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Genesis 43
Hearts revealed
INTRO
This morning in chapter 43 of Genesis,…we find ourselves mid stride in the
steps towards reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers.
Joseph’s
brothers, you remember back in chapter 37,…sinned against Joseph by
throwing him into a pit…writing him off as dead, torn by wild beasts…as the
brother’s story “THE LIE” told to their Father goes.
TRUTH was,..they
intended to kill him but, through some intervening efforts of Reuben, settled to
sell him off as a slave instead.
This sin of theirs brought guilt upon themselves,
left a father bereaved of his son and a sibling abandoned and cruelly mistreated.
A big mound of brokenness.
Fast forward to where we are today in chapter 43 of Genesis.
Joseph’s
brothers are seeing the need to return to Egypt to buy more grain for food as the
famine in the land continued and worsened.
They have already made one
trip..seen in chapter 42…so this would be their second.
Their brother Joseph,
whom they met at their first trip, is not recognized by them but only know him
as “the man, the Lord of the land.”
WHILE Joseph did recognize his brothers,
whom, I repeat, last he saw them were acting as dishonest and cruel men
towards him.
SO, what have we seen Joseph doing in his interactions with
them?
Questioning them, accusing them of being dishonest men.
AND IN
DOING SO….seeking for their hearts to be revealed.
For, they do become
reconciled ultimately, but that is still a couple chapters down the away.
Joseph
has been seeking for their hearts to be revealed.
Allow me to put it this way Life and death for Joseph at the age of 17 was in the hands of Joseph’s
brothers.
We saw this back in chapter 37.
The revealing of their heart then,…was that of evil intent accompanied by
selfish gain which was not overcome by Reuben’s efforts to intervene on
behalf of Joseph.
JOSEPH was abandoned, sold into slavery, left as good as
dead to them.
NOW, with Joseph as “the man, the Lord of the land.”
Life and death of
Joseph’s brothers are in the hands of Joseph.
JOSEPH spares their life while intervening to reveal their heart.
(Verses 18-20) of chapter 42 SUM it up well.
“Do this and you will live (this is
Joseph speaking to his brothers), for I fear God; 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, and bring your youngest
brother to me.
So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.
“…if you are honest men…” “So your words will be verified”
WHAT is Joseph looking for in the revealing of their heart?…Fruit of repentance.
And we see budding fruit of this already as his brothers, shortly after Joseph
shares these terms of life to them, his brothers say to one another in the very
next verse…(verse 21) “…in truth we are guilty concerning our brother
(speaking of when they threw their brother Joseph into the pit)…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.”
Reuben adds in (verse 22).
“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.”
You see the guilt upon them?
Nothing like feeling the pressure and heat of the
moment to reveal what has otherwise been quiet within you.
That could be
evidences of God’s grace at work in your life in which the fruit of the Spirit is
clearly manifest bringing great encouragement OR, it could be marking clear
ugly areas of the flesh that need attention in being put to death.
Here, with
the brothers…it’s the lack of a clear conscience.
STILL,.. after all these
years they are ridden with guilt due to this sin against their brother where
forgiveness and reconciliation has yet to take place.
JOSEPH was 17 when his
brothers sold him into slavery.
HE was “30 years old when he entered the
service of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
“The seven years of plenty that occurred in
the land of Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began to
come, as Joseph had said.”
The famine is spreading over all the land..that
takes time,…in fact, a glance ahead to the moment Joseph makes himself
known to his brothers…in chapter 45,…it tells us in (verse 6) that 5 more years
of the total of 7 years of famine remain…so it’s reasonable to say…quick math
here.
There has been at least 21 years of time since Joseph’s brothers sinned
against him up to this remaining obvious guilt made known in (verses 21 & 22)
of chapter 42.
Is their guilt any lessoned by time?
NO.
More time
doesn’t replace the healing and restoration from sin that forgiveness and
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