When Truth is Revealed, Is it Scary or Joyful?
And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.”
And they came near. And 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 plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.
The whole life of Joseph is amazing. God shows up all over the place whether He is mentioned or not. My favorite event, maybe because it reflects the final reveal of Christ and His glory, is this part where Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers.
Up until this point, both times they came to visit, Joseph talked to them through a translator. He was so changed into an Egyptian that there was no glimpse of his former Hebrew self. When he said to them “I am Joseph” it would have been as disturbing as Vladimir Putin saying “I love me some chicken and dumplins,” in a heavy southern Indiana (or Kentucky!) accent. When he said “I am Joseph” he was speaking clearly in his mother tongue for the first time in decades.
When Jesus was about to die, He spoke plainly and clearly to the disciples.
No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. – John 15:15
We know who Jesus is and we are longing to hear His voice fully revealed and displayed for all to see and hear. We know that He is coming, but until then we see God move in hidden ways that we seldom notice or can only explain in the aftermath.
At some point, Jesus will return and His glory will be revealed for the final time. Joseph’s brothers were scared because they didn’t know the terms of the relationship with Joseph. They didn’t know what their fate would be. Jesus has made that known to us and the Holy Spirit has explained it further through Paul: For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
So we look forward to hearing from Him. We look forward to the discovery of Christ in everyday events, and the ultimate end. We look forward to seeing God’s influence in our story as we see Him revealing Himself in tiny dress rehearsals of the final coming every single day.
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