“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.”
~ Genesis 45:5
Hi James and Ellen,
How would you like to grow up with eleven bros? Your grandpaa thinks that if you were growing up James with eleven bros that you would be having a lot of fun with them. You grandpaa had a lot of fun with his three bros. Your grandpaa and his bros in the summer would get together with kids from a farm near their dad’s farm who were their age to play ball together. Your grandpaa and his bros liked each other. But what if your grandpaa’s bros were jealous of your grandpaa because they knew that your grandpaa was their dad’s favorite kid, do you think that your grandpaa would still have a lot of fun doing things with his three bros? Joseph had eleven bros. Joseph was his dad’s favorite kid. Most of Joseph’s bros really disliked him. Joseph had two dreams when he was seventeen years old. Joseph interpreted the dreams as having his bros one day bowing down to him – which meant that Joseph saw himself one day being a ruler and guys and gals coming to him and bowing down to him. How do you think that Joseph’s bros felt when Joseph thought that he needed to tell them what he had dreamed and what he believed that the meanings of the dreams were? How would you feel if you had a bro who your dad liked more than you and who really believed that one day that you would be bowing down to him? Your grandpaa thinks that you would probably feel an animosity towards that bro. Joseph’s bros got so uptight with Joseph that they put Joseph in a dry well. One of Joseph’s bros – Rueben, decided that he would later take Joseph out of the dry well but when a Midianite camel caravan passed near where Judah and some of Joseph’s other bros were, Judah decided that it would be a good idea to sell Joseph to the Midianites. The Midianites took Joseph to Egypt where they sold Joseph to Potiphar. Potiphar was a Pharaoh’s captain of the guard. Not that long before Joseph’s bros sold Joseph to some Midianites who were traversing through the dessert on camels, Joseph was given a robe by his dad – Isaac. The robe had been made from multi-colored material. Joseph’s dad giving Joseph the multi-colored robe made Joseph’s bros even that much more jealous of him. After some of Joseph’s bros sold Joseph to the Midianites who were traveling by in a camel caravan, the bros took the beautiful robe that Joseph’s dad had given to Joseph and spread goat’s blood on it. When Joseph’s bros got home, they showed their dad – Isaac, the robe that he had given to Joseph – telling their dad that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. This fake story made Joseph’s dad really sad.
It is now twenty-two years later. There is a devastating famine in the land where Joseph’s dad and bros live. This destructive famine is also affecting Egypt. By this time – which is recounted in Genesis 45, Joseph had become an Egyptian ruler. When Joseph a number of years earlier was the one who interpreted a Pharaoh’s two dreams that there was going to be a seven year famine, the Pharaoh but Joseph in charge of overseeing the storing up of grain. Joseph’s family – who was living in Canaan, heard that Egypt had supplies of stored up grain. Joseph’s bros really did not have any choice – if they wanted to stay alive during the famine, but to make the long trek to Egypt to get some of this grain. When Joseph saw his bros, Joseph recognized them. How would you have felt about then if some of your bros had put you in a dry well and then sold you to a camel caravan of Midianites? Your grandpaa does not think that you would have been very happy with your bros. How did you think that Joseph reacted when he saw his bros? Joseph told his bros in verse 5, “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.” How do you think Joseph’s bros felt when Joseph told them who he was? They were scared. Joseph’s bros had to think that Joseph would want to get back at them for the inexcusable things that they had done to him – like putting him in a dry well and then selling him to some Midianites who were passing by on a camel caravan. Joseph told his bros to forget it – that everything is cool with him with them. Because he was so happy to see his bros again, Joseph bawled like a little baby. Joseph cried so loud that even the Pharaoh and his family heard Joseph crying. Joseph did not care who heard him cry. Joseph’s bros ended up heading back home with ten burros loaded down with grain, bread and other food along with carts filled with clothes. Joseph even sent some money with his bros. Joseph also told his brothers that they needed to return to Egypt – that he would set them up in a fertile region called Goshen, where they would be able to live comfortably until the end of the awful famine.
How do you think that Joseph’s bros were feeling during their long hike back to their home after they had seen Joseph again – after they had thought that they had gotten rid of him forever and after they had told their dad that an animal had killed him? Your grandpaa is quite sure that Joseph’s bros were not looking forward to telling their dad what they had done to his favorite kid but . . . Joseph’s dad though was overjoyed when he was told that Joseph was still alive – and that Joseph was an Egyptian ruler. Awful things may happen in your lives just like they happened in Joseph’s life. Things will invariably happen in your lives that you will not be able to comprehend but . . . it is always important that you remember that God is Who is having things happening in your lives as He continues to unfold by the nanosecond His perfect plan – which He has uniquely and individually designed before He created planet Earth for your lives and for the lives of every other guy, gals and gal who has lived, is living and will live on planet Earth. When you are thirty-nine years old – like Joseph is now, will you be thanking God for your harsh life experiences?
Genesis 45 (187)