The doors were closed.  Eleven brothers were alone with “the man” who had the power to sell or deny them the grain they needed to live.  No one else was present… only these twelve men and “the man” began weeping loudly.  What could it mean?

Then “the man” said: “I am Joseph!”  This was a stunning and sudden revelation to the eleven brothers.

How did they react to this declaration?  They were speechless!  Silence met Joseph.  Dismay filled the minds and hearts of the eleven.  Joseph?  No, it couldn’t be, he died many years before… or so they had believed.

The next thing Joseph said, “Is my father alive?”  Still, no response, no answer by the eleven.

Have you ever been stunned into speechlessness by a sudden revelation?  What you thought was true, wasn’t true at all.

Joseph realized he had to explain himself further to his dismayed and disbelieving brothers.

(NASB) Genesis 45:4-5 “Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Please come closer to me.’  And they came closer.  And he said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.
5 ‘Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.”

Joseph revealed his whole-hearted faith in the Lord.  He credited God for sending him ahead of them to help prepare for the famine.  God’s plans prepares for His purposes to be fulfilled.

The Lord God planned and prepared the Lord Jesus to be born in Bethlehem as a babe, born of the virgin Mary and legally the son of Joseph.

Jesus was sent to preserve your life and mine.

(NASB) John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
17 ‘For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
18 ‘He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

~ Take it to heart ~

The day the birth of Jesus is celebrated by all Christendom will soon be here.  He was born so He could die on the cross – for you!  Indeed, for every person.

Jesus was born to preserve us from eternal separation from the living God.

(NASB) Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”