GENESIS
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Notes on Genesis 45
Because of his standing as ruler in Egypt, he could not break down in front of the servants. He had to do so in private.
Even though he tried to hide it, he couldn't control his feelings and the servants heard it and told others. Pharaoh found out about the visit of Joseph's brothers.
They had more reason to fear now that before. The guilt of the past was revisited in full. Sometimes though before we can be cleansed from sin, we have to confront the sin and bring it out in the open especially if our sin has harmed someone else.
I'm sure God does not condone evil in any way but he can work His will in spite of them. Joseph truly was used of God to save many lives from starvation. Sometimes bad happens and we fail to see the good that may come out of it. The verse all things work together for good comes to my mind in this instance. Yet, even as we acknowledge this truth, we must remember that it doesn't excuse doing evil. Good came from this but they paid for their consequence of their sin in some way. Jacob showed favoritism to Joseph which indirectly caused this and Jacob paid for it by being deprived of his son for years. Even though God used this for good, we still suffer consequences for wrong decisions and sin. A man for instance may rob a bank but later repent and find God perhaps through someone he met in prison. He still has to go to prison and pay for the crime even though God forgives him. We might think, if he had not have robbed the bank he might not have found the Lord and that could be true but that doesn't mean God wanted him to rob the bank and break His (God's) law. He may use the circumstances to bring people to salvation but He never justifies the sin.
This doesn't mean all things work for the good of everyone but only for those that first love God and then for those that are called of God according to His purpose. Those that love God and are called of God have this promise that all things work for their good. It pays to love God. Saying this though, there was never any excuse for the brothers to sell Joseph as a slave on their part. On Joseph's part, it worked together for good but the brothers had to bear the guilt before God for their actions.
We see also the hand of God in the household of Pharaoh. Pharaoh could have reacted differently and not desired to share Joseph with his family.
He remembered his brothers were prone to argue and fight among themselves. He probably knew also that they would now have to tell their father the truth of his disappearance years ago. This stress probably would cause arguments and disagreements on whether or not to tell Jacob all the truth and leave out nothing. True cleansing cannot come unless we tell all the truth and come clean leaving out nothing and not excusing ourselves. I remember one time a person apologized to me for something they did but then took back that apology by excusing their behavior. Instead it is best to just admit. I was wrong, completely at fault and I bear the blame, not blaming anyone else. Such cleansing this would bring but it isn't easy for us because we all are so full of pride and we worry too much about what someone else thinks. Then too, some people cannot except an apology very well. I've seen some people find out another person admits wrongdoing and that causes them to gloat or increases their anger toward the wrongdoer because they now can feel justified in their anger because the other person admits the wrong. This is not the way it is supposed to work however. If someone does not know we did them wrong, it may be best to confess that type of sin just to God alone.
He had so resigned himself to believe Joseph to be dead that their words seemed as idle tales. Perhaps his sons were in the habit of lying throughout the years. The first deception in making Jacob think Joseph was killed by wild beasts just may have opened the door to further lies to cover up the first lie. This generally happens. How much easier it would be for us to just tell the truth at the beginning.
Probably nothing else would have gotten Jacob to move out of that land at this stage in his life. God had mercy and compassion in allowing Jacob to live to see his son. Sometimes we think God is afar off uncaring about our sorrows but He is not out there somewhere apart from us. He is there if we seek Him. He will not force Himself upon us if we choose not to have anything to do with Him. How good of God to bring about this wonderful reconciliation.
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