The Gift of Forgiveness - Pastor Tom Loghry
As the children of Israel lay their father to rest, fear of retribution from Joseph starts to rise in the brothers, but Joseph offers mercy and forgiveness much like we are offered the same through Christ.
Transcript:
Burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father. 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 ought to say to Joseph. I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs that they committed in treating you so badly. Now, please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.
A reward is given to those who are worthy. They deserve, they are due what they receive. Those who receive a gift have no right to demand that it be given to them. Those who give it give it freely. Of all gifts, there would seem to be no greater gift than forgiveness. Forgiveness is the epitome of someone receiving a gift they don't deserve.
Many human stories that are told center on revenge. Getting back at those who have done us wrong. The Christmas story is the complete opposite of this. And so is the story of Joseph. Then, as now, is difficult for people to believe in the real possibility of forgiveness. But as we'll see, it is both real and necessary.
We turn to Genesis 50, starting in verse 1. You'll recall, if you were with us last week, that Jacob has just passed away. And so, upon seeing his father, now lifeless, says, Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him. Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel.
So the physicians embalmed him, taking a full 40 days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him 70 days. When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh's court, if I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him my father made me swear an oath and said I am about to die; bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan. Now let me go up and bury my father. Then I will return.
In these opening verses we see a very real glimpse of humanity. True sorrow and grief at the loss of one's father. And the preparations that are made for Jacob are both similar and different than the preparations that we often make for our own dead. Would have been unique across the rest of the world at that time, but not unique in Egypt.
In our own time, it's not uncommon for people to be embalmed once they pass, so the body might be preserved for some time. We can assume that this wasn't something that everyone had access to, but because of Joseph's position in Egypt, this was a possibility for his own father. It makes us wonder, why did he do this?
Why did he seek to have his father embalmed? It may have been out of some sensitivity towards the religious sensibilities of the Egyptians. They had very peculiar notions about the afterlife. They believed that basically the body needed to be preserved in order for it to kind of, kind of almost act as a home base for the afterlife.
And this is why when they crack open those tombs of the pharaohs they find all kinds of trinkets and things like that, because they supposed that they were taking these things with them to the afterlife. Now, it could be that there was a religious aspect to these physicians, but it may be notable that it says that physicians embalmed Jacob, not priests.
So it may have been that Joseph was trying to respect some of those sensibilities while not trying to adopt some of their religious notions. Perhaps there is a practical element, they wanted to preserve the body as they go on this journey to Canaan. Whatever the case, it was quite a process. And it's interesting to kind of look into the process of how they embalm these bodies.
Because it was very much a surgical procedure. They took out all the organs of the body, wrapped them up, took out all the brains. Kind of gross to think about. They took a hundred yards, a hundred yards of linen and wrapped the body very intensively. And so it took forty days to accomplish that.
And it says the Egyptians altogether mourned for him seventy days. So not just Jacob's family. But all of the Egyptians went to a state of mourning, which just underscores the importance of Jacob and his family at this point in Egypt. And so they went through this process of mourning, mummified him. As I think about this, this idea of mourning someone for 70 days, it kind of, I think it's an important reminder for us that it's okay to take time to grieve for those that we love, for those that we lose.
I think in our society, we're so quick to like, okay, we have to, and we, bam, we're done with that. Now we're going to be happy, happy, joy, joy afterwards. That's not natural. What's natural is us grieving those that are dearly loved. And that grief goes beyond just 70 days. I think about holidays. For many of us, it can be a difficult time.
And for myself, it's a difficult time. A year ago, I lost my grandfather. And the pain of that grief is not as sharp as it once was, but it's still there. We think about Pastor Bill and how we lost him a year ago now. It's okay to grieve for those that we love and not to be in any rush to kind of stuff that away.
So they, they, they give all sorts of honors to Jacob. And then Joseph makes this request that he would go to Canaan to bury Jacob per the oath that he made to his father. And, continuing on in verse six, Pharaoh replies, He says, Go up and bury your father as he made you swear to do. So Joseph went up to bury his father.
All Pharaoh's officials accompanied him, the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt, besides all the members of Joseph's household and his brothers and those belonging to his father's household. Only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen. Chariots and horsemen also went up with him.
It was a very large company. When they reached the threshing floor of Atad near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly, and there Joseph observed a seven day period of mourning for his father. So all these details that are being told here are just meant to communicate to us they were getting all the honors.
And, we see once they reach their destination, again, they engage in seven days of mourning. And all this ceremony was so noticeable that the Canaanites took note of it. In verse 11, it says, when the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, the Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning. That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim. So Jacob's sons did as he had commanded them.
They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephraim, the Hittite. So once Jacob is laid to rest, then everything else really begins. And in the case of Joseph's brothers, worry begins to set in.
Worry begins to fill their minds. Continuing on in verse 14, it says, After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father. 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. Now, if you haven't been tracking this story with us the whole way, you should know that Joseph's brothers did him real wrong.
First, they just wanted to straight up kill him. They threw him in an empty cistern when he went out to check on how they and their flocks were doing. And they said, we're just going to kill him out here and tell Dad that a wild animal got to him. One of the brothers thought better of it, Judah, saying, Well, it's not the nicest thing to have our brother's blood on our hands.
That might be kind of a bad omen for, for us. So we'll just do this. We'll just sell him into slavery and we'll get some money on the side from it. And so that's what they did. They sold their own brother into Egyptian slavery and told their father that some wild animals killed him. And many years later, though, they were reunited with Joseph, under very surprising circumstances.
Circumstances they would never have expected. They were starving, their whole family was starving because of a famine going on in the land. And so they had gone to Egypt to seek food. And lo and behold, the man who was second in command was their brother Joseph. Now, they didn't realize it at the time, and through a series of circumstances that would play out, in which Joseph tested his brothers, it would eventually be revealed. And when it was revealed to them that this guy, this all powerful fellow in Egypt, was their brother, they were terrified. But at that point, in Genesis 45, he told them this, in 45, verse 5, he says, And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. Now, having seen that Joseph said that, you would figure out, okay, all's good. Everything's all set, but put yourself in the brother's shoes.
If you put yourself in their shoes, you can imagine some doubt creating, creeping in. Dad's dead now. Maybe, just maybe Joseph was just treating us nice because he knew that his father would want him to do that. What if now that Jacob has passed away, what if now he intends to get his revenge finally, and so they send this message to Joseph and saying that Jacob had left some instructions for Joseph that he was to forgive his brothers.
Now it is, it's not very clear here that this is an actual genuine message from Jacob. Kind of seems as though maybe the brothers fabricated this, this message. Joseph would have no way of knowing whether his father had told them to say this to him or not.
But whether it was a genuine message or not, when he receives it, Joseph is just absolutely broken. Continuing on in the second half of verse 17. It says, When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. We are your slaves, they said. But Joseph said to them, Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid.
I will provide for you and your children. And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. We notice a couple things here in Joseph's response. The first thing he says, apart from saying don't be afraid, is he says, Am I in the place of God? What Joseph is basically saying here is that I'm not the judge. I do not sit on the throne of God.
And the meaning was, is that, how could he judge them in God's place? He's not going to take measures into his own hands in holding them to account for what they've done. And this is kind of anticipating what Jesus tells his disciples. In Matthew 7, 1 through 2, says, Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Now, when Jesus says, Don't judge, He doesn't mean that we shouldn't call evil, evil. He's not saying that we should just keep our mouths shut. Kind of as often in our society, people are kind of expected to do, Oh, don't judge man.
You do you, I do me, that kind of thing. That's not what Jesus is talking about here. What he's talking about is, do not put yourself in the position of God, so that you would either damn someone outright, or especially, most especially, taking matters into your own hands, here and now, to render justice as you see fit.
It lines up with what Paul tells the Romans in Romans 12: 19 about not taking vengeance. It says, Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written, It is mine to avenge. I will repay, says the Lord. That's what it means not to judge. It means that I'm not going to pursue revenge.
I'm going to leave it to God to set things right. Especially as Christians, it's important for us to remember how much we've been forgiven and how that should dispose us towards others who are in need of our forgiveness. Jesus tells his disciples this in Matthew 6. He says, For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. We can't expect the forgiveness of God if we're going to withhold forgiveness from others. Now, when we're talking about forgiveness, we're talking about forgiving those who show genuine repentance for the wrong that we've done, where people don't show repentance for the wrong that we've done for the wrong that they've done we're not reconciled to them, but we don't pursue vengeance because like Paul says, leave it to God, leave it to God. Show mercy. You're showing mercy in the, in those circumstances and we can all show mercy towards people regardless of whether they repent or not. But as people repent, and they say, I'm sorry, and Joseph's brothers here are indicating their sorrow. They're recognizing the wrong that they've done. As people repent, we need to offer forgiveness. Because we have been forgiven much ourselves. Now, kind of the second element here in terms of thinking about what's striking about Joseph's response is he's saying, you know, am I in the place of God?
No, I'm not in God's place. And there's kind of a corollary to this, which is that He says, I'm not in the place of God. And look what God has done through this. God has revealed this saving purpose by letting all this play out. Yes, you sold me into slavery, but it resulted in me coming into second hand command.
And the result is, is that I've been able to save many lives. The lives of the Egyptians, the lives of our neighbors, especially though, the lives of of our family members. But Joseph's kind of like, how can I stay mad now, after I've seen what God has done in this situation? How can I see all the good that God has brought from this, and decide, well, I'm still going to show, show my brothers what's what?
He's deferring to God's wisdom and sovereignty, saying, I'm not going to tread where God judges. He shows grace towards his brothers. He promises that he's going to take care of them and their children. And we can imagine that it maybe took a little time for them to really be able to accept that this was really real.
That he was going to offer this mercy and kindness to them. Because it says that he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
In these last verses of Genesis, we come to the close of Joseph's life. Verse 22 says, Joseph stayed in Egypt along with all his father's family. He lived 110 years and saw the third generation of Ephraim's children. Also, the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph's knee. And Joseph said to his brothers, I'm about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, God will surely come to your aid and then you must carry my bones up from this place. So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten.
And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt. So Joseph lives to the age of a hundred and ten. Pretty long life, especially from our point of view. Not as long as his father and his grandfather and his great grandfather's lives. Just kind of an interesting observation of how there is a decline and how long human beings are living.
Probably a result of genetic mutation. But as far as the standards of the Egyptians go, 110 was a perfect age to die, it was like, they all loved it if they could live to 110. And he was able to experience many blessings. He saw his great, great, great grandkids through Ephraim, and his great grandkid through Manasseh.
Now, you can imagine for the family, now that, you know, all the past is behind him. He is truly kind of their protector and guardian. You can imagine that the occasion of Joseph's death is a scary moment for Israel, for the people of Israel. Once again, Joseph wants to comfort his family. He tells them in verse 25, But God will surely come to your aid. And the reason why that promise is so important is because it lines up with what's anticipated in Genesis 15, with what God foretells to Abraham regarding his family.
In Genesis 15, 13 through 14, the Lord said to Abraham. Know for certain that for 400 years, your descendants will be strangers in a country, not their own, and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.
So whether or not Joseph could see all this that was going to happen, probably, certainly familiar with some of this tradition, whether he could see everything that was going to come, he wanted his family to know that God is still with you.
He's going to come to your aid.
And he's going to, not just be an aid to you in the land of Egypt, but what does it say in verse 24? It says, he's going to take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So they're not, they're going to be in Egypt for a long while, hundreds of years. But it's not home.
It's not their destination. They are still looking towards that promised land of Canaan. And God is going to bring them there. And so these burial instructions that Joseph gives to his family regarding bringing him there to that land, not on the, at the time of his death, as was the case with Jacob, but when they go, when all of them return to Canaan, and giving them those instructions, Joseph is showing his faith in God's promises.
And the writer of Hebrews comments on this faith in Hebrews 11, 22. It says, By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. And gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones. And so they follow his instructions. He is embalmed, he's placed in a coffin and he awaits his journey to the promised land of Canaan.
Over 1500 years before Jesus was born, we see the same weave of God's handiwork in the life of Joseph. God's plan of redemption cannot move forward without grace, without forgiveness. Imagine if Joseph refused to forgive. Imagine if he chose revenge instead. The people of Israel are only saved by grace.
And it's only by grace that they have a future. God's love for us is revealed by the grace He shows. Paul tells us in Romans 5: 8, But God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. There is no death, there is no resurrection if Jesus is not born. And Jesus is only born because God intended to offer us forgiveness through him if we would turn to Jesus. Even while we didn't deserve it. Even while we were active in our rebellion and our rejection of God. The Apostle John, a beloved disciple, tells us in 1 John 1: 9 If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
You see, our forgiveness doesn't await our purification. Our forgiveness does not await our perfection. We are forgiven up front in Jesus. And then our purification follows. God forgives us, and then we become who we were supposed to be. As we follow the story of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, we have seen all the ways things could have gone off the rails.
And in the end here, we might expect a divided family. A family falling apart after the death of the patriarch who's, like, holding them all together. It's a sad experience some of us know in our own families. The knives come out. But God pours out his grace through Joseph. So that there is a future for the family. The people of God. God is eager to use you as the vessel by which the grace of Jesus Christ will be poured out in your family. In all of your relationships. Especially among Christians, the Apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 3: 13. Bear with each other, and forgive one another. If any one of you has a grievance against someone.
Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Give the gift of forgiveness. Give freely what has been freely given to you. Don't close off the possibility of what God can do. Let the past pass away. And let God's grace give you a future. Let's pray.
Dear Father,
We stand in awe of how you were able to bring good out of so much brokenness. And we see that in the case of Joseph's story, the story of his family.
Father, we see your redeeming hand. We see your grace in Joseph's life as he offers forgiveness to his brothers who betrayed him. Father, we pray that we would follow in Joseph's footsteps. More than this, Father, we pray that we would follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, who laid down his life for us, even though we were your enemies, even while we were standing against you, Father. Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit, soften our hearts so that we would offer the same forgiveness that we've received to others. And Father, put your redeeming touch not only within the life of this church, father, but in all the points of connection beyond it. Father, help us to be lights in our family that are communicating this grace and bringing healing. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Hey there, Pastor Tom here. I hope you enjoyed this sermon I offered to Rockland Community Church. Rockland Community Church is located at 212 Rockland Road in North Scituate, Rhode Island, just around the bend from the Scituate Public High School. We invite you to join us in person or virtually this Sunday. It's our joy to welcome you into our community.
Intro/Outro Song
Title: River Meditation
Artist: Jason Shaw
Source:http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jason_Shaw/Audionautix_Acoustic/RIVER_MEDITATION___________2-58
License:(CC BY 3.0 US)