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11 And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of faminej lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. 12 And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. 13. 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. 14 And he fell upon his brother Ben jamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them; and after that his brethren talked with him. 47til' And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and grave them a possessions in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, In the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and oil his father’s household, with bread, according: to their families. LESSON TEXT; Gen. 45tl-15; 47til, 12. GOLDEN TEXT: “Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving: one an other, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgriven you” (Eph. 4:32). DEVOTIONAL READINGS 1 John 4:7-11. Outline and Exposition I. T h e P o w e r f o r F o r g ive n e ss (45:1-8) "T "V T H E N Joseph had heard Ju- \ / \ / dah’s plea and had beheld Y V Benjamin in thé midst of the group, he could not restrain his emotions. Knowing that, in his breth ren, the old jealousy was gone, he was eager to make himself known to the ones who had wickedly sold him into slavery. To relieve his brethren of embarrassment, he o r d e r e d the Egyptians to leave the room, and im mediately he revealed his forgiveness of his brothers, with no reservations or conditions imposed. This kind of full forgiveness—only a thousandfold greater—God gives to all who turn to Him in true repentance, no matter how evilly they have treated Him for merly. Joseph’s forgiveness of his brethren was made possible because he was right with God in his own heart. This relationship produces a knowledge that generates forgiveness. Joseph knew God’s purpose (vs. 5, . 6 ), which was to bring blessing in an swer to, and growing out of, the evil which had been done to him. Joseph had committed his cause to his God (cf. 1 Pet. 2:23). It takes much more courage to rely upon God when one is suffering injustice than to retaliate for wrongs that are done to one. He knew God’s providence (v. 7). Even though this was in Old Testa ment times, he knew that “ all things work together for good to thém that love God” (cf. Rom. 8:28). Hence he knew that all that had happened—his being put into the pit, sold into Egypt, falsely accused and committed to pris on—all was permitted by God for ultimate good, so he could say, “ God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save
your lives.” To Joseph, God was not only a Ruler but an Overruler. He knew God’s power (v. 8 ). Joseph exercised not merely a passive ac quiescence with providences,. but an active aligning of himself with God in relation to these providences, how ever strange and mysterious they might be. In a wise, tactful, and pa tient manner, he was kept faithful to God, and Was enabled to know, as David also did: “My times are in thy hand,” because “Thou art my God” (cf. Psa. 31:14,-15). In Joseph and his forgiveness of his brethren there may be seen his ac knowledgment of God’s purpose,: his agreement with God’s plan, his ac ceptance of God’s place, and his com plete trustfulness in God’s provi dences. In all these relationships, Jo seph was a type of our ,Lord Jesus, II, T h e E x t e n t o f F o r g ive n e ss (45:9-15) Joseph’s forgiveness of his brethren was complete, unto * “seventy times seven.” In telling these men tb hasten and bring his father down to the land of Goshen, he was including all His brethren in the family. What Joseph would do for his father, he would do for them all. He offered them such a generous portipn in the land of Egypt that Jacob and his family would not lose anything by giving up all they had In their own country. Thus Jo seph was returning good for evil. Looking ahead to . the remaining years of the famine, Joseph promised his loved ones full sustenance for those years, saying, “Lest thou, and thy household, . . . come to poverty.” Again he was including all the'breth ren in all he would do for his father, and thus manifested the extent of-his forgiveness. III. T h e P roof o f F o r g ive n e ss . (47:11, 12) First, Joseph’s father and brethren were all given a good place, protected from every danger. They also were given a possession “ in the best of the land.” In exchange for what they had left behind, they were, given the best that Egypt afforded, instead of the punishment they could well have ex pected. Finally, they were given peace, as Joseph nourished the whole family in the land. There could be no question in the minds of these brethren concerning the "fullness of their forgiveness. They could now give themselves to making good use of that w h i c h had been given them through grace. Whatever his c r i m e s may have been, when the Christian really comes to rely upon, and trust in, the full forgiveness w h i c h he has received from God through grace, he w ill come
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