Joseph-The Test

Please turn with me in your scriptures to Genesis Chapter 44. Genesis 44, This is our second last sermon in the series, continuing our study of the life of Joseph, learning from Joseph, how he had the mind and heart of Jesus Christ in him and how he served and lived.

And we pick up the story is in the midst of the great famine that God revealed would happen. This famine drove Joseph’s brothers to come to Egypt to seek food for their families. And Joseph, it says in chapter 43, sent them away. And on their way, they discovered that the silver that they had used to pay for all the food that they received from Joseph was still in their sacks! And having already travelled a full day away from Egypt, they continued and they used up all the food they received in Egypt.

However, Joseph insisted they leave one of their brothers behind, Simeon was left behind. And when the famine persisted, they ran out of food again. So Jacob sent his sons back to Egypt to get more grain. And that's where we pick up the story this morning in Genesis 44. Let's pray and ask for God's blessing on the reading of his word.

Father in heaven, we thank you for your Word, which is true. We pray that you would open our hearts and our minds to receive it, to understand it, and to live it out in our lives. In Jesus name. Amen.

Read Genesis 44

Naturally, Joseph, in dealing with his brothers, is cautious.

Joseph's experience with his brothers was very much foremost in his mind, even though it had been over 13 years since they last saw one another, probably closer to 15. He's still mindful of his experiences with them. Like when they came up with a plan to murder him. We don't know who came up with the idea first, and we should not forget that Ruben had objected to the plan to kill him and was planning on rescuing him later. Nevertheless, they came up with this plan and then Judah came up with an even better plan.

He saw some Midianites coming down and sold Joseph into slavery instead. They convinced their father that some wild animals had killed him. The brothers all agreed to this idea, as it got Joseph out of their hair, and it meant that they wouldn’t actually have to kill their own brother, and they got to make some money at it as well!

So, no wonder, years later, Joseph tested his brothers.

Much had happened to him in the intervening years. But what had happened to them?

Were they still the same jealous people that they were when he lived at home with his family? Were they still jealous of Joseph's brother, Benjamin? For surely now that Joseph was gone, all their father's love and care and attention were lavished on Benjamin. Were they treating him the same way they had treated Joseph?

What was their attitude toward their father?

Did they still despise their father and couldn’t care less for him?

Joseph needed to know.

We know that Simeon was with him when they went back to Jacob with food for their families. And, as I mentioned already, along the way, they discovered that the money that they had paid the first time around was returned along with the grain they had purchased. And after they ran out of food, Jacob was forced to send them and send Benjamin, his youngest, most beloved son, to Egypt. And Judah himself promised, to Israel, to Jacob, that he would bring him home safely.

Joseph tested his brothers by planting his personal silver silver cup in Benjamin's bag.

If as before, if their hearts had not changed in the intervening years, he would know by this, by their reaction to this. If they were only interested in their own ends, if they still harboured anger and jealousy toward either Joseph or Benjamin and toward their father's favouritism, they would surely simply abandon Benjamin to his fate. Just as they did with Joseph. They would take the grain and go home, forgetting about him and Simeon.

But they did not.

When confronted with the truth of the situation, they tore their robes. They repented, and Judah personally went to Joseph and powerfully pled forgiveness. He offered his own life in place of Benjamin's, for the sake of his father. This, beloved congregation, is a complete change in attitude in his heart.

Judah had been so jealous of Joseph and Joseph's favouritism from his father, Jacob, that he had wanted nothing to do with Joseph.

But here, Judah displays a new heart. He willingly offers his life in place of Benjamin's! And in this, really, we can understand why Jesus is Judah’s descendant. That's what the author of Hebrews says, surely Jesus is a descendant of Judah. Because Judah demonstrated what Christ himself would do for all of us. Judah offered his life to atone for his brother, Benjamin. Jesus offered his life to atone for us, his brothers and sisters.

Clearly, Judah was not the same man he was before. He had learned repentance. He wasn't merely sorry for what he had done for for Joseph. He resolved he would never, ever do something similar ever again.

That's repentance.

Perhaps you've run into experiences, maybe in your own life, maybe with individuals that you've come in contact with, where it seems like, you or the other person has repented, but something isn’t quite right. Something is missing.

It’s not actually repentance, it’s another word that looks and sounds an awful lot like repentance, but it isn't the same as repentance. That word is remorse. Most of us, I think all of us, probably, have felt remorse. Remorse is when you've done something wrong and you've been caught and you feel bad.

But the question is, do you feel bad because you did something wrong and were caught? Or do you feel bad because you were caught doing something wrong? You get the difference there?

Given a chance, a person who only feels remorse will go ahead and do that wrong thing again, especially if they know they can get away with it.

Given a chance, a person who repents will never do that wrong thing again, even if they could get away with it. Repentance is never doing the wrong thing again. Remorse looks and sounds very similar to repentance, but it is seen by their actions. A remorseful person will say, “I’ll never do that again.” But then they do.

We see this contrast between repentance and remorse in scripture, in two of Jesus’ disciples. Both disciples denied Jesus equally. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss and afterward felt remorse.

Remorse moved him to try to give the money back to the priests and the leaders. Yes, he felt guilt and shame for what he had done wrong, and overwhelmed with it all, he took his own life. That was remorse. Given a choice, had he lived, he would have done the same thing again.

The other person is Peter. Peter denied Jesus publicly three times. No greater, no less of a sin than what Judas had done.

Peter, when given the opportunity, repented, and confessed, and committed himself to faithful service. He changed. Given a chance, he would never have denied Christ again.

But he was far from perfect. As it always happens with Christians, he failed. The apostle Paul confronted Peter to his face because he was not living out his confession of faith. In front of the whole congregation, in front of all the witnesses, he called Peter out. He said, "You, Peter, are not living what you are preaching. Repent!" And Peter repented.

Congregation, do not confuse remorse for repentance. Joseph did not. He gave his brothers a test. When confronted, would they be remorseful or repentant? What Joseph found was true repentance.

Now what about us? If we put ourselves into the story, where would we be? Would we be Judas? Would we be Peter? Would we be Judah who earlier was like Judas and sold his brother into slavery for some silver? Would we be like Ruben, too scared to say anything, hoping to fix it behind everyone’s back? Would we be like Simeon, staying behind in a strange land, alone? Would we be like Judah during the famine?

I think I know why Paul confronted Peter in front of everyone. Paul had a good measure of Peter. I’m sure they talked of his denials. I’m sure they were fixed in Peter’s mind as one of his greatest failures. I’m sure they helped keep him humble, helped him remain trusting in Jesus, in the Holy Spirit. And when Peter sinned by refusing to eat with the gentiles, when a bunch of influential people were around, when Paul confronted him, he repented, again, immediately. Paul knew the measure of the man.

Would Paul have publicly confronted a person he knew would only be remorseful? I think not. Because the congregation would see only the remorse, believe it was repentance, and then be confused when it would happen again, and again, and again.

No, in such a situation, Paul would have written about the individual in one of his letters, like he did in the case of Alexander and Hymenaus, instructing the elders to expel the immoral brother. Yes, you heard me, expel the immoral brother.

Brothers and sisters, we all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. But our sin is not a reason to not hold one another to Christ’s standard. If we do that, then Christ died in vain, and the supper we celebrated means nothing. If we do that, we’re saying that sin is no big deal. But it is. It is such a big deal that God himself died to save us from it.

We find ourselves in a battle for truth. It is truly a battle. Fight good and hard, maintain constant vigilance above all, of course, this is the only way, the only way. Well, the way has already been made for us by Christ. Trust in him who lives in you by the person and work of the Holy Spirit, trust the Holy Spirit to lead you and guide you each moment of every day.

A famine induced hunger drove Joseph's brothers to bow before him and fulfill God's promises that were revealed in the dreams he'd received.

A world that is experiencing a famine of truth drives people to God and his Word. The brothers sought food and physical sustenance, but they gained so much more, as we will see next week, when we conclude this series on Joseph, Amen.

Let us pray.

Father in heaven, we thank you for this glorious, amazing Sunday, as experienced and expressed in communion, as witnessed in the life of Joseph and his brothers. Lord, we pray that if there's anyone here who is experiencing questions, who's unsure of some of the things that took place or have explained or some of us maybe who are starting to think, well, maybe all I've really been expressing is remorse and not so much repentance. Lord, we pray your Holy Spirit to work in the hearts and lives of each one of us. That we may be transformed and renewed in the power of your word, in Jesus name, Amen.