More on Repentance and Forgiveness
In the spirit of John Milton, I think we can call Genesis 45
“Paradise Regained.” Here we see Joseph
forgive. Here we see God’s greater plan
outmaneuvering the schemes of humanity.
Here we see God restoring relationships and reuniting people who believed
they have been lost to each other forever.
And we get even more of it tomorrow, too!
However, I’ve been talking repentance and forgiveness for
the past few days, so I don’t want to jump off of that train yet. Notice that Joseph does not abandon the issue
of repentance as he goes forth into forgiveness. Joseph fully holds them responsible in
Genesis 45:5. Joseph acknowledges “you
sold me into slavery.” Joseph expresses
an accountability that is so often lost in the process of hearing repentance and
forgiving the repentant sinner.
But then Joseph explodes into forgiveness. The dam breaks and Joseph’s love pours
forth. In many ways, this is precisely
the model of Christ that I hinted at yesterday.
Joseph is very similar to Christ here.
Christ holds the sinner accountable during repentance, but once the sins
have been repented of Jesus reminds us that he has already taken care of the
atonement process! We can move
straightway into forgiveness and effecting true change in our lives!
God’s Action and Responsibility
I also like the fact that Joseph holds the brothers
accountable in spite of saying that God has re-planned their sinful acts to
serve the purpose of good. We need to be
careful as we look at these words. Joseph
does not presents a reality in which God forces the brothers “to do evil” so
that God could later “change it over for good.”
Thinking like that is anathema, although one can see how we can arrive
at that conclusion.
Rather, the reality that Joseph presents is a reality in
which the brothers are free to choose evil – or good, had they wanted. God was willing to take that choice and use it
– whatever the choice actually happened to be.
God grants us free will.
This does not give us permission to choose whatever we want
knowing that God will make it okay in the end.
Rather, it frees us to honestly choose and allow our true self to come
out while knowing that our choices will not necessarily affect God’s absolute
plan. We can show our true colors and plan,
scheme, and plot in the presence of God.
God is more powerful than our sinfulness, although we will certainly be
held accountable for our sin. There is
an inherent sense of freedom knowing that even if we choose evil, God’s plan
cannot be thwarted.
Pharaoh’s Reaction
I’d like to just mention that Pharaoh gives choice land to
Joseph. Joseph’s faithful service to
Pharaoh – differences in religion aside – brings about Pharaoh’s blessing. Faithfulness is a good thing regardless of
whether or not the person to whom we are being faithful is God-fearing or
not. Of course, that statement should be
read with the disclaimer that faithfulness is defined as acting in a way that
is congruent with God’s ways. So long as
we can abide in God’s ways, we should be faithful to the godly and ungodly
alike. Through our faithfulness we
display God’s faithfulness to us.
Joseph and Israel
To this point I haven’t spoken about Joseph and his
father. Joseph is overcome by his
emotion with his brothers, but his concern also extends to his father back in
Canaan. He has to know that things have
not gone well there. After all, had
things gone well the brothers wouldn’t have been sent to Egypt to buy grain in
the first place! So Joseph remembers his
father back in Canaan and tells the brothers to go and get him and bring him
back to Egypt so that he can dwell in the safety of God’s provision.
Israel is slow to concede the invitation, but once he hears
the words and sees the prosperity he is convinced to go and see Joseph. I can understand his dilemma. He knows that Canaan had been promised to his
people, but he is no doubt also torn to see his lost son. Before he dies, Israel heads down to Egypt to
see Joseph one last time.
Here we can see the true fruit of our willingness to
repent. Repentance brings about
restoration of relationships. It’s like
the parable of the Prodigal Son.
Whatever sin may have driven apart father and son, what is important is
that the family is reunited. In this
case, we see Israel more interested in focusing upon his restoration with
Joseph more than we see him interested in accusing Joseph’s brothers for their
earlier treachery and subsequent cover-up of their deed. Repentance restores relationship.
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