Genesis 45.5-8-The Magnanimity of Joseph
Tuesday February 27, 2007
Genesis: Genesis 45:5-8-The Magnanimity of Joseph
Tape # 287
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 45:1.
On Thursday evening we read Genesis 45:1-4, which records Joseph revealing his true identity to his brothers after hearing Judah offer himself as a substitute for Benjamin so that his father would not have to suffer the loss of another child.
This evening we will study Genesis 45:5-8 where we will see Joseph reassuring his brothers that he will not exact revenge upon them but rather reveals to them that their cruel treatment of him fourteen years before was a part of God’s plan to deliver their family from starvation and the corrupt Canaanite influence.
In this passage, we will see the magnanimity of Joseph towards his brothers.
Genesis 45:1, “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.”
Genesis 45:2, “He wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard of it.”
Genesis 45:3, “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.”
Genesis 45:4, “Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Please come closer to me.’ And they came closer. And he said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.’”
Genesis 45:5, “Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.”
Genesis 45:6, “For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.”
Genesis 45:7, “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.”
Genesis 45:8, “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”
Let’s look more closely at Genesis 45:5.
Genesis 45:5, “Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.”
Joseph’s two prohibitions “do not be grieved or angry with yourselves” means that both he and God have forgiven them for selling him into slavery twenty two years before.
He does not want them to be consumed with sorrow because they sold him into slavery nor angry with themselves for doing this since both he and God have forgiven them.
The believer is both the object and the subject of forgiveness.
God the Father sent His Son to the cross in order die for our sins so that He can forgive us.
He forgives us based upon His integrity and His Son’s spiritual death on the cross.
1 John 3:5, “He (the Lord Jesus Christ) appeared in order to take away sins.”
The forgiveness of sins is offered to the entire human race by God the Father based upon the merits of the voluntary substitutionary spiritual death of His Son, the impeccable humanity of Christ in hypostatic union on the Cross.
Unbelievers are not judged according to their sins at the Great White Throne Judgment but rather are judged according to their self-righteous human good works, which do not measure up to the perfect work of the impeccable Christ on the Cross (Rev. 20:11-15).
The unbeliever goes to the lake of fire because of his rejection of Christ as his Savior since 1 Timothy 2:4 and John 3:16-17 clearly indicates that God desires all men to be saved, thus, He has made provision for all men to be saved through the Person and Work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
At the moment of salvation the believer received the forgiveness of his sins in the “positional” sense, which refers to what He has done for us and how He views us as His children.
It is through faith alone in Christ alone that an individual receives the forgiveness of sins, which is based entirely upon the merits of the Lord Jesus and His finished work on the cross and for Christ’s sake sins are forgiven.
Ephesians 1:7, “In Him (the Lord Jesus Christ) we have redemption through His blood (metaphor for our Lord’s spiritual death), the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.”
Although the believer experiences the forgiveness of sins at the moment of salvation, the moment he sins, he must confess these post-salvation sins so that he can once again experience the forgiveness of sins, which has already been appropriated by him at the moment of salvation positionally and will be his for all of eternity.
The confession of sins after salvation is essential in order to experience “fellowship” with God.
1 John 1:9, “If any of us does confess our sins, then, He (God the Father) is, as an eternal spiritual truth, faithful and just with the result that He forgives us our sins and He purifies us from each and every wrongdoing.”
The believer’s “fellowship” with God is “dynamic” meaning it can be lost due to sin but restored through the confession of sin whereas the believer’s “eternal relationship” with God is “static” meaning it can never change due to sin.
The believer is forgiven based upon the merits of the unique voluntary substitutionary spiritual death of the impeccable humanity of Christ in hypostatic union on the cross, and as a result the Father is faithful and just to forgive the believer and restores the believer to fellowship with Himself.
In the same way that the unbeliever’s sins are not brought up at the Great White Throne so the believer’s sins will never be brought up at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church since the believer’s personal sins were also paid for by the Lord Jesus Christ’s substitutionary spiritual death on the cross.
Isaiah 43:25, “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
Psalm 103:12-13, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.”
God remembers the believer’s sins no more because of the merits of Christ and His substitutionary spiritual death.
The believer who does not acknowledge his unforgiving attitude towards others will not be forgiven by God meaning that the believer will not be restored to fellowship with Him.
Matthew 6:14-15, “For if you forgive men their failures (acknowledging your own sin to the Father and forgive others), Your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive men their failures (failure to acknowledge your own sin to the Father and forgive others), neither will the Father forgive you (restoration to fellowship), your failures.”
Scripture bases the forgiveness of one another in the forgiveness of God in that not only is the believer the object of God’s forgiveness but also he has now become the subject of forgiveness since he is to exhibit the same attitude toward others as God has displayed towards him.
Ephesians 4:31-32, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be gracious to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”
Joseph had the capacity to forgive his brothers because he knew that it was a part of God’s plan from eternity past that he would be sold into slavery by his brothers in order that he might be used by God to deliver their family from famine.
In Genesis 45:5-8, we see Joseph being “magnanimous” towards his brothers who had in the past treated him cruelly and unjustly.
A believer who is “magnanimous” is generous in forgiving insults and injuries without being vindictive and becoming involved in petty resentfulness.
In Genesis 45:5-8, we see that Joseph is generous in forgiving the insult heaped upon him by his brothers and yet Joseph is not pettily resentful or vindictive towards them.
Rather, Joseph insists upon maintaining a good relationship with his brothers and is tolerant, patient and generous toward his brothers.
A believer who is “magnanimous” is noble in character, loving justice but not insisting upon the letter of the law in order to preserve the spirit of the law and does not insist upon his own rights to the fullest but rectifies and redresses the injustices of justice.
Joseph does not insist upon his own rights by not demanding that his brothers be judged and he did this in order to preserve unity between himself and his brothers.
Joseph, who was the ruler of Egypt, humbles himself before his brothers who are subordinate to him in order to preserve peace, thereby demonstrating himself to be the spiritual superior of his brothers.
Joseph’s condescension and humility foreshadows the condescension and humility and magnanimity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”
The Lord promoted Joseph because of his humility whereas the Lord humbled Joseph’s brothers because of their arrogance and selfishness.
Luke 14:11, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Joseph denied himself and humbled himself, which foreshadows the self-denial and humility of the Lord Jesus Christ at the Cross.
Philippians 2:5-6, “Everyone continue thinking this (according to humility) within yourselves, which was also in (the mind of) Christ Jesus, Who although existing from eternity past in the essence of God, He never regarded existing equally in essence with God an exploitable asset.”
Philippians 2:7, “On the contrary, He denied Himself of the independent function of His deity by having assumed the essence of a slave when He was born in the likeness of men.”
Philippians 2:8, “In fact, although He was discovered in outward appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by having entered into obedience to the point of spiritual death even death on a Cross.”
Philippians 2:9, “For this very reason in fact God the Father has promoted Him to the highest-ranking position and has awarded to Him the rank, which is superior to every rank.”
Philippians 2:10, “In order that in the sphere of this rank possessed by Jesus every person must bow, celestials and terrestrials and sub-terrestrials.”
Philippians 2:11, “Also, every person must publicly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord for the glory of God the Father.”
The apostle Paul commanded the Philippian believers to be magnanimous.
Philippians 4:5, “Permit your magnanimity to become manifest to everyone. The Lord’s return is immanent.”
The magnanimous behavior of a believer manifests one of the characteristics of Christ who was generous and gracious in forgiving and tolerant in the face of insults and is a manifestation of the Spirit’s work in the life of a believer.
James 3:17, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, magnanimous, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.”
Magnanimous behavior among believers will resolve personality conflicts and is one of the qualities that a pastor is to possess.
1 Timothy 3:3, “not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but magnanimous, peaceable, free from the love of money.”
Titus 3:2, “to malign no one, to be peaceable, magnanimous, showing every consideration for all men.”
Magnanimity among believers will produce unity in the local assembly.
Joseph’s magnanimity has produced peace between him and his brothers.