From Pit to Palace

Another way of expressing this is that Joseph lived by faith. He believed that God was with him, and regardless of the consequences or the circumstances, that he was going to do the right thing. He was going to be faithful. He was going to obey God. And he knew that God had his best interests at heart. Joseph planned ahead, and he kept his eye on the big picture. His attitude and his motivation were more dedicated to doing the right thing than in advancing himself. He understood to the depth of his being the Romans 8.28, all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. He understood the providence of God. The providence of God means that God is looking out for your best interest years in advance. The last story of so many of the great men and women in the Bible are stories of ups and downs. It's almost as if they were on a yo-yo and a yo-yo string, and they go up and they go down. But all the while, God is working out his great purpose through him. Through all of these things, just as in the case of Jesus Christ and all the great difficulties, troubles, trials that he went through, there is no record of Joseph ever feeling sorry for himself. For ever, even though he was in a literal pit, you don't ever find Joseph in the pit of pits. You don't find him bemoaning his fate or even asking God, why is this happening to me? Apparently, Joseph did not fall prey to what Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote. Here's a bit of a little poem that Tennyson wrote, one of England's more famous poets in 1847. Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean, tears from the depth of some divine despair rise in the heart and gather to the eyes in looking on the happy autumn fields and thinking of the days that are no more.

As one saying goes, I pity him who's prouder of his past than his future. The Word of God ever admonishes us to press forward and not to be ruled by the past. The Bible is called a book of life. It is the source of true education. Remember the words of Jesus, John 1717, your word is true. And also, Jesus' word in John 832, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. The Bible answers the great questions of life. The educational system that we now have, it's not designed to teach us the secrets of life. It's not designed to teach us the answers to the great questions of life. It's not designed to teach us how to live. After 12 or more years of schooling, we know how to figure the square root of an isosceles triangle, but we might not know how to forgive ourselves and others. We know what direction migrating birds fly in autumn, but we're not sure which way we want to go. We have dissected a frog, but perhaps have never explored the dynamics of human relationships. We know who wrote to be or not to be, that is the question, but we don't know the answer of to be or not to be. We know what pie is, but we're not sure who we are. We may know how to diagram a sentence, but we may not know how to love even ourselves, much less others. Today, if you will learn and apply the principles of this sermon, you will know a great deal about life and the purpose of life when it's over. So let's look at Joseph's background. As you recall, Jacob, Joseph's father, was given the birthright promise from his father Isaac, which we've already alluded to. Jacob, the man whose name was changed to Israel, meaning prince or ruling with God, struggled and wrestled all of his life, fighting to fulfill his mission in life. Jacob had many admirable qualities and characteristics, but he lived a problem-plagued life, and a lot of it had to do with his family. Of course, when you start off your adult life, in a sense, under the umbrella of deceit, as was the case of Jacob gaining the birthright from Isaac, and then incurring the wrath of your twin brother, then you might know that your life is not going to be an ordinary one, when you have to flee for your life. And then when you go to your uncle's place and he deceives you, and so many problems that Jacob encountered.

After Jacob was finally married to Rachel, he favored her over Leah. Rachel was his favorite wife. She's the one he wanted to marry in the first place. And after Rachel finally had a son, he favored Joseph over the other 10 sons. Benjamin, as we mentioned, was married or born later. Let's look now at Genesis 37, which to some degree gives us a bit of a summary of what we just talked about here. In Genesis 37, in verse 1, And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, being 17 years old, was feeding his flock with his brethren, and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. Remember, I said that Jacob had children by Leah's handmaids. And Joseph bought unto his father their evil report. Now, Israel loved Joseph more than all his children. So right off you've got favoritism, the parents favoring one child over another. He loved him more than all his brethren. They hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him. I mean, it was a great deal of tension between them. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren, and they hated him yet even more.

He said unto them, Here I pray you the dream which I have dreamed. For behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose and also stood upright, and behold, your sheaves stood round about and made obesions to my sheaf. In other words, they bowed down to my sheaf. And his brethren said unto him, Shall you indeed reign over us, or shall you indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more, and behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obesions to me, bowed down to me. He told it to his father and to his brethren, and his father rebuked him and said unto him, What is his dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brother and indeed come to bow down ourselves to you, to the earth? And his brothers and his brethren envied him, but his father observed the same.

So some questions could immediately come to mind. What does it do to a family when parents show a preference for one child over the other? Obviously, that within itself is going to create some kind of strife and division. What do you think it did to the family to have a father love one wife more than the others? Of course, you've got the whole question of a person having two wives and then some concubines or handmaidens, whatever they called him. Was it a blessing to Joseph to be preferred by his father? Well, because he was preferred and because of his dreams, they hated him. So Jacob's favoritism toward Joseph coupled with the fact that Joseph openly boasted of his dreams and his apparent destiny made his brothers even more jealous, as we've just read. So what does this tell us about Joseph?

These two dreams tell us that Joseph perhaps lacked discretion. Now, on the other hand, we could say, well, these dreams were, I believe, undoubtedly from God, and they did come to pass.

And maybe Joseph said, who else am I going to share these dreams with? If I don't share them with my father, my mother, and my brothers, who else am I going to share them with and get their opinion on them? Well, he got their opinion. They didn't like it. So do you think God wanted Joseph to tell his father and his brothers about the dreams? As I said, I think so. Who else would he turn to? You notice in verse 11, it says, Joseph's brothers were jealous. His brethren envied him, but his father observed the saying. In other words, he kept this in mind about these dreams. It seems that Jacob believed that Joseph might be right, because he stored it away in his mind. The older brothers, now on the next episode here, are sent out to graze the flock. And after some time passes, Jacob sent Joseph out and checked on them. He wanted to find out how they were. Of course, in those days, you go out into the wilderness like this. They had lions and other predators and all kinds of dangers could have happened. So he sends Joseph out to check on them. And when they see him coming, they begin to devise a plot. So let's look at Genesis 37 and verse 18. And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to kill him.

They said one to another, Behold, this dreamer comes. Come now therefore, and let us kill him, and cast him into some pit. And we will say, in other words, we will go tell Jacob that some wild beast has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams. And Reuben heard it. Now, Reuben was the firstborn, and by all rights, he was, according to the law of that time, he would receive the birthright. But as you recall, when it came time for the birthright to be given just before Jacob died, the birthright was not given to Reuben because he had defiled his father's bed and gone into one of Jacob's concubines. So Reuben had disqualified himself, but here he's the firstborn, and perhaps he feels he's the oldest boy, so he feels responsible to his dad. If something happens to Joseph, what am I going to tell my dad? And it came to pass when Joseph was coming to his brethren that they stripped Joseph out of his coat. Well, I didn't read all of that. I need to go back and read what Reuben said, verse 22. Reuben said unto them, shed no blood, but cast him into the pit, that is, in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him, that he might rid him out of their hands to deliver him to his father again. So it was like, I'll go along with him now, and then I'll come back later, and I'll get him and take him back home. And it came to pass when Joseph was come unto his brethren that they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colors that was on him. Jacob had made him a special coat, and we know the Dolly Parton song of the coat of many colors.

And once again, showing the favoritism that Jacob displayed for Joseph, which, of course, would anger the brothers even more, they took him and cast him into a pit, and the pit was empty, and there was no water in it. They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked. And behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh going to carry it down to Egypt. So here are merchants with a merchant caravan, merchandise that are going to go sell in Egypt. Now, perhaps at this time, Reuben, who was going to be the hero and save Joseph, maybe he wasn't there or something. But anyhow, they continue this, and Judah speaks up and says unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites. Remember Ishmael? When Abraham and Sarah were promised a son, the son of promise, and after time passed, no son was born. So Sarah said, Go into my handmaiden Hagar and beguet a child with her. Abraham did, and Ishmael was born. Ishmael was eventually cast out. And you know the prophecy that says that Ishmael should be a wild man, that his hand shall be against every man. Ishmael is the father of the Arabs. And Esau and Ishmael intermarried, their descendants intermarried. Come and let us settle him to the Ishmaelites and let not our hand be upon him. For he is our brother and our flesh, and his brethren were content. Then they're passed by Midianite merchantmen, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit. And so Joseph too then to comfort him. I'm sorry, I skipped something here. So Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver. So the Midianites, Ishmaelites, are interchangeable. And they brought Joseph into Egypt. And Reuben returned under the pit. As I said evidently, he had left during this time. And behold, Joseph was not in the pit, and he rent his clothes, and he returned and his brethren and said, the child is not, and I don't know where he is. Where am I going to go? What am I going to do? And they took Joseph's coat and killed a kid of the goats and dipped the coat in the blood. They sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, This how we found. Know now whether it be your son's coat or not. And they knew it was. It is my son's coat, and he will be, says devoured him. And Joseph is without doubt torn into pieces. And Jacob rent his clothes, put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. Now to a large degree, this also shows the lack of respect that the boys had, the other brothers, the 10, for their father as well. They really respected him, loved him, cared for him. Why would they do that? Because undoubtedly they would know the grief that their action would cause to him. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him. But he refused to be comforted and said, For I will go down into the grave, unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him, and the Midianites, or Ishmaelites, sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, and Officer of Pharaohs, and Captain of the Guard.

So we see this dreadful story here began to unfold. So questions we might ask. You know, as the brothers threw him down in the pit, do you think, Hey, what about your dreams now, Joseph? What about those dreams? Are you really going to rule over us one of these days? Are we really going to bow down to you? And what do you think Joseph was thinking about his dreams as a cat stripped his clothes off him, took his coat of many colors, threw him in the pit? What do you think he was thinking? Was he thinking, God will deliver me, or God is still with me?

You might even think about how important it was Joseph's coat of many colors to him. To some degree, the mark of his identity. But now he's in the pit, there's no water there, and there's no way out. And then he is rescued, but he's rescued in a way that some might say, well, this might be worse than death. He's stolen the slavery and taken down into Egypt. You know, the horrible hands of the devil may push you into the pit of suffering, sadness, and shame. And at times, the only way that you can get out of the pit is through the intervention and help of God. Only Christ will lift you up and place you in his father's palace. You know, Christ said, in my father's house are many mansions. And I go and prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, then I'll come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also.

So we don't know for sure what all was passing through Joseph's mind at that time. And at times, we may have various thoughts when we think that we're in the pit and no way out.

The thing that could destroy you, however, can become building blocks on the journey of faith as you look for the hand of God in all circumstances. Now, the Bible doesn't say for sure, but I would think that Joseph was doing a lot of praying about this time. And oftentimes, when God is going to do something wonderful in our lives, he may be often start that journey with a lot of difficulty. Samuel Rutherford wrote the following, praise God for the hammer, the file, and the furnace. The hammer molds us, the file sharpens and fire tempers us. Joseph experienced it all and he was ready to be used by God. So Joseph is now in the pit, every vestige of who he was, what he was, and his hopes and dreams for the future seem to be fading. Then, as they say, as we've already read, out of the blue, as it were, here comes this band of Ishmaelites. They see him off in the distance and they begin to plan and say, let's not kill him, let's sell him. And they agree. Ruben comes back to the pit. Joseph is gone. He's beside himself, thinking that his father hold him responsible because he's the firstborn. Then the plot becomes one of deceit and gross disrespect for their father, Jacob. As we have read, they made up this story. They killed an animal, soaked the coat in blood, took it back. Joseph was thought to be dead and Jacob and his whole household mourned and wept for Joseph. Though God surely does not want there to be envy, jealousy, and strife in a family, God cannot be tempted to do evil. Neither can see any man. He tries us to see whether we will be faithful in the face of trials. God allowed Satan to test Job to the very point of death. And in a sense, Joseph goes through this several times, but in a different kind of way. It's more in the mental, psychological kind of realm of wondering what's going to happen next.

I don't know if we could say that God planned it all out in advance so that Joseph would be thrown into the pit and then sold into slavery.

Later, when Joseph reveals himself to his brothers in Genesis 45, to some degree might seem that way.

But I believe that God had a hand in it all the way. You know, the timing of the appearance of the Ishmaelites. The Judah then suggesting they sell him into slavery instead of killing him. And then even, you don't know what would happen, Reuben had the plan. Well, I'm going to come back later and get him out of the pit and take him home. So a lot of factors involved here. Several laws of family relationships have been broken on the way to the pit. Jacob's favoritism, one wife over another. Jacob's favoritism of one son over the others. And then, perhaps, Joseph was arrogant in the way he shared his dreams. I don't know for sure.

However, it seems that God is the one who gave him the dreams. One thing we do know is we shall see God was with Joseph and what God had revealed to Joseph through his dreams. These things were going to come to pass.

So did God know that Joseph was going to become a slave? I rather suspect that he did because he knew how Joseph's brothers felt about him. The Ishmaelites brought Joseph down to Egypt and sold him the Potiphar, as we have just read. But let's pick it up again in Genesis 39. Genesis 39, verse 1. And Joseph was brought down to Egypt and Potiphar, an officer of the Pharaoh's, captain of the guard, and Egyptian, bought him off the hands of the Ishmaelites, which had bought him or brought him down there. And the Lord was with Joseph and he was a prosperous man, and he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.

Then we pick it up in verse 7. And it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast her eye upon Joseph, and said, Lie with me, come, let's have intimate relationships.

But he refused and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master knows not what is with me in this house or has not withheld anything from me in this house. He has committed all that he has to my hand. He's trusted me so much that he's placed everything in my hands. There is none greater in this house than I, neither have he kept anything from me, but you, because you're his wife.

How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And it came to pass as she spoke to Joseph day by day. This went on, trying to seduce him. Sort of like one of the soap operas that you see on television. Of course, they all succumb, basically. And it came to pass as she spoke to Joseph day by day that he hearken not unto her, to lie by her or be with her. And it came to pass about this time that Joseph went in the house to do his business.

So in doing his business, he would be partially, perhaps disrobed the way it sounds. There was none of the men of the house there within. And she caught him by his garment saying, lie with me. And he left his garment in her hand and fled and got him out. And it came to pass when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and was fled forth.

That she called on the men of her house and spoken to them, saying, see, he had brought in a Hebrew unto us to mock us. He came in unto me to lie with me and I cried with a loud voice. There was tremendous animosity. And perhaps you know this from history, perhaps you don't. But there was tremendous animosity between the Egyptians and the Hebrews.

The Egyptians looked down on the Hebrews. They were like a nomadic, shepherd-class, lower-class kind of people and civilization. Whereas Egypt viewed themselves as the highbrow, high-class, most civilized, most advanced nation on the face of the earth. So to have a Hebrew over you and to be unable to seduce a Hebrew was a great insult to Potiphar's wife. She could not stand it, as they say.

Now in verse 19, And it came to pass when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke unto him, saying, After this manner did your servant to me, that his wrath was kindled, and Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison place where the king's prisoners were bound, and he was there in the prison. But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

Here is grace, God's divine favor. Of course, we want God's grace. We want God's divine favor. And if we're faithful to him, as Joseph had been, shall I do this thing? He told Potiphar's first wife and sinned against God. Shall I break the trust that my master has placed in me, placing me over this house? No, I'm not going to lie with you. And this gave Joseph great favor, great grace in the sight of God. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison.

And whatsoever they did there, it was the doer. He was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand, because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper. While Joseph is in prison, he interprets the dreams of two former members of Pharaoh's court, who have been thrown into jail with him. And one of the former court members, Pharaoh's chief cupbearer, is restored to his position in accordance with Joseph's interpretation of his dream. So let's read now from Genesis chapter 40 verses 13 and 14.

Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up your head and restore you unto your place, and you shall deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand, and the former manner when you were his butler. But think on me. Think on me. Remember me. You know, I've helped you here. Remember me. So when you're restored, remember me how I helped you.

Remember me when it shall be well with you, and show kindness I pray you unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house, out of this prison. In verse 23, Yet did not the chief butler, remember Joseph, but forgot him.

But then we come to chapter 41, and Pharaoh has this dream. Verse 1, And he came to pass at the end of two full years that Pharaoh dreamed, and behold, he stood by the river. So Joseph has been in prison, of course, during these two years. And then we come down to verse 8, And he came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and it was about the fat cattle and the lean cattle. And he came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof. And Pharaoh told them his dream, but there was none of them that could interpret them unto Pharaoh. Then spoke the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember, I remember my faults this day. Pharaoh was mad with his servants and put me inward in the captain of the guards' house, both me and the chief baker. And we dreamed a dream, and one night I said, we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. And there was with us a young man, a Hebrew, a servant to the captain of the guard. And we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams, to each man according to his dream he did interpret. And it came to pass as he interpreted to us. So it was, and we were restored to my office, and him, that is the guy who was really guilty, he hung or hanged.

Now, Pharaoh sends for Joseph, verse 14, then Pharaoh sent out, called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon, and he shaved himself, changed his raiment, came into Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I dreamed the dream, and there's none that can interpret it. And I've heard say of you that you can understand a dream and interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me, God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, in my dream, behold, I sit upon the bank of the river, and then the dream about the fat cattle, the lean cattle, and Joseph interprets the dream.

In verse 39, And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, For as much as God has showed you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and according unto your word, shall all my people be ruled only in the throne? Will I be greater than you? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have sent you, I have set you over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him to ride in the second chariot, which he had, and they cried before him, Bow the knee! And he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without you shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt. Basically, all the people of Egypt had to play mayai before Joseph, before they could do anything. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphna Pena, and he gave him to wife Asana, the daughter of Pada Fare, priest of Aon, and Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt, from Pit to Palace.

Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went throughout all the land of Egypt. And in the seven plenteous years, the earth brought forth by handfuls, and he gathered it all up and he stored it.

Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea very much until he left numbering, for it was without number. The warehouses, the grain bins, and everything, brimming full, spilling over. And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of the famine came, which Asanaath, the daughter of Pada Fare, priest of Aon, bear unto him. Those sons, Manasseh, the firstborn, for God said, he had made me forget all my toil and all my father's house. And the name of the second called Ephraim, for God had caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. So Ephraim and Manasseh who received the birthright from Jacob just before Jacob died were half Egyptian.

The children of Joseph and this Egyptian wife.

All through all of these horrible trials, Joseph recognizes the providence of God in his life. He continually gives God credit. Even though he was a victim of jealousy, hatred, betrayal, the worst of trials, Joseph remains faithful to God all the way. I think what is so amazing in all of this is that he kept his wits. He never fell prey to the things that so often plague us. They plague me from time to time.

The things that plague us when we are the victims of such tragedy. Things that keep people in the pit. Here are some of the things that keep people in the pit. Of course, Joseph was delivered from the pit. Blame, bitterness, blaming others for your situation, and others may be responsible for placing you in the pit. Joseph didn't jump in the pit by himself.

You know, when a great trial comes at the hands of other people, the trial, first of all, is on you. How are you going to respond? But ultimately, the trial is on them. Because God is a righteous judge. But blaming them and becoming bitter will not lift any of us out of the pit. Becoming the victim provides some with status in their own mind. Well, you know, I am where I am and I'm a victim. Refusing to let go of the bitterness won't get you out of the pit. Living for revenge, one of these days, I'll get them back for this. They'll know that I am the second greatest in the land. That everybody has to say, may I, in Egypt, before they can do a thing. Or some might withdraw into a shell to insulate themselves against future hurts. Or some might live the life of martyred myrtle, becoming sorry for self and wallowing in the pity pits for the rest of their lives.

So when you consider sinning, as you may be, for, as I don't think about sinning per se, but sin is deceitful. And before you know it, you can be caught up with something and fall prey to it. And you can be sinning before you know it. You didn't plan it. You didn't set out to do it. But here you are and you're involved.

But anytime anything comes up, we need to think about the altering consequences that could follow, the life altering consequences.

I know young girls. They're now young mothers. Who are to model children to a large degree throughout their lives, example in the church. They got involved with some guy and made a mistake one time. They became pregnant and it was a life altering experience. And so they have to make the best of it, whatever they can, and some do and some don't.

Now let's go to Genesis 42.

Verse 1, Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do you look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard that there's corn in Egypt. Go down there and buy corn for us that we may live and not die. And Joseph's 10 brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, the youngest boy, Jacob didn't sin with him, lest for adventure something happened to him. Verse 5, The sons of Israel, or Jacob, came to buy corn among those that came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. And Joseph was the governor over the land, and here it was that sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the earth. So that dream that he had is fulfilled. One of these days, you're going to bow down to the earth before me. Joseph saw his brethren and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them and spoke roughly unto them. He said unto them, Where do you come from? They said from the land of Canaan to buy food. Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew him not. And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them and sent unto them, Your spies. You've come here to see the nakedness of the land. You're coming to spy us out. Maybe for adventure, probably think, well, indicating to them, you've come to spy us out. You might have in mind conquering us. They said unto him, No, my Lord, but to buy food or your servants come. For we are all one man's sons. We are true men. Your servants are no spies. They said unto them, No, but to see the nakedness of the land, you are come. And they said, Your servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. And behold, the youngest is this day with her father, and one is not.

So what do you think Joseph accused them of being spies when he remembered his dream in verse 9? And they didn't recognize him, but he recognized them. Why is the accusation connected to his dreams? The point of the first dream, the part that made the brothers mad, was that Joseph would rule over them and that they would bow down. So being able to accuse them of a crime, and he had the authority to throw them in prison, showed that he had authority to rule over them. And they had already bowed down to him. But more importantly, Joseph is testing his brothers. Have they changed? Have they repented of their jealous hatred? So he tells them not to come back for food unless they bring their brother Benjamin with them. Jacob doesn't want the boy to go, but he finally relents. They go back and tell Jacob this, and they return to Egypt. So we'll pick it up again in chapter 43 and verse 16. In chapter 43, 16, And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, and slay and make ready, for these men shall dine with me at noon. And the man did at Joseph's bane, and the man brought the men into Joseph's house. And the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph's house. And they said, because of the money that was turned in our sacks, at the first time that we came down here, we brought in that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bond men and our animals also. And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house, and said, Oh sir, we came down at the first time to buy food. It came to pass when we came to the inn. We opened our sacks, and behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack. Our money in full weight, and we have bought it again into our hand. And so they did bring it back. In verse 23, and he said, Peace be to you, fear not your God, fear not your God, and the God of your Father had given you treasure in your sacks. I had your money, and he brought Simeon out unto them. And the man brought the man into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and washed their feet, and gave their animals food or hay. And they made ready against Joseph what he told them to do for the noon meal. And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present, which was in their hand unto the house, and bowed themselves to him, to the earth. And he asked them of their welfare, and he said, Is your father well? The old man whom you spoke about, is he yet alive? And they answered, Your servant, our father, is in good health. He is yet alive, and they bowed down their heads once again. And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your younger brother of whom you spoke of? And he said, God, be gracious unto you, my son. And Joseph made haste for his bowels to yearn upon his brother, and he sought where to weep. And he entered into his chambers and wept there. And he washed his face and went out and refrained himself, and said, in essence, Let's eat.

And then in chapter 44, they make preparation to return. We're going to go now to chapter 45.

That is, return back to Jacob in chapter 44, but we're going to chapter 45.

Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them, and stood by him, and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me, and there stood no man with him, while Joseph may himself known unto his brethren. And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians in the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph. Does my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence. No, they were shaking in their boots, as they say, and probably other stuff as well. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near, and he said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Now therefore, be not grieved nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here. For God did send me before you to preserve life. In other words, if God had not allowed it, my brethren, I wouldn't be here. You're not that big. So, don't be grieved. It's all going to work out for good. No, famine is in the land. Famine is in Canaan. My father and his household, their star. So, of course, Joseph plans to bring them all down here. And so it was in the belly of Egypt, as it were, in the womb of Egypt, that Israel blossomed into a great nation. See, the providence of God. God has our best interests at heart. He's looking out for our best interests years in advance. He has a plan. His plan is to bring us from the pits of our human frail flesh into the glorious liberty of the sons of God into his very kingdom.

And my father's house are many mansions, many places of responsibility. And that is our destiny.

Verse 7, God sent me before you to preserve you of posterity in the earth. And to save your lives by great deliverance. So it was not you that sent me here, but God. And this answers a lot of the questions we posed earlier. God's hand was in it all the way. And he have made me a father to Pharaoh, and Lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Haste you and go to my father and say unto him, Thus saith your son Joseph, God hath made me Lord of all Egypt. Come down unto me and don't tarry. Get down here right away. Verse 14, He fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept. And Benjamin wept upon his neck. Moreover, he kissed all his brethren and wept upon them. And after that his brethren talked with him. And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come, and it pleased Pharaoh well and his servants. And so Jacob and his whole household and family came down into Egypt.

It seems based on the events that transpired that after the death of their father Jacob, even with these events here, that Joseph's brothers acted more out of fear. Out of fear of what is Joseph going to do or what maybe is God going to eventually do, than they did out of genuine forgiveness and repentance. Maybe they just didn't want to see Jacob have any more grief instead of really believing. Just really believing, well, Joseph has forgiven us. He meant what he said. Now the testimony to this, and notice how this plays out.

17 years pass, and in chapter 50, after Jacob dies, notice what happens.

Chapter 50, verse 15. And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us. Now 17 years have passed, and think of all the good things that they've enjoyed. All the good things that Joseph has done for them. But maybe they're just saying, well, he did it because of Daddy. And we don't want to hurt Daddy. No, on and on it goes. And Joseph will peradventure hate us, will certainly requite us with all the evil which we did unto him. He still has revenge in his heart, and he's going to get us back. Daddy's dead. And not the way Joseph was. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Your father did command before he died, saying... In other words, instead of them just going up and saying, You know, I'm your brother Samyun or Reuven or Levi or whomever it was, I'm really sorry, Joseph, for all the things that happened. They eventually, when they really do ask for Joseph's forgiveness, they do it under the guise of, well, Daddy said just before he died, go to Joseph.

They sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Your father did command before he died, saying, So shall you say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray you now, the trespasses of your brethren and their sin, for they did unto you evil. And now we pray you forgive the trespasses of the servants of the God of your father. And Joseph wept when they spoke unto him, and his brethren also went and fell down before his face, and they said, Behold, we be your servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not, for am I in the place of God, but as for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass. It is as it is this day to save much people alive. Now therefore, fear you not. I will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted them and spoke kindly unto them. And Joseph dwelled in Egypt. He and his father's house, and Joseph lived 110 years. And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. The children also of Makur, the son of Manasseh, were brought up unto Joseph's knees. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die, and God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land, under the land which he sware unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel's saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here. So Joseph died, being 110 years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. Of course, his bones were eventually moved. So what about forgiveness? The remaining few minutes, let's focus on that.

Obviously, we should have a forgiving attitude, as Jesus did when on the cross he looked down and all those people had done all the things they had done to him. And he said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they're doing. You know, in the model prayer, it says, forgive us as we forgive our debtors. It also says that if you won't forgive others, God won't forgive you. God's forgiveness is contingent upon the sinner repenting, and it can be given only by the one sin against. So if your brother sinned against you, as it says in Luke 17 verses 3 and 4, your brother sinned against you, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. And if seven times of the day he sins against you, and seven times of the day he turns to you, saying, I repent, you shall forgive him.

A Christian, all of us, should offer forgiveness the way God does. For God, it is a deliberate, conscious, meaningful choice. God and Christ planned out the plan of redemption long before humankind were created. He knew that humankind, or they knew that humankind, would be in need of a Redeemer. No, forgiveness is not only something that is offered, it is a transaction between two parties, the one wronged and the one who has committed the wrong. Until the one who has committed the wrong repents and accepts forgiveness, forgiveness is not complete in the sense that the offender does not receive the benefit of forgiveness. See, that was the story with Joseph's brothers. He threw all his fruits and efforts, interaction with them. It was obvious that he had forgiven them. But it was only after 17 years passed, and Jacob died, that they really came to see, well, Joseph has forgiveness. And then they wept, and they accepted their forgiveness.

So a sinner is said only to be forgiven when he or she accepts God's forgiveness. Now, in the Old Testament, they had a way of showing they had accepted God's forgiveness by bringing a sacrifice. I'm not going to read that, but Leviticus chapter 4, verses 31-35.

Before he forgave his brothers, Joseph tested them in all kinds of ways to find out whether they were the same sort of individuals who had stripped him, thrown him into a pit, and then callously sat down to eat and then sold him into a living death of slavery. And they had shown some fruits, and I was suspect that Joseph didn't really realize that they didn't believe that he had forgiven them. Or else you wouldn't have that scenario at the end, and perhaps Jacob realized it too. Or maybe he wouldn't have sent this communication to them saying, after I die, you better go make sure that you are right with your brother Joseph.

Love includes justice as well as mercy. To give mercy at the expense of justice would make Christ the minister of sin. So love covers a multitude of sins, but God cannot forgive sin, will not forgive sin, otherwise he'd be the minister of sin, for that which has not been repented of. So one of the aspects of any kind of reconciliation involves repentance and a coming to acknowledge and to confess what a person has done, and both parties have to accept it. So heartfelt and true repentance coupled with Christ's sacrifice makes it possible for us to walk in a reconciled position with God in Christ all the time. And like James writes in James chapter 2 verses 8 through 13, that mercy glories against judgment. But judgment has to be made for the mercy in the ultimate sense to be extended. God's justice is maintained when repentance, faith, and Christ's sacrifice are coupled together, resulting in the extension of God's mercy, and God's justice is served. God maintains his justice when he gives us mercy by forgiving us for breaking God's law. Justice demands that we die, but Christ died in our place. You know, the word forgive, two parts. For, which means that you're in favor of, and then giving, means that you have something to give. For giving. I'm forgiving. The idea is that life is take, take, learn, learn, needs to be balanced with the idea that life is also giving and teaching, receiving and giving, learning and teaching. The two parts are part of a single flow, like breathing, you receive, and you breathe out, you give out. You can't have one without the other.

Here's what Harry Emerson, Harry Emerson Fosdick wrote concerning the meaning of service. He wrote this in 1920.

For the dead sea with the same water makes horror. For the dead sea has no outlet. It gets to keep. So when you forgive another, the whom do you give? Are you giving to the other? Perhaps sometimes. In some cases, people don't want you to forgive them because they will have no longer an excuse to harbor the hatred they have for you. They want your forgiveness. Of course, then the burden is on them again. Then are you going to forgive yourself?

Always and forever. So to forgive another is being in favor of giving to yourself when all is undone because you receive as much benefit as the other because, like the Sea of Galilee, it gets to give out that life-giving water, the River of Jordan, and the overflowing banks of the River of Jordan makes much of the produce available that is eaten in the land of Palestine. But the dead see, giveth not out, and it dies. And so it is with us that we don't follow God's rules of forgiveness and reconciliation. To forgive another is to give to yourself freedom from the potential of becoming the victim of bitterness. In addition, most of us judge ourselves more harshly and more often than we judge others. So it's important to forgive ourselves for all things we hold against ourselves. We're here where we are in life. You cannot change the past. I cannot change the past. But the past can change you. It can change me into a bitter, cynical, self-absorbed, anger-laden person. So Joseph, he didn't blame the past or anyone in it, and so must we take the same approach today. The past is the past. We are where we are, and we are what we are. Blaming the past is like blaming gravity for the glass you broke. Yes, without gravity, the glass would not have fallen. But you know about gravity, and you know about glasses, and you know what happens when you combine gravity with a falling glass and a hard surface. Your life is like gravity. It is what it is. Your life today is like the glass. Handle it with care. Don't let it slip. Don't let it fall. Don't let it fall prey to a victim of gravity or any of the other metaphors that we could use. Joseph was in the pit. He wound up in the palace by doing all the things that we've discussed here today. What's the saying, Joseph, in all this? Conviction, commitment, courage, living faith, and God. He knew, and he knew that he knew. Romans 8, 28. So our challenge is to go from the sin pits of this world into the glorious future that God has prepared for all that love Him. We have been given the power to go from the pit to the palace. In my father's house are many mansions.