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As we consider the story of Joseph, we need to remember that in his record there are two lines: the line of Joseph as a type of Christ and the line of life. It is difficult to find in the Old Testament anyone besides Joseph who was such a perfect type of Christ. He typified Christ in a detailed way.
In Gen. 44:1-13 Joseph gave his brothers the last test and gave them even more time to consider him. Christ will do the same thing to the nation of Israel. The prophecies in the Bible say that Christ will test the ignorant children of Israel, but they do not give the details. However, the record of Joseph's dealing with his brothers gives us a detailed picture of this. Even today the nation of Israel is ignorant of the fact that Christ is testing them. As we follow the world news, we should hold a view different from that of the worldly people. When I read the news, I am aware that what is happening in the Middle East is part of Christ's testing of Israel. The Israeli prime minister and his cabinet do not know that Christ is testing them. They claim to need the Golan Heights and the settlements along the Sinai to secure their existence. However, Christ knows better than they do what they need for their security. Do you not believe that what is happening to Israel today is a test? I certainly do. This is Joseph's testing of his brothers in order to teach them and discipline them. I expect this testing to continue year after year. The Lord Jesus Christ knows how to deal with the nation of Israel.
As Joseph gave his brothers a further test, they still remained ignorant of him (Gen. 44:14-34). The same will be true of the nation of Israel as Christ continues to test them. What patience Joseph had! I do not have nearly the patience that he had or the patience that the Lord Jesus has with Israel today. If I had been Joseph, I would have revealed myself to the brothers much sooner than he did. And if I were the Lord Jesus, I would immediately tell the whole world that the Israelites are my brothers. Joseph, however, dealt with his brothers patiently. They were ignorant of him, and the Egyptians were ignorant of what was going on. Only Joseph knew what he was doing. The situation is the same today. Only the Lord Jesus, not the United Nations or the ruler of any country, knows what is taking place. Although He is giving the nation of Israel a difficult time, there is a definite purpose in all He is doing.
Eventually, Joseph acknowledged his ignorant brothers (Gen. 45:1-4, 14-15). I believe that the time is near when Christ will acknowledge the ignorant nation of Israel (Rom. 11:26). The acknowledgment of the United Nations does not mean anything. What counts is Christ's acknowledgment. The day is coming when Christ will tell the world, "Don't touch the nation of Israel. Whoever touches her touches the apple of My eye. The Israelites are My brothers."
Joseph's brothers eventually recognized him (Gen. 45:15), and the Israelites will eventually recognize Christ (Zech. 12:10). Until they recognize Him, Christ will continue to deal with them patiently. Recently I read that some Jewish scholars have begun to study the case of Jesus. It seems that these scholars are eager to learn more about who Jesus is. Instead of acknowledging the Jews now, Christ is giving them a further time to consider Him. These Jewish scholars who are studying the case of Jesus admit that Christ has gained a great deal of credit for the Jewish people, for Christ came from the nation of Israel. He was and still is a Jew. If Christ had come out of your country, you certainly would be proud of Him.
If we keep all these points in mind as we follow the news in the Middle East, we shall be happy and praise the Lord. All that is happening today was foreshadowed in Joseph's dealing with his brothers. In a sense, what we are seeing today is a motion picture of what has already taken place. Even as I am speaking about these chapters in Genesis, the events foreshadowed in them are taking place in the Middle East. What is happening today is the fulfillment of what is portrayed in this portion of the Word. Praise the Lord for His wisdom and patience! He knows what He is doing with Israel. In not too long a time, Christ will make an open recognition of the nation of Israel. He will do this by descending from the heavens to the earth. The Savior out of Zion will come to the land of Israel and recognize the nation of Israel as His nation.
Now we come once again to a parenthesis covering certain matters on the line of life. I love the line of Joseph as a type of Christ, but, as far as I am concerned, the line of life is more practical. The line of the type concerns Israel, but the line of life concerns you and me.
Although there were many clear indications of Joseph's identity, his brothers could not recognize him because of their blindness and preoccupations. Because his brothers were so blind and ignorant of him, Joseph was compelled to take a further step to reveal himself to them. Joseph must have prayed concerning his dealing with his brothers. He did not deal with them according to his personal feelings or desires, but according to the Lord's leading. Whatever Joseph did to his brothers was according to the Lord's leading.
No one else could have had the patience Joseph had. As we have pointed out, it took twenty-two years for his dreams to be fulfilled. After such a long period of time, Joseph had an intense desire to see his father. How could a man have had such patience? How could he have been able to control his emotion, his love, and his desire to see his father? Joseph's patience and self-control must have been of the Lord.
After the last test, at least one of Joseph's brothers, Judah, had improved. This is indicated by the way he spoke to Joseph about taking care of their father and their youngest brother (Gen. 44:18-34). When Joseph's brothers sold him, they hated him and did not care for their father or youngest brother. Rather, they acted according to their hatred. But the way Judah spoke to Joseph indicated that he cared about his father and his youngest brother. This touched Joseph very deeply and convinced him that his brothers had learned their lesson. Thus, immediately after this, Joseph acknowledged them. Prior to this time, the brothers were still learning the lessons. The lessons were not completed until at least one among them had improved and had learned to care for his father and youngest brother. Until that time, Joseph exercised great patience in testing his brothers.
In my opinion Joseph should have revealed himself to his brothers immediately after feasting with them. However, he did not do this. Instead, he charged his steward to fill their sacks with grain and to return their money (Gen. 44:1-2). No doubt Joseph's brothers were happy. If I had been one of the brothers, I would have said to the others on the way back to Canaan, "What do you think about that ruler? Why was he so nice to us? He is the ruler of the whole earth and we are foreigners coming to buy food. Yet he invited us to his home and feasted with us. He even gave Benjamin a portion five times greater than what he gave the rest of us. Moreover, he seated us according to our birth. What is this all about? Who is this man?" I believe that Joseph expected his brothers to talk like this. He expected them to thoroughly consider him. But they were careless and they did not do this. There must have been certain features of Joseph's face that would have enabled them to recognize him. But his brothers were too blind to notice them.
Suddenly, much to their surprise, the steward caught up with them and said, "Wherefore have ye repaid evil for good?" (Gen. 44:4, Heb.). He then accused them of stealing Joseph's cup. The brothers replied, "Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing: behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold?" (Gen. 44:7-8). According to Joseph's plan, the cup was found in Benjamin's sack (Gen. 44:12). This should have caused the brothers to wonder why that ruler in Egypt paid so much attention to their youngest brother. Joseph's brothers were terrified. As Gen. 44:13 says, "They rent their clothes, and loaded every man his ass, and returned to the city" (Heb.). When they saw Joseph again, "they fell down before him on the ground" (Gen. 44:14). This also should have reminded them of Joseph's dreams. However, they still did not understand what was happening to them.
As we read this story, we see Joseph's patience and wisdom. Only a matured person has such patience and wisdom. The more matured we are, the more wisdom and patience we have. Although Joseph was just about forty years of age, in his spiritual life he was matured. Because he was spiritually mature, he had great wisdom and patience. Thus, he was not governed by his desire or emotion, but directed by his wisdom and patience.
In the church life today we all, especially the elders, need a life of wisdom and patience. What the elders do should not be under the direction of their emotion, desire, or intention. Although your intention may be very good, you may cause damage to others if you are governed by your good intention. None of the elders or leading ones in the church or in the work should be governed by his intention. On the contrary, we must be governed by our wisdom and patience. It takes no maturity to be directed by your intention or desire. But it does require maturity to be directed by patience and wisdom.
In the story of Joseph's revealing himself to his brothers we do not see any display of childishness on his part. Being full of patience and wisdom, he conducted himself according to the maturity of life. He was tried by his brothers' ignorance and blindness. But instead of being manipulated by his intention or desire, he was completely under the control of his wisdom and directed by his patience. In patience and wisdom he gave his brothers all the tests they needed. Because we are not as mature as Joseph, we may think that he was too severe and troublesome in dealing with his brothers. But Joseph was not a troublesome person; he was a person fully matured and governed by wisdom and patience. He knew what was the best time to reveal himself to his brothers. His acknowledgment of them was not directed by his desire or his feelings; it was completely under the direction of God's wisdom.
In wisdom, Joseph gave his brothers another test. By giving them this test, he gave them another opportunity to consider his identity. But, as we have seen, they remained ignorant. Therefore, he arranged for them to be brought back to him. When they returned, they were fully subdued. Judah said to him, "What shall we say unto my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves?" (Gen. 44:16). When Judah spoke to him like this, Joseph still did not reveal himself to them, but continued to be patient, testing Judah to the uttermost. I do not say that Judah was mature in life, but at that moment he had improved very much. By the way he spoke to Joseph we see that he was a subdued, broken man. The attitude and spirit in which he spoke to Joseph about his father touched Joseph deeply. It was through Judah's talk with him that Joseph became convinced that his brother had learned his lesson. That was the right time for Joseph to reveal himself to them. At that time, all his emotions burst forth.
Do not think that Joseph was emotionless like wood or stone. No, he was full of emotion. Look at the way he wept when he revealed himself to his brothers (Gen. 45:1-15). He told all his servants to leave the room, and then his emotions burst out. This indicates that Joseph was very emotional. Since he was so emotional, how could he have refrained from expressing his emotion for at least several months? The fact that he could do this was a sign of his maturity.
If we do not know how to control our tears, laughter, or anger, it means that we are childish in life. The strongest sign that we are matured is that we are able to control our emotion. As we pointed out in a previous message, when the two sons of Aaron were burned in the presence of God, there were indications that Aaron was forbidden to weep (Lev. 10:1-3). Aaron might have said, "My two sons have just died in my sight and you ask me not to weep. Moses, you are not human." Both Moses and Aaron were in the presence of the Lord. Moses could serve God in His presence because he knew how to control his feelings of sympathy for his brother. Aaron took Moses' word. Whether or not you should weep, laugh, or be angry depends upon the Lord's presence. We are not in the world, but in the presence of the Lord in the Holy of Holies. When you are about to express your emotion, you should not do so according to your feeling. Rather, you must express your emotion according to God's presence. Does God's presence allow you to laugh? Does it allow you to weep? You should not say, "I have just lost my sons and I am very sorrowful. I simply cannot control myself. I must weep." If you say this, it reveals that you are not mature. Joseph could be the ruler in Egypt because he was mature. Being mature, he ruled over himself and over the whole earth. At the right time Joseph wept regarding his brothers. Even this reveals that he was a person fully under the control of God's guidance. In chapters forty-two through forty-four Joseph did not weep in the presence of his brothers. But in chapter forty-five, after the brothers had passed through the dealings and had learned their lessons, Joseph wept.
Joseph had been very concerned for his brothers. His concern for them is seen in the fact that he charged them not to quarrel with one another on the way home (Gen. 45:24, Heb.). This indicates that they had been quarreling. Through the various tests Joseph exercised discipline over his brothers. Reuben or Levi might have said, "Throughout our entire life we were never disciplined as much as we were in these last months." They were disciplined by the patient and wise Joseph. Everything Joseph did in relation to his brothers was not for himself, but for them. In this we see Joseph's perfection in life. However, his perfection was not for himself, but for his brothers. He exercised patience and applied great wisdom. He constantly controlled his emotion and, prior to chapter forty-five, he did not weep regarding his brothers except privately after he had seen Benjamin (Gen. 43:29-31). Although he had great emotion, he was not controlled by it.
In our married life we need to learn to control our emotion. Some say that to overcome our besetting sin is difficult. But this is not as difficult as controlling our emotion. To overcome your emotion is the most difficult thing. Are you able to control yourself when you are about to lose your temper? In this matter we all must learn of Joseph. When his emotion was about to burst forth at seeing Benjamin, he turned aside to weep privately and to wash his face. Likewise, if you are about to lose your temper at home, you should go to the rest room, let out your feelings privately, and then wash your face. Do not think that this discipline is for the older people but not for the young people. Joseph was still in his thirties when he exercised control of his emotions regarding his brothers. At the most, he was in middle age. Thus, you should not excuse yourself. Whenever you are about to lose your temper, remember what Joseph did.
When some hear this, they may say, "Brother Lee, didn't you say that the resurrection life within us is able to overcome everything? Why do we need to turn aside from others when we are about to lose control of our emotion?" The reason is that your natural life is so strong. I do not want simply to tell you the story of Joseph. My burden is that we would see the life Joseph lived. In Joseph's life his temper, disposition, emotion, intention, and desire were all under the control of God's leading. Joseph may have said, "God didn't lead me to acknowledge my brothers earlier than I did. I had no freedom to behave otherwise. I had to conduct myself according to the Lord's leading. I certainly wanted to reveal myself to them immediately and have them bring my father to me as soon as possible. But the choice was not up to me. It was a matter of the Lord's leading. I had to do what was best for my brothers. According to the Lord's leading, I had to put them to the test."
The result of the way Joseph revealed himself to his brothers was excellent and blameless. At the time Joseph revealed himself to them, the atmosphere was very good. In that atmosphere it was easy for him to forgive them. Actually, however, within Joseph there was not the thought of forgiving them. He fully understood that it was the sovereign God, not his brothers, who had brought him to Egypt. Because his dealing with his brothers was full of patience, wisdom, and self-control, the result was so excellent that he did not even need to forgive them. Realizing that God had sovereignly sent him to Egypt to fulfill His purpose, he spontaneously received his brothers. He embraced them and took them in.
When we are under the control of life in patience and in wisdom, we shall be like Joseph. We shall not blame or condemn anyone. There will not even be the need to forgive others because we shall not blame them. We shall be willing to accept everyone and we shall have a broad heart to embrace all the weaker ones, even those who have seriously offended us. However, instead of feeling that we have been offended, we shall realize that everything that has happened to us was according to God's sovereignty. Everything under God's sovereignty is for our good, for the fulfillment of His purpose, and for the edification of others. Because Joseph was sold by his brothers, good came to them. Through all their dealings with Joseph, the brothers were educated and edified. Therefore, the issue of the whole matter was excellent. Joseph not only carried out God's eternal purpose, but also built up his brothers. If we bring these matters regarding Joseph into our prayer and fellowship, we shall see more and we shall be nourished. Furthermore, we shall learn how to behave in every situation.
