The Story of Joseph

Part 3:  Payback Time

Questions I Ask Myself

n    Is it OK to desire payback?

Questions I Ask Myself?

n    What does God’s justice look like?

n    Can I expect God to repay those who have wronged me?

n    What happens if I’m the one who did wrong?

n    Am I asking the right questions?

Recap

Genesis 40-41, 47:13-26

n    Joseph interprets dreams while in prison

n    Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dream

n    Predicts 7 years of plenty and 7 years of famine

n    Joseph becomes prime minister of Egypt

n    Prospers and brings salvation to the Egyptians.

Famine in Canaan

Genesis 42:1-6 (NIV)

n     Jacob sends his 10 sons (except Benjamin) to buy food.

n     Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the one who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph's brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.  As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. "Where do you come from?" he asked.
      "From the land of Canaan," they replied, "to buy food."

The brothers bow before Joseph

Genesis 42: 8-17 (NIV)

n       Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, "You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected."

n      "No, my lord," they answered. "Your servants have come to buy food.  We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies."

n      "No!" he said to them. "You have come to see where our land is unprotected."

n      But they replied, "Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more."

n      Joseph said to them, "It is just as I told you: You are spies! And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!"  And he put them all in custody for three days.

A Guilty Conscience

n      Genesis 42: 18-24 (NIV)

n      On the third day, Joseph said to them, "Do this and you will live, for I fear God: If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die." This they proceeded to do.

n      They said to one another, "Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that's why this distress has come upon us."

n      Reuben replied, "Didn't I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn't listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood." They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter.

n      He turned away from them and began to weep, but then turned back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.

Getting Even?

n      Genesis 42:18 – 38

n      The brothers are unfairly accused of spying.

n      Are all imprisoned.  Simeon remains.

n      Asked to produce proof of remaining brother.

n      Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man's silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. After this was done for them,  they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.

n      At the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack. "My silver has been returned," he said to his brothers. "Here it is in my sack."
      Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, "What is this that God has done to us?"

Observations

n    Joseph was fully capable of destroying his brothers. He did not.

n    He did, however, test them.

n   He tested their honesty.

n   Made them feel a portion of what he felt.

n    The brothers’ guilt came to the forefront when Joseph tested them.

n   They made the connection between what they did to Joseph and what was happening now.

The brothers return

Genesis 42: 36-38

n       Their father Jacob said to them, "You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!"

Genesis 43: 8-14

n       Then Judah said to Israel his father, "Send the boy along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our children may live and not die. I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life.  As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice."

n       Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds. Take double the amount of silver with you, for you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. Take your brother also and go back to the man at once.  And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved."

The brothers return

Genesis 43:17-19

n      So the men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph. When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare dinner; they are to eat with me at noon."

n      The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph's house. Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They thought, "We were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys."

n      So they went up to Joseph's steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. "Please, sir," they said, "we came down here the first time to buy food. But at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver—the exact weight—in the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us. We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don't know who put our silver in our sacks."

Another test?

n       Joseph holds a feast for them

n       Provides instructions to his steward to put back their silver

n       Sets it up to make it look like Benjamin stole Joseph’s cup.

n       The steward arrests them and brings them back to the palace.

Genesis 44:1-17 (NIV)

n       They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, "Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, 'Why have you repaid good with evil? Isn't this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done.' "

n       When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them. But they said to him, "Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that! We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master's house? If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord's slaves."

n       "Very well, then," he said, "let it be as you say. Whoever is found to have it will become my slave; the rest of you will be free from blame."

Another test?

Genesis 44: 11-17 (NIV)

n      They all quickly took their sacks from the backs of their donkeys and opened them. The palace manager searched the brothers’ sacks, from the oldest to the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack! When the brothers saw this, they tore their clothing in despair. Then they loaded their donkeys again and returned to the city.

n      Joseph was still in his palace when Judah and his brothers arrived, and they fell to the ground before him.  “What have you done?” Joseph demanded. “Don’t you know that a man like me can predict the future?”

n      Judah answered, “Oh, my lord, what can we say to you? How can we explain this? How can we prove our innocence? God is punishing us for our sins. My lord, we have all returned to be your slaves—all of us, not just our brother who had your cup in his sack.”

n      “No,” Joseph said. “I would never do such a thing! Only the man who stole the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go back to your father in peace.”

Judah’s Intercession

n      Joseph offers to take Benjamin as a slave.  Judah intercedes:

Genesis 44: 27-33 (NIV)

n      “Then my father said to us, ‘As you know, my wife had two sons, and one of them went away and never returned. Doubtless he was torn to pieces by some wild animal. I have never seen him since. Now if you take his brother away from me, and any harm comes to him, you will send this grieving, white-haired man to his grave.’

n      “And now, my lord, I cannot go back to my father without the boy. Our father’s life is bound up in the boy’s life. If he sees that the boy is not with us, our father will die. We, your servants, will indeed be responsible for sending that grieving, white-haired man to his grave.  My lord, I guaranteed to my father that I would take care of the boy. I told him, ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, I will bear the blame forever.’

n      “So please, my lord, let me stay here as a slave instead of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.  For how can I return to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn’t bear to see the anguish this would cause my father!”

Revelation

n       Genesis 45

n       Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, "Have everyone leave my presence!" So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh's household heard about it.   Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still living?" But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.

n       Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.  For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

n       "So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.  Now hurry back to my father and say to him, 'This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don't delay.

Epilogue

Genesis 50:15-21 (NIV)

n      15 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?" 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 '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.  18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are your slaves," they said.

n       19 But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

WDJD?

n    Forgave those who were crucifying him.

n    Reinstated Peter, who denied him.

n    Saved Saul (Paul) who persecuted the early church.

n    Sacrificed himself so that his enemies would be reconciled with him.

God’s Justice

n     God works things out for your good. (Romans 8:28)

n     God will pay back. (Romans 12:19)

n    He does not pay you back as your sins deserve (Psalm 103).

n     If you’ve sinned, He tests you in the process of re-establishing your relationship. (Psalm 51)

n    Wants proof of your honesty and agreement about your sin.

n    The sacrifices of God – a broken spirit, a contrite heart.

n    Wants you to have his heart.

Testing the Heart

n      1 Have mercy on me, O God,
      because of your unfailing love.
   Because of your great compassion,
      blot out the stain of my sins.
 2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
      Purify me from my sin.
 3 For I recognize my rebellion;
      it haunts me day and night.

n      4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
      I have done what is evil in your sight.
   You will be proved right in what you say,
      and your judgment against me is just.[a]
 5 For I was born a sinner—
      yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
 6 But you desire honesty from the womb,[b]
      teaching me wisdom even there.

n       

Testing the Heart

n      9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
      Remove the stain of my guilt.
 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
      Renew a loyal spirit within me.

n      16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
      You do not want a burnt offering.
 17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
      You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

What then shall we do?

n     Reflect on times in your life when someone wronged you, and how God worked it out for your benefit. 

n    Record and be thankful for those times – you are more than a conqueror.

n    Forgive those who wronged you, just as Jesus has forgiven you and brought you into his salvation.

n     If you were the one who did wrong against someone else, re-establish your relationships.

n    Ask God to give you a change of heart.

n    Admit where you have done wrong and ask for forgiveness.

n    Re-establish trust by being accountable over time.