THERE is a picture drawn in Genesis 45:1-151Then 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. 2And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3And 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. 4And 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. 5Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. 6For 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. 7And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8So 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. 9Haste 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: 10And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast: 11And 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. 12And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. 13And 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. 14And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him. (Genesis 45:1‑15) and where God draws a picture that picture is perfect—and how perfect is the image in the type before us, each heart that has tasted anything of We the sweetness of the Antitype can testify. will not look at the previous dealings of Joseph with the consciences of his brethren, nor at the results following, for I want now just to consider for a moment this scene—the revelation of Joseph himself—to these guilty, hateful, and self-condemned me, his brethren, and to consider it in the glorious Person of Him of whom the patriarch arch was but a shadow.
To start with, then, all these beauties emanated directly from the heart of Joseph. Pent up there his deep affection for those who had simply returned hatred for his love had been working and waiting—waiting till the moment when, self-condemned, they stood before him with nothing to plead but their own utter helplessness. Then it was he “could not refrain himself”—the pent up tides no longer could be restrained; out the billows love must roll in its deathless ocean fullness. A faint likeness indeed of those eternal depths that now are overflowing from the heart of the blessed God to the vilest; the torrents of divine love which, unchecked, are pouring themselves on the thirsty ground, since every barrier has been removed by the cross. The moment divine righteousness was satisfied the heart of God removed all hindrances to His presence, the veil was rent by His hand, and the Saviour God came out in the plenitude of His grace to meet the long loved, long lost sinner. And—to meet him alone! So here, no Egyptian official, however dignified, is allowed to intrude into the solitude of that meeting place; no inquisitive eyes may rest on that scene! “There stood no man there” to mar or distract that meeting. Instinctively we feel how out of place another’s presence would have been. No priest needed, no intercessor—no, indeed! Shall we allow any to force their presence into the sacred recesses of the audience chamber of “the great God our Saviour” when called to be alone with Him? He commands them to go out; the secrets of His heart are only for those who are the objects of its affection.
In the verses of our chapter let us notice five things in connection with the Lord Jesus: (1) The person of the Son (ver. 3); (2) He is our kinsman (ver. 4); (3) the guilt of His people; (4) God’s purpose in it; and (5) the glory of Him whom they sold, but whom God sent.
No wonder that the declaration, “I am Joseph; doth my father yet live?” terrified them! Joseph, the father’s son, his delight and beloved one, the one whom they had hated, and now on the throne! But grace has deeper depths to manifest other secrets to unfold; secrets that no “house of Pharaoh” may overhear; and he who “wept aloud” now beckons closer to whisper only to their ears. the remembrance of their guilt. Yet in unfolding it the son reveals their kinsman, it is as one “not making afraid” that he presents himself, “Joseph your brother”! “Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he himself also took part of the same.” “The Word was made flesh.”
The truth must come out, however unpalatable; grace might hide it from others, but to them the solemn words must be uttered, “Whom ye sold”— yet blessed, thrice-repeated truth, “whom God sent” (vers. 4-8)! Man’s guilt, your guilt, my guilt, is told out in deepest blackness at Calvary, though at the same moment the provision to meet it is presented also. God’s side—He sent, sent the Saviour—to “save” not Egypt merely, but “your lives”—yours who sold Him, yours, who would not have Him!
Oh, gaze and adore! Be not wrapped up of in your guilt, terrible though it be. Behold the Lamb of God. See God’s purposes in Calvary, and know that our very sins that nailed Him to the cross are atoned for by the blood there shed for us who believe! What matchless grace! But more—the God who sent His only begotten Son is the God who, “has made” this same Jesus whom ye crucified both Lord and Christ! “It is the exalted One who speaks, with added glories on His brow, God’s answer to Golgotha’s shame and scorning. Wherefore also God hath highly exalted Him.” Not as the Son, which He ever was and ever is, but as the “sent One,” the sold One, the humbled Son of man, these honors deck His brow. We see Him crowned with glory and honor. Many diadems shall crown His head (Rev. 19:1212His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. (Revelation 19:12)).
In Joseph we read of his threefold honors:(1) “A father to Pharaoh,” words figuratively foretelling the intimacy of relationship with Him who fills the throne. “Therefore doth my Father love me.” (2) “And Lord of all his house.” “Whose house are we.” Are you of it? Is He “thy Lord”?—then “worship thou Him!” (3) “And governor over all Egypt.” Yea! The “Governor among the nations.” However many gods amongst the nations, “to us there is one God the Father... and one Lord Jesus Christ.”
Blessed unfoldings! Are they yours, my reader? Knowest thou this One, the true Joseph? Then “haste ye and go.” Carry His message to thy home, to thy kindred, to those over whom His heart yearns. Bear His invitation, “Come down” —to be near Him—to be nourished by Him—and “tell of all my glory”! Yea, go! Go with His tears on thy neck, His kiss on thy cheek. Go in the sense of His love lavished thus upon thee; but ere thou goest, open out thy heart to Him who has revealed His as thine—and commune, yea, “talk with Him.”
H. C. T.