Good morning, happy Friday and welcome to the start of the weekend. Marge and I are helping our next door neighbor run an estate sale this morning so I set my body clock for extra early and here I sit at 5am, spending time with God in chapter 45 of Genesis. This morning is the big reveal as Joseph finally tells his brothers of his true identity. This has to be one of the most dramatic events in God’s Word as the story has built and built until we finally see Joseph reveal himself in verse 45:3a, “I am Joseph!” I think the exclamation point says it all.
But what God pointed out to me this morning was actually something that stretched back a few chapters. It was how Joseph processed this whole event from the time he first saw his brothers, to when Benjamin first came and finally until his father arrived in Egypt. At every major reunion, Joseph wept. In fact, I went back and looked and throughout the entire story we see Joseph moved to tears in four different impactful, emotional scenarios. Four. When God mentions something twice it’s important, here we have four mentions. Let’s take a look at each with a brief commentary:
“They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. Then he turned away from them and wept.” Gen 42:23-24
Here Joseph overhears his brothers agonizing and lamenting their treatment of him over 20 years ago as they sold him into slavery. They did not know that this was Joseph and that he could speak their language, so they are oblivious to his understanding. As he hears their hearts, his heart weeps.
“And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!” 30 Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there. Then He washed his face and came out.” Gen 43:29-31a
Joseph is reunited with Benjamin and just the sight of his younger brother after all of these years moves Joseph’s very soul. He does not want his brothers to see him weep so he goes into his room. The weeping is so intense that he must recompose himself and wash his face before returning.
“Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them.” Gen 45:14-15a
Here Joseph has finally revealed himself and he can truly embrace his brothers, especially his younger brother by the same mother, Benjamin. This is truly a tantamount emotional exchange as both of these men “fall upon each other and weep.”
“Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel (Jacob) his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. 30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” Gen 46:29-30
In this dramatic scene we see Joseph riding out in a chariot to see his father after almost 25 years. Jacob believed Joseph to be dead all of this time. What an emotional reunion as they fall into each other’s arms and weep, “a good while.”
So why do you think that God mentions weeping so many times in this story? I think that when you are walking closely, hand in hand with God, that there are times when He reveals Himself. And folks, when Almighty God reveals Himself, you weep. This has been ever so apparent in my own life. When God shows Himself in my life, it moves me so greatly that the emotions simply appear in an effort to process the overflow of feeling. You see, processing God’s goodness should move us to tears.
It’s kinda funny around our house, but Margie lovingly jokes about my tearful episodes, which believe it or not can arrive almost daily. Many times, for both of us. As we are in prayer to God each and every day to lead us, guide us and speak to us, you can rest assured that He is listening to each and every one of them and answering them in His due time. When we see God answer one of these prayers in a miraculous way, how can we not respond with awe, wonder and amazement? And as I do, the tears of joy, gratefulness and gratitude flow in response.
When God called a few years ago and asked us to sell our home and everything in it, we of course obliged. But folks, processing and executing God’s requests is never easy. I mean after all, we’re only human. As humans we are restricted by physical, emotional and intellectual limits. As these limits are approached, we exhaust our understanding of them. When I reach this point, I find myself shedding tears, apparently my body’s way of acknowledging the presence of God in my events. The months leading up to our departure for Maui, we cried daily. In order to understand these tears, you have to try to understand Joseph’s tears. These were not tears of sadness. These were not tears of remorse. These were not tears of bereavement. These were simply our body’s way of processing the presence of Holy God. This was our simple human cells processing what it meant to stand in front of God as we saw His mighty hand moving mountains. When you witness the face of God in your life, I’m not sure how you could react in any other way than by shedding tears of amazement and thankfulness.
You know speaking of, I think that is rather odd how our society deals with tears, crying and especially weeping. We see it as weak, puny, fragile and even sickly. I mean if you are out at the mall today and you see a woman crying what do you think? You would more than likely think that something is wrong, right? Why else would she be crying unless something had gone bad? But what if it was just the opposite? What if she were crying because everything was perfect? WHAT? Why in the world would you cry if everything was perfect? Well, just look at Joseph. Each of the four instances we just studied were because of great, almost boundless joy in his heart. A level of joy that he could not process that ended in tears of joy.
But in another strange societal interpretation of tears, imagine that the crying scene at the mall was not a woman but a man. DOUBLE WHAT? A man is crying? Whoa, now that is a horse of a different color, right? I mean women are allowed to cry in our society but not men, right? It’s extremely odd that somehow our culture has built an idea or supposition that men should not show emotion. Think about it, guys. How many times in your life have you been moved to tears, only to secretly wipe them away carefully hoping no one notices. Cautious to make sure no one sees you display weakness or heaven forbid that you are human.
Now of course I’m not promoting a society where we all walk around crying all the time but folks, when God is the one instituting the tears, it’s a different thing. Today we see Joseph processing the goodness of God and as he does, he weeps. He sees the hand of God in his life and the love that is within that hand touches the very recesses of his heart. And when God’s hand touches your heart, you will weep.
I pray today that you are experiencing a closeness in your walk with your Heavenly Father. That you can feel His breath on your skin as you walk through your day. That you can feel the warmth of His hand as it gently and lovingly embraces yours. That you can hear His soft words in your ear as He offers His wisdom and guidance to your steps. And folks if you do enjoy this closeness with God, merely being in His presence will bring tears. How can it not? Your walking with your creator and the God of the infinite universe.
May all of your tears be tears of joy today as you walk in the love of your Father.
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