“¹⁸Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said,

“Behold, we are your servants.”

¹⁹Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?”– Genesis 50:18-19 (NKJV)

“Then his brothers also went and fell down (the word “also ” implying that Joseph also “fell down ” as he wept; so great was his gut-wrenching sobs and display of emotion; how lengthy, complex and far-reaching the effects of deep-seated trauma here so fully revived and painfully worked through one last culminating time before the narrative ends in the great crescendo that is verse 20: the Romans 8:28 of the Old Testament; the veritable bouldering Voice of The Most High God speaking on a scale through the suffering of Joseph that transcends generations, even ages, His Sovereignty proclaimed once and for all, undeniably, irrefutably, as firm and enduring as any a foundation that ever was laid, that which precedes, concludes and saturates everything that ever there was, is and will be) before his face (instantly recognising their gross misjudgment of his character in their irrational fear – not unlike we ourselves when we finally enter into the Presence of God and our perspective is instantly purified – falling down before Him with that instinctive compulsion to worship when literally in the face of  true greatness . . . ), and they said, “Behold, we are your servants (usually followed by the equally strong compulsion to pledge eternal allegiance- and humble servitude to such greatness; recognise also the emphatic “are “: there is no question to the matter; this is the moment where it is forever seared into their hearts and minds that they will always be Joseph’s inferior and he is worthy, worthy, worthy of their everlasting servanthood, devotion and praise where this peculiar narrative once again transcends dispensations and becomes a faint mirror-image of Revelation 5:12).” 19 Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? ” (In Joseph himself of course – not being The True Christ but merely a Christ-type – is displayed all the precious marks of the truly humble who are themselves utterly devoted to not attributing even one iota of God’s glory unto themselves, behaviours oddly enough reiterating that of the angels when appearing to human beings in the earth e.g. “Do not be afraid . . .” [Luke 1:30: Luke 2:10] and the almost startlingly similar scene as the one we are studying at present Dear Friends, as found in Rev 22:8-9: “Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” Nevertheless there is a very real sense in which Joseph, all humility aside, is in the place of God as a Christ-type [also see Exodus 4:15-16], who though not Perfectly as The One True Christ – Our Beloved King Jesus – very much “came to reveal the Father”, therein rendering this a somewhat rhetorical question □ ; this despite however veiled the full implications may be to Joseph himself, the mere man, in that particular time and space, who I believe has no idea the profundity of the Words he is here led to speak. I do also adore the fact that it is posited as a question, the counseling style most often used by Our Lord Himself to invite deep meditation into The Things of God.)

□ See also Amos 3:3-6 for more examples of the Scriptural style of The Rhetorical Question