I have a husband on camera.
Yeah, I was just going to say.
No, I don't want to.
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I want you to have a game set.
Yeah, I'm going to get you a game set.
I don't know where it is.
Okay, I'm going to get you a game set.
I'm just going to get you one more time.
Please, please, please.
Like a little one.
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Welcome to Straight Paths Baptist Church, if you could please find our seats and rip
our hymnals, the song number 413, we'll be singing the song number 413, stand up stand
up for Jesus, again that is song number 413, take it out on the first, stand up stand up
for Jesus, he's the use of the cross, and I his royal manager, in most not so far lost,
from victory unto victory, his glory shall be he, till every foe is winning, and what
song number 413, stand up stand up for Jesus, the truth may call away, for to through the
mighty conflict in this his glorious land, he that our men now serve him, against the
hunger for the world, and through his rise with danger, and strength and strength all
at once, stand up stand up for Jesus, stand with his strength alone, we are the flesh
will fail you, he cannot trust your God, put on the gospel on the ground, we're watching
unto him, and when he calls for danger, he never wants to fail you.
Good singing for that, would you pray for us?
Amen. All right, please turn your hymnals to song number 372.
Sing it out for us.
Sing it out.
Amen.
All right, well it's good to see everybody out tonight at Street Pass Baptist Church.
If you need a bulletin, go ahead and slip up your hand. One will be brought to you. As always,
the service times are there on the back. We'll be back this Sunday at 10 30 a.m. again at 5 30 p.m.
tonight. We're in the book of Genesis, chapter number 42. There's the churchwide soul winning
below that, as well as some other numerics. Don't forget we have the Thanksgiving potluck
dinner coming up for those that would like to take advantage of that. I understand folks have
family and things like that, but some of us don't, so we're going to be getting together as a church
family on that day. If you'd like to join us, you're more than welcome to do so. And again,
I'll have more details to these specific times, but probably, you know, later in the afternoon
is when I'd plan on doing that so it kind of rolls into the evening service. And that's really
it for announcements, so let's just go ahead and quickly count up the soul winning going back to
Monday, if anybody has anything from Monday to report, or Tuesday, Wednesday, or today.
All right, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we begin the preaching tonight.
If you'd please grab your
windows and turn to song number 65.
Singing song number 65, just over in the glory land, give it a song number 65.
Sing it out to the king of kings all of us.
Singing song number 65, just over in the glory land.
What I long to be, what I see, what I see, just over in the glory land.
Just over in the glory land of the Lord.
The happy angel, just over in the glory land.
Just over in the glory land we're with.
The mighty Lord's cross, just over in the glory land.
I am on my way to redemption's end.
Just over in the glory land, get to sing God's praises for me.
Just over in the glory land.
Just over in the glory land I'll join.
The happy angel, just over in the glory land.
Just over in the glory land we're with.
The mighty Lord's cross, just over in the glory land.
What a joyful thought the Lord has made, just over in the glory land.
Let the King receive his forever word, just over in the glory land.
Just over in the glory land I'll join.
The happy angel, just over in the glory land.
Just over in the glory land we're with.
The mighty Lord's cross, just over in the glory land.
What a joyful thought the Lord has made, just over in the glory land.
Just over in the glory land I'll join.
The happy angel, just over in the glory land.
Just over in the glory land we're with.
The mighty Lord's cross, just over in the glory land.
We'll sing it at this time, the offering play will go around.
As the offering play goes around, follow along with Brother Gabriel as he reads to us Genesis 42.
Again, that is Genesis chapter number 42.
Genesis 42.
Verse 1, the Bible reads,
Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons,
Why do you look one upon another?
And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt.
Get ye down at dinner, and buy for us a fence, that we may live, not die.
And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt,
but vegging at Joseph's brother, Jacob said not with his brethren.
For he said, Let's pray a venture, and this ship will follow.
And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came,
whose family was in the land of Canaan.
And Joseph was the governor over the land,
and he it was that sold to all the people in the land.
And Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him,
with their faces to the earth.
And Joseph saw his brother, and he knew them,
that he made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them.
And he said unto them, Whence come you?
And they said, From the land of Canaan, to buy food.
And Joseph knew his brother, and they knew not him.
And Joseph remembered the dream which he dreamed of,
and said unto them, You are spies, to see the nakedness of the land,
and you come.
And they said unto them, Nay, my lord, but to buy food,
and thy servants come.
We are all one man's sons, and we are true men,
thy servants are no spies.
And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land,
and you come.
And they said, I serve unto twelve brethren,
the sons of one man in the land of Canaan.
And behold, the youngest is this day with our father,
and one is not.
And Joseph said unto them, That as it is,
that I spake unto you, say, and you are spies.
Hereby shall ye be proved, by the life of Pharaoh,
you shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother
come hither.
Send with you, and let him fetch your brother,
and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words will be proved,
whether they be any truth in you,
or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.
And he put them all in war, three days.
And Joseph said unto them, Third day,
this do we live, for I fear God.
May thee be true, that one of your brethren
be bound in the house of your prison.
Go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses,
but bring your youngest brother unto me.
So shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die.
And they did so.
And they said unto another, We are very,
verily guilty concerning our brother,
in that we saw the anguish of his soul,
when he was sawed us, and we would not hear.
Therefore is this distress upon us.
And Reuben answered them, saying,
Say again unto you, saying,
Do not sin against a child, and ye would not hear.
Therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
And they knew not that Joseph understood them,
for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
And he turned himself about from them, and wept.
He returned to them again, and communed with them,
and took from them Simon, and bound them before their eyes.
And Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn,
and to restore every man's money into a sack,
and to give and provision to the way,
and thus did he unto them.
And they laid their asses with the corn, and the part of dents,
and as one of them opened his sack,
to give his ass provably, in the end,
he espied his money, and behold,
it was in the sack's mouth.
And he said unto his brother,
The money is restored, and lo, it is even in my sack,
with their heart failing.
And they were afraid, saying one to another,
What is this, that God hath done unto us?
And they came unto Jacob their father,
as the latter came, and told him,
All that but fell unto him was Sam,
the man, who is the lord of the land,
and brought him to us, and took us for spies of the country.
And we said unto them,
Your true men, there are no spies,
you be twelve brethren, sons of our father,
one is not, and the youngest is this day,
with our father in the land of Canaan,
and the man, the lord of the country,
said unto us, Hereby shall I know,
that your true men leave one of your brethren
here with me, and take food to the family
of your household, and God,
and bring your youngest brother unto you,
and then shall I know that you are no spies,
but you are a true man,
and I shall deliver you your brother,
and you shall traffic in the land.
And it came to pass, as they emptied their sacks,
that behold every man's bundle of money
was in the sack, and when both they and their father
saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
And Jacob their father said unto them,
Me have you bereaved my children,
Joseph is not, Simeon is not,
and you will take Benjamin away,
all these things are against you.
And Reuben spake unto his father, Sam,
Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee,
deliver him into my hand,
and I will bring him to thee again.
And he said, my son shall not go down with you,
for his brother is dead, and he is left alone.
But this should be followed by the way
in which you go, and shall you bring down
my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
That's prayer.
The early fathers, thank you for this time to be gathered
to be able to hear your word, and to make you feel
passionate with your spirit, to bring it boldly unto us,
and help us to receive and apply and love you
to your sons and we pray, Amen.
Amen, so Genesis 30, or excuse me, 43,
we will be in Genesis 37 a little bit,
we will be referring back to that.
Genesis 42 tonight, I got my twos and threes
all mixed up there.
But of course, we are reading a story
that we are probably all very familiar with.
The next couple chapters, we will probably
kind of know how this whole story plays out
with Joseph and his brethren sort of being reunited,
you know, maybe not in the way that
his brothers would have preferred,
but nonetheless, they are reunited
and of course,
Joseph, or Jacob rather, comes down
with all the souls that are in the way
and all the souls that are in Israel
and much people are saved alive
and they go on to become that nation of Israel.
So again, it's a very familiar
couple of chapters here, and let me just
point out that that's one of the great things
about the word of God, that
it is literature, that it's not just
yes, it's God's word, but it's
also a book that forces you
to put yourself in
the shoes of these people if you really
want to understand the story, and that's what
literature does, it doesn't just
tell you exactly what everybody's feeling,
what everybody's motives are, there's always
the subtext there, and
we don't understand fully
everything that Joseph is feeling
at this point, we can only speculate.
And again, this is a story I've actually
thought a lot about over the years
and I
have some opinions about it that I can't
say, you know, emphatically
that are true, that my
opinion is just my opinion,
it's just that. But
I do believe that as we
grow older and mature and we
have more experience in life, we're able to
put ourselves into these stories
a little bit more and maybe be able to
sympathize with these
characters that are in these stories.
And again, that's
one of the beautiful things about the Bible, it's a book
that forces you to put
yourself in there and makes you hopefully
a more empathetic person as a result.
That's often why
we want to be people who read
and of course read the Bible and maybe read
other things and use our
because it challenges our thinking,
use our imagination and
not just imagine scenes and
descriptions of things, but also
to put ourselves in these positions to try to
understand what other people are feeling.
Even if we don't fully understand what it is,
we should get in that practice of trying to
being able to relate to other people,
be compassionate
towards the things that other people are going through.
That's another great thing
about the Bible. We have to remember
that these aren't just
Sunday School characters.
These are actual people that experience
these things. And Joseph
has been through a great trial of afflictions
leading up to this. He's a man
in his thirties at this point,
but remember, he was
sold into these men that he's now meeting
in his thirties when he was just a
seventeen year old boy. He was sold into slavery.
So here, fifteen plus
years later, he's running into
these guys. The last time he saw them,
it was not a good experience.
And again, I say all that
because I want us to understand
that obviously Joseph
is a good guy. Joseph, I believe,
is one of the greatest characters
in the Bible. You don't have any
glaring flaws just pointed out in Scripture.
But obviously, he is a sinful man
nonetheless because we are all sinners.
I believe the Bible
chooses not to
let us see what sins he might or
might not have been guilty of because it is trying
to hold him up as an example
of a man of great character
and integrity and someone that we can
look to and learn many great lessons from.
But he is a man
nonetheless, and I do believe that in the story
over the next
couple chapters, Joseph
has motives
to get
his younger brother. That's my opinion
that he's trying to isolate Benjamin.
He only loves Benjamin
because Benjamin wasn't there when he got
sold into slavery. Obviously,
he's been separated from his kin.
Like any normal human being,
he's going to long for his siblings.
He's going to long for that family.
But that's been taken away from him
and not just because of geographical
distance, but because of
a very severe betrayal
that's taken place between him and
his own brethren. Benjamin was
not there for that. Benjamin
obviously was not part of that
conspiracy.
Benjamin is his only full brother.
These other brethren
came from Leah
and the other handmaids.
He and Benjamin
are the only two that were born of Rachel.
They had that affinity with one another.
They grew up together. I believe if you
pay attention through the story,
that he's trying to isolate Benjamin.
He's trying to get Benjamin down there
so he can keep Benjamin himself
and maybe just send them back
and maybe only reveal himself
to Benjamin as Jacob.
You say, I don't know about that.
Because we know how the story ends.
If you've never read the book of Genesis,
spoiler alert, in a couple chapters
Joseph
is going to reveal that he is
their brethren.
We all know that.
But why doesn't he do that
right at the beginning?
Why not just immediately do that?
Why doesn't he just immediately say, hey, it's me guys.
It's because I believe
Joseph is struggling
with some things.
Maybe going through something, he didn't
anticipate this.
Maybe even
struggling with the fact that he has
them right where he wants them.
Maybe having to
struggle with the fact that he could, if he wants,
exact vengeance on these guys.
Maybe he has a little bit of inner turmoil
here.
Again, that's just all
speculation, but he's a man.
The Bible says in James 5
that Isaiah was a man
subject to like passions as we are.
That even the great prophet
Elijah, who caused it not to
rain upon the earth for three years
and did many other great things, called on fire
from heaven, he was just a man like me and you.
And we have to remember that
the people, the characters that we're reading about,
they're just as much people as we are.
And there's great lessons that we can learn
from these people if we'll stop
and not just read the facts of the story.
Because tonight,
there's not a lot of deep doctrine here.
It's just a narrative. It's just
telling you a story.
It's put
upon the reader
to put themselves in the story and to
grapple with these things and do a little bit more
maybe deeper thinking.
We shouldn't be people who just want
everything spelled out for us.
That's why I love the Bible. It challenges
us. It makes us
more receptive, at least it ought to.
So remember that when you're reading your Bible.
Even if you're reading a story that you've read
many times over, where it's just kind of
the facts of the situation,
you don't get a lot of detail
as far as to what people's motives are
or what they're feeling,
remember that you can
put yourself in that story. How would you feel?
How would you feel if you were Joseph?
How would you take it now that
you're the second most powerful man
in the world, second only to Pharaoh?
You've got all these other people from all these other countries
coming and you're selling them corn.
Everybody's looking to you. They're practically
worshipping you. You're a savior under these people.
You have such great
authority.
The previous chapter, Pharaoh
was telling him
you will be second
only to me in the kingdom.
Put yourself
in that story. Now you have these guys that you
haven't seen in a couple decades
and the last time you saw them
they were selling you into slavery.
They were throwing you in a pit
and intended
to kill you originally.
If it hadn't been for Ruben
that's when it would have happened.
But it wasn't
that bad. He only got sold into slavery
and spent who knows how long
maybe upwards of a decade
or more in prison.
Now these guys that
are responsible for all this heartache,
all this difficulty, all these
trials, all this
toil and labor
and everything that you've gone through
are standing there and you've
got them right where you want them.
You could do anything to them.
I don't know that, and again this is why
Joseph I believe is a man of integrity
because ultimately he does the right thing
and has a complete change of heart.
He ends up saying
you meant it to me for evil but God for
good to save much people alive as it is this day.
He sees God's
will through it. Would we
be able to do the same thing in that situation?
Would we be able to
look at the trials and afflictions
that we go through in our lives and see God's
hand in it? Try to see what God
is doing through these situations.
Or if we were given an opportunity
like this to exact
vengeance to take out
our own
will on other people, what would we do?
Hopefully we'd be
people like Joseph, but again not perfect
as you kind of see in this story.
I feel like you can kind of tell he's kind of like
I don't know.
Maybe give you guys
a little bit of a taste of your own medicine, right?
Because if you look at some of the
facts here, they come down
into the land of
Egypt in verse 6, and Joseph
was the governor over the land
and he was
that sold to all the people of the land and Joseph's brother
came and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to
the earth and Joseph saw his
brethren and knew them and
made himself strange unto them. Again,
he doesn't go, guys
it's been so long.
Oh, it's you.
That's what I think is going on there.
And he's purposely making himself
strange. Why else
all of the
subterfuge here? Why all the
kind of cat and mouse or whatever you want
to call it? Why is he making himself strange
unto them?
If he's just gotten over everything
and is just ready to throw his arms around them
and just forgive everything,
why wouldn't he just immediately do that?
Right? To me, he's making
and then again, it says he made himself strange
unto them and spake roughly unto them.
And I don't think he's just putting on
a show. I think that was
that rough speaking,
that harsh kind of inquisitive
well, you know, more like
interrogative, I guess would be the right
word, if that even is one,
would be more of what he's
doing here. Why is he being like this?
Because it's coming from his heart.
You know, this is what he's feeling inside.
He's having some, I believe,
some struggle
in inner turmoil here at
just the sight of these guys.
I mean, think about people that have done you dirty
in the past, right?
We probably all could think of somebody,
even the youngest of us, you know,
you could think about that time your sibling did
something, right? We could all think of somebody
who maybe or maybe somebody who's seriously
wronged us in the past.
And even if we've thought and
felt and understood that we are to
forgive those people,
yet when our paths cross with them,
is it really
that easy to do, right?
You know, we often preach
that we are to forgive and to forget.
And people think
people criticize that, although
that's what the Bible teaches.
That's how God forgives us.
And we ought to forgive as Christ has also
forgiven us. That's what we're taught.
I preach that, I believe that's biblical,
but I didn't say it's easy.
I didn't say that it's, you know, oh, it just comes
so naturally to me, why don't you do it?
You know, believe me, I have people
that I've tried to forgive and had to forgive
repeatedly in my life.
People that have burned me, done things wrong,
you know.
Why would Joseph be any different?
He's a man of like passions, right?
So, let's not, let's not,
I'm not trying to criticize
him here. I'm saying this is perfectly natural,
right? And
obviously he ends up doing the right thing in the end.
It's actually a challenge to us. I'm glad that Joseph
isn't just picture perfect in every
way. I'm glad that we see,
if we look carefully, that
he does kind of have this ordeal
that he has to get through, that he kind of has to
put into practice, you know,
forgiveness here.
And it says there,
Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew him not.
And of course, he speaks
roughly unto them, what's come ye?
And they said, from the land of Canaan to buy food.
And they knew him not. And then verse 9,
and Joseph remembered the dreams
which he dreamed of
them, and said unto them, ye are spies, to see the
nakedness of the land, or ye come. Of course,
the dreams are referring back to chapter 37,
which I, you know, I referred to
earlier, where he sees,
you know,
the dream,
he said, where they are binding
sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheave
arose, and stood upright, and behold, your sheaves
stood round about, and made obeisance to
my sheep. And obeisance is, you know,
bowing down, right?
It's taking a knee to somebody. It's
humbling yourself. It's making yourself even
physically vulnerable before them.
Okay, that's obeisance. And that's
exactly what's happening in the story.
They come, and they bow down themselves
before him with their faces to the earth.
Right? The guys
that sold them into slavery, the guys
that, you know,
you could rightly say, I believe, at least from
his, when it's going on, ruined
his life, in a sense.
Young man, 17 years old,
you know, living with his dad, well favored,
and has his whole life
before him, and the next thing you know, he's a stranger
in a strange land. He's in prison.
He's being falsely accused of committing adultery.
I mean, he's just
going through it, right?
And here they are, bowing down to him.
And Joseph remembers this.
Now, I don't think it's, it's Joseph
had totally forgotten about this dream
as I've preached previously. I believe
that vision is something that Joseph
has had throughout these years.
You don't, you don't just forget that, okay?
That's a pretty, I mean, he's going and telling
this dream. We probably all have certain dreams from our
childhood, right, that we can all recall.
I mean, I have several dreams I remember from
my childhood. Maybe I'm just weird like that.
I don't know. But some people have dreams
that, you know, there's certain dreams in our lives
that stand out.
At least for some people. I don't know, right?
At least, but that's what I'm saying with Joseph,
you know, that's the case, I believe, that he
had this vision, and you know, and I've preached all that
before, where it's that vision that
allows him to go through these things
and, and to remain faithful.
But here he is remembering that dream,
not meaning that, oh, yeah,
I totally forgot about that, right?
I believe that's something he's remembered.
But he's remembering it in the context
of what's happening right now, that you
guys are making obeisance, that you guys are
bowing down. What God
has said has come to pass.
And I believe that's good, that maybe
that's another reason why God gave him that vision,
right? So that he wouldn't
just exact vengeance on them.
That he would remember that God,
there's something to this, that God
you know, intends to do something
through him, okay?
And he
remembers the dream, right?
And he accuses them of being spies, verse
10, and they said unto him, nay, my Lord,
but to buy food are thy servants
come. We are all one man's sons,
we are true men, thy servants are no spies.
And he said unto them, nay, but to see that nakedness
land are ye come. And they
said, thy servants are twelve brothers and the sons
of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest
is with our father, and the
one is not, meaning he's dead.
And Joseph said unto them,
that is, that I spake unto you,
saying, ye are spies.
Hereby you shall be proved by the life of Pharaoh,
you shall not go forth hence, except your
youngest brother come hither. Now
notice how many times he emphasizes
this, okay?
Except your youngest brother come hither,
send one of you and let him fetch
your brother, and you shall be kept in prison
that your words may be proved, whether
they be any truth in you, or the life
of Pharaoh, you are surely spies.
And he put them all in warden for three
days, verse 20, but bring your
youngest brother. So he's being, just over
and over again, you know, I want your brother
here, I want your youngest brother, bring him here.
And of course, he's doing it all under
the subterfuge of
saying, well, I'm just going to prove whether or not you're
spies, right? Let's see if you're really telling the truth
here. But he
already knows the truth, right? Joseph knows
who these guys are, obviously he knows they're telling
the truth, so what's
the point of all this?
You know, it's my contention that he's trying to
isolate Benjamin, that he just
wants to have that relationship back with him.
He could really care less
about these other guys, right?
And again, that's because he's human,
you know, that he's somebody,
you know, who's been wronged severely.
You know, I don't know that any
of us have been wronged to the degree that
this man has been wronged by
even his next of kin. I don't know, we've probably
all, you know, not to minimize
anything anybody else has gone through, but I mean,
this is a severe, you
know, betrayal that he suffered.
I don't think he's ready to just turn on
a dime and just forgive everything because he's
a person. He has to,
you know, be reminded that
God has a will here. So again, he's
trying, I believe, just to get Joseph.
And verse 16,
Send one of you and let him fetch your brother
and ye shall be kept in prison.
Now,
you know,
it says in verse 17, and he put them all
together into ward three days.
So he says, send one of
you and the rest of you stay in prison
and then he puts all of them in prison, right?
Because it's not until after they come out of ward,
come out of prison, that then
Simon is kept and the rest
sent back, right? So you kind of
wonder, like, what's going on? Why does
he say send one of them and put them all in prison?
Well, I think he's kind of putting
in there to kind of think, well,
you guys decide which one of you gets to go free.
It's almost like a kind of
torture, right? I don't know if this
is something that the Japanese did
way back in the day in feudal Japan, but
I read a story once about
feudal Japan where the samurai captured these
guys, these Europeans,
and they put them all in the prison and
he said, you know, none of you can come out
until you choose one of you to die.
Like, they all had to pick one guy
to be killed and then the rest of them could
come out, right? So this is kind of
it's like kind of like a torture, right?
Okay, let's all decide who gets to go free
and go back to dad while the rest of us
sit here and rot in jail, right?
So, you know, it's not
I think that's kind of what he's doing here,
right? He's kind of toying with them.
It doesn't seem like a guy who's ready to
just drop his guard and just, you know,
drop the facade and just
instantly forgive these guys, right?
There's inner turmoil
that's taking place in Joseph's heart and mind,
I believe. And he said, well that
doesn't seem very nice,
but again, remember
Joseph, as we looked at previously
in other, you know, leading up to this
story,
has potentially spent a decade
or more in prison because of
these guys.
Remember, he was 17 years old
when he was sent into Egypt and
you know, he wasn't brought out before Pharaoh
until he was 30 years old.
Thirteen years went by and we kind of went over
the math. The Bible doesn't explicitly say
how long he was in prison,
but I mean, three days
is not, he was in there a little bit longer than
three days. You know, I have to believe that.
So maybe he's giving, maybe he's only
in there three years and he's saying, you know what, a day
for every year that I spent in prison because of you.
He's kind of giving
them a taste of their own medicine, right, throwing them
all on board, uncertain about what's
going to happen, not sure if
any of them are going to leave alive, you know, having
to have this debate about which
one of us gets to go. I mean, I would have
loved to sat in on that conversation
like, all right, so who's it going to be?
You know, well let's draw
straws or, you know, who knows how they
decide, but obviously they didn't make a decision,
right, because they come out and Joseph, it seems like
just kind of chooses for them.
And they brought him out of the ward
after three days, verse 18, and Joseph said
to them the third day,
this do and live for I fear God.
If you be true men,
let one of your brethren be bound in the house
of your prison. Go ye carry
corn for the famine
for your house.
So I had it backwards there, it's send one
of you and the rest of you stay. So that
was the debate that they had to have, right, they had
to have the debate of which one of
us, you know, has to stay here.
That would probably be worse, right.
But, so he's
saying, hey, if you be true men, just bound,
you know, let one of you stay here
and the rest of you go. So they probably, that would
probably be the hardest conversation to have in prison.
Okay, which one of us is going to stay here, right.
Either way, it stinks.
But again, but bring your youngest brother
unto me, so shall all your words be
verified and you shall not die, and they did
so. And they said once
another, we are very guilty concerning our brother
and that we saw the anguish of his soul.
When we besought him
and we would not
hear. So they're
giving us some details about
that specific event back in
chapter 37 when he was sold into
slavery by his brethren. It wasn't
just Joseph went, oh, what are you guys doing?
Oh, you want me to go with your
lights down on you? Okay.
You know, it says that he besought them
and we saw what the anguish
of his soul.
And that's not, that's not, you
know, an over-exaggeration.
I mean, imagine someone
in your family, your family conspiring
against you and ruining your life
like that, selling you into
slavery.
I mean, we could probably all think of things.
We all have our worst fears
of something happening to us,
happening to our family members.
Maybe we think about, I guess
I can't speak for anybody else tonight,
but sometimes we think about those things,
hopefully, maybe, I don't know,
about things that might happen to us.
I know I do. You know, what would
happen if one of my children came
up missing or, you know,
something happened to my wife, you
know, I got a glimpse, you know,
got kind of a reality check with that the other day
leaving work, you know,
almost got hit by that car, almost
got t-boned. Like, it could be a very different
situation. That stuff, you know,
if we really think about,
you know, what would happen, how would we feel?
We think about what that would make us feel, right?
And probably something that
maybe we're not going to use this word, but anguish
is what we would probably describe
in some way. I would feel horrible.
I would feel terrible. I don't know
what I'd do. You know,
we just think about hypothetically
what might happen, you know, how we might feel if something
like that happened. Joseph actually went
through it. It actually happened, and he actually felt
this. He actually went through these
things. Anguish of soul.
And they're describing this
to him before him. We saw the anguish of his
soul when he besought us.
And besought is like when he was begging
us, right? So again, you
got to kind of put yourself in that scene.
You know, he's
there, you know, begging them, please
don't do this.
Please don't do this. Just beseeching them in
anguish of soul, and they,
and we would not hear. Therefore
is this distress come upon us.
And you know what? The
right. Because Joseph,
Joseph is saying,
you guys are going to get it, right?
Now, obviously, he holds back, and I think that
three days that they spent Ward,
maybe he starts to have a change of heart.
Maybe he cools off a little bit,
has, you know, that waiting period,
and is able to come back
and say, hey, I fear God. This
do. You know, one of you is
going to stay bound. The rest of you return.
And bring your brother back again,
your youngest. And
then you can have your other guy, the other guy
feel free.
But they're right. That's why
that distress came upon them, right?
That's why Joseph is reacting the way they did, because
when he was in anguish of soul and besought them,
they would not hear.
And Reuben answered,
answered them, and this is where I think
Joseph gets some insight into,
you know, this situation.
When it comes to Reuben,
you know, you could say, well, maybe he overheard
the conversation in chapter 37
where Reuben is trying,
you know, he's saying, don't kill him. Just cast him into a pit.
But maybe not. This might be
this might be even a revelation to
to Joseph. And
Reuben answered them, saying, spake I not unto
you, saying, do not sin against the child,
and ye would not
hear. Therefore behold,
also his blood is
required.
They're assuming he's dead,
right? He got sold into Egypt, and he's as
good as dead. And
they knew not that Joseph understood,
for he spake unto them by interpreters.
So again, back in chapter 37, when they
are conspiring
against him, it says in verse 21,
And Reuben heard it, and delivered
him out of their hands, and said, let us not
kill him. And of course, they put him
in the pit, and then they
they sell him into the Ishmaelites that are
going down into Egypt.
And Reuben
appears was not present when that
took place. And Reuben
returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not
in the pit, and he rent his clothes,
and he returned unto his brethren, and said, the
child does not, and whither shall I go?
Because in verse 22, it says that
Reuben
sought to deliver him to his
father again. Reuben actually wanted to
deliver Joseph, right?
Now that, you know, that's, I think, why
we end up seeing Simeon bound.
Because remember, Simeon's the second born. You have
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, right?
So I think that's why, you know,
I don't know if they chose
Simeon, but
it seems like that they didn't
make a decision, right?
To me, I always kind of read it like,
my understanding is Joseph
hears this conversation
because they're just speaking openly before him because
as it says, you know, they
they knew not that he was, Joseph
was, understood them,
and we know that he spoke to them through an
interpreter, right, at the end of verse 23.
Before he's spoken to them by an interpreter.
So he hears this
and he goes, Reuben,
you know, he's trying, you know, he kind of
maybe makes that connection, like, oh,
Reuben's the one, so maybe instead
of taking the first born Reuben, I'll just take Simeon
instead, okay?
So I think that's my
understanding. Again, you know, again, a lot of this is
just conjecture on my part, I understand.
But, you know,
it's a narrative. It's not like there's
a lot of solid doctrine being taught
here tonight. It's a story,
again, that challenges us
to put ourselves in the position of these
people and to empathize with
them, to try to understand what it is they might
have been feeling. And
I think that Joseph
was really struggling
with not
just severely punishing
these guys. They got off light, right?
Because he's remembering the dream,
he's understanding that God is involved
in this somehow, that there's more to this story.
You know, the
conclusion that he comes to
when he finally reveals his brethren,
I believe it's something that he's
learning. It's not something he understood
out of the gate, okay?
When he says, you know, God meant it for good,
I believe that's something that
we're watching him learn as this carries out
right now. I don't believe that's something
he just from day one, you know, as he's bound
going down to the Ishmaelites, well, God's,
you know, something's good is gonna come out of this.
I believe he had faith, I believe
he trusted in God, and he had integrity
and all that, but I believe
you know, the specifics of God's
will are something that he's seeing unfold
in the moment that we're reading, right?
In this story.
So again,
he's struggling with this, and he's saying,
well, you know what, Reuben? You get
a pass, you know. I'm gonna
give you a pass. Simeon, come with me.
Because it says
that, you know, they bound him
before them.
But notice again, in verse
24, he breaks, right? So he
hears them recounting the story,
and Reuben, you know, rebuking
them, and saying,
you know, didn't I tell you not to do this?
You know, and now, his
blood is required.
And it says in verse 24, and he turned
himself about from them, and
wept, right? So again,
you can see there's this struggle
that's going on in Joseph.
And he returned again, and communed with them, and took
from them, so he's taking
them, Simeon,
and bound him before their eyes,
saying, okay, now go back
and get Joseph, or get Benjamin,
and then you can come back.
Now,
he does, you know, in verse 25
and onward, we see
where he does something
that might make you think
that, you know, he's just,
has no ill will whatsoever towards these guys,
right? Because
he goes on, and he returns their money
unto them, right? He fills their sacks
with their corn, and to every
man, and to store every man's money into
his sack, so he kind of stashes it away.
He says, hey, give them their corn that they paid for,
and then take their money, and put it in the sack
with the corn. And they don't realize
what happens until they're, you know, on
the way back. But again,
obviously, Joseph,
I believe, did have,
you know,
was likely at least tempted with
the possibility
of exacting vengeance,
but
we see him
ultimately starting to do the right thing,
okay? I believe that's just
a sign that he's coming around. He's
hearing the story, and what is it
that he's hearing that's coming out of them?
Guilt, right?
He's hearing them
feel guilty, right? That's kind of what causes
him to weep, and I believe start to
have that turn of heart, you know, change of heart
in that moment. He said,
we are very guilty concerning our brother.
That's how they, after they, you know,
when they're brought out of the ward,
he says, you know, we're very guilty.
You know, it's a lot easier to forgive people
when they admit guilt, isn't it?
It's a lot easier to forgive people
when they express,
you know, sorrow for what they've done.
And although they're not expressing this directly
to Joseph, at least he's
seeing that they're not just these cold-hearted
psychopaths, right, that they're
people who made a
seriously bad mistake
and
feel guilty for it, and rightly so.
And that's a lesson right there, is that,
you know, if we ever are the ones
that do, if we do somebody wrong,
or we make a mistake, you know, be
somebody that's willing to own up to
it. Be somebody that's willing
to admit guilt when you've committed sin.
Be somebody that's willing to admit
when you've done wrong.
Because here's the thing, would they have been able
to convince Joseph that they hadn't
done something wrong? No, no,
you're imagining things, right?
Could you think they'd get away with gaslighting
them? I know that's like, it's a term
everyone uses, but very few people know
exactly what it means, right?
You're remembering it wrong, Joseph.
We didn't sell you into slavery. You wanted to go,
remember, you know?
You paid them to take you, right?
No, obviously they wouldn't be able to do that.
They have, but you know,
but again, they're not
we know this is a genuine sorrow
because they don't think he understands.
This isn't like, oh we feel so bad
like they're saying this because they
understand this is Joseph.
He understands us, right? They think
it's just some stranger and they're just having a conversation
between themselves. So that's how Joseph
knows this is a sincere
sense of guilt that they have. They're truly
sorry for what they've done.
You know, I can't imagine,
I mean that's what blows my mind too, is that
they're living with this secret the whole time.
These siblings, these brothers, these
ten brothers are living with
this every day of their life.
Are you going to tell me that those guys
didn't think about Joseph probably every
single day of their life?
Probably. Maybe, probably
a lot of sleepless nights
for all the things, for what they had done.
I'd imagine, you know.
I'd imagine, you know,
and what really blows me away is that
you know, they're keeping this from,
they've kept this from Jacob
all these years.
They've never cracked. And of course
they're about to get busted, right?
The whole thing is going to get blown wide open,
right?
But again, they're
having a genuine, I believe,
expression, and not just because they got caught
or whatever, they're saying, we deserve this,
this is happening to us because we're guilty
of this.
This is happening to us because we're guilty,
we deserve this is happening, we're wrong
for what we did.
That's a lesson in and of itself. Don't be
people who can't admit you're
wrong. Especially when other people
know you're wrong.
Okay? This is a good lesson
for young people, for children.
Okay? And obviously
adults can be wrong too. I'm not saying that
they can't. But this is, you know, especially
young children, especially those getting
into their teenage years that are teenagers,
they kind of get this know-it-all attitude,
you don't know it all.
And if your parents, you know,
say this is the rule, that's the rule.
And when you break it, you know, you broke it.
Admit it when you're wrong.
Because
they know you're wrong.
They know you did it,
right? There's nothing more infuriating
than people, you know,
it's one thing to do something and
to commit sin or
break some rule, it's another thing to lie
about it.
It's another thing to just, you know, make excuses
and just lie about it and act like it's not a big
deal. You know, even
if it's not a big deal,
right, whatever it is you did or didn't do,
you know, it's the fact that
you didn't obey often
that's the problem, right?
You know, parents get upset sometimes
with their kids because they don't do things that they're
supposed to do.
And, you know, kids can kind of like, what's the big deal?
What's the big deal if I didn't
take the trash out? You know, I'm just using kind of a
generic sin
that, you know,
that might be a chore that a kid has, right?
Well, so what? What's the big deal?
Well, the big deal is, it's like, anyone
can take the trash out,
but the big deal is that you were supposed to
do it and you didn't do it.
Right? That's the big deal.
And then kids go,
I can't understand why my parents are so upset just because
I kind of, ooh, ooh, ooh, shrugged it off.
Right? It's because, you know,
it's because you're not doing what you're told
and you don't even feel bad about it.
You know, and then they can't
figure out why their parents blow up at them or whatever
or they get disciplined or something.
It's because
we know that whatever
lame excuse you're giving
is a lie.
It's just a stupid lie.
I forgot, right?
My, like, I thought
my mom was convinced she had like a fourth
child named I Forgot.
You know? Or
we adopted another kid called Not Me.
You know?
And it's like, well, somebody
knows who did it. Somebody, you know,
we know you didn't forget. Somebody knows
something about what happened here.
Not me. Right?
But here's the thing.
Let's say, you know,
and again, I'm kind of picking on the
kids and stuff tonight,
but even those of us
maybe we do something wrong at work
or whatever.
You make a mistake with the budget
or whatever at home.
You know, just admit it.
Just admit it.
Because when you say, hey, I'm guilty.
You're right. I'm sorry. I made a mistake.
Then the other person can say, oh, okay.
Well, as long as you acknowledge it, you know, let's not do that again.
Let's move forward. Let's learn our
lesson. Right? Because that's
it's not like people want
or looking for a chance to just
come down on you. You know, it's not like
your parents, young kids, are
just looking for a chance to cloud
up and rain on you.
You know, they would rather you just admit you're wrong
so that they can instruct you and teach you and get over
and get things right and move on.
I mean, it worked for Joseph's brother
and, right, it kind of
brought him around, I think.
Because look at the beginning of the chapter.
He's speaking roughly unto them. You're spies.
You know, you're here to spy out the
land. You're going to spend time
in jail. You know, only, you know,
the rest of you can go back, but one of you
is staying here. And I believe he did have other
motives there. But he's not just
dropping the facade, dropping and just saying,
hey, it's me, guys. We're all good here.
I believe that he has
some strong feelings
and he's kind of struggling with it, but
with maybe taking advantage. But what brings him
around to the place where he's like,
you know what, just put some money, put their money back
in there and send them back.
This conversation,
that's kind of like the linchpin here
in the chapter.
When they had this conversation and he hears them
expressing guilt
and remorse and even
Reuben getting after him and saying, you know,
I told you guys not to do that.
So here's the thing. If you do wrong
and you admit it, the people that
you've wronged can then forgive you
and move on. And look, I know we don't have to wait
for people to admit they're wrong or say they're sorry
to forgive them, but it makes it a whole lot easier,
don't it? And it's so
frustrating. And this is a lesson that must be learned
when you're young because people carry this into their
adult years and they take it to the workplace.
And look, it's
so frustrating to deal with people who
can't admit when they've made a mistake,
when they've done something wrong.
And again, it's not so we
can feel like, well, I wouldn't have made that mistake.
It's like, so we know that you're
going to learn the lesson
and make it right. That's what we care
about.
Anyway, I didn't intend
to go that way, but I did.
The other lesson
here is that, you know, Simeon,
you know, think about the situation.
Again, this is all conjecture, speculation, my part,
I get it. They're all in on it, right?
They were all in on selling Joseph into
slavery. Reuben's the only one
that's kind of, and it appears like he's the, that's
why he's kind of in chapter 37
having to kind of like, you know, navigate
those waters pretty carefully.
Saying, hey, just throw him into the pit
like maybe he was going to, when they were gone
or something, like deliver him and like run away,
you know, because
I think the reason why he had to be careful about
that is because of the fact
that everybody else was on board
obviously, right? So Reuben,
you know, because the oldest child is typically
kind of the leaner, right? Reuben's
the oldest, but
the other nine are not on board with him.
Simeon's the second
oldest. My thought is
like, well, maybe Simeon was kind of leaning on the charge
on like, hey, let's get rid of this guy, right?
They all, they all hated him. Reuben hated him.
They all despised him because he was, he was
loved of his father, right, and had that coat
of many colors, but Reuben
at least had enough sense to say, well, this isn't right
what we're doing. However,
Simeon, it seems like, was
probably the one, I don't know, but he
very likely could have been the one like, here's
what we're going to do, okay?
So maybe that's why
Simeon's being bound.
Now he's going to spend some time in jail.
Now he's going to spend some time not, you know,
separated from his brethren.
You know, I don't know, it might just be a coincidence,
but whoever he grabbed
of those other nine besides Reuben,
right, every one of them
were guilty
of selling their brother
into slavery or, you know, consenting to it.
And the other lesson is, the lesson
that we often hear
is that we
reap what we sell.
You know, Galatians 6,
you know,
God is not mocked. Be not
deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever
man soweth, that shall
he also reap. You know, if we sow to the
flesh, we shall of the flesh reap corruption.
If we sow to the spirit, we shall of the spirit
reap life everlasting.
That's an immutable law of the universe
that you reap what you sow.
And look, we often, you know, and again,
I keep saying we, like I just,
I could speak for everybody in the room.
But, you know, a lot of times,
I don't know, maybe nobody else does, but we often
might take that in a negative connotation.
You might hear that and think, well that's
kind of a scary statement, you reap what you sow.
And it is scary if you're
reaping, if you're sowing the wrong kind of seed.
But you can just as easily
sow good seed and reap that.
Right?
That's the promise of word of God. Whatsoever
you sow, you're going to reap.
Whether of the flesh, corruption,
or of the spirit, life everlasting.
It's a double-edged sword.
And Simeon in the story
is, I believe, reaping
what he's sown.
You know, he was one that
perhaps was a bit of a ringleader
and conspiring against his brother
and now his brother, his younger brother
is an authority over him and has him
in a position where he can do whatever we want with him.
And he's going to give him a taste
of his own medicine.
So,
going on here in the story,
and we read it
before the service,
and they get sent off
not knowing that their money's been returned.
And again,
verse 34, and bring your youngest brother
unto me, just like over and over and over again.
It's just so clear to me
that this is his motive.
Right? These other emotions,
these things that he's feeling, these other things he's maybe struggling
with, they're there.
But what he's trying to get out of the situation
is Benjamin.
He wants him back.
Right?
And that's important because when we get into
chapter 44,
or 45 rather,
where he finally breaks,
it's a sudden break
where he finally just says,
you know what, it's me,
and reveals himself.
It kind of comes suddenly.
It's a very strong emotional response.
I think because he's trying to hold back,
because I think he's trying to accomplish something specific,
it's my opinion
that he's trying to isolate Benjamin,
get him into Egypt, and send the rest of them back
thinking that he's just some guy,
Pharaoh's corn guy,
or whatever.
I could be wrong.
So they go back,
and they're recounting the story
to Joseph,
and it says in verse 35,
and it came to pass as they emptied their sacks,
that behold, every man's bundle
of money was in a sack,
and when both they and their father saw
the bundles of money, they were afraid.
They're like, whoops,
because they're, you know,
they can't explain why it's there.
They were like, hey,
score,
you gotta rebate.
They're like,
how did that happen? Did we not pay this guy?
Because they're concerned.
This is a scary thing.
And Jacob, their father, said to them,
me have breathed of my children,
Joseph is not, and Simeon is not,
and now you will take Benjamin away?
All these things are against me.
And Reuben spake unto his father,
saying, slay my two sons, if I bring
not him to thee.
And his two sons said,
thanks, dad.
And his two sons were like, you know, Benjamin should stay.
We really like him,
he's our favorite uncle.
Let's just keep him here.
Keep Uncle Benjamin at home.
Right?
Hopefully they didn't hear that.
You know, and you say, why would
Reuben say that? You know,
maybe I think Reuben is just, I don't know
that he actually meant it,
or maybe he meant it in the moment,
but sometimes when people,
sometimes people just say things
under distress.
Sometimes people just say things at, you know,
a strong emotional response.
They're just trying to be emphatic.
Right? They're just trying to
persuade somebody.
You know, maybe later he would have gone back and said,
you know, that whole thing about slaying my two sons,
you know, I didn't mean it.
Right?
You know, it's easy for him to say that
because he's fully convinced that he'd have no problem
going back and bringing Benjamin back.
Just kind of, you know, foolish.
And I will
bring him back to thee again.
You don't know that, right?
So he's kind of gambling with other people's lives.
And he said,
meaning Jacob,
my son shall not
go down with you, for his brother is dead.
And again, that's, you know, when I read
that again, it just kind of hit me like,
that means all these years,
they've been living with this lie.
And they've been letting their father think
that he just got torn up by some
wild animal, just met
some tragic end, and is
just dead, right?
They've been living with that for all these years.
I can't imagine
the guilt that they're feeling.
And again, you say, well, how do you know?
The Bible doesn't say they did.
You know,
they're bad people. They did some bad things.
You know, they're bad people in a sense,
but I don't think that they're
sociopaths. I don't think they're just these psychotic
individuals that just have
no feeling of remorse. There's nothing in the Bible
indicating that they are.
They've done some wicked things.
They've gotten out of hand, you know,
obviously.
They've done some horrible things, but, you know,
they're still people, you know. And just
because we see bad people, you know, people
do bad things,
and things that they should be
sorry for, that doesn't
mean that they're just despicable,
worthless people that can't be
redeemed, okay?
So he's saying, you know,
his brother is dead and he is
left alone. If mischief befall him,
by the way in which you go, then you shall bring down
my grares with sorrow to the grave.
You know, he's just saying, you know, it would just kill
me if anything happened
to Benjamin. Because again, remember,
Jacob
loved Rachel. That's who he wanted.
And those are the only two sons
that she gave him
is
Jacob.
Is Joseph
and Benjamin. And one of them is gone,
right? So that's
the last one he has. So you can see, you can understand
his reluctance.
But the other point I'll make, and it's kind of a lead
into next week, is look at
verse 43, chapter 43, verse 1,
and the famine was sore in the land.
And all of a sudden, he has a
change of mind, right? It's easy
to say those things and not want to go along with
it when you've got a, you know,
nine
sacks of corn sitting there and a bunch of money.
You know, it's easy
to say that when there's plenty of food
on the table, right?
But when that goes away,
it's like all of a sudden now he's willing to
compromise, right?
So that's a whole other lesson in and of itself. But,
you know, tonight, really the one thing I want
us to kind of see here is that,
again, Joseph is a man of integrity.
Don't get me wrong. I think he's a great character.
But he is a man,
right? And I'm not saying that he did
anything sinful in the story.
What I am saying is that the Bible
often challenges us
to look beyond the letters that are in the page
to actually really try to think about
the situation and put
ourselves in the positions of these people,
you know, and to understand, to better
understand the story, for one, but
also to make us, you know, more empathetic
in the here and now. You know, that's a skill
that we need to develop as people
to be able to maybe even if
it's, none of us have experienced
this, right? But we can
relate in the sense that we might be able
to speculate about what that might be like
and what it might make us feel like.
You know, that's a skill we should try to develop, empathy.
You know,
that way when we meet people that are going through
things and going through difficult things that maybe we
haven't gone through, we can at least
try to, you know, have compassion upon
them, try to understand and not just,
you know, write people up. Because
this is something that, and I think it's something that
we all do, that we're all guilty of.
And that's why I say it's a skill, because you have to develop
this in life.
You know, we don't always
often think about the things that other people might
be going through, how they feel, or
the things that they're experiencing.
If it's not happening to us, then it's not
really happening, oftentimes.
And I don't
fault people, you know, that's just kind of human nature,
that's the way it is.
That's why, again, I say it's a skill, and I
think that's why the Bible writes
stories like this the way that it does.
Where it doesn't say, and here's
exactly how Joseph was feeling,
here were all of Joseph's motivations.
You know, it hints at maybe
some of them, but it
causes us to put ourselves
in a situation and to really think
how would I feel if I were in
that person's situation.
And when we do that,
then we can better appreciate, in
this circumstance, Joseph's
integrity. Because I
don't know about you, but I don't know that
I'd have, I'd like to think
and like to say that I would have the
character to just forgive people
that have done me such wrong.
And that's the right thing to do.
We all understand that. But would
we have the integrity that Joseph had,
the faith that he had,
to know that all things work together
for good to them that
love God, to them that are called
according to his purpose? Would we all have
the same integrity Joseph did? I'd like
to think so, but at the
very least, it teaches us to empathize
with other people. Let's go ahead and close in a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, again, thank you for the story of Joseph.
And Lord, thank you for
the Bible and its depth
Lord, and the way it challenges us and
causes us to, Lord, to
contemplate and think about the things that are written.
Not to just read over these stories
and to
not pause, Lord. Help us to
be people that meditate upon
the Word of God day and night, Lord. Help us to
give ourselves wholly to these things
so that we can learn, Lord,
not only the truths of your word, but also, Lord,
lessons and skills
and traits that'll
help us in the here and now
even with the people that
we are surrounded by, the people that we
interact with in our own lives. We ask these
things in Christ's name. Amen.
Alright, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we are dismissed.
If you could please grab your handles
and turn to song number 63.
Song number 63.
What a day that will be.
Isn't that a song number 63?
A short but sweet song.
Only two verses to make sure the
single draw.
Song number 63.
Oh, oh, oh, oh
There is coming
a day
When our water
and hate shall come
From the clouds in the sky
Over tears
in the hour
All is peaceful
and warm
On that happy,
coldest shore
What a day
for this day
that will be
What a day
that will be
Jesus, I shall see
When I look upon
his face
The one who saved
me by his grace
When he takes
me by the hand
And leads me through the
promised land
What a day
for his name
That will be
Oh, oh, oh
For sin was for pain
One more body
over there
And forever and
free When the one
who died for me
What a day
for his name
That will be
What a day
that will be
When by Jesus I
shall see
When I look upon his face
The one who saved me by
his grace
When he takes me by the hand
And leads me through
the promised land
What a day
for his name
That will be