Shame

 'Say to Joseph, "Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you."' And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father." Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

Genesis 50:17 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/gen.50.17.ESV


Joseph's cowardly and ashamed brothers sent a message to him, claiming it was from their now deceased dad. Knowing what we do of them, it wouldn't surprise me if they were just making this up. Maybe they were so terrified of reprisals for their mistreatment of their brother that they made up a tall story.


The Bible doesn't say one way or another, so let's give the Israelites the benefit of the doubt. Understandably, Jacob would have wanted peace amongst his songs, and forgiveness for past wrongs, so he could conceivably said this. As far as Joseph was concerned, the matter had already been settled, and reconciliation had already been engineered by himself in preceding chapters.


Residual guilt however ran deep in his brothers' hearts. Shame had taken root, and it would take more digging by Joseph to uproot it to help establish holistic peace/shalom in the hearts of his family. Joseph's response is moving. I might have rolled my eyes, but his eyes wept tears.


Joseph was evidently saddened that an issue he'd considered dead and buried- fraternal strife- was being dug up by his brothers. But he comfortingly reassured them rather than to berate them. They meant to harm him, but God meant to bless them through him.


'Almighty Lord, we confess our sins that sent Christ to the cross. But we're so grateful that through the evil of the cross, the goodness of forgiveness can be credited to us. In Jesus's name, amen'

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mercy

  For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them. Deuteronomy 4:31 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/deu.4.31.ESV Jesus Christ is Lord. That's why they crucified Him, for claiming to be God and King: blasphemy to the Jews and treason to the Romans. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. So the same Jesus of yesterday is the Jesus of today. He was merciful yesterday, and He'll be merciful today and forever. He doesn't just turn around and decide to destroy people He's lavished His mercy upon. If we've received God's mercy, or if we receive it now, or before Christ returns, nothing can separate us from the love of God. If we want God's presence in our lives, and we cry out to Him for it, He's not going to abandon us in the wilderness of our sin. If we claim God's Bible promises for ourselves in faith, we are safe in Him. God promises never t
Read more

Power

 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.Exodus 9:16 ESVhttps://bible.com/bible/59/exo.9.16.ESV  Secular historians point to the lack of extra-biblical evidence of Hebrew slavery in Egypt and ensuing exodus. But here in this verse, God describes how this anonymous Pharoah has been immortalised in the annals of the Hebrews, so that God is proclaimed in all the earth. The mighty men of the world might think they can stand against God and win, but resistance is futile!  The more stubborn Pharoah was, the more the Lord was able to display His power. The more insistent Pharoah was of keeping his slaves, the more unreasonable he appeared. It was a battle of wills, and the will of Yahweh prevailed.  In the end, Pharoah will have been broken by the plagues. In the final plague, his own firstborn son was killed, the next in line to the throne of the world superpower. He might have tried to put a brave face on it, but he
Read more

Family

  But he answered them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it." Luke 8:21 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/luk.8.21.ESV Jesus, the humble carpenter turned teacher, was becoming like a celebrity of His day. They say familiarity breeds contempt, and that seems to be why they wanted to see Him. They wanted Him to come back down to earth. Jesus's response was shocking for His culture. He seemed disrespectful of His mother and brothers, refusing to even acknowledge them. Yet He knew that there's something more important than family. More important than family is to do the will of God. How do we know what God wants? By hearing from His word, the Bible. God demands our loyalties above and beyond our families. If loving God requires us to disown our families/be disowned by them, then sobeit. Eternal reward is worth temporary pain. 'Almighty God, may we obey You as we ought, even if it costs us family relationships. In Jesus' powe
Read more