Genesis 45:7

7 And God sent me before, that you may be preserved upon the earth, and may have food to live.

Genesis 45:7 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 45:7

And God sent me before you
This he repeats to impress the minds of his brethren with a sense of the good providence of God in bringing him to Egypt before them, to make provision for their future welfare, and to alleviate their grief, and prevent an excessive sorrow for their selling him into Egypt, when by the overruling hand of God it proved so salutary to them: to preserve you a posterity in the earth;
that they and theirs might not perish, which otherwise, in all human probability, must have been the case; and that the promise of the multiplication of Abraham's seed might not be made of none effect, but continue to take place, from whence the Messiah was to spring: and to save your lives by a great deliverance;
from the extreme danger they were exposed unto, through the terrible famine, and in which deliverance were to be observed the great wisdom, goodness, power, and providence of God.

Genesis 45:7 In-Context

5 Be not afraid, and let it not seem to you a hard case that you sold me into these countries: for God sent me before you into Egypt for your preservation.

6 For it is two years since the famine began to be upon the land, and five years more remain, wherein there can be neither ploughing nor reaping.

7 And God sent me before, that you may be preserved upon the earth, and may have food to live.

8 Not by your counsel was I sent hither, but by the will of God: who hath made me as it were a father to Pharao, and lord of his whole house, and governor in all the land of Egypt.

9 Make haste, and go ye up to my father, and say to him: Thus saith thy son Joseph: God hath made me lord of the whole land of Egypt; come down to me, linger not.