After Yosef admits his true identity
to his brothers, he tells them that he is not angry at them and he knows that
it was all part of God’s plan (Breisheet 45:8-13):
Now it was not you that sent me
here, but God; and He made me as a father to Pharaoh and master of all his
house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry, go up to my father and tell
him: “This is what your son, Yosef says: ‘God has made me master of all Egypt.
Come down to me, do not delay’…Tell my father of my honor in Egypt, and all
that you saw. Hurry and bring my father down here.”
In Breisheet 45:25-27 we read:
They went up from Egypt, and they
came to the land of C’naan, to their father Yaakov. They told him saying,
“Yosef is still alive. He is ruler of all the land of Egypt.” His (Yaakov’s)
heart stood still, for he could not believe them. They told him all the words
of Yosef which he had spoken to them, and he saw wagons that Yosef had sent to
carry him. Then the spirit of their father Yaakov was revived.
If at first Yaakov didn’t believe
them, then which part of Yosef’s message finally convinced Yaakov that they
were telling the truth?
According to HaRav Chaim Sofer, when
the brothers said, “He is ruler of all the land of Egypt,” Yaakov said, “These
can’t be the words of Yosef, since they don’t mention the name of God.”
However, when they told him all the words of Yosef which he had spoken to them
including “He (God) made me as a father to Pharaoh, and master of all his
house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt” and “God has made me master of all
Egypt,” Yaakov understood that they were Yosef’s words, and he was revived.
Even after 22 years, Yaakov knew his
son well enough that he would attribute all of his success to God.
May we learn this lesson from Yosef
and acknowledge God’s involvement in our lives.
