Gen 45:1 Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.

Because of his standing as ruler in Egypt, he could not break down in front of the servants. He had to do so in private.

Gen 45:2 And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.

Even though he tried to hide it, he couldn't control his feelings and the servants heard it and told others. Pharaoh found out about the visit of Joseph's brothers.

Gen 45:3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

They had more reason to fear now that before. The guilt of the past was revisited in full. Sometimes though before we can be cleansed from sin, we have to confront the sin and bring it out in the open especially if our sin has harmed someone else.

Gen 45:4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

I'm sure God does not condone evil in any way but he can work His will in spite of them. Joseph truly was used of God to save many lives from starvation. Sometimes bad happens and we fail to see the good that may come out of it.

The verse all things work together for good comes to my mind in this instance.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

This doesn't mean all things work for the good of everyone but only for those that first love God and then for those that are called of God according to His purpose. Those that love God and are called of God have this promise that all things work for their good. It pays to love God.

Saying this though, there was never any excuse for the brothers to sell Joseph as a slave on their part. On Joseph's part, it worked together for good but the brothers had to bear the guilt before God for their actions.

Gen 45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
Gen 45:9 Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:
Gen 45:10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:
Gen 45:11 And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.
Gen 45:12 And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.
Gen 45:13 And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither.
Gen 45:14 And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.
Gen 45:15 Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.
Gen 45:16 And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.

We see also the hand of God in the household of Pharaoh. Pharaoh could have reacted differently and not desired to share Joseph with his family.

Gen 45:17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan;
Gen 45:18 And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.
Gen 45:19 Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.
Gen 45:20 Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.
Gen 45:21 And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.
Gen 45:22 To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.
Gen 45:23 And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way.
Gen 45:24 So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way.

He remembered his brothers were prone to argue and fight among themselves. He probably knew also that they would now have to tell their father the truth of his disappearance years ago. This stress probably would cause arguments and disagreements on whether or not to tell Jacob all the truth and leave out nothing.

True cleansing cannot come unless we tell all the truth and come clean leaving out nothing and not excusing ourselves.

I remember one time a person apologized to me for something they did but then took back that apology by excusing their behavior.
Instead it is best to just admit. I was wrong, completely at fault and I bear the blame, not blaming anyone else. Such cleansing this would bring but it isn't easy for us because we all are so full of pride and we worry too much about what someone else thinks.

Then too, some people cannot except an apology very well. I've seen some people find out another person admits wrongdoing and that causes them to gloat or increases their anger toward the wrongdoer because they now can feel justified in their anger because the other person admits the wrong. This is not the way it is supposed to work however. If someone does not know we did them wrong, it may be best to confess that type of sin just to God alone.

Gen 45:25 And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father,
Gen 45:26 And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not.

He had so resigned himself to believe Joseph to be dead that their words seemed as idle tales. Perhaps his sons were in the habit of lying throughout the years. The first deception in making Jacob think Joseph was killed by wild beasts just may have opened the door to further lies to cover up the first lie. This generally happens. How much easier it would be for us to just tell the truth at the beginning.

Gen 45:27 And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived:
Gen 45:28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

Probably nothing else would have gotten Jacob to move out of that land at this stage in his life.

God had mercy and compassion in allowing Jacob to live to see his son. Sometimes we think God is afar off uncaring about our sorrows but He is not out there somewhere apart from us. He is there if we seek Him. He will not force Himself upon us if we choose not to have anything to do with Him.   How good of God to bring about this wonderful reconciliation. 

Genesis 46