In our study of Genesis chapter forty five, we look at the unification of the family of Isra'el and the embracing of their call to be a blessing to the nations.
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At last Yosef could no longer control his feelings in front of his attendants and cried, "Get everybody away from me!" So no one else was with him when Yosef revealed to his brothers who he was. He wept aloud, and the Egyptians heard, and Pharaoh's household heard.
Yosef sent all the Egyptians away and then revealed who he was to his brothers. He was so overcome that he cried and all of Egypt heard about who he was. This is once again a shadow of Messiah Yeshua and the fact that, when Israel accepts Him, the entire world will be affected.
Yosef said to his brothers, "I am Yosef! Is it true that my father is still alive?" His brothers couldn't answer him, they were so dumbfounded at seeing him. Yosef said to his brothers, "Please! Come closer." And they came closer. He said, "I am Yosef, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But don't be sad that you sold me into slavery here or angry at yourselves, because it was God who sent me ahead of you to preserve life. The famine has been over the land for the last two years, and for yet another five years there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God sent me ahead of you to ensure that you will have descendants on earth and to save your lives in a great deliverance. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his household and ruler over the whole land of Egypt.
When Yosef revealed himself, his brothers were shocked and afraid because of what they had done in rejecting him and selling him into slavery. Yosef showed mercy and grace as he told them that God was still in control even when they were disobedient. This all speaks of Yeshua's first coming, the rejection of Him by the Jews, and His being revealed to and accepted by the nations. Yosef goes on to explain that God had a call on his life and he is being used by God to save the people of Israel.
Hurry, go up to my father, and tell him, 'Here is what your son Yosef says: "God has made me lord of all Egypt! Come down to me, don't delay! You will live in the land of Goshen and be near me - you, your children, your grandchildren, flocks, herds, everything you own. I will provide for you there, so that you won't become poverty-stricken, you, your household and all that you have; because five years of famine are yet to come."' Here! Your own eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Binyamin, that it is my own mouth speaking to you. Tell my father how honored I am in Egypt and everything you have seen, and quickly bring my father down here!" Then he embraced his brother Binyamin and wept, and Binyamin wept on his neck, and he kissed all his brothers and wept on them. After that, his brothers talked with him.
Yosef tells his brothers to go get his father and bring the entire household to live with him so that they may receive a good inheritance instead of being overcome by the famine. In all of this we see the restoration of the family of Israel as they embraced and finally the brothers talked with Yosef.
The report of this reached Pharaoh's house: "Yosef's brothers have come"; and Pharaoh and his servants were pleased. Pharaoh said to Yosef, "Tell your brothers, 'Here is what you are to do. Load up your animals, go to the land of Kena'an, take your father and your families, and come back to me. I will give you good property in Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land. "'Moreover - and this is an order - do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt to carry your little ones and your wives, and bring your father, and come. Don't worry about your stuff, because everything good in the land of Egypt is yours.'"
When Pharaoh heard about this reunion, he and all of Egypt rejoiced. He told Yosef to send his brothers with wagons to get the family but don't worry about bringing their household possessions because they would get the best of what Egypt had to offer. This is a picture of how our earthly possessions fade in importance when we come to Yeshua Messiah as even the best of what we have is nothing compared to His riches that we inherit.
The sons of Isra'el acted accordingly; and Yosef gave them wagons, as Pharaoh had ordered, and gave them provisions for their journey. To each of them he gave a set of new clothes; but to Binyamin he gave seven-and-a-half pounds of silver and five sets of new clothes. Likewise, to his father he sent ten donkeys loaded with the finest goods Egypt produced, as well as ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread and food for his father to eat on the return journey. Thus he sent his brothers on their way, and they left; he said to them, "Don't quarrel among yourselves while you're traveling!" So they went up out of Egypt, entered the land of Kena'an and came to Ya'akov their father.
So, Yosef provided for them and sent them on their way. We see that they are now called the "sons of Isra'el" and this speaks of an understanding of Israel's call to be a blessing to the nations. In the provision, we see that the household of Rachel through Binyamin received a much larger portion which is a recognition of their place in God's overall plan for Israel. In Yosef's provision for his father, we see him honoring Ya'akov because his father had honored him with teaching and training him about the things of God. Yosef goes on to tell his brthers to not be jealous or angry with each other on the way.
They told him, "Yosef is still alive! He is ruler over the whole land of Egypt!" He was stunned at the news; he couldn't believe them. So they reported to him everything Yosef had said to them; but it was only when he saw the wagons which Yosef had sent to carry him that the spirit of Ya'akov their father began to revive. Isra'el said, "Enough! My son Yosef is still alive! I must go and see him before I die.
When the sons of Isra'el told him that Yosef was still alive he did not believe it. In the Hebrew text, the word translated here as "stunned" actually speaks of a heart that is unable to believe the truth because it is so blinded by lies. Ya'akov rejected the good news about Yosef (who is a shadow of Yeshua) because he had believed the lies (false teaching) that his sons had told him before. This is important to us today as the same type of thing happens when we embrace false teaching as truth and it makes it very hard for us to respond to the real revelation of God. Finally, Ya'akov acceptes the news as truth when he sees the wagons that Yosef had provided and this reminds us of the fact that the majority of Jewish people will not accept Yeshua until they see the sky opening up and His return. We see that, once Ya'akov accepted the truth, he is again referred to as Isra'el and he is prepared for death (he is at peace).