More than a Blessing
With this passage, we see the reason behind the blessing of Joseph. God blessed Joseph because of his faithfulness; however, the specifics of the blessings were very much part of God’s bigger plan. God could have blessed Joseph in many different ways; yet He chose to put him in charge of the distribution of food during the famine. It was not a coincidence that one day ten of Joseph’s brothers would come to buy grain from the very man they had sold into slavery so long ago.
I have always read this section of scripture from the viewpoint of Joseph. I try to imagine the emotions that he must have felt at this opportunity to confront and forgive the men who made his life so painful. Thinking back on my life, I have wondered what it would be like to have the same opportunity. I pray that I would feel grace and mercy, and yet wonder if I, like Joseph, would be tempted to put my tormentors to the test just a bit.
Today, however, I want to challenge both of us to read this passage from the perspective of the brothers. It is easy to feel vindicated when wicked people experience hardship. We cheer when the villain fails and the hero wins the day. However, were we not all villains when Christ agreed to die for us? I have a note taped to my desk which reads: “Sinners may be very far from loving God, but so were the murders of Jesus moments before Pentecost changed their lives forever.” It echoes the truth of Romans 5:8: “But God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” Given this fundamental truth of our faith, instead of rooting for the villain to fail, we should be rooting for him to surrender to Christ and be bathed in mercy.
Joseph’s brothers faced circumstances they were ill prepared to withstand. As a powerful and wealthy family, they undoubtedly managed to weather the famine better than many did. Perhaps this is why the devastation lasted so long and was so severe. Using my life as a reference, I see that I had to experience hardship after hardship until it was too much for me carry before I would bend my knee. Those experiences were not because God didn’t love me. Just the opposite! God knew the depth of my stubbornness and knew nothing would soften my heart until it had been shattered. These men needed to be broken.
Years passed after they sold their brother into slavery and hid this truth from their father. Decades had passed. God gave them 22 years to reckon their past and yet they carried on as if they had not done such an atrocious act. What must their lives have been like during those 22 years? Though they pushed their crime down deep inside of them, it was still there. Did it haunt their dreams? Did they wonder what became of their brother? Did they cry when no one noticed or laugh at their ‘luck’ at having pulled it off? When confronted in Egypt, all the brothers immediately went back to their evil betrayal of their younger brother as the cause of their current situation. Verse 21 records them admitting they were guilty – not of the crime Joseph pretending to not know them accused them of but of how they treated Joseph when he was young. This shows me the weight of their crime never left their shoulders or their minds. It was quick to pop up when difficulties arose.
God orchestrated the blessing of Joseph and his rise to power. He positioned him exactly where he would one day come into contact with his brothers. Perhaps this was partially to give Joseph a chance to forgive and be healed; however, I believe it was for the benefit of ten men who needed to be forgiven. The God who reassured us that it was His nature to leave the ninety-nine safe sheep in search of the one who was missing (Matthew 18:12-14) still cares for the lost. He loved the brothers who had turned their back on righteousness as much as He loved the one who remained faithful. That is the God we serve, and that is why most of us are here today.
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