Devotion Corner
Genesis 45:4 And 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.
When Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers, reconciliation takes place. Joseph was in a position of truly immense power as governor of Egypt. He held power of life or death in his hands, and many a soul would’ve sunk into retribution after the violent betrayal he had suffered at the hands of his brothers. It’s an amazing act of forgiveness to read Joseph’s loving words of ‘Come near to me, I pray you’ being spoken to those responsible for his many years of suffering.
Joseph foreshadows the amazing grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ, as he offers peace and provision to his now repentant brothers. How this speaks of the Lord Jesus and how He moves to bid all repentant hearts to come near to Him. How He reveals Himself in joy of reconciliation between God and man. All to show the sinful heart, that He is the one who took the weight of our sins and freely forgives us.
When we were wretched sinners, we did as Jospeh’s brothers did to Joseph, we turned away from Christ and laid up sins against Him. Yet He went on before us to provide a salvation for us in our spiritual famine. Just as God did with Joseph, when He sent Joseph ahead to provide food and shelter for his family in a desperate time. Yet God would send His Son ahea to taste the firstfruits of the resurrection, so that those who follow Him in faith, would have an eternal provision.
These wonderful foreshadowings of Christ Jesus in the life of Joseph, will find their richness of fulfilment in the last days of history. For in this time, the brothers of Jesus that are His people the Jews, will cry out in repentance as they realise they killed their Messiah. They will wail and weep as they look out on a desperate situation, seeing that the armies of the world are gathered against them. At this time, the Lord Jesus will reveal Himself in all His power and glory, and will come to deliver them, just as Joseph had foreshadowed so long ago.
