob allowed Judah to take Benjamin, expressing his faith by saying, “May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you” (14). Jacob decided to entrust the matter to the hand of God, even if things did not come out as he wanted them to. He said, “As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.” Jacob’s faith became stronger. We cannot be responsible for our lives, our parents’ lives, our children’s lives, or our sheep’s lives. Only God Almighty can be responsible. When we place everything in the hands of God we can be free from all of our anxiety, worries, and fear.
Now they took Benjamin, together with best products of the land, and went down to Egypt. Joseph invited them to his house for lunch. They presented to him the gifts they had brought, and they bowed down to the ground before him. When Joseph saw his brother Benjamin he was deeply moved and hurried out to find a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there. After he had washed his face, he came out and, controlling himself, said, "Serve the food." The word “controlling” means that he was not controlled by his emotions but by the Holy Spirit. If Joseph had shown his tears to his brothers he could not have disciplined them anymore. However, by controlling himself he could train them spiritually. Self control is the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:23).
Joseph had them seated in the order of their ages, and they looked at each other in astonishment. This is because the statistical probability of eleven people being seated according to their ages is one in 40,000,000. Joseph served them food from his table, and gave Benjamin five times more food than the others. Then they feasted and drank freely with him. They had already shown Joseph that they were truly grieving for their sin and that they loved their father and feared God. They felt no jealousy toward Benjamin, but Joseph still did not have complete confidence in them. He felt that they might still choose their own interest when their interest was in conflict with that of Benjamin or their father. In order to prove that they were truly repentant, they needed to show the fruit of their repentance; Joseph had to test them just once more.
When they were leaving to return to their home, Joseph asked his steward to put his silver cup into Benjamin’s sack. Before they had traveled far from the city, Joseph sent his steward and charged them with theft, and his cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. They could not say anything in their defense because of the evidence. They appeared to be terrible criminals who had repaid good with evil. That cup was used for divination in the Egyptian temple, which means that they had even been unfaithful to their God. If they had been the same people they were in the past, they would have blamed the entire crime on Benjamin and looked for a way to save themselves. They would have thought that they did not need to suffer because of Benjamin’s sin, and that they could get rid of Benjamin as they had gotten rid of Joseph in the past. They also might have thought that, since their father was already old and could not live much longer, they would inherit more from their father if they got Benjamin’s portion. So they might have silently agreed with Joseph’s steward and just left Benjamin there and gone back home. But they all tore their clothes and returned to Joseph. They all said that they would be Joseph’s slaves (44:16). Joseph told them that they should all return home in peace except Benjamin. Then Judah approached Joseph and pleaded with him. 44:18-34 recounts Judah’s plea. It has been called the most moving speech in the Old Testament. Judah was speaking not only for the life of Benjamin but also for the life of his father. Although he was innocent, he was prepared to take Benjamin’s place as a slave for the sake of his father’s life. His decision shows the principle of Christ’s redemption, which is to save others through one’s own sacrifice. In this way, Judah came to prefigure Christ. Jesus Christ gave us true freedom and life by completely sacrificing himself for our sins.
In what Judah said, we can find two kinds of evidence of his repentance. First of all, he had become a responsible man: he promised his father that he would guarantee Benjamin’s safety. Faithful to his promise, he volunteered to become a slave in Benjamin’s stead. In the past he had not been faithful to his word and had broken it when it was in his interest to do so (38:11,26). Now he had become a faithful man who was prepared to keep his promise even at the cost of his own life. Secondly, Judah had become a man of love. In the past he had been jealous of Joseph and had been the ringleader in the plan to sell Joseph as a slave. He had not been interested in how distressed Joseph was, how much he would suffer and how much pain their father would go through. But now he was thinking about his father and thought that his father would lose his life if Benjamin did not return home. Judah had become a man of love who valued the life of his father and his brother more than his own. He had become a man of sacrificial love. God accepted Judah, who repented, and used him as a prominent heir to his redemptive work. Joseph’s brothers went through several tests as well, tests that were absolutely necessary for their spiritual growth.
In 45:1 we see that then, “Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, ‘Have everyone leave my presence!’ So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.” When Joseph saw his brothers’ repentance he did not need to disguise himself anymore, and he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh's household heard about it. Until that point Joseph had caused his brothers so much trouble. But the problems he caused were not intended as revenge against them. Joseph truly loved them. That was why he had gone away and wept when he saw that his brothers were suffering from guilty consciences. They were useless before God because they were sinful and self-centered, emotional and irresponsible. They had to be transformed into spiritual men through repentance in order to be used by God. Joseph trained his brothers in many ways so that they could realize their sin and become useful men of God. Joseph could train them spiritually because he received God’s discipline before God. One who receives God’s training well can train others well. Joseph also knew the heart of God, which was why he could train his brothers with God’s heart.
Here we can learn what true love is. True love is not love that buys delicious food or gifts. True love is disciplining men to become useful before God. God wants to use men as precious resources, but each person has one or another sinful character trait that prevents God from using him. Some people are lazy, others are selfish. Still others are emotional, and other people fall into lust too easily. These kinds of weaknesses do not go away, even if a person lives in church for a long time. In order to remove those sins, one has to recognize one’s sin as a sin before God through training and has to truly repent. True love is helping others to repent for their sins before God and helping them to become useful men of God. However, such training is not easy at all. True love requires deep concern for others and a shepherd’s heart for them. There is much pain and suffering in discipline. It is painful for those who receive discipline to be broken. But the trainer also suffers, and even more painfully. However, if we truly love someone, we should not leave him alone in his sin. We should train people whom God places under us, in spite of any misunderstanding and pain, so that they may fight against their sinful habits and become useful men of God. We often feel sorry when our shepherds rebuke us for our sins and train us, but true love is a love that helps us to repent for our sins. God trained the Israelites in the desert for 40 years. Their concern was to enter the Promised Land as quickly as possible and there to eat of the overflowing milk and honey and live comfortably. But God’s concern was for them to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation and to serve God’s redemptive work. In order to fulfill God’s purpose for them, training was necessary. So for forty years God trained them with daily bread, keeping the Sabbath, and in other fundamental and everyday ways. By discipline God raised them to be independent, adventurous and holy children of God, overcoming their slave mentality and dependent spirit. Only God’s holy love can transform sinful men and help them to have a new life in God. Joseph could train his brothers because God’s holy love was engraved in his heart through God’s discipline.
God Used Joseph (45:1-47:26)
Joseph revealed himself and asked his brothers to come close to him. Then he testified to them, who were still trembling, about what God had done. 45:4-8 are the essence of his testimony: "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.” Here we can see Joseph’s faith. Because of his faith he could not only forgive his brothers but welcome them from the bottom of his heart. He testified that the course of his life had not been determined by them but by the hand of the Sovereign Lord and his sovereign providence. They had sold him as a slave out of jealousy, but God used this to discipline him and elevate him into the prime minister of Egypt.
What was God’s purpose in elevating Joseph into the prime minister of Egypt? In the first place, God preserved the lives of Jacob and his descendants. God used Joseph to save Jacob’s descendants, who otherwise would have died of starvation. In this way God preserved for them a remnant on earth and his redemptive work could continue. In addition, Jacob’s descendants would be prosperous in Egypt and would grow to be a great nation. Secondly, God preserved the lives of many people and nations. 47:13-26 shows how Joseph worked with God’s wisdom and diligence and what a faithful steward he was of the nation. Joseph preserved the lives of the Egyptian people. In the course of doing this, he kept the nation from becoming impoverished by causing all animals and lands to belong to Pharaoh. Because the famine was severe, Egyptians came to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their livestock and land. In this way he preserved the nation and people of Egypt and those around them. God used Joseph in his lifesaving work.
What is the secret – how could Joseph stay in a condition to be used by God so preciously, despite his troubles? He could do this because of his faith in God’s providence. See 45:5 and 7: “And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you… God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” 50:20 reads, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Joseph did not believe that it had been his fate to be sold as a slave to Egypt, or even that his brothers had sold him to Egypt. Rather, he believed that God, in his providence, had sent him ahead of them. He had faith in God’s absolute sovereignty and his providence. When he looked at his life through the eyes of faith, his life was beautiful.
If he had seen his life not from God’s point of view but from a human point of view, what would have happened? His life would have looked like one of the most miserable possible and he would have seemed to be one of the most miserable men on earth. He was born as the eleventh son of his father Jacob and had had to live under many stepbrothers and stepmothers. He had lost his own mother at a young age, and grew up in his father’s special favor, which incurred the jealousy of his brothers. All he had done was share his dreams and as a result he was sold as a slave to a foreign land. He had become the chief servant in his master’s house, but then was thrown in prison, accused of being a rapist. How miserable his life had been! He probably could not have tolerated such unbearable sorrow, he would have lamented about his life, saying, “My mother, why did you give birth to me?” He might have felt that he could not but curse the world. His eyes might have blazed with vengeful desires against his brothers and those who had given him such a hard time. Then, suddenly, he became prime minister. He could have used that power to take revenge; he could have been ruled by pride. Then we would talk about the merciless Joseph instead of the Joseph who was full of love.
But Joseph did not see his life from a human point of view. He said that God had sent him ahead of his brothers to preserve the life of his family members and many others. Romans 8:28 reads, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Joseph believed in God’s perfect will for his life, and he believed that God was leading his life according to his good, pleasing and perfect will. There was no “fate” for Joseph, for he believed in God’s perfect providence. There was no “emptiness” or “failure” in his vocabulary, either. “Fate,” “emptiness,” and “failure” are the words of unbelievers. In the Bible there are no words “fate” or “failure”. When we think we are suffering at the hands of fate, we fail to see ourselves from God’s point of view and see ourselves only from a human point of view. Everything has meaning when we see it from God’s point of view. Joseph testified, saying that the Lord’s hand had been in everything. To Joseph, “the Lord” was the subject and “he” the object. Depending upon how we see our lives, they can be seen completely differently. If we look at our lives without God we become fatalistic, and our lives seem sorrowful. But when we look at them from God’s point of view, we see that God is leading us, in his providence, for his good works. God controls everything. Charles Hodge claimed that we cannot say about something that it is too big or small or numerous before God, because God controls everything. God is in one place and he is also in all places. He is concerned about one thing as well as all things. He knows each blade of grass in a field as well as all the stars in the sky, and he leads them and controls them. God comes into our hearts and gives us talent and reason and will. He works in us so that we can have will and take action. Joseph believed in God’s providence; therefore he believed that not people but God, in his good and perfect will, controlled his life.
When we believe in God’s providence we become bright and positive. We can live a life full of thanks and grace and spirit, overcoming weakness, sorrow and loneliness. Joseph could live a victorious life by faith in God’s providence. His faith in God’s providence helped him to overcome all loneliness and sorrow and troubles in a foreign land. It helped him to overcome temptation and keep his purity as a young man. His faith in God’s providence helped him to overcome the worst kinds of environment in prison and be patient. It helped him to be faithful to his work when he became prime minister. His faith in God’s providence helped him to train his brothers and forgive them and love them and testify God everywhere he went. His life may have seemed to be a failure from time to time but it all worked out well. Because of his faith in God’s providence, he could grow continually, in troubles or in glory, without wavering.
45:21-28 recounts how Jacob’s descendants went down to Egypt on Joseph’s invitation. There was God’s great will in this. It was in order for them to become a great nation and to be disciplined as God’s people. Egypt had more idols than most other nations in those times, but the Israelites were less likely to be contaminated by Egyptian idols than by idols in Canaan. This was because Egyptians thought that they were superior and despised farmers; thus they did not intermarry with people who fed flocks and lived with them. In addition, the Israelites could learn a great deal from the Egyptians, because they were the most advanced nation in the world in culture and knowledge. The Israelites could live separately from them and develop their own culture and learn how to live by faith in the Creator God.
47:13-26 tells how Joseph discharged his responsibility as prime minister. Joseph was faithful to Pharaoh and took care of everything in wisdom without seeking his own interest. As a steward for Pharaoh, he both benefitted Pharaoh and saved peoples’ lives during the famine. If he had simply given away all the grain free of charge to the people, the nation’s morals would have been destroyed, the government would have gone bankrupt and the society would have been chaotic. The grain storehouses would have soon been empty and there would have been widespread deaths from starvation. But because Joseph administered the government faithfully and wisely during the famine, the land could overcome the crisis. God used Joseph not only to save his chosen people Israel but many other lives as well.
Joseph’s Hope (50:22-26)
47:27-31 recounts how Jacob asked Joseph to bury him in the cave of Machpelah when he died. Joseph followed his father’s instructions (50:1-14). 50:15-17a tells how Joseph’s brothers asked Joseph’s forgiveness once more after their father died because they still could not believe that Joseph had forgiven them. Joseph wept when he heard them (17b); then he said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” He reassured them and spoke kindly to them (18-21). Joseph lived for a hundred and ten years and saw the third generation of Ephraim's children. He also raised the children of Makir, son of Manasseh (22,23).
Joseph came to Egypt at the age of seventeen, became prime minister at the age of thirty and died at the age of one hundred ten (50:26). He lived eighty years in Egypt, enjoying the most civilized culture of his time. This was enough time for him to have been influenced by Egyptian culture and have changed his faith, but he was not influenced and had kept his faith. What was his hope when he died? We learn this in 50:24,25: “Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, ‘God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.’” He had a clear identity as a man of God. His hope was not in Egypt but in Canaan, God’s Promised Land. His hope was in the new Canaan, the kingdom of God. Because of his clear hope, he had not lost his heart to all kinds of worldly power and authority and splendor. Because of his hope he had not been tempted by worldly pleasures and treasures. Because of his hope in the Promised Land, he had been able to live victoriously as a man of God.
Joseph’s life can be compared in many ways to that of Christ. He could be called the precursor of Christ. He was loved by his father; he was sent to look for his brothers; he was sold for twenty shekels of silver because of his brothers’ jealousy; he was put into prison although he was innocent; he was with two criminals in the prison of whom one was saved and one was executed; he was suddenly glorified and he forgave all the sins of his brothers. In short, he was innocent but he went to the place of death and received glory again.
In conclusion, Joseph’s life seems to be too fantastic to have anything to do with our lives. We may think -- Joseph was Joseph but I am me. However, the one who made Joseph’s life beautiful is the Lord God. The author of Genesis repeatedly said, “The Lord was with Joseph.” The Lord was with Joseph and led his life. The Lord was with Joseph and gave him strength to overcome sorrow when he needed strength to overcome it, and he gave him fear of God when he needed it to overcome temptation. The Lord gave him patience when Joseph needed patience and wisdom when he needed wisdom. When Joseph needed love God gave him love enough to embrace his brothers. The Lord God controls not only man’s history but also individuals’ lives. God is with us, and in all things he works for the good of those who love him. We cannot fathom all of God’s providence, but we must have faith in God’s providence, believing that he is leading our lives in perfect goodness and love. Then we can live a victorious life.