“When Life Is the Pits”
A Study of the Life of Joseph
Sermon # 6
“Dealing With A Seared Conscience”
Genesis 42:1-28
Are there things that happened in the past that the mere mention of creates a new sense of pain in your life? Are these things in your past unconfessed, undealt with sin that with the proper trigger can flood your conscience with a sense of guilt? Notice with me this morning God’s gracious methods of awakening the conscience of Joseph’s brothers. It may seem at first that Joseph is playing mind games with his brothers, but he is not. He is trying to get them to face themselves and put away this treacherous trait they have.
I. Sometimes To Reach A Seared Conscience We Must Be Put In A Position Of Extreme Need. 42:1-5
[These principles are set forth by James Montgomery Boice. Genesis: An Expositional Commentary Vol. 3, Gen. 37:1-50:26, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1987) pp. 113-136]
“When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” (2) And he said, “Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.”(3) So Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. (4) But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “Lest some calamity befall him.” (5) And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.”
Joseph’s brothers were reluctant to even think about Egypt, because it caused them to think about their past sin. Over the course of the years they had lulled their consciences to sleep. But now God put them in a position in which they had to face the very place that troubled their guilty consciences.
The “seven years of great abundance” have come and gone in Egypt and the “seven years of famine” have hit full force. This famine, which had been predicted in Pharaoh’s dreams, created an international disaster, for the famine, had not only affected Egypt but also the surrounding regions. People from the surrounding regions heard that Egypt alone had provisions enough to survive the famine that was ravaging all of that part of the world.
Their father seems to see something strange in the way that they are behaving, for he says, “When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” Even he seems to be some significance in the way that they kept looking at one another. The fact that they kept looking guiltily at each other instead of taking decisive steps when they heard that their was grain available in Egypt shows that still were struggling with a sin that is over two decades old. Joseph’s brothers are forced to consider traveling down to Egypt for food. With the famine God gets their attention. God provokes a crisis in their lives.
Sometimes God has to bring the pinch of material want into our lives to cause us to reevaluate our condition and cause us to confess our unconfessed sin. Jesus told a story young man who had to be put through just such a circumstance in the story of the Prodigal Son. It was only after the son found himself in very deprived circumstances that he came to his senses and returned home.
II. Sometimes To Reach A Seared Conscience We Must Be Put Through The Pain Of Harsh Treatment 42:6-16
“Now Joseph was governor over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth. (7) Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, “Where do you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.” (8) So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.”
On day Joseph looked up and who should arrive to buy provisions but his brothers, who had thrown him into the pit to starve, while they ate their lunch, oblivious to his cries for help. Can you imagine the thoughts that would go through your mind if you were in Joseph’s position.
Ten of Joseph’s brothers arrived in Egypt along with many hundreds of others to buy grain from Joseph. Without even realizing they were fulfilling the prophecy of Joseph’s two dreams of years before (37: 6-11) they bowed low before him, in expression due one of such a high office.
When the brothers came into Joseph’s presence they did not recognize him. After all, he was only seventeen when they last saw him and now he is nearly forty. There is also a deliberate play–on-words in the original Hebrew here, some translations put this way, “they were recognized but he made himself unrecognizable (disguised himself).” All they saw was an Egyptian governor named Zaphnath-paaneah (zaf’-nath-pa’-ne’ah) and Joseph acted as a stranger and spoke harshly to them through and interpreter.
Of all the test that Joseph faced this is perhaps the most difficult, here were the very people who had so abused him, utterly defenseless, while he had almost unlimited power. The temptation to retaliate is normally, especially when we meet face to face with those who have offended and hurt us. It is at that moment we discover whether or not we have truly forgiven them.
As the years have passed for Joseph he had been willing to forgive the injustices done to him. He had evidently forgiven his brothers. He had no doubt struggled through forgiveness of Potiphar and Potiphar’s wife. He had also been forced to deal with forgiveness for the servant of Pharaoh’ who had forgotten him, after he, himself had been released from prison. But not only had Joseph forgiven, I believe that he had forgotten. We see the evidence of these revealed back in chapter 41:50-52. We are told that after his raise to power Joseph has two sons, the first he named Manasseh which means “forgetting.” Joseph through the naming of his son is declaring that God has made him to forget all his trouble. But what is he forgetting? Did he forget the events themselves? Did he forget the pit? Did he forget the prison? Did he forget the false accusations? The answer of course is no! Instead Joseph chose to forget the pain associated with those events. Rather than allow it to spoil his present and his future, he chose to put the past aside. He had determined that he would not allow himself to be held captive by an unforgiving heart. In like fashion, his second son was named Ephraim, which means “doubly fruitful.” Joseph had put the past behind him. He understood that the past was just that, past. There was nothing he could do to change the past but he could keep it from ruining the present and the future. Dr. David Seamands in his book Healing for Damaged Emotions says, “The two primary causes of emotional stress are the failure to receive forgiveness and the failure to forgive.” [Wheaton, ILL: Victor Books, 1989, pp.29-30]
Or as the great philosopher Lucy explained to Charlie Brown at the end of the game why she had lost sight of the baseball and had failed to make the catch. “Sorry I missed that easy fly ball, manager, I thought I had it, but suddenly I remembered all the others I’ve missed, and the past got in my eyes.” Don’t let the past get in your eyes this morning.
Let me illustrate with a story from the life of Corrie Ten Boom. She told of her own struggle with forgiveness when she wrote, “I wish I could say that after a long and fruitful life, traveling the world, I had learned to forgive all my enemies. I wish I could say that merciful and charitable thoughts just naturally flowed from me and on to others. But they don’t. If there is one thing I’ve learned since I’ve passed my eightieth birthday, it’s that I can’t store up good feelings and behavior – but only draw them fresh from God each day.
Maybe I’m glad it’s that way, for every time I go to Him, He teaches me something else. I recall the time – and I was almost seventy - when some Christian friends whom I loved and trusted did something which hurt me. You would have thought that, having been able to forgive the guards at Ravensbruck (Nazi concentration camp), forgiving friends would be child’s play. It wasn’t. For weeks I seethed inside. But at last I asked God again to work His miracle in me. And again it happened: first the cold-blooded decision, then the flood of joy and peace. I had forgiven my friends; I was restored to my Father.
Then, why was I suddenly awake in the middle of the night, rehashing the whole affair again? My friends, I thought. People I loved. If it had been strangers, I wouldn’t have minded so. I sat up and switched on the light. ‘Father, I thought it was all forgiven. Please help me do it’
But the next night I woke again. They’d talked so sweetly too! Never a hint of what they were planning. ‘Father! I cried in alarm. ‘Help me!’’
Then it was that another secret of forgiveness became evident. It is not enough to simply say. ‘I forgive you. I must begin to live it out. And in my case, that meant acting as though their sins, like mine, were buried in the depths of the deepest sea. If God could remember them no more – and He had said, ‘Your sins and iniquities will I remember no more’ (Heb. 10:17) – then neither would I. …..
He still had more to teach me however, even from this single episode. Many years later, after I had passed my eightieth birthday, an American friend came to visit me in Holland. As we sat in my little apartment in Baarn he asked me about those people from long ago who had taken advantage of me. ‘It is nothing,’ I said a little smugly. ‘It is all forgiven.’ ‘By you yes,’ he said ‘but what about them? Have they accepted your forgiveness.’
‘They say there is nothing to forgive! They deny it ever happened. No matter what they say though, I can prove they were wrong. I went eagerly to my desk. ‘See, I have it in black and white! I saved all their letters and I can show you where..’
‘Corrie!’ My friend slipped his arm through mine and gently closed the drawer. ‘Aren’t you the one whose sins are at the bottom of the sea? Yet are the sins of your friends etched in black and white?’
For an astonishing moment I could not find my voice. ‘Lord Jesus,’ I whispered at last, ‘who takes all my sins away, forgive me for preserving the all these years the evidence against others! Give me grace to burn all the blacks and whites as a sweet smelling sacrifice to your glory.
I did not go to sleep that night until I had gone through my desk and pulled all those letters – curling now with age – and fed them all into my little coal burning grate.
….. Forgiveness is the key which unlocks the door to resentment and handcuffs of hatred. It breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness. The forgiveness of Jesus not only takes away our sin, it makes it them as if they had never been.” [Corrie Ten Boom. Tramp for the Lord. pp. 181-183.]
There is a great struggle in each of our lives to forgive those who have wronged us, even though they may not have acknowledged the wrong they have done or have asked for our forgiveness. The Bible nowhere indicates that our willingness to forgive is predicated on the fact that someone has asked for forgiveness.
Perhaps as we have been talk about forgiveness God has brought someone to your mind that you need to forgive. Right now why don’t you make the commitment to take the initiative in making things right. Be big enough to forgive.
vv. 9-16
“Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!” (10) And they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. (11) We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies.” (12) But he said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land.” (13) And they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.” (14) But Joseph said to them, “It is as I spoke to you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ (15) In this manner you shall be tested: By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. (16) Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies!”
I believe that verse 9 means more than Joseph merely recalled his dreams. I believe that Joseph now recognized what God’s purpose for placing him is such a position of power was. He was to serve as the preserve his family. His power and prestige were more than rewards for faithfulness, much more than a opportunity for revenge.
Joseph is subjecting his brothers to the same charges and a taste of the same experience that he endured. He is not doing it as punishment…it is preparation, he is doing this in the hope that his brothers will wake up to the nature of their actions. He is hoping that this treatment will make them “come clean.”
III. Sometimes To Reach A Seared Conscience We Must Be Put Through The Press Of Solitude 42:17-23
“So he put them all together in prison three days. (18) Then Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God: (19) If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you, go and carry grain for the famine of your houses. (20) And bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so.”
The time that Joseph’s brothers spent locked up was very valuable. Solitude is often a valuable gift from God even when there is no great sin to be exposed. In solitude people are given the opportunity to meet with God. The frantic pace of busyness of our lives often keeps us from God also. The truth is that solitude is necessary for Christian life and growth under any circumstances.
vv. 21-24
“Then they said to one another, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.” (22) And Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us.” (23) But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter. (24) And he turned himself away from them and wept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.”
It is at this point that the brothers begin to talk among themselves, unaware that Joseph understood every word they said. For the first time they seem to realize that the relationship between their present predicament and their treatment of Joseph was too obvious to overlook. Each of them acknowledged that their difficulties were the result of their sin against Joseph. They had plea for mercy and not received it just as Joseph had cried out for help from the pit and they had ignored him. Sin always has consequences, they are just beginning to realize how painful these can be.
In the original language the “we” in their conversation is emphatic. They say, “we are guilty, … we saw the distress of his soul, …we would not listen” (v. 21). They have made the first step in overcoming their seared consciences by taking personal responsibility for their own guilt. As far as they are concerned Joseph’s blood is imprinted on their hands, fresh in their minds and counted on their record (v.22).
IV. Sometimes To Reach A Seared Conscience We Must See The Proof Of God’s Presence 42:25-28
“Then Joseph gave a command to fill their sacks with grain, to restore every man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. Thus he did for them. (26) So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there. (27) But as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack. (28) So he said to his brothers, “My money has been restored, and there it is, in my sack!” Then their hearts failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, “What is this that God has done to us?” At some point on the return trip, one of the brothers opened his sack to feed his animal and discovered him money was returned. The way that the brother reacted seems to indicate that there has been some positive growth.
Indeed, far from being happy about finding the money, it says “then their hearts failed them and they were afraid..” The word that is translated “afraid” is the same word used to describe a giant earthquake in 1 Samuel 14:15. Not only do they feel the full impact of their sin, they are for the first time sensing God’s hand at work in their circumstances. They begin to ask, “What is God doing?” This is the first time in the entire story that any of Joseph’s brothers is said to have mentioned God.
Conclusion
1. Sometimes To Reach A Seared Conscience We Must Be Put In A Position Of Extreme Need.
2. Sometimes To Reach A Seared Conscience We Must Be Put Through The Pain Of Harsh Treatment.
3. Sometimes To Reach A Seared Conscience We Must Be Put Through The Press Of Solitude
4. Sometimes To Reach A Seared Conscience We Must See The Proof Of God’s Presence
