Inviting Grace

Introduction

Joseph has risen to power in Egypt and is over everything during this time of famine. We see how God has been with him and led him to this point in his life. Now the famine has grown so severe that it has stretched all the way back to Josephs family. As Joseph has been active in getting ready for this famine and working diligently to ensure everyone will have food we see that his brothers have not been doing the same thing.

Lets go ahead and see what his brothers have been up to in Genesis 42.1-6

Genesis 42:1–6 ESV

When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.” So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him. Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.

His brothers have just been looking at each other and not doing anything. Jacob then begins to prod them and tell them to go to Egypt because he has heard that there is food there, food that Joseph has stored up. So all the brothers, minus Benjamin, go down to Egypt. Josephs brothers then come and bow themselves before him because he is the governor of the land.

Can you feel the tension here? Josephs dreams that he had at the very beginning have been fulfilled, his brothers are now before him and the tables are turned. Joseph is not like his brothers though, he is someone who fears God. So lets pray and then we will see what begins to unfold.

Arising Guilt

Genesis 42:6–25 ESV

Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.” They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies.” He said to them, “No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.” And they said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.” But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you. You are spies. By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” And he put them all together in custody for three days. 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 remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households, and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so. Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. Then he turned away from them and wept. And he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them.

recognition

Joseph recognizes his brothers but they do not recognize him. They probably look the same except a little older. They have their beards, they are all brothers, they are from the same land. All of this while Joseph is shaven and in Egyptian clothing and has been living in this different way for years.

Joseph now has the perfect advantage over his brothers. They do not know him but he knows them in detail. The thing is though he wants to know their hearts. Do they still hate him? Do they truly regret what they did? Joseph needs to know the truth and he has a plan to figure it out.

accusation

Joseph begins to be harsh with them, they are after all a rough bunch of guys who have stolen and killed all their lives. He accuses them of being spies and they launch a defense against this and reveal all the details about themselves. These accusations lead to the test that he will present to them.

testing

The test is that one of them will be sent out to go get Benjamin and if he brings him back the rest can be released from jail. This then shifts to only one must stay and it is Simeon that does this. This shift starts because Joseph says that he fears God, this had to be a shocking statement from someone who they thought was an Egyptian. So far the brothers have not mentioned God once.

Before they are sent away they are imprisoned three days and we can only imagine the conversations that they had in there. There is an arising guilt inside of them.

guilt

They begin to think that this is all happening because of what they did to Joseph all those years ago. Joseph sees that they might not be hardened beyond repair and they see that they did wrong. This feeling of guilt is not enough though because there needs to be action.

True guilt is a grace because it brings those that are guilty to seek forgiveness and to repent. We do not often think of guilt in a good way but see here where it is driving all of these brothers.

Godly Fear and Sorrow

Genesis 42:26–38 ESV

Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed. And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. He said to his brothers, “My money has been put back; here it is in the mouth of my sack!” At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?” When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we have never been spies. We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’ Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way. Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’ ” As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me.” Then Reuben said to his father, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.” But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”

fear

The remaining brothers now begin their journey back home and after traveling a distance one notices that his money was put back into his sack. This brings a great fear on the brothers and for the first time they mention God and it is from a position of fear.

They realize that God is in this and they are moved to godly fear. They realize their sin and that it is against God. Godly fear is a grace because it shows that the fearer knows where they must turn. Like guilt, fear alone is of little use, but godly fear is a fear that God blesses because he comes to those he blesses. Like in the song amazing grace; “twas grace that taught my heart to fear”.

sorrow

This godly fear is moved to sorrow when Jacob finds out about the situation and he acts like Simeon is already dead. He says that if Benjamin dies too he will end up dying from sorrow.

This sorrow, also called grief, is a grace too as we see in 2 Corinthians 7.10-11

2 Corinthians 7:10–11 ESV

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.

Conclusion

Through all of this we can see that there is a valuable movement of God in their lives but I am sure that is not what it felt like.

They admit guilt, they fear God, and they are sorrowful for their sins. This is all paving the way for repentance in their souls.

If we desire Gods grace then we should welcome godly guilt, godly fear, and godly sorrow. Embracing these things is good because they lead us to repentance and thus closer to God.