Life of Joseph- Week 11 (2)

God’s Method for Melting Hard Hearts

Genesis 42

INTRODUCTION

ILL - Seed and the Sower- Seed on the Paths

20 years since Joseph was sold into slavery.

Jacob and family had learned a new routine without Joseph.

The pain for Jacob was still there but eased by time.

Jacob still had Benjamin, Rachel’s other son.

The other 10 boys had almost buried their memories of Joseph.

20 years is not too long for God to remember.

God was setting the stage for the recovery of Joseph’s family.

They were his chosen people and no pain would be spared in bringing Joseph and his family back together.

More important than getting family back to Joseph was getting the family back to God.

God needed to melt their hearts– they had gotten hard with unconfessed sin.

In Genesis 42 we see the Lord’s methods for bringing about change in people.

He was bringing His children in line with His will.

There are a number of steps the Lord takes to melt the hardened hearts of Jacob’s sons and bring them first to conviction and, ultimately, to fellowship with Him.

Steps of Softening Hearts of God’s People

I. The Experience of Difficulty (1-3)

A. Difficulty can be used to get our attention.

1. Lord brought hunger to the family of Jacob.

a. Genesis 42:1-3 “1 When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2 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.” 3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.”

2. It appears the brothers were uncertain on what to do.

3. Jacob told them to not just sit there and do something.

B. This problem of famine was the first step moving them toward repentance.

II. The Exclusion of Trust (4-15)

A. Genesis 42:4 “4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him.”

1. Jacob did not send Benjamin with the brothers.

B. Jacob must have had some mistrust with those boys and what happened to Joseph.

1. Maybe guilt on their faces.

C. His sons were no longer young, and they must have known of their father’s suspicions.

D. Insecurity is the product of being out of God’s will.

E. Genesis 42:5-15

Genesis 42:5–15 ESV

5 Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 6 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. 7 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.” 8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 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.” 10 They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies.” 12 He said to them, “No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.” 13 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.” 14 But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you. You are spies. 15 By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

1. What is happening is a gradual unfolding of their sin.

2. They stand before the very brother whom they sold into slavery twenty years earlier.

3. They bow down before him, just as Joseph had dreamed they would.

F. Why Didn’t They Recognize Joseph?

1. Appearance

a. Clean shaven, with a shaved head, long robe, and different clothes.

b. He appeared as an Egyptian, not a Hebrew.

2. Age– almost 40

3. Language– he used an interpreter.

4. Position– his authority would have surprised them.

5. Joseph was acting

6. God was creating a growing consciousness of their sin.

a. They were accused of spying– (What they had accused Joseph of)

b. Their evil actions toward Joseph crept into the back of their minds.

III. The Exile in Prison (16-20)

A. Genesis 42:16-20 “16 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.” 17 And he put them all together in custody for three days. 18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19 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, 20 and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so.”

B. God used solitary confinement to break the hearts of those men.

1. They didn’t understand the language.

2. In the same place Joseph had spent 2 years.

C. They must have talked through a lot in 3 days.

1. They went over everything they had done wrong to deserve this treatment.

2. Their treatment of Joseph was now in the forefront of their minds.

D. Joseph allows all but one brother to go.

1. Joseph had compassion for them but was not sure if he could trust them.

IV. The Exposure of the Heart (21-24)

A. Genesis 42:21-24 “21 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.” 22 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.” 23 They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. 24 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.”

B. The memory they held in common came to their memory like a ghost

1. Their innocent young brother struggling and screaming in the pit; his voice wailing for help as they sit down to eat a meal; tears streaming down his face as they sell him to the Ishmaelites.

2. They realized they were getting what they deserved.

C. Joseph overhears what they are saying and leaves with emotion.

1. Lets them go except for Simeon.

2. Simeon was the worst of the brothers.

a. At Jacob’s death he has nothing good to say about Simeon.

V. The Expression of Kindness (25-28)

A. Genesis 42:25-28 “25 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. 26 Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed. 27 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. 28 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?””

B. As recipients of undeserved grace, God brings us to a position of conviction for our sin.

1. The brothers would not have been afraid if they had not done anything wrong.

2. Joseph on the other hand, acted from a pure heart. He couldn’t bring himself to charge his brothers for grain that was needed by his family back in Canaan.

3. He restored the money.

C. The men return home to tell the story to their father.

CONCLUSION

This part of the story reveals the difference between regret and repentance. Joseph’s brothers regretted what they had done but had not yet repented of their sin. They no longer wanted to live with the consequences of their actions, but they refused to turn to God for forgiveness. Each of us must not only regret our mistakes but go before the Lord and repent of our willful sin. Only then will we find the forgiveness and grace the Lord offers. And He will remember our sins no more, for forgiveness– forgets.