(Genesis 42:1-38) Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” 2 He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die.” 3 Then ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm may befall him.” 5 So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.
6 Now Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. 7 When Joseph saw his brothers he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and spoke to them harshly. And he said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”
8 But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him. 9 Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about them, and said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land.” 10 Then they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all sons of one man; we are honest men, your servants are not spies.” 12 Yet he said to them, “No, but you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land!” 13 But they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no longer alive.” 14 Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you, you are spies; 15 by this you will be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here! 16 Send one of you that he may get your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” 17 So he put them all together in prison for three days.
18 Now Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God: 19 if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry grain for the famine of your households, 20 and bring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be verified, and you will not die.” And they did so. 21 Then they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.” 22 Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not tell you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Now comes the reckoning for his blood.” 23 They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them. 24 He turned away from them and wept. But when he returned to them and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. 25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain and to restore every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. And thus it was done for them.
26 So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there. 27 As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money; and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. 28 Then he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned, and behold, it is even in my sack.” And their hearts sank, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29 When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, 30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly with us, and took us for spies of the country. 31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’ 33 The man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the famine of your households, and go. 34 But bring your youngest brother to me that I may know that you are not spies, but honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.’”
35 Now it came about as they were emptying their sacks, that behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were dismayed. 36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.” 37 Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my care, and I will return him to you.” 38 But Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If harm should befall him on the journey you are taking, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Interestingly, Joseph kept back Simeon, who was the brother that went with Levi to loot and slaughter all those men in an act of vengeance on behalf of their sister, so maybe Simeon was one of the meaner brothers in general. And although chapter 37 doesn't specify which brothers were the ones who actually grabbed Joseph and threw him into the pit, maybe Simeon was the ringleader in all of that, while the older two brothers did what they could to protect Joseph (kind of). No matter, I just have always wondered about that. So, moving on...
From verse 20 we can see that for those 20 plus years, these brothers would have been living with the guilt of what they had done to Joseph. Along with unconfessed sin comes the fear of being found out! And notice that in verse 28, they wonder what God is doing to them. While God ALLOWED these consequences to happen, they really brought this on themselves!
After a period of time, while trying to justify sinful actions, we can start believing the lies we have told others and ourselves, and in this way become "blind". It distorts how we see things, and how we look at our relationships with others, including God. Notice that the brothers didn't even recognize Joseph. In their minds, they believed that he was dead. A few times they mentioned that they were "honest" men. Maybe after selling Joseph and staging his demise, they realized that they had to smarten up. It's one thing to try to change on one's own, but it's quite another thing to allow God to change us from the inside out!
In life, in general, confessing our sins will set us free from those burdens of fear and guilt. When a person becomes a believer, humbly asking God for His forgiveness for all one's sins sets us free from the consequences of eternal death. Moving forward from that, even though we won't lose our salvation, when we sin, those sins will still weigh us down and impact our relationships with God and those around us. Therefore, as we confess and apologize, we maintain better relationships. And - the sooner the better!
We can understand people's reactions, because we are all human. When someone offends us in some way, it hurts, and it can make us sad, disappointed, angry... and it will become more difficult to trust those people. We also know that when those people apologize to us, it helps heal those hurts. Especially if it was only a one time offense. If and when people do not apologize, they tend to justify their actions, and typically avoid being around those they have hurt.
It's kind of like that, when we sin against God. It is not that God moves away from us, it is us moving away from God. Now, when we move away from God, God is ALWAYS there waiting for us to run back to Him with humble hearts, to confess our sins, and get back to having a close relationship with Him! But what if we avoid doing that?
Because we all have a God-given conscience, it is difficult to ignore our sins. So if we do not confess them, we are left trying to justify them. In that, we become self-righteous! We can even become proud of our sin, because we have made it "right" in our own eyes. That means, we must tell ourselves that others are wrong, and that God is also somehow wrong.
All the while, the guilt will continue to gnaw at us. When we don't realize that this is guilt to be dealt with, we will see that as "hurt" caused by other people and maybe even God. And yet, those who become self-righteous in their own thinking, expect God and others to respect them and make them feel better in some way. Do we seriously think that God will honor us in our self-righteousness, or help us in accomplishing what WE want?
(Isaiah 59:1-2) Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. 2 But your wrongdoings have caused a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
(James 5:16) Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. A prayer of a righteous person, when it is brought about, can accomplish much.
(Romans 8:28) And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
So, it benefits us in our relationships with others and with God to see the value in confessing our sins! Even if the others don't forgive us, we have been obedient to God's will, so we will find closure just in that. Of course when we confess our sins to God, God is gracious and faithful to forgive, so we will find spiritual healing and peace! While believers cannot lose their salvation (because of God's grace), why would we not want to have a healthy relationship with God? In this way, we will be continually seeking out and living in the righteousness of the Lord! And as we do, we will have healthier relationships with others.
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