Arriving at Forgiveness – Genesis 44-50
When we get to Genesis 42, it has been around 27 years since Joseph and his brothers were in one another’s presence. That last encounter together was tremendously painful for everyone involved. After almost 3 decades, what are the chances you would run into your betrayed brother in the court of Pharoah? He is so far from their minds and they cannot even imagine that he would even be alive. They don’t recognize him but he knows them well.
This first encounter after all of those difficult, yet God-ordained days reveal this…
Genesis 42:6 Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. 7 Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” 8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them.
Joseph remembered the dream where they would come and bow before him.
The brothers return home to Canaan and then return again to Egypt which brings us to the revelation of Joseph to his brothers in Genesis 45…
Genesis 45:1 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. 4 So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
(1) Exact Revenge
Think about the emotions Joseph could have been feeling in those initials encounters with his brothers and how he could have allowed all of those ‘wasted years’ to get the better of him as he could have allowed his heart to seek revenge.
It would have made his flesh feel much better and from a human perspective, he could have justified his actions and his desire for self-made justice. All around us today, people are aiming for justice by taking matters into their own hands. The problem with this is that God has not fully given us this responsibility to exact man-driven justice on others for what they have done for us. This leads us to the 2nd option before us…
(2) Release the Hurt – 45:1-8
The true life of faith in the realm of forgiveness releases 2 people from a prison of bitterness…
(1) Ourselves
(2) Us
One of the greatest sins in the church today is unforgiveness.
Joseph shows us 3 critical things in 45:1-8
(1) Handle Life’s Pain by Seeing that God is Always at Work – 45:8
Genesis 45:8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Joseph did not diminish what his brothers did (whom you sold into Egypt), yet he saw that God’s purpose was fully in it all & God's purpose was greater than the evil of the brothers brought. “Why was Joseph in Egypt? Was it because of the sin of his brothers or because of the good plan of God?” The answer is that both options are true, but ultimately God was behind it all.
Joseph did not have Romans 8:28 to rely on, plus he did not in any way romanticize the sin of his brothers for he said “you meant it for evil”. Sometimes though, there is a much greater truth and it was this - “God meant it for good.”
(2) He Refused to Take the Place of God with His Brothers – 50:19
Am I in the place of God? Joseph first understood he was not in the place of God. It wasn’t his job to bring retribution upon his brothers. If the LORD chose to do it, He would have to find another instrument than himself as a brother on the receiving end of their sin.
From a human perspective, Joseph had the “right” and the ability to bring retribution upon his brothers, but he knew God was God, and he was not.
(3) Forgiveness and Kindness are always the right response
In all of our lives we have the chance to choose to hold tight onto things that have been done to us that are traumatic and wrong, or we can exercise the one freeing thing at our disposal - to let go of the action done toward us and let God sort it all out. We must forgive as He has forgiven us.
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