Forgiveness
Where does true forgiveness begin? Repentance, of course. But where does repentance begin? That is an important question as we look at
Genesis 42. The truth is, most of us in
America – myself included – don’t know the first thing about making repentant communities
and living within them. We like to live
in communities where everyone gets along, but very few of us really know how to
do that in practice. We can only play
nice for a time before our true inner self comes out and division occurs. Unless we really know how to deal with this
ugly inner self we will never learn how to truly live in communities of
repentance.
We have a great example here in Genesis of how to bring
about a community of true repentance. In
Genesis 42, we see Joseph meet up with his brothers. Joseph recognizes them –
because they still speak like Hebrew people and they were grown before they got
rid of Joseph.
The brothers don’t recognize Joseph because he was only 17
when he left them and he has no doubt undergone some speech modification having
learned the tongue of the Egyptians.
Given all of this, it makes sense that Joseph recognizes them and they
don’t recognize him.
The question is, why does Joseph play hard ball with the
brothers? Why does Joseph not reveal
himself? How does this fit in with this
idea of living in true community?
The answer goes back to the first question: true
repentance. The unity of the family is
nowhere near as important as the repentance of the brothers. Getting along in peace is not as important as
each of us walking right with the Lord.
It just simply isn’t! So Joseph
waits until he has seen true repentance before handing out forgiveness. Joseph needs to evoke genuine confession and
repentance – genuine desire to change – before displaying the power and
fullness of God’s grace for the brothers to see.
So Joseph plays hardball.
He accuses them of spying on the nakedness of the land. Here we no doubt have a reference to his own
self when he was stripped of his coat and sold into slavery by these very
brothers. What is the result of Joseph’s
playing hardball with them? Read Genesis
42:21-22. The brothers confess amongst
themselves that they are guilty of Joseph’s blood and Reuben reveals that he
foretold that their actions would come back to haunt them.
Here is the beginning of repentance: admission of guilt. We observe that we have something within ourselves
that needs to change. We reflect upon
how our own choices are impacting our life.
We see ourselves as we truly are.
Submission
The rest of the story is about the second step in the
process of repentance: submission to a greater authority. Yes, we understand God to be the greatest
authority and the ultimate one to whom we should submit. But within this story the brothers here must submit
to Joseph. Simeon is bound and the
brothers go home as Joseph asks. They go
in order to bring Benjamin back with them.
They submit to Joseph in their repentance.
True repentance requires more than just an admission of
guilt. It requires a submission to a new
pattern of behavior. When the brothers
acted impulsively and sold Joseph into slavery, they were following their own
hearts. Now the hearts of the brothers
are beginning to be tamed and they are starting to submit to someone else’s
plan – namely God’s plan as brought into reality through Joseph. Without submission to God true repentance is
not found.
Once we have observed and reflected what we need to change
we can come before God and ask what He would have us do. We can submit to Him. With His help, we can plan to be different
and act upon that plan.
Binding Simeon
As I look at Joseph’s role in the story, I find it
interesting that Joseph bound Simeon as the second oldest and not Reuben as the
oldest. But then I must remember that
Joseph was a Godly man. Joseph heard
Reuben’s charge to the brothers that he warned them that selling Joseph would
turn out poorly. Reuben’s honest
confession within the story likely gives us the reason that Joseph binds Simeon.
Joseph has already forgiven Reuben and
has accepted Reuben’s apology and defense.
Thus the burden of bondage falls to Simeon. He is bound and kept behind while everyone
else is released to go home. Even in
this story we find Joseph as not just the strong-handed agent of God bringing
his brothers to repentance but also the forgiving and compassionate agent of
God where true repentance is sought and found.
Furthermore, the fact that Joseph returns the money shows an
even more forgiving side of Joseph.
Joseph wants to see his brothers again.
By keeping Simeon, he hopes that he has ensured that. But by returning the money, Joseph has also
ensured that the brothers will have the financial resources to return and buy
more grain. He also is attempting to
demonstrate that Egypt holds no ill will against the brothers. In his forgiveness, Joseph is active in
helping to remove all the obstacles that might get in the way of the repentance
of the brothers. I find that as I read
this story anew this year that I have a great reason to respect Joseph now that
God has brought him through the lessons of his youth and early adulthood.
The Return of Jacob
Notice one more thing that I will likely pull out
tomorrow. As the brothers return back to
Canaan … Israel reverts back to being called Jacob. That implies that Jacob will have a moment of
spiritual weakness and his old character is going to come back out. So watch out for it tomorrow as we read!
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