Joseph 10

Introduction

Last week we discussed the encounter where Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. After overcoming the shock of meeting their rejected brother, they were overwhelmed by his love and forgiveness towards them. Let’s revisit the scene.

Gen. 45:3-8 “And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.”

We would be remiss to focus only on Joseph’s forgiveness. We need to understand what led up to this point from his brother’s view point. We can focus on several New Testament terms; terms we use in today’s church; words like remorse, repentance, mercy, and grace.

As we saw in Gen. 42: 21-22 “And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.” This is remorse. Webster’s online dictionary defines remorse as a gnawing distress arising from a sense of guilt for past wrongs. The Hebrew word is naham which is referring either to a strong feeling that motivates a change of action, intent, or attitude or to the attempt to change feelings through comfort or consolation.

This word generally seems to indicate that attitudes or circumstances have influenced one to change from a previously decided course of action (e.g., Exod 13:17; Judg 21:6). The verb can also be used to express regret or remorse after sinful behavior or wrongdoing (e.g., Job 42:6; Jer 31:18–19) or the lack of remorse over sin (Jer 8:6).

[Lesley DiFransico, “Repentance,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).]

Our English word remorse is not found in the Bible. But Paul discusses remorse in 2 Cor. 7:9-11 “Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.”

Two further statements concerning remorse: 1) Could we say with confidence that remorse is a guilty conscience? And 2) One must experience remorse before that can experience repentance.

The New Testament word translated repentance is metanoia.

In the NT, primarily refers to a comprehensive change of one’s orientation toward following God.

This is the noun equivalent of the verb μετανοέω (metanoeō) “to change one’s mind.” Like the verb, it originally referred to a change of mind, but by the time of the NT it had taken on a meaning in Jewish thought of a return to God. In the Gospels, John the Baptist offers a “baptism of repentance (metanoia) for the remission of sins” (Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3). Jesus similarly calls people to repentance (Luke 5:32) and tells his disciples to proclaim “repentance (metanoia) and forgiveness of sins” to all nations (Luke 24:47).

ἐπιστρέφω (epistrephō). vb. to turn, change direction, return, to repent, be converted. Describes an act of turning, turning around, back, changing direction, returning, and, thus, repenting or being converted.

This word corresponds closely in meaning to the Hebrew term שׁוּב (šûb) “to turn, return,” and is often used to translate it in the Septuagint. In the NT, it most often refers to a physical motion, change of direction,

[Lesley DiFransico, “Repentance,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).]

Some of us were in the military; we learned to drill in basic training; some of us may have never forgotten the maneuvers. Repentance may be best described as an about face; in that one is turning away from something (sin) and turning towards something else (God).

When one experiences Godly sorrow that leads to repentance, they must run into mercy and grace. Everytime we encounter these two words in the Bible the order is reversed, that is, grace and mercy.

The concept of grace is a central theological theme throughout the Bible. It is used especially to describe God’s primary activity toward Israel in the OT and God’s act of redemption through the death of Jesus in the NT.

The OT concept of grace is not inherently theological, but it is frequently associated with God. It thus becomes one of the central themes of the OT, especially in describing God’s character and his interactions with Israel. Grace conveys the idea of a person’s favorable disposition toward another, usually of a superior toward a subject.

The NT concept of grace is represented by χάρις (charis, “grace”) and χαρίζομαι (charizomai, “to give graciously”) terms that refer to the quality and practical application of a beneficent disposition toward someone. The theme of grace permeates the NT in a variety of ways. The word charis conveys the idea of a favorable disposition toward another—Mary is described as finding favor (charis) with God (Luke 1:30), Jesus grows up in the favor (charis) of both God and humans (Luke 2:52), and the early church finds favor (charis) with the people (Acts 2:47) and with God (Acts 4:33; 13:43). Grace (charis) can also refer to an act born out of grace, such as healing, the canceling of a debt, the release of a prisoner, or monetary and spiritual gifts. Paul also describes his calling to be a minister of the gospel as the grace of God (e.g., Rom 1:5; 1 Cor 3:10; Eph 3:7–8). Most importantly, grace is associated with the salvation of humanity through the life and death of Jesus, who is understood to embody the grace of God (e.g., John 1:14–16; Acts 15:11; Rom 5:15–17). For this reason, the gospel is described as the good news of God’s grace (charis; Acts 20:24, 32), and Paul adapts the common Graeco-Roman letter opening from χαίρειν (chairein, “greetings”) to χάρις (charis, “grace”) in order to reflect the grace of God manifest through Christ (e.g., Rom 1:7; Col 1:2). In several of his letters, Paul emphasizes the unmerited nature of grace in order to proclaim that, due to the death of Jesus (understood as a free gift), God’s redemption and promised salvation is now accessible through faith in Jesus, apart from following the customs of the Jewish law (e.g., Rom 11:5–6; Gal 2:19–21; Eph 2:8–9). In the NT, the salvation that is obtained through faith in Jesus is the ultimate expression of God’s grace to all men (Titus 2:11).Lexical Information

One way to understand grace is through the acronym: Gods Riches At Christ’s Expense.

Mercy in the Bible describes the act of bestowing mercy or compassion, and can be used to plead for mercy or compassion.The verb rāḥam commonly describes the mercy and compassion of Yahweh (Isa 54:8; Jer 30:18) in accordance with his covenant promises (Deut 13:17; 2 Kgs 13:23). God’s mercy is the quality that allows him to patiently await repentance and put off judgment as long as possible. However, without repentance, judgment is inevitable. Passages describing God’s wrath often frame it in terms of God no longer having mercy or compassion for his people because of their continued sinfulness (e.g., Isa 27:11; Jer 13:14; 21:7; Hos 1:6; 2:4). Proverbs 28:13 expresses this connection between repentance and God’s mercy when it declares: “He who conceals his transgression will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes will obtain mercy.” Likewise, according to Isa 55:7, the wicked person must “forsake his way” and the unrighteous person must forsake “his thoughts” in order to receive the merciful response of the Lord. The verb is often used by people who are inquiring of God and making pleas to him for mercy (Hab 3:2; Dan 2:18).

The New Testament word is ἐλεέω (eleeō). vb. meaning to have mercy, to have compassion. The basic meaning of this verb has to do with having pity or helping a person in difficult circumstances. It can be used to describe displays of mercy and compassion by God and humans.This verb appears throughout the NT, where it often means to have pity or show compassion to someone in difficult circumstances. Paul uses the term to indicate God showing him mercy (Rom 11:30, 31, 32; 1 Cor 7:25; 2 Cor 4:1; 1 Tim 1:13, 16). The Gospels use eleeō to convey various people making pleas to Jesus (e.g., Matt 15:22; 17:15; 18:33; Mark 10:47–48; Luke 18:38–39). Paul uses eleeō in his citation of Exod 33:19 (LXX) to express God’s divine prerogative to show mercy: “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy” (Rom 9:15; compare Rom 9:18). The NT writers also use the term to describe God showing mercy by giving salvation in Christ (e.g., Rom 11:30–32; 2 Cor 4:1; 1 Pet 2:10).