1 Genesis: Preaching/Teaching: Joseph on Forgiveness

The Heart of the Gospel-

I want you to picture that a family member was murdered pointlessly. The person who did it really did not know why they did it but you are left with a dead family member.

How would you respond?

Would you want justice?

Revenge?

Forgiveness. It is something we all deal with. At times we need to give forgiveness, but their are other times when we are in need of forgiveness. It can not be bought but only graciously received.

Where are you at with forgiveness?

Is there someone who you need to forgive? Maybe this person has hurt you in a way that you cannot work past?

Maybe you are need of forgiveness, you have hurt someone and you are having a hard part moving forward?

In this story I began sharing at the beginning the brother of the person married publicly forgave the person who had murdered their sibling. Here is what he said:

“If you are truly sorry,” he said. “I know I can speak for myself, I forgive you.”

Brandt is a Christian, and his brother professed to be one. He urged Guyger to turn to Jesus.

“I think giving your life to Christ would be the best thing that Botham would want for you,” he said.

We have been looking at Joseph’s life over the last couple of weeks. In scripture we always see the perfections of God. When it comes to man we see man at his worst at times, but there are times in scripture where we see men and woman walk by remarkable faith.

Today we are going to see Joseph forgive the unforgivable.

How was he able to do this:

Today we are going to see why we must be a people who forgive.

The first reason we must forgive is because:

1. We are human and brokenness is a reality. (Joseph story to this point)

Definition of depravity-Total depravity we are hopeless and helpless to do anything about original sin.

A. We will hurt people.

The disciples prayer says this

Matthew 6, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

This prayer assumes that you will need to be forgiven.

In this Joseph story we saw that he definitely gave his brothers a reason to be jealous. Now they should not have responded like they did but even Joseph, this amazing character in the Bible hurt his brothers.

We are such broken people that at times we will hurt people unintentionally.

But we have also hurt people intentionally.

Is there someone you need to ask forgiveness from?

B. We will be hurt.

Here is how Joseph was hurt

His brothers actually wanted to kill him.

They ended up leaving him for dead and then selling him to slave traders.

When he was in charge of his masters house he was falsely accused.

He interpreted a man’s dream and the man could have gotten him out of prison and then totally forgotten.

When we read about Josephs hurt you almost have to say to yourself: this is too much.

Maybe you are here today and you have a lot of hurt that has been done to you by others. Maybe some of it is too painful that you do not even want to think about it. Maybe other here have something that instead of facing it and dealing with it have just pushed it into the closet. Because pushing it into the closet is a lot easier that having to face up to it.

Personal Illustration: When Heather and I were really getting serious in our relationship we had a hard talk, it was a talk that would determine if we were going to take next steps in our marriage. Here is how I dealt with this conversation: we are good and I left her car and did not want to deal with this issue. One of my struggles with this forgiveness issue is I don’t really like to deal with it. If someone hurts me I am like it’s fine, it’s all good. But in order to forgive we cannot run from the reality that when we are sinned against it is real, it is hard and if want significant forgiveness we have to acknowledge the hurt.

Application:

Have you been willing to deal with your personal brokenness?

Have you faced the hurt that others have caused you?

The next reason we must forgive is because:

2. we are not supposed to live paralyzed. (42:1-11)

When we do not forgive we are in danger of living a spiritually paralyzed life.

God has created us to live in freedom.

Give the backdrop of this story how he had risen to power and now all the people had to come to him because he was the second in control of all the world. And as fate would have it the story picks up and tells us:

Genesis 42:1–5 NAS

Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” 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.” Then ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm may befall him.” So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.

We live paralyzed when we don’t live out of God’s plan for our life.

Genesis 42:6 NAS

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.

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible 7. Joseph’s brothers’ first journey into Egypt ch. 42

42:1–7 Twenty-one years after his brothers sold Joseph into slavery they bowed before him in fulfillment of his youthful dreams (vv. 6–7; cf. 37:5–9).

Joseph did not allow the pain and everything he went through to keep him from experiencing God’s dream for his life.

We are in danger of paralyzed living when we won’t face our transgressor.

He was face to face with his brothers. Now I was an older brother and I did some pretty bad things to my brother. We were in Karate and I was almost four years older than him and I would make him fight me all the time. One time when we were fighting I through a roundhouse and broke his finger. Me being the older brother I thought he was faking so I threatened to call the police if he did not stop crying. We can all relate to some sibling stories. But Joseph’s siblings wanted to kill him and tried.

Now they were face to face.

How would you feel.

Maybe you had pushed away the hurt and the emotions for years and now all the sudden can you picture the flood of emotions that must have been overcoming to him.

Genesis 42:7–8 NAS

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.” But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him.

Joseph did not want to deal with this right now. He wanted to push this back in the closet. The reality of his brothers being face to face with him paralyzed him. The most powerful man in the world disguised himself because he was hurt so badly by his very own family.

Genesis 42:9–11 NAS

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.” Then they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. “We are all sons of one man; we are honest men, your servants are not spies.”

Application:

Are you living paralyzed right now?

Is there a hurt that you are unwilling to face right now?

The next reason we must forgive is because:

3. God changes hearts. (42:26-28)

If you are a follower of Jesus, God has changed your heart. You went from rejecting God to loving God.

God is the one who can change hearts.

I can stand up here and confidently say God has changed my heart, and my life.

Joseph was going to give him some tests:

Test: God is Capable of changing us?

We have to forgive whether people change or not. But Joseph is going to put his brothers in a similar situation to see if they have changed or not.

Genesis 42:14–16 NAS

Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you, you are spies; by this you will be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here! “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.”

Now I don’t know if what Joseph did here was right. Joseph had gone through years of testing, because of what his brothers had done and now he was going to test them.

The other brothers were going to be in jail: Joseph had been in jail for years.

Genesis 42:17–20 NAS

So he put them all together in prison for three days. Now Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God: 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, and bring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be verified, and you will not die.” And they did so.

Would they treat their new younger brother the same as they treated Joseph: With hatred and jealousy.

Had these brothers changed their ways?

Genesis 42:17–20 NAS

So he put them all together in prison for three days. Now Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God: 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, and bring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be verified, and you will not die.” And they did so.

He wanted to see if they had changed.

God is way more interested in who we become than what they do. He is not in as big of a rush as we are. He wants to mold us into the people he wants us to be.

Genesis 41:46 (TCENB): . If they failed the test, God could have started over with Joseph, just as he had said he would with Moses in Exodus 32:10, when his wrath was kindled against Israel.”

Thomas Constable Commentary

Are you letting God change you into the man or woman he has created you to be?

Maybe the reason you are not experiencing what God wants you to is because you are not allowing him to change you in some of those really hard issues.

Genesis 42:21–24 NAS

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.” 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.” They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them. 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.

Sin has consequences!

Can you picture how their sin affected them for so long, they lived and experienced the pain, guilt that it caused them, and they hurt that they caused their father.

Could these men be changed-

Genesis 42:25 NAS

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.

Notice we have not seen Joseph forgive his brothers yet, but here is what is so beautiful about forgiveness. These brothers came to Joseph for food. But what is so amazing about these journeys is that the brothers left with more than they came with every time.

Genesis 42:26–28 NAS

So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there. 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. 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?”

Grace has the power to change!

When we forgive it reveals the heart of God!

Joseph would go on and say:

Genesis 45:1–5 NAS

Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried, “Have everyone go out from me.” So there was no man with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. He wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard of it. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come closer to me.” And they came 1closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. “Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.

The book of Genesis is the first book in the Bible

My brother brought his two younger kids to Hawaii with us. His kids are the cutest RIV-explain Richard Robert Law the 4th and Georgia. I love their inquisitiveness. They are always asking me questions about God. Well on this trip they asked me about Satan, and I basically told him we cannot hate anyone except sin and the Devil. So they started talking about what they were going to do to the Devil. RIV comes up to me and with his fingers shows me that he is keeping his eyes on the devil. But my favorite is here is what they said about the Devil:

The kids are coming up with mean things to say about the devil. My favorite: “the devil doesn’t flush the toilet” - Riv

One day we were talking about how we get into heaven? As almost all kids say, we have to be good. I proceeded to share with Georgia.

Jesus said when he died on the cross:

IT IS FINISHED

We looked at three reasons that we need to forgive today:

We are human and brokenness is a reality.

We are not supposed to live paralyzed.

God changes hearts.

Who do you need to forgive?

What hurt do you need to let go of?

Pretend to write it out

Now rip that up that imaginary piece of paper.