WEBVTT 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:11.039 We study through books of the Bible here at the village chapel. 00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:12.240 Today is no different. 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:20.559 If you'd like a hard copy to follow along with, raise your hand because we have plenty to share with you. 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:31.440 And if you want to follow along on your device, I believe our network, yes, is TBC Guest, and the password is also TBC Guest, which makes sense. 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:47.439 I think I might have said this before, but just know, you know, that part of part of uh prepping for a sermon, you know, is studying the word and reading commentaries and praying and listening to other sermons, and we meet together and talk about it. 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:56.320 But another part of that during the week is thinking about you guys and praying for you as the Spirit brings you to mind. 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:03.359 Um so just know that that as we're prepping for our sermon, we're thinking and praying for you guys. 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:06.000 It's it's part of part of our process. 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:11.840 Um so the title of today's message is an unexpected reunion. 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:22.239 And I've got to ask right off the bat, anybody here have those family members that you just I don't even know what to say about it. 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:31.439 You know, when they walk in, when they walk in the door at a family reunion, you just kind of cringe, right? 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:39.200 And as they walk in, you have this desire to just move far, far away. 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:48.400 Um you know, those family members you don't want to introduce to your friends, kind of cousin Eddie from family vacation. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:49.840 We all have them. 00:01:50.079 --> 00:02:00.560 And true confession here, I we have we have some of those distant cousins, and I can remember this, has been a while back, but one of them, I'm gonna call him Fred, cousin Fred. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:04.000 Hey Matt, this is your cousin Fred, just in case he's listening today. 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:07.359 Uh Fred calls and leaves us a voicemail. 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:09.680 Hey, Matt, we're coming through town a couple of days. 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:14.080 Just wanted to come out and see you and Kristen and the boys see the farm. 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:25.520 And I'm thinking, bro, there is no way I'm gonna return your call, and there is no way I'm telling you where we live because I don't want you to show up at our house. 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:28.960 True story, a little embarrassed, but not that embarrassed. 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:32.240 Um so here's some other thoughts. 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:38.560 I did our cute little internet search, you know, of what some other people say about having a family and family reunions. 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:47.680 Uh, actor and comedian Martin Mull says, having a family is like having a bowling ball and bowling alley installed in your head. 00:02:47.919 --> 00:03:00.960 Uh uh legendary actor and comedian George Burns, he once said, I love this, happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city, right? 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:01.360 Yes. 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:02.159 Amen. 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:10.639 And the last one, uh, famous author Robert Heinlein said, a family reunion is an effective form of birth control. 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:12.639 So true. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:23.199 So, okay, seriously, families at their best, you know, loving, supportive, caring, awkward, life-giving, intimate. 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:31.360 But we're gonna see in our chapters today they can also be full of, gosh, lies and hurt and anger and trauma. 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:53.039 And we're gonna see today how God is using events and circumstances to bring about an unexpected reunion between Joseph and his ten older brothers that sold him into slavery, a reunion that has far-reaching implications for the covenant that God has promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 00:03:53.360 --> 00:04:02.319 We'll see how on Joseph's part, a faith and a trust in God paves the way for forgiveness and reconciliation. 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:13.919 Uh and I particularly love this passage because, man, I think it shows us a picture of our sinfulness and God's love and grace and mercy towards us. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:19.439 Um, can you believe we only have four weeks left in Genesis? 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:20.800 Which is crazy. 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:22.240 We've been in it for a while. 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:31.040 And if you count the two chapters that Pastor Tommy taught us through last Sunday, these last five weeks, there's 11 chapters left. 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:48.079 And it looked good on paper when we were planning this out, because we really do plan this out, but now I'm like, you know, you remember as a kid when you're learning how to write, you start writing a sentence at the beginning of the sentence, the letters are really big, and then they progressively get smaller and smaller and smaller. 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:50.160 Okay, so that's kind of what's going on here. 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:52.480 We've got a lot of ground to cover, but we'll do it. 00:04:52.639 --> 00:05:09.279 Um so this unexpected reunion in today's passage, it's preparing us for the epic conclusion to this story that's gonna lead to the creation of the nation Israel and the salvation and redemption of Israel. 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:28.720 And to set the stage from last week's passage that Tommy taught us through, remember that Joseph has correctly interpreted these dreams that Pharaoh had that are predicting the seven years of plenty and then the seven years of famine that lie ahead for Egypt and all of the Middle East. 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:42.480 Pharaoh's wisely appointed Joseph to administer the preparations for this famine, and he's made Pharaoh second in command only to himself, vice Pharaoh, if you would call it. 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:57.439 And some commentaries have suggested that Joseph is almost a physical savior, if you will, of Egypt and this area of the Middle East because God used him to prepare for the famine. 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:04.000 So he was able to provide food for that area of the Middle East. 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:06.399 Famines are often reported in the Bible. 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:07.680 We see it frequently. 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:10.079 We've already seen several in Genesis. 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:20.240 Um if you think about it, that part of the Middle East, it's so arid that even a small season of drought can have dire consequences. 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:34.160 Egypt typically doesn't share in that so much, especially Upper Egypt, where Joseph lived, because of their proximity to the Nile River and that fertile delta around the Nile. 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:39.600 But as we'll see in this couple of chapters, the famine reaches even Egypt. 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:46.319 And think about the Dust Bowl, you know, the drought of the 1930s that led to the Dust Bowl in the Great Plains. 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:49.120 And then I was thinking too, I don't know if any of you remember this. 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:56.800 In 2007, we had a heat wave and a drought in the summer, and it didn't last very long, but it was miserable. 00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:06.000 And I can remember the feed store where we buy hay and feed for our animals, the drought was so bad that they were bringing in hay from as far away as Canada. 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:09.360 And that was just a couple of couple of months that it lasted. 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:18.079 Um so you can see how this the famine in in Egypt might have had a lot more uh dire consequences. 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:23.680 So there's a few things I'd like you to keep in mind as we read through the chapters. 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:31.759 Uh, the process of forgiveness and reconciliation can take time, but we're seeing this taking place in the narrative. 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:41.279 Uh so pay attention to the changes in the brothers, especially Reuben and Judah, are starting to kind of turn and grow in their character. 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:45.199 There's three different camera angles that we're going to be looking at. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:54.720 We're going to view these circumstances, past and present, through the camera lens of Joseph, the ten elder brothers, and of Jacob. 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:56.560 That's something to remember. 00:07:56.959 --> 00:08:04.480 Think about the contrast between sin and grace, especially in the way Joseph deals with his brothers. 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:17.759 And then the use, it's a literary device, especially in the Old Testament, use of repetition to really point to places, people, things, events that have import. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:22.240 So let's pray, and then I'll read through a passage. 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:32.559 It's almost as long as Tommy's passage was last week, so I'm going to do my best to reign in my comments, and we'll just have a couple of points after the text. 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:34.799 So let's pray, church. 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:36.480 Lord, we come before you. 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:38.399 We are grateful for your word. 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:47.279 We ask that you might bless this reading of your word, illuminate our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit. 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:54.399 Thank you for the gift of your grace that follows us every day of our lives. 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:55.440 In Jesus' name. 00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:56.320 Amen. 00:08:57.600 --> 00:08:59.120 Okay, here we go. 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:01.039 So, chapter 42. 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:05.360 Oh, by the way, I'm reading now the ESV, if that uh is helpful for you to know. 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:08.240 Uh, Joseph's brothers go to Egypt. 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:14.799 When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, Why do you look at one another? 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:19.679 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:24.240 Go down and buy grain for us there that we may live and not die. 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:30.559 Think back to early 2020 when we couldn't find toilet paper and paper towel. 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:35.360 And you know, you'd see on Facebook, hey, Publix at Cool Springs has toilet paper. 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:37.279 So that's what's kind of going on here. 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:50.960 Um, 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. 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:57.279 Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:01.360 So a lot of people are going to Egypt to buy grain and food. 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:04.960 Now Joseph was governor over the land. 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:08.879 He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:16.159 And Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:19.679 Remember that from Joseph's dreams when he was a teenager? 00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:28.879 Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:30.240 Where do you come from? 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:30.960 He said. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:33.919 They said, from the land of Canaan to buy food. 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:35.519 And here's the repetition. 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:40.960 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:45.919 And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:55.519 When Joseph got up to go to work that morning, he had no idea he was going to be reunited with his brothers. 00:10:55.840 --> 00:10:57.519 Tommy talked about this last week. 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:01.679 It's not like these guys had Genesis to refer to, right? 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:04.080 They're living this in real time. 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:15.039 And here Joseph is flooded with memories of his dreams, of what's been going on, you know, what happened with his brothers. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:21.600 And he had been at a place of intentionally putting that behind him. 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:32.159 At the closing of chapter 41, where his sons Manasseh and Ephraim were born, the name Manasseh means God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house. 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:37.759 The name Ephraim means God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:45.200 So he had been at a place of being able to leave things in the past and move forward, trusting in the Lord. 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:55.440 And it's that faith that is propping him up at this moment when he's faced with this unexpected reunion of his brothers. 00:11:56.879 --> 00:12:01.919 So he said to them, verse 9, You are spies, you have come to see the nakedness of the land. 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:05.759 And they said to him, No, my Lord, your servants have come to buy food. 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:09.919 We are all sons of one man, we are honest men. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:13.519 Your servants have never been spies. 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:18.000 And he said to them, No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see. 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:24.639 And they said, We your servants, our twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:30.159 And behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:41.919 So it's been twenty years, and they are still maintaining this lie, this story that they made up, that Joseph got killed by a wild animal. 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:48.080 They're progressively having to maintain this lie their whole adult life. 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:53.120 And they don't know Joseph, but Joseph knows them, right? 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:55.519 So he knows that they're lying. 00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:59.919 Joseph said to them, It is as I said to you, you are spies. 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:02.320 By this you shall be tested. 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:08.559 By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your younger, youngest brother comes here. 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:17.440 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. 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:21.919 Or else by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies. 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:25.759 And he put them all together in custody for three days. 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:32.320 Then on the third day Joseph said to them, Do this and you will live, for I fear God. 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:47.279 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. 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:50.480 So your words will be verified, and you shall not die. 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:51.519 And they did so. 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:56.879 And you've got to think that maybe Joseph is wondering, Well, did they kill Benjamin too? 00:13:57.039 --> 00:13:59.200 So he's wanting proof of life. 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:08.799 Verse 21, then they said to one another, In truth we are guilty concerning our brother. 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:18.080 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. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:21.120 That is why this distress has come upon us. 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:25.679 And Reuben answered them, Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:27.759 But you did not listen. 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:30.879 So now there comes a reckoning for his blood. 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:38.720 Finally, we're seeing some remorse and guilt and confession in these brothers. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:44.639 And here Reuben is saying, We've got to give an accounting for his blood. 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:51.679 And they talk about it freely in front of Joseph because they have no idea that he speaks Hebrew. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:53.519 They think he's Egyptian. 00:14:54.320 --> 00:15:00.480 So, verse 23, they did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:05.600 Then he turned away from them and wept, and he returned to them and spoke to them. 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:13.759 And gosh, what's going through his mind when he finally hears them confess to what they had done? 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:18.080 And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:26.320 And you've got to think, was he thinking about when he was bound and sold to the Ishmaelites when he's binding Simeon? 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:33.919 Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain and to replace every man's money in his sack and to give them provisions for the journey. 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:36.000 This was done for them. 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:40.480 Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed. 00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:50.399 And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, it's about 250 miles from Hebron to Egypt, would have probably taken them like 10 days to two weeks. 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:53.279 So they're going to stop probably every night. 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:55.840 They probably travel about 20, 30 miles a day. 00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:58.639 So he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:01.600 He said to his brothers, My money has been put back. 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:04.080 Here it is in the mouth of my sack. 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:11.840 At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, What is this that God has done to us? 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:16.159 Jim, Pastor Jim made the comment the other day. 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:22.159 We were talking through this passage, and he said, Grace often makes a proud heart suspicious. 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:37.759 And you're kind of seeing that with the brothers all through these chapters, their uneasy consciences, consciences make them question every event that happens to them, they're interpreting as some form of judgment. 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:47.360 Verse 29, when they came to Jacob, their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, Here's some more repetition. 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:52.799 The man, the Lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:55.759 But we said to him, We are honest men. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:57.440 We have never been spies. 00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:05.759 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father, one is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in land the land of Canaan. 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:12.240 Then the man, the Lord of the land, said to us, By this I shall know that you are honest men. 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:18.160 Leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the famine of your households and go your way. 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:25.440 Bring your youngest brother to me, then I shall know that you are not spies, but honest men. 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:29.200 That's got to hurt every time that that's repeated to them. 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:33.839 And I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land. 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:42.160 Verse 35 As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack. 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:47.039 And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:52.319 And Jacob said, their father said to them, You have bereaved me of my children. 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:56.480 Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more. 00:17:56.720 --> 00:17:58.880 And now you would take Benjamin. 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:01.279 All this has come against me. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:07.119 And then Reuben said to his father, Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:08.400 Thanks, Reuben. 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:11.599 Put him in my hands and I will bring him back to you. 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:18.720 But he, Jacob, said, My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:24.720 If harm should happen to him on the journey that you were to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol. 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:27.039 So there's a stalemate here, right? 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:42.319 The brothers are trying to do everything they can to convince Jacob to allow them to take Benjamin back down to Egypt to buy more grain to secure the release of Simeon, but Jacob just won't have any of it at this point. 00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:46.640 So let's move on to chapter 43. 00:18:48.559 --> 00:19:00.480 Now the famine was severe in the land, and when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, Go again, buy us a little food. 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:09.519 But Judah said to him, The man solemnly warned us, saying, You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you. 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:13.440 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:17.359 But if you will not send him, we will not go down. 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:23.519 For the man said to us, You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:29.759 Israel said, Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother? 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:38.880 And they replied, The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, Is your father still alive? 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:40.559 Do you have another brother? 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:48.880 What we told him was in answer to these questions, could we in any way know that he would say, Bring your brother down? 00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:54.640 So there's a little hierarchy of desperation that we're seeing develop here, right? 00:19:55.119 --> 00:20:03.839 Because in chapter 42, man, Jacob was desperate with fear to protect Benjamin. 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:06.000 That was that was what he did. 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:09.359 That's the way he operated, keeping Benjamin safe. 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:12.319 And he wouldn't let Benjamin go. 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:18.319 Well, now fear's been displaced by hunger, and they're desperate with hunger at this point. 00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:24.559 And now Jacob's willing to let him go. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:28.640 And here we see a little turn in Judah, verse 8, some growth here. 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:39.839 Judah said to Israel his father, Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you, and also our little ones. 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:43.039 I will be a pledge of his safety. 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:46.559 From my hand you shall require him. 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:54.079 If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. 00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:57.839 If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice. 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:01.759 Jacob finally relents. 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:06.400 Then their father Israel said to them, If it must be so, then do this. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:16.880 Take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags and carry a present down to the man, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:22.880 Take double the money with you, carry back with you the money that was returned in the mouth of your sex. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:24.480 Perhaps it was an oversight. 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:27.920 So that's three times the original amount of money they're taking. 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:32.319 Oh, by the way, Jacob's not a poor man, right? 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:35.759 He's got plenty of money. 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:38.559 What he doesn't have is food. 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:41.119 Wealth is not everything. 00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:44.240 Take double the money with you, carry back. 00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:45.680 Oh, perhaps it was an oversight. 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:50.720 Verse 13 take also your brother and arise, go again to the man. 00:21:51.680 --> 00:22:03.599 May God Almighty, El Shaddai, grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin, and as for Me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:09.839 So the men took this present and they took double the money with them and Benjamin. 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:13.359 They arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:19.039 Philip Yancey says this about desperation. 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:22.160 I saw this and wanted to put it in here. 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:25.359 Human beings do not readily admit desperation. 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:28.640 When they do, the kingdom of heaven draws near. 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:36.319 And friends, that's what God is waiting for, is for us to come to the end of ourselves and come to him. 00:22:39.119 --> 00:22:51.119 So verse 16, when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, Bring the men into the house and slaughter an animal and make ready for the men are to dine with me at noon. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:56.160 The man did as Joseph told him and brought them into Joseph's house. 00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:03.039 And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph's house, and they said, It is because of the money. 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:06.880 Again, thinking about the judgment of all their circumstances. 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:19.759 It is because of the money which was replaced in our sacks the first time that we are brought in, so that he may assault us and fall upon us to make us servants and seize our donkeys. 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:22.640 So, which is a little humorous, right? 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:29.200 But but in their mind, they're interpreting this as Joseph means to do them harm. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:32.960 He means to kidnap them, make them slaves. 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:37.839 And instead, he's wanting to bless them and give them a royal feast. 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:39.920 That's where his heart is. 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:56.240 So verse 19, they went up to the steward of Joseph's house and spoke with him at the door of the house and said, Oh my Lord, we came down the first time to buy food, and when we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and there was each man's money in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. 00:23:56.400 --> 00:24:01.119 So we have brought it again with us, and we have brought other money down with us to buy food. 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:03.680 We do not know who put our money in our sacks. 00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:04.400 And I love this. 00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:06.640 He replied, Peace to you. 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:08.559 Do not be afraid. 00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:12.880 Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you. 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:14.559 I received your money. 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:17.279 Then he brought Simeon out to them. 00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:32.480 And when the man had brought the men into Joseph's house and given them water, and they had washed their feet, and when he had given their donkeys fodder, they prepared the present for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:40.720 When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present that they had with them and bowed down to him to the ground there, bowing again. 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:44.559 And here's where, again, I love the detail of the Bible. 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:50.880 The gifts that they brought included aromatic spices, honey, balm, myrrh. 00:24:51.440 --> 00:25:00.640 Those are the same spices that the Ishmaelite traders were carrying with them in chapter 37 when Joseph was sold into slavery. 00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:09.759 And just wondering if there's this flood of memories as he smells these spices and remembering that day that he was sold into slavery. 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:18.480 So verse 27, he inquired about their welfare and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:20.240 Is he still alive? 00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:24.480 And they said, Your servant our father is well, he is still alive. 00:25:24.720 --> 00:25:28.400 And they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves. 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:36.240 And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke to me? 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:38.559 God be gracious to you, my son. 00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:42.480 Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother. 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:48.240 His heart was just bursting, and he sought a place to weep, and he entered his chamber and wept there. 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:52.640 And then he washed his face and came out, and controlling himself, he said, Serve the food. 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:56.079 So notice that Joseph doesn't speak harshly to him anymore. 00:25:56.319 --> 00:25:59.119 And he sees Benjamin and he starts weeping. 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:02.319 Here's his only full brother. 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:23.279 And then, you know, you just got to think that he's grieving for all that was lost, a lost childhood, his lost home, all of those lost years, grieving for that, but also weeping with deep joy that there is something going on that is regaining all that was lost. 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:38.720 So verse 32, they served him by himself and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:45.200 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth. 00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:48.000 And the men looked at one another in amazement. 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:55.119 Portions were taken to them from Joseph's table, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as of any of theirs. 00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:56.799 And they drank and were merry. 00:26:56.880 --> 00:26:58.640 So it this chapter is amazing. 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:02.160 It ends with grace and mercy and a feast. 00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:10.240 And these brothers, they're amazed because this man who is second only to Pharaoh, who's an Egyptian, they still don't know who he is. 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:18.799 He has correctly seated them in their perfect, proper birth order, and that just had to have blown their minds. 00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:26.400 And then the youngest, who usually typically gets the scraps, Pharaoh is just heaping blessing on this kid. 00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:30.319 So what an ending to this chapter. 00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:34.960 So what can we learn from this passage? 00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:39.599 There's a couple of things that I've been thinking about a bunch this week while we've been studying this. 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:42.400 Kind of bad news, good news situation. 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:44.880 So we'll start with the bad news and end with the good news. 00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:52.720 And the first thought that I think we can take away from this passage is the ripple effect of sin affects us all. 00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:55.519 The ripple effect of sin affects us all. 00:27:55.839 --> 00:28:03.680 You know, one of the first lies of sin is I'm no one's gonna know. 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:04.720 It's just me. 00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:05.279 I'm here. 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:06.000 It's just me. 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:07.599 No one's gonna know. 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:12.720 Surely the brothers thought that when they were throwing Joseph into the pit. 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:16.000 They were out in the wilderness, out in the boondocks. 00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:18.240 Nobody's gonna know what we're doing here. 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:20.319 We're just gonna throw them in here. 00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:21.680 We're gonna sell them into slavery. 00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:22.480 Nobody's gonna know. 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:24.319 We'll just tell dad he died. 00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:31.279 That lie is typically followed by the second lie of, hey, leave me alone. 00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:31.759 It's just me. 00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:34.319 This sin, it's not affecting anyone else. 00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:39.519 So no one will know this sin's not affecting anyone else but me. 00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:41.839 And that's just not true, right? 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:42.640 It's not true. 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:50.079 Every sin, first and foremost, is a sin against God, but every sin casts a ripple effect out. 00:28:50.240 --> 00:29:00.160 You know, just like the analogy of throwing a stone in the water and those concentric circles expand outward far past where the stone entered the water. 00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:04.079 Sin, the ripple effect of sin affects us all. 00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:08.880 And from the very beginning, God has told us about this very thing. 00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:22.720 Genesis 3.17, right after the fall, God says this to Adam, because you have listened to the voice of your wife and eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it. 00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:26.160 Cursed is the ground because of you. 00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:33.680 Bro, the very dirt you're standing on has been affected by what you've just done. 00:29:34.400 --> 00:29:35.839 That goes for all of us. 00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:49.279 You know, if if we consider that, let's just say that that sin casts a blue tint, a blue shade on us, every one of us has a little bit of blue in our skin color, right? 00:29:49.839 --> 00:29:52.400 The ripple effect of sin affects us all. 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:58.559 And the New Testament describes this as all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. 00:29:59.920 --> 00:30:11.839 This terrible deed that the Ten Brothers committed when they sold Joseph into slavery, and then the lie that they told for 20 years affected everyone in this story, right? 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:15.680 Joseph was ripped from his family, ripped from his home. 00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:17.519 He was sold into slavery. 00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:36.799 And then he endured this up and down process for 20 years of being in the pit, being in a palace, being thrown in prison, back to the palace, and his faith and his integrity in this whole process are remarkable, but he's been the victim in this of this trauma. 00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:43.200 And then the 10 brothers, they they have had to live this lie for the last 20 years. 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:48.480 This has become the prominent narrative of their lives. 00:30:48.960 --> 00:31:10.079 It's this lie of a tragic death of their father's favorite son, and then they've had to maintain that lie for 20 years, and they've had to deal with Jacob's unassuageable grief and his unrelenting shame and guilt directed at them for how could they have let his son get ripped apart by a wild animal? 00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:21.279 And then Jacob himself, he's lived a narrative for the last 20 years of a grieving husband and son and father who lost his favorite son. 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:24.319 He's been refused to be comforted. 00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:29.680 He's cling, clinging, has clinged to Benjamin as a result of this. 00:31:29.839 --> 00:31:35.599 And the story might have been false, but the result and the grief are real. 00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:38.799 Sin has a ripple effect, which affects us all. 00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:51.839 Charles Spurgeon says it like this as the salt flavors every drop in the Atlantic, so does sin affect every atom of our nature. 00:31:52.160 --> 00:32:00.640 It is so sadly there, so abundantly there, that if you cannot detect it, you are deceived. 00:32:00.960 --> 00:32:02.559 Man, Spurgeon. 00:32:03.359 --> 00:32:16.880 So I think there's a chance that many, if not all of us today, we can identify, right, with each of those three people at some point in our lives, because at some point we've sinned against someone else. 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:21.759 We've hurt someone intentionally or accidentally, we've been the ten brothers. 00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:27.839 We may have owned up to it, we may have covered it up, but at some point we've been the ten brothers. 00:32:28.079 --> 00:32:41.440 And at some point, undoubtedly, we've been in Joseph's shoes, hurt by someone else, accidentally or on purpose, and we've had to carry the weight of that hurt with us. 00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:48.400 Or like Jacob, we might have been stuck in an emotional pit. 00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:58.640 It's not his fault, but stuck in an emotional pit, and there's been a single event or trauma that has been controlling our lives. 00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:04.880 So, if this is the bad news, what's the good news, right? 00:33:05.279 --> 00:33:06.079 Where's the good news? 00:33:06.240 --> 00:33:07.200 What is the hope? 00:33:07.359 --> 00:33:08.480 What propels us? 00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:10.559 What moves us forward out of this? 00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:20.000 And therein lies the second point that I think we can learn from this passage: reconciliation is the heart of the gospel. 00:33:21.279 --> 00:33:28.079 This passage, man, it paints such a beautiful picture of the redemption of Christ. 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:34.799 Joseph could have legitimately and justifiably held on to his anger at his brothers. 00:33:34.960 --> 00:33:38.079 He could have thrown them in prison for the rest of their lives. 00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:46.880 He could have had them executed on the spot, but instead, he chose to treat them far better than their sins deserved. 00:33:48.720 --> 00:33:56.160 And that laid the groundwork for the sweet forgiveness and reconciliation that we're going to see in the next couple of chapters. 00:33:56.400 --> 00:34:01.519 And I love that scene in chapter 43 where the brothers come back down to Egypt. 00:34:01.759 --> 00:34:08.159 Joseph is sending them up to his house, and you know, they have it in their minds because they know they've rightfully sinned against him. 00:34:08.559 --> 00:34:19.519 They're expecting him to kidnap them, take their donkeys, sell them into slavery, and instead they're treated as royal guests and given a banquet. 00:34:19.679 --> 00:34:26.320 It's just like the prodigal son, just like us through Christ, we're not treated as our sins deserved. 00:34:26.559 --> 00:34:34.320 Rather than facing the judgment and abandonment of God, man, we're welcomed as children and heirs and family. 00:34:35.679 --> 00:34:42.639 Tolkien, there's a quote I ran across from the Lord of the Rings it is useless to meet revenge with revenge. 00:34:42.719 --> 00:34:44.159 It will heal nothing. 00:34:44.639 --> 00:34:50.719 God does not meet our sin with anger and revenge. 00:34:51.199 --> 00:34:53.440 He welcomes us in Christ. 00:34:54.480 --> 00:34:57.599 So the thought occurred to me this week, Tommy and I were talking about this. 00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:02.480 There's a nuanced difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. 00:35:02.719 --> 00:35:10.239 Forgiveness is a bit of a one-way, like a unidirectional flow to it, right? 00:35:11.440 --> 00:35:15.360 And reconciliation, there's a relationship there. 00:35:15.440 --> 00:35:17.760 It's kind of two-way forgiveness, if you will. 00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:21.199 You know, you can forgive someone and never have contact with them. 00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:25.199 You can forgive someone that lives on the other side of the world. 00:35:26.159 --> 00:35:27.760 Unidirectional. 00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:31.519 But reconciliation implies relationship. 00:35:31.679 --> 00:35:43.760 And that's why God not only forgives us our sins in Christ, but he is in pursuit of reconciliation with us because he seeks relationship with us. 00:35:45.199 --> 00:35:49.840 Reconciliation, that's what the gospel is all about. 00:35:50.320 --> 00:35:54.079 So we read in Colossians 1, 19 and 20. 00:35:54.559 --> 00:35:56.079 Absolutely love this verse. 00:35:56.320 --> 00:36:11.840 For in him, Jesus, all the fullness of God, was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross. 00:36:12.639 --> 00:36:21.840 Think about this reconciliation, it works vertically between us and God, and then it works horizontally between us and other people. 00:36:22.400 --> 00:36:24.719 Kind of the picture of the cross, isn't it? 00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:31.760 In 2 Corinthians, Paul tells us that God gives us this message of reconciliation. 00:36:32.480 --> 00:36:41.440 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 00:36:41.760 --> 00:36:54.800 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 00:36:55.280 --> 00:36:57.920 Man, that is the heart of God towards us. 00:36:58.159 --> 00:37:27.519 Some of us were eating dinner together Friday night, and we were just talking about social media and even traffic driving on the highway, how depersonalized things are, and how we are losing this idea of reconciliation and relationship because it's so easy to blast somebody in anger and untruth when you're not in relationship with him, when you're not in the room with him. 00:37:28.880 --> 00:37:38.079 I just want to encourage all of us that the heart of God towards us is to experience this rebuilding of relationships with each other. 00:37:38.320 --> 00:37:46.960 And he considers this such a high priority that he'd actually prefer us to be reconciled with others, with each other than give him an offering. 00:37:47.280 --> 00:37:52.320 In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5, Jesus gives this instruction. 00:37:53.280 --> 00:38:04.000 So if you're offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift at the altar and go. 00:38:04.480 --> 00:38:11.199 First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 00:38:11.519 --> 00:38:13.199 It's so powerful. 00:38:13.679 --> 00:38:15.679 Reconciliation, it's a process. 00:38:15.840 --> 00:38:19.679 Forgiveness is an event, but reconciliation is a process. 00:38:19.840 --> 00:38:21.679 It might take time and effort. 00:38:22.159 --> 00:38:24.719 Trust and confidence have to be rebuilt. 00:38:24.960 --> 00:38:27.440 It's not a constant walk forward, is it? 00:38:27.760 --> 00:38:37.039 So we walk, we fall down, we sin, get back up, we ask for forgiveness, begin restoration again, we move forward. 00:38:38.239 --> 00:38:42.079 So just for all of us, for me too, I've been thinking about this this week. 00:38:42.239 --> 00:38:50.480 Where might God be calling us today, each one of us individually, to restoration, to forgiveness and reconciliation? 00:38:50.719 --> 00:38:59.440 I urge you to think about that, listen to that prompting, listen to the Holy Spirit and respond to that. 00:39:00.719 --> 00:39:12.559 Whether you find yourself still caught in the ripple effect of sin, or if you're experiencing that joy of forgiveness and reconciliation, God's promise never to leave you or forsake you, right? 00:39:12.800 --> 00:39:19.599 He's walking alongside you and equipping you for the season and the moment that you're in right now. 00:39:20.800 --> 00:39:32.400 Lastly, going back to our little family reunion thing at the very beginning, um, I just want to encourage you, God is not moving away from you as you enter the room. 00:39:33.039 --> 00:39:38.719 Jesus is not embarrassed to have to awkwardly introduce you to his friends, right? 00:39:38.880 --> 00:39:42.639 That's not, it's it's just the opposite. 00:39:42.960 --> 00:39:49.119 God is moving towards us, he's running to us always. 00:39:49.519 --> 00:39:50.480 Always. 00:39:50.880 --> 00:39:51.519 Amen. 00:39:52.400 --> 00:39:53.039 Amen. 00:39:54.719 --> 00:39:56.159 Let's pray, church. 00:39:58.320 --> 00:40:02.800 Lord, your forgiveness of sinners, it's a signature mark of your grace. 00:40:03.679 --> 00:40:07.280 Your word tells us that you don't remember our sins. 00:40:08.079 --> 00:40:20.719