The Prestige - Genesis 45:1-15

45:1-15 - After Judah made his impassioned plea to Joseph to take him as a slave instead of Benjamin, who in the eyes of the law was guilty of theft, “Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him.” He sent out everyone who wasn’t his brother and wept so loudly that “the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.” He revealed to his brothers saying, “I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.” Now this could have gone many different ways. I wonder what these guys think happened to Joseph after they sold him, they probably thought that his soft, favored teenage boy would have died in slavery, and maybe that’s what happened to slaves during that time. I know that there were many instances where the work that slaves were made to perform was so brutal that the life expectancy was very low, and maybe that was standard at that time.

I wondered how Joseph could have proved to his brothers that it was indeed him, I imagine it wouldn’t have taken a lot, he probably spoke to them in their own language, probably told them things that only Jospeh would known. Once convinced, I’m sure that their terror increased exponentially. If this guy had put them through all this drama even before they knew who he was, now knows the level of angry and revenge that he would have felt toward them. Joseph allays their fears with his first statement “now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.”

At this point, Joseph has had probably months since the time he first saw his brothers and this day, he’s probably had all that time thinking over exactly what he wanted to say, and honestly, I think that he certainly showed a huge measure of compassion but not making his brother sweat a little bit. He could have said, “I am Joseph,” proved it, then sat in silence for some time, while his brothers shook with fear of what he was going to do to them as vengeance. That’s probably what I would have done, but he’s much more Christ-like than I am.

He immediately puts them at ease, and demonstrates the education that God has hand delivered to him while in exile in Egypt. Joseph knows that even though he suffered immensely, it was all part of God’s plan to preserve his family’s lives and all the other people in the world during this famine, and he tells his brother as much. But Joseph also knew that his position within the government would afford him certain luxuries, such as guaranteed land for his family if they came. Joseph had chosen the land of Goshen as the best place for his family to settle, but why Goshen, as it seems so far away from the rest of the Egyptian people.

The distance and isolation was probably a big selling point for Goshen to be the place where Joseph settled his family. In the picture here, it explains “Egyptians are river people. Most live within a few miles of the Nile River.” Previously when discussing the significance of the Egyptian geography, we learned that the Nile flowed north but “down” from Ethiopia through Egypt where it eventually diffused into the Nile River Delta, this delta became the land of Goshen. It’s also important to note that this river delta could have been rich with fertile soil but also vegetation that the livestock of Joseph’s family could eat.

Joseph’s family were shepherds, and had been for generations, and we’ve already established that the Egyptians hated sheep and shepherds and Hebrews specifically, partially because they were being subjugated to cruel treatment at the hands of the other Shemites that had conquered Egypt. Whether their hatred was deeper than that, I’m not sure. This was perfect grazing land for their animals, but it also kept Jospeh’s family isolated from the rest of Egyptian society. The importance behind this isn’t exactly clear, but there are some reasons to suspect why this was the case.

Perhaps Joseph was aware that he didn’t have the more prestigious reputation among the Egyptian people as he was the enforcer of the food tax and also the seller of it back to the people. I’m sure that they felt taken advantage of and Joseph was the face of that. Maybe he knew that once the Egyptian citizenry found out that this was his family, they would be harassed. It might have had to do with Joseph knowing that his family had to be kept away from idol gods. In an article that I read, there is a quote by the Layman’s Bible Commentary as noting, “Goshen had some of the best pastureland in all of Egypt. It would be a place to keep the Hebrews isolated and insulated from the culture and religion of Egypt, since the Egyptians considered sheep unclean and Hebrews detestable.”

Jospeh tells his brothers that he’s going to have them all come back to Egypt and live in this amazing land and that he is going to take care of them and “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.” He wants his brothers to “tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and all that ye have seen,” and to bring their father back to Egypt with them. He “fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck,” and he kissed all this brothers. This is one of those stories that it just so wild, and I’m glad to have learned so much about it.