Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
"After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?" So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father left these instructions before he died: 'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are your slaves," they said. But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father's family. He lived a hundred and ten years and saw the third generation of Ephraim's children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph's knees. Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, "God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place." So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt." Genesis 50:14-26
Jacob has died and received his burial in Canaan, just as he requested with full traditional honors from his Israelite family and the Egyptians as well. He had quite a life and left behind twelve sons who would form the framework of Israel…the heads of the twelve tribes. The nation of Israel would be in their hands with God as their guide. They had a lot of challenges ahead of them now that their father had passed. We read where their immediate concern is whether they will now survive the perceived wrath of Joseph…the brother they wronged so badly.
We catch a glimpse of their anxiety in our scripture as the brothers think, ""What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?" The brothers believed that Joseph only showed them mercy before because Jacob was still living but now that he was dead, there was nothing holding Joseph back from exacting his revenge. Would he put them into prison like he was so they could get a taste of the isolation and confinement he suffered through? Would he make them slaves to the Egyptians so they might experience the bondage he endured as they sold him away? The questions were racing through their minds so much that they couldn’t face Joseph themselves right away. Instead, they sent a message to him as a preamble to them going to him.
The message was simple and to the point, stating "Your father left these instructions before he died: 'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father." Their words contained three key points:
1. The advice to ask for forgiveness came from their father. Jacob, before he died, had told his sons to ask for forgiveness from Joseph. This was the first step to seeking reconciliation. Humbly coming forth to ask for pardon.
2. The brothers confessed to having sinned. The brothers admitted that what they did to Joseph was sinful and wrong. Their treatment of him was bad and unwarranted. It was inexcusable and they make no excuse for their actions.
3. They profess themselves to be servants of God. This showed the greatest change of heart in his brothers. For no one truly serving God would have wronged him the way they did. But now, he had seen them before him genuinely humble and changed. Truly, there had been a positive outcome from his suffering. Just as he realized that God had brought him on this journey to achieve a greater purpose for Him, so too does he see where God brought his brothers along on the journey for a reason as well. To draw them to Him so He could use them just as He had used Joseph.
Well, the message reached Joseph and his heart was touched. Scripture tells us, "he wept." Their words, coupled with the work of the Spirit within Joseph, had laid the groundwork for forgiveness and the repair of a fractured relationship.
Question: Are their any relationships in your life in need of repair? Do you face challenges where your heart struggles to forgive another for the wrongs they have done to you?
Joseph’s brothers now come to him and we read where they "threw themselves down before him" and said, "We are your slaves." They don’t wait to see if their message was received favorably but instead immediately throw themselves at Joseph’s feet professing their unworthiness. They are fit to do nothing else but be enslaved to him to repay the debt of their wrongdoing.
Question: Are we not all like Joseph’s brothers? Can we truly approach God with any sense of confidence that we are worthy of His favor? Should we not always be coming to Him with the sense of unworthiness, throwing ourselves at His feet as His slaves?
The truth of the matter is that none of us can stand before Him on our own merit. It’s only through His grace and mercy found in the sacrificing of His Son Jesus in our place that we even have a chance at redemption. We should humbly come before Him in thanksgiving and praise.
And since none of us can stand before Him, that means that none of us are worthy to judge either. Yes…we certainly love to assume this role. Satan loves to get us puffed up and believing we’re somehow superior to another. The truth is that we’re all the same when it comes down to it…all sinners in desperate need of God’s forgiveness. And since He so freely forgives us through Jesus…so too are we to forgive one another.
This is how Joseph could so easily say to his brothers, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." Joseph’s words need to resonate within the chambers of our hearts and minds today and forever more. Listen again as he says, "Am I in the place of God?"
Joseph realized it wasn’t his place to judge. Only God has the honor and authority to do that.
Joseph also realized that it was his obligation to forgive. For God expected that.
Question: How about you? Do you realize it isn’t your place to judge another? Do you see now how God expects us to forgive others in grace and mercy, just as He forgives us? We are not in the place of God when we judge and condemn. We are, however, in the place where God dwells when we adopt the Spirit of reconciliation and mercy and love. And who doesn’t want to dwell in the place where the Father dwells, in this life and in the one to come. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
http://www.faithhopeandlove.info/
Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com
No comments:
Post a Comment