Joseph Revealing Himself to His Brethren
Armistead Mason Barry
Table of Contents
Joseph Revealed to His Brethren
"Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause 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. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither; for God did send me before you, to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land; and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you, to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not: and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and all that thou hast: And there will I nourish thee, for yet there are five years of famine, lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste, and bring down my father hither. And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. Moreover, he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that, his brethren talked with him. And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come... So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way.” (Gen. 45:1-16,24.)
The story of Joseph is doubtless one of the most beautiful types we have in the Word of God of the Lord Jesus Christ. We find in the beginning of the story of Joseph how he was beloved of his father, and how he had made him a coat of many colors. But his brethren hated him, and when they saw him coming, with nothing but kindness in his heart, to see as to their welfare, they conspired against him. They put him in a pit where there was no water. Then they sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, and he was carried into Egypt.
What a story, beloved, just fitting with the story of Jesus—the One that the Father loved so perfectly; the One that was the delight of His heart; the One He sent into this sinful world, as Jacob sent Joseph to his brethren. And, instead of his brethren receiving him, and instead of the Jewish brethren of Christ receiving Him, they said, "We will not have this man to reign over us." "They conspired against him." And, just as those brethren sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver (the price of a boy slave), so Judas sold the Lord for thirty pieces of silver (the price of a man slave). And, being in that pit where there was no water, surely reminds us of that scene of Calvary, where the Lord said, "I thirst." O friends, think of the thirst our Lord experienced as He hung there on that cross, suffering in order that you might never thirst for all eternity! For, when you accept Christ as your Savior, you drink of the water of life; and the blessed Savior said, that water shall be in him "a well of water springing up into everlasting life."
Joseph was carried out of the plain into Egypt; where he became a prisoner, and was mistreated, dishonored and disgraced. There he suffered, just as our blessed Lord experienced the rejection, the scoffing, and the spitting that man gave to Him in this world. But, from that dungeon, Joseph is exalted to the highest position in all the land of Egypt—next to Pharaoh.
So, our blessed Lord, the very One who went so low; the One who was despised; the One who was spit upon, is now crowned with the glory and honor of heaven. God has seated His Son at His own right hand, and has told Him to sit there until, "He shall make his enemies his footstool." So, Pharaoh commanded every knee to bow to Joseph, just as God the Father commands that every knee shall bow to Jesus, and that, "every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Thus, we have in this type traced our blessed Lord from the glory from which He descended, to the glory in which He ascended, having accomplished redemption's work on the cross at Calvary.
Now we have the account of those brothers of Joseph, and the work of repentance that was wrought out in their souls. Beloved friends, there are two sides to the gospel of God's grace; and one is just as essential as the other. One is seen in the work of Christ on the cross, and the other is the work of the Spirit of God in the soul of the sinner. One is not complete without the other. And, all the work that Christ accomplished never brings a sinner to God until there is that work accomplished which we have pictured in connection with Joseph's brethren.
How cruelly they had treated Joseph! He begged and pleaded with them not to sell him as a slave. But they hardened their hearts, and would not listen. They went on for years after having deceived the poor old father, Jacob, by taking that beautiful coat and dipping it in the blood of a goat; then, showing it to their father, and seeing that poor old man weep his heart out over the loss, as he supposed, of the son who was such a joy and comfort to him. They had gone on for years, hardened in their unbelief. But, you know, God has His own ways of bringing sinners to repentance. Just as in the case of the prodigal son, who had gone away with his pockets full of money. But God sent a famine into that far country that brought the prodigal home. So God sent a famine into the land of Canaan, and that brought those brothers of Joseph right into his presence. How wonderful the grace of God that brings sinners into the presence of God!
The story is told of a man who took a servant of Christ for a ride in his buggy years ago; he paused at the site of two little graves, and said, "Mr. Torry, it took that to bring me to Christ. I had gone on indifferent to the call of God. One day I came home and my wife said, Our little daughter is very ill. So we sent for the doctor; he did all he could, but God took her. I was terribly broken up at the time, but soon got back into my careless, worldly ways again. I came home on another occasion, and my wife told me that our little boy was very ill. We sent for the doctor and did all we could for him, but God took him too." And, as he pointed to those two little graves, he said, "Mr. Torry, it took that to bring me to Christ!"
So God at times requires some very solemn and severe ways to break down the heart that resists His will and His pleadings. How much better, if there are any children here, or anyone who has not yet yielded to Christ, to not require God to put you into such sorrows as I have described, or the trouble that these brothers of Joseph went through, before your stubborn will is broken down, and you come as a penitent sinner to the One who is longing to receive you and to bless you.
They came to Joseph. They didn't know Joseph, but he knew them. They bowed down to the very one they had at one time despised. But we are told that Joseph spoke roughly to them. Why was that? Why didn't he just throw his arms around his brothers, as soon as he saw them? It was for this reason, Joseph knew that unless there was true repentance, his receiving them would bring no results whatever in their lives.
Now, this is truly a subject that is suited for the gospel; but I believe it is also for the restoration of a soul that is away from the Lord, and out of communion. We find that the way back to the Lord, whether it is a lost sinner in his sins, or a child of God that is in the world and out of communion, is much the same. I have heard it said, "Well, I was saved once, but I can't say that I am saved now." Those cases are people that have once made a profession, but they have gone on in the world and in sin. If they were saved, they are like those that Peter speaks of, who have forgotten that they were purged from their old sins. The best answer that I know for those that speak in that way is, "You get down before God, and humble yourself as a poor, guilty sinner, and God will show you whether you were ever saved, or whether you have been just relying on a false profession."
The only way for happiness, beloved friends, whether saint or sinner, comes as the result of true repentance before God. "God commanded all men everywhere to repent." It has been said that repentance is no savior, yet there is no salvation without it. Why is it in the fifteenth chapter of Luke that you get this statement, "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth?" It does not say, "over one sinner that believeth," but, "over one sinner that repenteth." It is because, when there is that work of repentance begun in the soul, it will result in the true and solid conversion of the soul of that sinner.
But, we could inquire, what is repentance? Repentance is just what you see in the thief that died by the side of the Savior, when he said to the other thief, "We indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds." Then he owned Jesus, "But this man hath done nothing amiss." And he said unto Jesus, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." There are the two things, "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Marvelous, isn't it, that the man who owned that he was not fit to live on the earth, goes directly from that cross where he was dying for his sins, into the paradise of God! Think also of the poor publican who smote on his breast, and said, "God be merciful to me a sinner." It says that, "he went down to his house justified." Then, in Job 33:27, "If any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not..." What is the answer? The answer is this (verse 24): "Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom." We could multiply examples from the Word of God to show that, wherever there is true repentance, there is true salvation and true blessing.
But, as I stated, that work of repentance is a work for the saint as well as for the sinner—that is, a saint who is away from the Lord. When we think of these brothers of Joseph, we see that side of things just as clearly as we see the side of a sinner coming in, in his sins, lost and undone, and getting salvation and blessing. Assume that one can go on in happy communion with the Lord: it is when we have failed—and we all fail, beloved. Yes, there is need of repentance in all our Christian life. In fact, repentance is indeed a state of soul that goes on after we are saved until the end of the journey—it is a condition. That is, one who has truly repented is one who has exercised repentance all along the way.
In the address to the church at Ephesus in Revelation, chapter two, there were many things to commend; but the apostle had to say, "Thou hast left thy first love." That might seem like a very small departure—not loving the Lord as sincerely and devotedly as you did when you first found Him as your Savior. What is the way of recovery? What does the apostle say? "Repent, and do the first works." Yes, the apostle has to say, that is the only way to get back. And, beloved, in going on happily together as saints, if there is an unwillingness to judge ourselves and to own when we are wrong, there cannot be that happy fellowship one with another. So it was with these brethren of Joseph; they had something covered up. They had deceived their old father; they had made him think that it was just an accident that happened to their brother. They had lived for years under the cloud of a lie and deception. Joseph couldn't receive them back when that thing was covered up, and they had deceived their father in that way. It was not because his heart was not longing to bring them into blessing; because, even after he had spoken so roughly to them, he went out and wept bitterly over them. But he must see that work of repentance wrought out in their souls before he can receive them, and make himself known to them.
I am sure that every one here knows the beautiful story of Joseph: how that Simeon was bound, and Joseph demanded that when they returned again they must bring their younger brother along with them. When they did return with their younger brother, and everything seemed to have worked out so pleasantly—they had a lovely feast with Joseph—and they got their sacks filled, and started back. But Joseph had told his steward to put his silver cup into the sack of Benjamin. Then he said to his steward, "Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?" When the brethren had come to Joseph the first time, they had made such a self-justifying statement—they had said, "We are true men." Yes, they wanted to pose as very upright, honest and reliable men—"true men."
What a danger there is, friends, in self-justification! There is in the heart of one and all that pride that would seek to justify self, instead of having the whole thing out, confessed and cleared up in a way that honors the Lord, and brings happiness and blessing. So, they had posed themselves as "true men." But when the steward stopped them, we can just picture them going through their sacks, and saying to the steward, "Why, it isn't in this sack." They started out with Reuben, and went down the line. How their confidence must have increased as one sack after another was opened, and there was no silver cup—until they came to Benjamin. And, there it was! In the sack of Benjamin—the very one they wanted to protect from any harm there in Egypt! And now, alas! it is found in Benjamin's sack. So the men rent their clothes, and went back.
What a sorrowful looking group of men they were, on their way back to Joseph! Joseph, again, is very unsparing with them. He said, "Wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?" And that led, beloved, to a true work of repentance. Joseph had said that the one in whose sack the cup was found was to be his servant, and the rest could go out free. He was bringing them right face to face with the sin that they had committed against him so many years before. Would they treat Benjamin the same way in which they had treated him? Would they let Benjamin be a slave there in Egypt? Notice what Judah says (chapter 44, verse 16): "What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord's servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found. And he said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace to your father."
Then, at that point, Judah comes forward with one of the loveliest entreaties that we can find in the whole Word of God. What a broken, contrite heart Judah had—the very ringleader of those who were going to slay Joseph and put him in the pit. That very man, completely broken down—a repentant man. And notice what he said: "God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants." Whenever there is a true work of repentance, the first thought is, that I have sinned against the Lord. Just like the prodigal, when he had come back, after disgracing his father and his family: what was the first thing he said? "I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and no more worthy to be called thy son!" Ah yes, the sin against God and against heaven is the prominent thought that comes out from one who has truly repented.
Here is the substance of this speech of Judah (verse 33): "Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman 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." Was not that a truly broken and humble suggestion? That is, Judah was willing to never again see his wife, his family, or his country, and just remain there a slave in Egypt, if only that ruler of the land would let Benjamin go back with his brethren. So, now there was no further need for Joseph to delay making himself known to his brethren.
That brings us to where we began our subject tonight. For, what I had before me, beloved, is this, Joseph making himself known to his brethren. "Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brethren." (Chapter 45:1). That transaction or experience that the world is entirely outside of—the wonderful time when faith receives Christ as Savior and Lord! The world cannot understand it—they heard the weeping, but they were outside, separated from it all. Isn't is a beautiful lesson for us, the way a soul is brought into the presence of, and becomes acquainted with, his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!
"And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph." We can't think of a more astonishing statement for his brethren to hear than that this lord of Egypt should say, "I am Joseph your brother." And, is there any more wonderful story that has ever reached the ears of men and women in this world, that God sent His Son from highest glory into this world of sin? The very One who was the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person, sent here to suffer and die on the cross of shame, that you and I, guilty sinners, might live with Him in the glory where He has gone before to prepare the place to share His joys and His glory with His redeemed ones for eternity. What a marvelous story! They were perfectly mystified; they couldn't understand it—it was overwhelming. And, may God make this subject overwhelming to any precious soul that has not yet bowed and owned that One as his Savior.
When we think of the greatness of Joseph, what an amazing fact it was. Here was the lord of all Egypt; the very man that they had been cringing before; the man who had brought them into such heartache. And yet, he is their brother! The one who was next to the throne, and yet he was telling them, "I am your brother;" and displaying such love toward them that his eyes were wet with tears. And, these tears must have been flowing down his face, as he was speaking with them.
One thinks in this connection of the sermon of Simon Peter on the day of Pentecost, in the second chapter of Acts. He preached such a powerful sermon that three thousand souls were saved that day. But there is something I want especially to call attention to: After having shown Christ dead, buried and raised again, here is what he said (verse 36): "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." He tells those Jews, that very One that you scourged, spit upon, crowned with thorns and nailed to the cross; God has made Him Lord and Christ, and set Him at His own right hand there in highest glory. What an amazing thing it was for those poor, guilty Jews to hear!
Notice what followed: "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." The first word that Peter uttered was, "repent"—judge yourselves as to your sins. Of course, in this place they were guilty in a very solemn, peculiar way; that is, they were the very people who just a few days before has seen that blessed One led to the cross. They had shouted, "Away with him—crucify him!" O how that guilt laid hold of their poor hearts. But now that very One is glorified.
Beloved, let us consider this subject in the light of the glory of Christ. The One who is offered to your soul and mine is a glorified man at God's right hand. Think of it not only as to the glory of forgiveness, the wonderful salvation that is so freely and so fully offered, but think of the One that God is offering as the accomplisher of that salvation. Before we quoted from Hebrews, chapter One, about His being "the brightness of his (God's) glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power." And, then it says, "When he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." When you get to the next chapter, the apostle goes on to say, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation." The greatness of the salvation is measured by the greatness of the Person who accomplished it! And that is what makes the rejection of Christ a sin of such solemn consequences.
Now, to go back, isn't it lovely to see how graciously Joseph acted toward his brethren? Joseph said unto his brethren (verse 4) "Come near to me, I pray you." It reminds us of those words the Lord uttered in Matt. 11:28, where He says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Here these brothers were perplexed and amazed, feeling uncomfortable and uncertain as to what it all meant. Joseph says, "Come near." We can almost see him reaching out his arms to his brethren. O, think of Jesus, reaching out those blessed arms with those pierced hands, and saying "Come unto Me... and I will give you rest!" Instead of condemning them for the awful cruelty and the way they had treated him, he doesn't say one condemning thing to them. He just comforts their hearts.
Beloved, when we have thoroughly judged ourselves in His presence, then He can come in with fullest comfort, peace, happiness and blessing. It is something that is true both in connection with the restoration of God's children, as well as in the work that brings a condemned sinner out of his sins to Christ the Savior. Would to God, there was more of what we see in Joseph, more of that true exercise of soul that brings about a state of things where there is happiness and blessing, and where God's people can go on together in sweet communion. God's way, beloved, is not to cover up sin, and to think that we can smooth over and forget things. God's way is to bring things out into the light and to judge those things in His presence. Then happiness and true fellowship will be the result of that true repentance that has judged what has dishonored Him and brought in such sorrow and trouble.
Then Joseph, as we see here, can be so happy with his brethren that he falls on the necks of each one, and weeps over them. How the Lord delights to prove His love to both saint and sinner! But when our hearts are sealed against Him, when there is an unwillingness to yield, when we are too proud to own when we have failed, then there is that barrier. But when the barrier is broken down, then the Lord delights to display and give the fullest expression to the deep love that is in His blessed heart.
Verse 15: "Moreover he kissed all his brethren." He didn't kiss them when they were saying, "We are true men." But, after they are thoroughly broken down in repentance, then the kiss of reconciliation—just like the father who threw his arms around the prodigal, and covered him with kisses. So Joseph kisses his brethren here. "... and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him." That is communion, isn't it? When there is full restoration and recovery of soul, then there is the happy enjoyment of communion—talking to the Lord, just like those brethren talked with Joseph on this occasion.
Then Joseph sent his brethren back to old Jacob, their father, with the wonderful news of what had taken place. He told them (verse 20), "Also regard not your stuff: for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours." And should not that be a word to you and me, beloved? Perhaps we are clinging too tightly to things down here. Let us remember the words of Joseph (only changing the word "Egypt" to "Heaven"), "The good of all heaven is yours." A home and a joy eternal; companionship with God's blessed Son, with all the redeemed to sing His praises! O beloved, let's not get our hearts set on things down here in a world that is soon to be under the awful judgment of a God that man has despised for so long.
Now, verse 24: "So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way." You say, weren't those brethren all reconciled to Joseph? Were they not all happy together? They surely were; they had never enjoyed such happiness in all their lives, as they enjoyed on that occasion. Joseph was alive—after all their sin, and he had shown nothing but love to them! You might have thought that those brethren could never disagree among themselves now; they would be so happy that they would be singing all the praise on every mile of the road as they went back to Jacob. But Joseph knew what the hearts of his brethren actually were. So he said, "See that ye fall not out by the way."
Beloved, we are no different. We are no better than those brothers of Joseph, and we need this word of warning. May God cause it to go home with reality into our souls. "See that ye fall not out by the way." We are on our way to glory; let's see that we don't fall out by the way! Isn't it a shame and a disgrace when those who are heirs of glory will allow pride and, perhaps, little things which grow and bring in sorrow and strife among the saints of God. Isn't it a disgrace—almost impossible, it would seem, to think it could take place. Yet it does take place. "See that ye fall not out by the way."
We are going to see our "Joseph" before long. Just like old Jacob went up to see his long lost son. Some day we are going to see the very One who has been brought before us so blessedly in this Scripture. May our conduct, our walk and our ways be in keeping with that moment when, like those brothers of Joseph, we gaze into the face of the One who has loved us with an eternal love, far beyond the love of Joseph for his brethren. Joseph never died for his brethren; but our "Joseph" has suffered the cruel death of Calvary, in order that He might put His arms around us and have us in His presence forever!
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