Genesis 45:1-8 New International Version (NIV)
Joseph Makes Himself Known 45 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it. 3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. 4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.[a] 8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.
Thursday - February 25
The story of Joseph begins in Genesis 37, but this passage is the climax. Joseph was an ancestor of Abram (renamed Abraham by God). When Joseph was a boy God gave him a dream that his older brothers and his father would bow down to him. Instead they sold him into slavery! What will happen to God’s promise? Eventually Joseph rose to the second-highest position of power in Egypt, but in the meantime a severe famine came into the land. What will happen to the descendants of Abraham? How will God be able to keep his promise if Abraham’s family dies of starvation? Good thing God was with Joseph that whole time! God uses even our sin, rebellion and evil (like selling our siblings) to prove His faithfulness. God’s Word of promise will not be stopped by our sin. Never has. Never will.
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