My brother and I received a call to ministry at a young age. I remember once speaking with him about what we envisioned for our lives in ministry. We both discussed our hopes and dreams (e.g., playing music in front of hundreds and even thousands of people, preaching before large crowds and seeing God move mightily through the work to which he called us, and living within the context of a successful occupation). We both agreed that we desired to be used of God tremendously and we would go anywhere the Lord sent us; we were willing to do anything, but it became clear that it was not acceptable to us to do so unseen.

Paul teaches that the gifts and callings of God are without repentance or irrevocable (Rom 11:29). Nonetheless, human nature holds a propensity to forget or even neglect such truth, especially when one’s call from the Lord goes unseen. Christians should take care in approaching tasks to which God has called them, for his plans are higher than the plans of humankind and his ways are unsearchable (Isa 55:8-9). The narrative in the final third of Genesis presents an often unseen and (assuredly) misunderstood focus, for the primary character, Joseph, does not hold the most important role. The aim here is for believers to perceive and understand their own task and calling as 1) for the glory of God alone rather than self and 2) meaningful despite the possibility of being unseen, rewarded, or praised.

To properly comprehend Genesis 45, background of the book to such a point must be conveyed. Mindful of the fact that Joseph seemingly satiates the final fourteen chapters of the book of Genesis (chapters 37-50), a reader could straightforwardly miss the point of the story, which is precisely what occurs when believers make feeble attempts to turn the Bible into compartmentalized individual stories with the aim of moralistic therapeutic deism. One, for example, might interpret the story of Daniel refusing to eat anything but fruits and vegetables as a comprehensive approach to diet rather than a purpose for a specific time and a specific people and then proceed to imitate Daniel’s diet with a belief that it is the only appropriate diet for the people of God when such a viewpoint would be a gross misinterpretation. In the book of Genesis, Joseph takes considerable space because he is a tool to preserve the chosen seed, which ultimately would be Jesus.

The Apostle Paul referred to Adam as a type of the one to come (Rom 5:14). The doctrine of original sin infers that through Adam, the human race has been infected with the disease of sin; we are, therefore, sinners by nature. Just as humankind is dead in sin through Adam, so also are we, the church, made alive through Jesus Christ. Adam then was a type of what was to come, but the abundantly apparent truth is that Jesus is better than original sin. The gospel centers around Christ and his fulfillment of the law and of the covenant God made with his people. From the beginning of the Bible, God told the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heal” (Gen 3:15). This tells of the miraculous virgin birth that was to come, for Jesus had to be born of the Holy Spirit so as not to be conceived in sin. From the beginning of time, a promised seed was established to save God’s people in the covenant, and while Satan continued to try to thwart the line of seed, God continued it. Cain killed Abel, but the covenant continued because then Seth was born. Then in Genesis 5, there is a genealogy of ten generations from Seth to Noah so that the promised seed is preserved. Seth and Noah are both promised seeds but not the ultimate promised seed; they would preserve the promised seed that is to come. Noah has three sons (Shem, Ham, and Japheth), and while the world is judged in a flood, they preserved the seed. Shem then preserves the seed later through Zerah who has a son named Abraham, the next link in the seed of promise. The problem, however, is that Abraham’s wife, Sarah, is beyond childbearing years so Abraham tries to manipulate the situation by having a child with his servant and Ishmael is born. However, Ishmael is not the promised seed and eventually Isaac is born and then Jacob and Esau. Esau, the older, would seem to be the promised seed, but it is, in fact, Jacob, the younger. Jacob then has twelve sons. We might think Jacob’s son, Joseph, is the promised seed, but the promised seed is Judah; Joseph merely preserves the seed. From Judah’s line eventually comes Jesse who bears a great son named David who is again a promised seed but not the ultimate promised seed. The covenant is then renewed with David in that his lineage will sit on the throne forever. Even David’s son, Solomon, is not the promised seed, but eventually through David’s line, the ultimate Savior of the world was born of a virgin to save his people in the covenant.[1]

Thus, Joseph is merely a tool for the Lord to use in preserving the life of Judah, for without Joseph’s high position in the land of Egypt, his brothers might have perished in famine. Christians should understand that God’s plans involve the entirety of his people and there is no job or calling too small or insignificant for him. The primary character of the story (at least in relation to the covenant of the Lord)—the protagonist if you will—then is Judah, for Judah preserves the promised seed in Jesus Christ. Therefore, after nine chapters of focusing on Joseph, the account is brought to chapter 45 of Genesis.