King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 12 notes
1Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.
2And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.
3And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.
4And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
5Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
6For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
THERE IS something about this scripture, i.e. the part talking about “and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest”. THERE IS SOMETHING…
Here we go again, the dreamer, and he was right.
Now circumstances had changed.
Joseph had changed too.
I kind of think he was a bit over-pampered, but that did not warrant such jealousy from his brothers.
God had called for a famine. He did not want to see earing nor harvest in the face of the earth for 7 years.
He is the LORD.
7And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
What a moment in history for Joseph and his brethren.
9Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:
Joseph, that promised child, the dreamer, is now Lord of Egypt: there was always a star on his head.
10And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:
11And 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.
12And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.
13And 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.
14And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.
Finally, he gets to meet his wise brother the dreamer, and now the greatest and wisest man in the world.
What a proud brother Benjamin might have been.
To have Joseph as his brother — same mother and father...
The God of his father had proven himself true on their behalf.
15Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.
16And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.
Oh my oh mine... I’m sure Pharaoh and Egypt knew the story all too well.
That Joseph was a slave turned president, whose kindred had sold him.
He was now without family 👪.
And now here we are, his family, through the famine had come to him.
What a moment, what a story! Word will indeed spread and many a fireside story would be told of Joseph the prince 🤴 of Egypt and his family 👪.
17And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan;
18And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.
19Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.
20Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.
21And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.
Earlier Joseph said that there will be no harvest until the famine was over, not that there will be no planting; yes, men will plant but there will be no harvest.
I can imagine the eighth year. Just imagine that the whole world plants the year before and the ground is dry, left to the mercy of nature which showed no mercy.
And now the eighth year, and finally plants begin to bud all over. The sovereign power of God is seen.
Oh the power of God and nature to bring wealth and to take away wealth.
Just the imagery of fresh buds, and flowers and eventually fruiting — oh what a glory to God almighty.
No wonder the gods were worshipped so much. But in our age and days, instead of science and wisdom strengthening our belief and resolve, we have become more Godless than ever.
22To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.
23And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way.
24So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way.
Oh I can imagine the many tears and prayers of Jacob for his children even as they embarked on this many days’ journey.
And especially as they delayed because of the debacle, and their meeting Joseph for real now.
How he often woke up to look over the horizon for his children, just as he had done oftentimes when Joseph was said to have died.
Wandering many times into the wild, hoping against hope that he might have lived, or at worst some body part of his be left for burial.
But to no avail.
Now here he is waiting once more.
25And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father,
26And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not.
27And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived:
28And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.
O yes, the way of all flesh — a time to be born and a time to die. So it’s not right to die when one’s time to die is not due.
😢 😢 😢
Ah the blessing. Now he evidently saw it and came alive.
Now he knew for certainty the command and the promise of the Lord was true and certain, and was sure to take place.
And today we are spiritual Israelites, and for sure the blessing is upon our heads and would surely happen according to the word of God the LORD.