Genesis 45:1-28
Joseph, the son of Jacob, was sold over to the caravan for Egypt by his own brothers who hated him because of his arrogance, for their father favored him more than other brothers.
In Egypt, Joseph was sold slave in the house of high official of Pharaoh,there he worked diligently
and won the trust of his master. Later, however, he was put in jail because of the false charge of his master's wife about which he was innocent. He must have stay there for some years. O, how dark were the days there ! But those days taught him two important lessons. 1. He had been too arrogant in his family of which he was unaware. He now knew he must be humble. 2.In spite of his sufferings, The Lord had special design for him and his family.
One day Pharaoh had a bad dream. He was so anxious about it and tried to know the meaning of it by calling all the wise people in the country. But no one could tell the meaning of the dream. Then one of Pharaoh's officers who once had been put to jail and been helped to know the meaning of his dream by Joseph reminded him and introduced him to Pharaoh. He at once was called to the court. When Pharaoh told his dream to him, he could tell the meaning of it because the Lord helped him. The dream meant that there would be years of rich harvest and after these years would come those of famine. Pharaoh got so moved at his answer that he made Joseph the highest officer in his court. He stored much of food in time of rich harvest. And when the famine years came, people of Egypt and people of other countries came to Egypt's storehouses to buy the grains. The family, brothers of Joseph, also came to Egypt to buy food.
Meeting his brothers, Joseph could not bear moving to tears. He said "I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are yet five years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors, So it was not you who sent me here, but God;"
The Lord forgave the faults of Joseph's youth and it made him meek to his brothers, forgiving what they had done to him(Ephesians 4:31-32),made him able to discern the deep design of the Lord.
"O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgment and how inscrutable his ways! "(Romans 11:33) Dec. 2 2018