Day 6 – Why all this?

The famine grew worse, and more surrounding nations came to Egypt, to buy grain. Then one fateful day, whilst on duty at one of the selling stations, I saw a group of 10 familiar-looking faces. I thought to myself, “No, it can’t be …” Could it be my brothers – the very ruffians who sold me into slavery here? As they got closer on the queue, I could see that it was undoubtedly them. Despite the fact that it had been over 20 years since that dreadful day, I could pick my brothers out easily. Hearing them speak in Hebrew also gave them away. “Look who we have here…”. Actually, that’s not what I said, but it was sort of how I felt in the moment. As I watched them bow before me, I remembered my dreams over two decades prior. I thought to myself, “If only they knew who stood before them…” Let me share a nugget of wisdom at this point: no matter how long you have been waiting for God’s promises, keep holding on. He is faithful and will bring His Word to pass in your life; no matter how long it takes… I know that all too well from my own life’s experiences.

One would think that after all those years of being apart from my brothers, I would have forgotten the details of that dreary day. However, seeing them again brought back those memories in a fresh way. You see, just because you’ve healed from a painful incident, doesn’t mean that you forget. I wasn’t sure that I could trust them, so I decided to pass them through a series of tests – just to see what had become of their character over time. You can read more about those tests in Genesis 42 to 44. I even had one of my brothers put under house arrest temporarily! I know you may be thinking, “Ahh Joseph, how could you do such a thing? Isn’t that somewhat revenge for what they did to you?” I can assure you though, I wasn’t trying to avenge their wrong. Here is another morsel of wisdom – just because you have forgiven someone who hurt you in the past, does not give them the liberty to simply walk back into your life as if nothing ever happened. It is wise to check whether or not they can be trusted again. Trust must be earned. This was the bedrock of the tests that I passed my brothers through. Although I was so eager to hear about how my father and little brother, Benjamin, were doing, I had to hide my true identity until the various tests were over. Thank God for His grace and wisdom.

After seeing my little brother again after all those years, I was so overjoyed! I’m really grateful to Yahweh for the self-control that He had built in me over the years. I almost revealed who I was! However, not until the final test had been carried out – read about it in Genesis 44. I must say though, I was so impressed by the transformation that had occurred in my brothers’ hearts over time. God can change people, you know? Even Judah! Judah – the very one whose idea it was to sell me into slavery – offered to be my slave, in place of Benjamin. That was a pivotal moment. At this, I could no longer hide my identity; it was finally ‘D’-day, the day that I would reveal myself to my brothers. I was about 39 years old then; it had been 22 long years since I last saw them! Wow! I still find myself speechless at the journey that Yahweh took us all through.

So what was it all for? Why all the pain, difficulty, and drama? It was for one purpose – to preserve life.

By the time the famine began 2 years prior, my whole ordeal began to make even more sense. You see if I had not been hated by my brothers initially and was still living in Israel, it is quite probable that we would have all died from starvation. However, in Yahweh’s infinite wisdom, He had orchestrated things such that I would be sent to Egypt well in advance of the famine; not only to preserve the lives of the Israelites, but to preserve lives in many other nations that were in existence at that time. Our God is very wise indeed! He needed to send me many years ahead, so that I would be well-engrained into the Egyptian culture, and also well-prepared in character and capacity, to be able to handle the demands of my position as “Second-in-Command” in Egypt. As I explained this to my brothers, it began to dawn on them also. I still remember the stunned look on their faces...

Reflection:

It's interesting how we sometimes only get to understand why we went through a particular difficulty, weeks, months, or even years down the line. That was exactly the case with Joseph! All the suffering he experienced only began to make sense several years after it all began...

Has there been a time in your life where with hindsight, you could finally see good come out of that horrible situation? What did it teach you about God in that moment? How does that past experience encourage you in whatever you may be facing right now?