Calming Response

Guilt always does a number on us. It certainly did on Joseph’s brothers. Though standing before an unnamed, soft-spoken servant from Egypt, whom they had never really known throughout their lives, they poured out their confession.

A Vertical Focus

I wonder what those ten men, those ten grown sons of Jacob, talked about during that journey from Canaan to Egypt. I have an idea that it might have been the same things we would have talked about had we been in their sandals.

God’s Directions

Judah put it on the line. “You can’t continue to delay and deny the situation. I’ll take responsibility for Benjamin’s life. If anything happens to him, I will bear the consequences for the rest of my days. Come on, Dad, let’s cooperate.”

A Horizontal Viewpoint

When Jacob learned what had happened, the old gentleman shriveled in fear. Rather than saying, “Thank God, He is at work. Men, He loves us and watches over us. In His care we are all safe,” he responded negatively and horizontaIly.

New Perspective

Joseph’s brothers wanted to get out of Egypt, like, fast. When the sacks of grain were loaded on their donkeys, they immediately began their journey back to Canaan. But something happened on the first night.

Guilty

When you have done wrong to someone and haven’t gone through the necessary process to make things right with them and with God—when you haven’t fully dealt with your transgression—you become the victim of the very distress that you put that person through.

Taking Responsibility

Put yourself in Joseph’s sandals. How must he have felt as he heard their words? So far as his brothers were concerned, he no longer existed! He was buried in the graveyard of their memories. He was “no more.”

Giving for His Glory

If I read these verses correctly this was a widespread famine such as the world had never known, for it says, “The famine was spread over all the face of the earth.” In these circumstances what did Joseph do?

Forgive and Forget

God guided the writer of Genesis to reveal the truth about most every area of Joseph’s colorful life. He allows us to see what the man was really like inside, even what he was thinking. We can sum it up in one sentence.

Don’t Panic . . . Trust

This is an excellent opportunity to shift the scene for a moment and look at all this from the perspective of the guy who’s out working in the fields, moving stones for one of those interminable, ever-ongoing pyramid projects.

Tag Archives: Genesis