The gospel according to Joseph: Tested and transformed

Genesis 42:1-17 ESV

When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 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.” So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him. Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.  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. 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.” And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 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.” They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies.”  He said to them, “No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.” 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.” But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you. You are spies. By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 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.” And he put them all together in custody for three days.

Genesis 45:1-15 ESV

Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. And 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.  So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

God is always at work for our good. Even when he appears to be against us. Even when He does not appear to be working at all.

God's Goal

In any given moment or situation, God can be working thousands of things out for His goals. He's the ultimate multitasker. Consider the recent news about Ebola. God could working in Christian health worker's lives. He could be using this deadly disease to give Christian health workers an opportunity to witness to other health workers. He could be teaching people here in the United States about the brevity of life. God is using this evidence of brokenness, this disease, for good.

Consider the lives of Joseph and his family. His brothers sold him into slavery and deceived their father about his death. For over twenty years, this deception has stood. No repentance, no restoration, no rebuilding. This family has been spiritually dry. We avoid facing the sin in our lives, but God will not let it stand. God will bring it to the surface. He will confront us about the sin in our lives. God sends a famine. The brothers don't want to deal with it. The father sends them to Egypt, to where they had sold their brother.

God's Methods

God uses his instruments carefully. Joseph appears to be taking revenge on his brothers. But that's not true. He does not crow over them and bully them as was fully within his power to do.

They said they were honest men. But they had lied to their father and given him so much pain in their lies about Joseph. They are thrown in jail in false accusation. This is a reminder of how they had treated their brother in selling him unjustly into slavery.

Simeon is left in jail and they go home with grain and money. Leaving a brother behind... Doesn't this sound familiar? They are told that they must bring their youngest brother in order to prove their innocence.

They go back to their father and ask for Benjamin. Their father, who still plays favorites, refuses. Benjamin is his new favorite. So what then of Simeon? He waits in jail... Till they run out of grain. Their father relents and lets them take Benjamin.

They come back and meet Joseph again unaware. So Joseph treats Benjamin as a favorite. He wants to see how the brothers react. Joseph was the favorite and they treated him harshly. Would they do the same to Benjamin? When Benjamin is found with the "stolen" cup, they have another opportunity to their brother Benjamin under the bus. But they do not, they remember the heart of their father. One of the brothers even offers himself in Benjamin's place.

God's Heart

There is intermittent kindness and harshness. But behind all this is the heart of love. Joseph is testing his brothers to confront then in their sin. And not for revenge, but rather to heal them and have them repent of their sin.

Joseph had every right to avenge himself, but he does not. Instead he seeks out their good. There is a greater Joseph to be found in Jesus. He takes in all our sins and loves us. God may appear to be harsh at times with us, but He was doing these in love. May we take heart in this during times where God appears to be testing us and treating us harshly.