Lessons from Living in a Strange Land (Part 5)

How to Handle Persecution #23 | with Daniel Whyte III

TEXT: Genesis 45:1-8

During our last time together, we saw how God raised up Joseph from the prison to a position of power in Egypt. After Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dream through the spirit of God, Pharaoh appointed Joseph to take charge over the entire land during the seven years of plenty so that the seven years of famine would not be so devastating. Joseph wisely stored up extra crops during the seven years of plenty so that when the famine hit, he could distribute it to the people of Egypt.

At that time, Egypt was the only major power in that part of the world. So when the famine affected that entire region, all of the people in that region looked to Egypt for assistance. The Bible tells us that the famine also affected Joseph's family back in Canaan. Jacob, his eleven other sons, and their families soon ran out of food, so Jacob sent his sons down to Egypt to buy food from Pharaoh. The Bible relates to us how Joseph tested his brothers to see if they were truly sorry for the wrong that they had done to him those many years ago. We are not going to get in to that part of the story today, however, suffice it to say that they indeed passed the tests. Joseph saw that they truly had changed and were sorry for what they had done. It was at this point that Joseph decided to reveal himself to them, and that is where we pick up on the story today.