Mature Faith (Genesis 50.15-20)

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As you well know the Bible talks a lot about faith. What is not often talked about is the fact that the Bible usually speak of faith as being something we should develop, it speaks a lot about how we can develop a mature faith. As a matter of fact, in the book of James he gives over a whole chapter in describing to us how we can develop a mature faith. (Chapter 2). So, the question is, what does a mature faith look like? What does mature faith look like that differs from just ordinarily being a believer who tries to trust the Lord? 

I think that the last portion of the Book of Genesis is an illustration of a man who exhibited a mature faith. As a matter of fact, he is listed in the Book of Hebrews as an example of mature faith, as someone who belongs in what has been called the great roles call of faith. So, let’s look at the faith of Joseph in Genesis chapter 50, and I’m going to begin reading at verse 15.

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs, we did to him?” So, they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.  (Genesis 50: 15-17)

Now, let’s pause right there and put this story in perspective. If you been with us on this journey as we have been going through Genesis, then you know that Jacob had twelve sons, one of which was Joseph. The story narrative told us that Joseph was his favorite and the other brothers got jealous of him, so much so that they sold him into slavery. The slave owners took Joseph to Egypt where he became a slave and ended up in prison but following a serious of near miraculous events he went from prisoner to Prime Minister, in a single day. He was second in command in all of Egypt, only Pharaoh had more power than him.

Now, the Lord did all of that because a famine was coming and he raised Joseph into a position where he was able not only to save the Egyptians, but to save his own family as well. That is a long, involved story, and if you’ve been tracking me as we’ve been going through the Book of Genesis, you know that story. But now, when you get to the last chapter, Jacob, Joseph’s father dies, and we have gone all the way through the death and burial of Jacob. What I just read picks up what happened after the father was buried back in Canaan.

At this point the brother became fearful because they thought that the father was a restraint on Joseph that kept him from retaliating against them. So, when he dies now what? Remember, he is a very powerful man in Egypt, and he could now retaliate. So that’s their fear, which is why the react the way they do in these verses. With their father Jacob now dead, they said, oh no, we are in trouble now. Perhaps Joseph will hate us and may even actually repay us for all the evil that we did to him when he was young. So, the death provoked this reaction, they are feeling incredibly guilty and fearful that perhaps now that their father is dead, Joseph will have free reign to come and get even with them for what they did to him. They send messengers to Joseph, saying, before your father died, he said, say this to Joseph, please forgive the trespasses of your brothers and their sin, that they did evil to you. Joseph hears this and he cries when he receives this message. I wonder if this is the truth, is this what Jacob really told them to say, or is it a deception? As I wrestled with this passage, I was not able to find anything in the text that confirmed or denied their statement, one way or the other, However I do know that Joseph had expressed his forgiveness of them earlier in the story and if they still felt this way then they should have come back to him immediately. They should have done it quicker. When there’s a need for reconciliation, the quicker you do it, the better. The longer things are left, the more difficult it gets. Whatever the case, they are finally saying to Joseph, all be it through a third party, please forgive us.

I think they totally misread the situation, because we’re told in verse 17 that Joseph wept when they spoke to him, when he heard it, he just broke down and cried. So, his heart was clearly softened towards them.

They have at least acknowledged that they sinned against him, and they at least now wanted to be fully reconciled, they want to be forgiven. Verse 18, then says. 

His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. (Genesis 50: 18)

Now. I want to explain the blank space between verses 17 and 18. Verse 17 says, messengers went to see Joseph, and he wept and verse 18 says, and all of his brothers show up. So, what does that tell you? Whoever took the message in verse 17 went back and told the brothers and they said OK, he appears receptive, he’s not going to take vengeance on us, lets go back and see him. To understand the explanation of the blank space between verses 17 and 18, we have to read between the lines a little and assume that reconciliation has been completed and bedded in by this communication.

What is fascinating is that when they turn up, they bow down and say we are your servants. Do you remember one of the things that got Joseph in trouble in the beginning of this whole story. It began, way back when they were all living in Canaan with Joseph having a dream. When he was a young lad Joseph had a dream and his brothers were seen to bow down before him. That’s part of what aggravated them in the beginning, yet this is the fulfilment of that dream. Exactly what he dreamed years before has now literally come true at this point. They are bowing down before him and saying we are your servants. The big question is how is Joseph going to respond? What is he going to do? Well, look at verse 19. 

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? (Genesis 50: 19)

Don’t worry, I’m not going to retaliate, I’m not going to try and get even, I’m not going to punish you, I’m not going to do any of that. And his explanation is, am I in the place of God? Bible experts suggest there are two things going on here at the same time. Firstly it means that I’m not in the place of God to judge you, but it also means, It’s not my place to interfere with what God has done. It’s not my job.

I keep saying, always hold the story within the context of the whole book. How many times have I said this already as we been on this 6 month journey the book Of Genesis. Let me talk about that again for a second. The Book of Genesis opens with the story of everything from the creation, and all that follows. God create the world he created, a paradise and then Satan comes along and says to Adam and Eve, you know, if you eat that tree, you will be like God. Remember that. We are now in the last Chapter, chapter 50, we’re now at the end of the book, and here is a man who askes the question. Am I in the place of God? 

What Adam and Eve did back in the opening chapters of Genesis was to think, to imagine that they could be in the place of God. Genesis 1, a man is tempted and says, I’m going to be like God. I’m going to be the place of God in the book ends with a man who learned, no, I’m not in the place of God, it’s not my place. Then he says this. This is one of the most profound verses and all of Genesis, and maybe the whole Old Testament. Look at verse 20. 

 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50: 20)

Would you please look at that? This is important. Joseph says what you did to me was evil, you intended it for evil. You sold me into slavery. You threw me in a ditch. Might as well have killed me. But what you intended for evil God has used to save many lives. What is a profound thought. Now, what’s behind this? Let’s close today by unpacking this verse for a moment because this is very, very important stuff. Behind this is the idea that God is in control of what’s going on our lives. God sovereign, so whatever you do it won’t thwart the plans of God. Even the evil plots and plans of men can still be used by God to bring about an outcome whereby we can still praise him. He can use the anger and wrath of people against us and turn it into something for our good, and the good of others. What a profound thought. Put these two things together, just look at the opening of the verse when Joseph says, what you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. Underline the word evil and underline the word good That means we can look at what's happened to us and say that was wrong, we can even sometimes say that was evil. That shouldn’t have happened to us, but you can also say no matter how bad the evil was, God can still use it for good. 

All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. [Romans 8: 28]

So, this statement shows a phenomenal act of faith on Joseph’s part. He didn’t just see the evil situations he had been subjected to, he saw them with the eye of faith, he saw the purpose of God through them. What he says is what you did to me landed me in Egypt, and because I was in Egypt and God worked in my life and I ended up saving the whole nation of Egypt and all my family besides. God put me in a place because of your wickedness, but God used it for good, for a whole nation and the whole region around it in fact. So, what people do to you cannot thwart the purpose of God, provided you see it from God’s point of view and not the evil people. What his response, to this what will he say to them in return, well we shall look at that next time in our final episode in the book of Genesis.