Joseph Reveals His Identity to His Brothers - Tuesday evening, 7.07.2009

Genesis 45:3-4 - 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. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” And when they had done so he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!”

Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy food, not realizing that the official who dealt with them was their long-lost brother, whom they had sold into slavery. After their second trip, Joseph made himself known to them, and they were mortified. Joseph’s goal was reconciliation - to reunite the family - but it took a long time to get the brothers in a position to accept this.

We see here a prophetic illustration of how sinners come to Jesus. Most come to solve some immediate problem or need, not fully recognizing Christ as the Savior of their souls and the Lord of Life. We come to know Jesus in a personal way only when he reveals himself to us directly; this experience with revelation is how we begin our relationship or walk with Christ. It is the Lord’s desire to reveal Himself to us, so that we can know Him and stay close to Him. His brothers came to buy food, to meet their material, physical needs. They met with Joseph but did not recognize him. They bowed down before him because they thought he was a foreign prime minister or other dignitary.

There were several reasons why Joseph’s brothers would not recognize him. It had been many years since they had seen him - during that time, Joseph had gone from being a youth (probably a teenager) to being an adult, now over age 30. They had sold him as a slave when he was a young man, so they would not have expected to find him in the second highest position in Egypt (which was one of the wealthiest, most powerful countries in the world at that time). Instead, they assumed he was no longer alive, and this was what the rest of the family believed as well. Moreover, Joseph’s Egyptian attendants would have introduced him by his title and his new Egyptian name, the great Zaphenath-Paneah, instead of calling him “Joseph.” Joseph was wearing Egyptian clothing, and spoke to them in a different language (he used an interpreter to speak to his brothers, as mentioned in Genesis 42:23).

These factors, combined with his brothers’ lack of sensitivity and discernment, concealed his identity from them so that they did not realize he was their own brother. Unbelievers today cannot recognize Jesus for similar reasons. They have not thought seriously about Him in many years, as they went along their lives going their own way, making their own decisions, apart from God. They do not expect Jesus to be alive and speaking today, much less in a position of having everything they really need. They think Jesus is just the founder of a religion or someone people worship, not understanding that he is the Lord, that he is eternal, and that he is the one who gives revelation (that is what “Zaphenath-Paneah” means). They do not understand the way the Lord speaks to us today - the communication of the Holy Spirit is foreign to the unbeliever’s experience.

Besides all these problems, there is also spiritual interference from the Enemy of our souls. As it says in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4: “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The mind of man cannot see Jesus as the Truth, the Way, and the Life. In addition, spiritual forces of darkness try to blind people to the spiritual reality around them. This blindness is worse today than ever before, because the spiritual darkness increases in the Last Days before the Rapture (see 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11).

With so much deception and human interference, how can anyone find Christ? There is only one way: revelation. The Lord Jesus must reveal himself directly to us, so that we can come to know him through a personal experience. Jesus is alive and reveals himself to men today. Without this revelation, we stay in the darkness of the world, depending on our own understanding, our own fallible reason, and under the veil of darkness. It is not enough to say words about Jesus and sing songs about him. We need him to reveal himself to us.

Joseph saw the situation with his brothers in Egypt - how confused and lost they were. Finally, he said, “I am Joseph!” This is Jesus revealing himself to the sinner. It reminds us of the occasion when Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus - “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5). From that date on, Paul knew the Lord Jesus (see 2 Corinthians 5:16-19).

We see a similar situation in Luke 24. The disciples on the Road to Emmaus could not recognize Jesus when they met him on the road. They thought they knew all about Jesus, but they lacked revelation. They felt great emotion in their hearts at his words, but this was not enough. Only when Jesus revealed himself through the breaking of bread (which points us to the BODY of Christ, where we find the complete revelation) could they recognize him. Then they did not need to see him physically anymore (Jesus’ form disappeared from sight) because their spiritual eyes opened. (Luke 24:31-32). We need this experience ourselves.

In the story in Genesis, Joseph’s brothers became upset about this revelation. Now they were worried. Many people resist at first. They have an experience, and they are upset and try to fight it. You become angry or rebellious in the face of the revelation because there is sin in your life. Your sin is staring you in the face. “I am Jesus from Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.” (See Acts 9:5).

There is an interesting prophetic verse in Psalm 35:3 - “Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’” The word “salvation” in the original language of the Old Testament was “Yeshua,” which is “Jesus” in English. “Jesus” means “salvation” in Hebrew. The Psalmist understood that his soul needed a direct revelation of the Lord as his Salvation: “I am Jesus!” You need Jesus to reveal himself to your soul.

They felt their sin and Joseph forgave them. “God brought me here to save you,” he explained. The Father sent Jesus to our world to save us (John 3:16).