Daily Devotion – August 11, 2020 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison
Genesis 45:1-15
45:1 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
45:2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.
45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.
45:4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.
45:5 And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.
45:6 For the famine has been here these 2 years; and there are 5 more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
45:7 God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.
45:8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
45:9 Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay.
45:10 You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.
45:11 I will provide for you there–since there are five more years of famine to come–so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.
45:12 And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you.
45:13 You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father here.”
45:14 Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck.
45:15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.
We have the saying, “When God closes a door, he opens a window.” Joseph’s many experiences as property to be bought and sold, a slave, powerless, after he had been a favored son for many years, surely must have had him wondering why this terrible thing had been done to him. Many, many times. What window could God possibly have been opening for him?
During those same years, the brothers stuck to their story about Joseph having been killed by wild animals. Whether they were continually plagued with guilt (for either lying to their father or selling Joseph) we don’t know. But 20 years later, Joseph, now Pharaoh’s powerful assistant, is alone in the room with his brothers as he reveals who he is. And the brothers’ reaction, scripture says, is dismay.
Dismay. This is a very specific reaction. The dis means not or no, and the may is the same base word as our may – a permission-giving word, a word that lets you have the power of possibility. To be dismayed, then, means to be stripped of your power and your possibilities. The brothers stood before Joseph, believed him, and were stripped of their powers, their hopes of possibilities for the future.
Joseph had had a lot of time to think about this moment and their many possible reactions. And when he saw dismay, he was ready for it. Did he say, “Hah! Now you will feel a little bit of what you put me through!” No. He tells them not to be distressed. Everything did and will work out for good. He himself, in his own journey, has seen things work out for good. He is an ambassador of hope, even, especially, to those who wronged him. God has used it all for good, and Joseph claims God’s goodness for his future.
Gracious God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for bringing good out of bad. Help us always to claim your goodness for our future and be ambassadors of hope. Amen.
