As we dive into God’s word today, I ask that you don’t immediately look for the application because as Henry put it a week or two ago, there’s sometimes simply isn’t a clear-cut, immediately applicable application. Also, whether you had the privilege of hearing Dr. Gallagher speak repeatedly on focusing on the big picture or not, that’s exactly what we want to do here. As you read Genesis 42, try to put yourself in that situation: how did Jacob and his sons feel as their food dwindled and disappeared? How did the brothers feel as they remembered what they had done to Joseph? How did the brothers feel as they returned and there was all this “supernatural” stuff going on?
Read Genesis 42
Put yourself in the 10 brothers’ shoes. You’ve betrayed your baby brother, sold him to slavers, and finally realize what goes around comes around. You recognize that what you did was wrong but you know there’s no way for you to redeem yourself. Feeling hopeless? Because honestly what can you do about that, especially now as it seems you are being punished for your past actions? And now the head honcho wants you to bring your other baby brother down to Egypt, whom your dad WILL NOT let out of his sight because of what happened when he let Joseph out of his sight. So now you’re stuck: you’re a liar and a spy if you don’t return with your baby brother to Egypt (not to mention Simeon being imprisoned there) but your dad doesn’t trust you at all, let alone with the life of your little brother.
And then there’s Joseph. Imagine being in Joseph’s sandals. You have been sold by your brothers into slavery. Yet God is faithful and helps you to rise from the dirt, eventually becoming second in power in all of Egypt! Praise the Lord! And you are charged with the task of selling food to everyone who comes to Egypt to buy grain. And then one day, your broskis come. Those brothers who loved you so much, who cared for you so deeply that they sold you as an animal to slavers. And now they are prostrating themselves before you, begging you to sustain their lives by selling them food. How the tables have turned. Now I get to exact my revenge on these heartless people right? Right? But God placed me here; he blessed me and allowed me to rise to power and become a blessing to so many by giving me the ability to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams and save so many people through our preparations. It was all God’s work. But they were so cruel. But it was God’s plan…
I hope that you were able to see the jumbled variety of emotions that Joseph, his brothers, Jacob, and everyone else in this story were inevitably feeling. And where is God in all of this craziness? Well, remember those dreams that Joseph had last week, a few chapters ago? Well, they sure came to pass in this passage didn’t they? And, as we will see in the next few chapters, that is only the beginning of God fulfilling His words and plans for Joseph and the people around him. Even amidst all the chaos of life, God is still in control. That’s a cool thought. Another cool thought: God enabled Joseph to forgive his brothers; it is no natural thing to forgive people who have wronged you in any small way, let alone sold you to slave traders. Everything eventually points to God in this story. Funny how that seems to work for so much in our lives.
How’s God pointing you to Him today?
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