To forgive is divine
To forgive is divine
Looking back on the year 2004; it was not a very good year. It seems like the closer we get to Christ's return, the worse things get and at the best, this year, 2005 we can probably expect only more of the same of what we experienced this past year.
The last part of last year, we saw the greatest disaster that had taken place in a very long time. The last figures I heard, there were over 175,000 to 200,000 people dead in Asia and many more still missing from the tsunami. No one really knows how many people have been lost, but it's a terrible disaster and it's a very sad thing that happened. It was understood that the effect of the tsunami was felt all the way from Indonesia to the East coast of Africa, about a distance of 4,000 miles.
We didn't see much good news in 2004. The war in Iraq, of course, is always a leading headline and the last figures were that we have lost around 1,600 of our fine young men and women in the military. Besides the terribleloss of lives, there were 10,000 plus that have been hurt or maimed.
During the year 2004 we also saw on the news the institution of gay marriages in certain states across the country. We had the Scott Peterson murder trial and others - it seems like one bad thing right after another when you tune into the news.
One of the other things we heard throughout the year was constant terror attacks in Iraq and around the world. We hear warnings of potential terror attacks against the United States by various terrorists. At this time, it seems like terrorism is probably the greatest threat to America and to the world that we live in today. These terrorists are motivated by hate and their hate is much stronger than their love even of their own life. Terrorists are willing to destroy themselves to kill their enemies or the people that they hate.
We saw these terrorists exhibit their hatred by beheading innocent people on camera. Bydoing this, they brought their horrific acts in view for all of the world to see and as mentioned earlier, we can expect more of this to come. So, overall, when you look at the entire year, I would say that 2004 was a very bad year.
Christ said in Matthew 24, “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will be offended, and will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matt. 24:7-12). That's what we find today. Most people's love will grow cold, because today it's very obvious that we live in a world that is filled with hatred. In God's word, the Bible, Christ teaches us that we are to forgive our enemies and not only are we to forgive them; Christ teaches us that we are to love our enemies (Matt. 5:44). Now, this is very hard to do, because by nature it is very hard to love someone who hates you. It's hard to love someone who wants to destroy or to harm your life, but yet, this is what Christ said and this is what He teaches us to do.
We have to admit that this is something we have had to struggle with - the forgiving of enemies, because everyone has had misunderstandings and conflicts with other people. But, when you are dealing with unreasonable and hate filled enemies, this is somewhat different. When you are dealing with someone like that; someone who is intensely filled with hate, you find that peace is not negotiable. The reason is because their hatred is stronger than their desire for peace.
We can witness that by looking at what is happening between Palestine and Israel. In the year 2000, Yasser Arafat had a meeting with Israel, he was offered over 90% of his demands in order to come to some kind of agreement and some kind of peace between the two nations. Yasser Arafat refused the offer. He refused the offer because he was filled with hatred. He did not desire peace. His hatred for the Israelis was more intense than his desire for peace.
It has been my unpleasant experience of having three people in my life, that hated me. Two of these people told me that. One ofthem just proved it by his actions. This went on for a great many years and to my dismay, every time that there was any effort to come to any kind of peace between me and these three people, the peace never arrived, and the bottom line was the results were very devastating. The reason no peace was ever arrived at, was simply because the hatred was more intense than the desire for peace. Once you find yourself in that position, the only thing you can do, is to eliminate yourself from that relationship. It just finally came to the point where it was shown that peace would never come. We each know that the responsibility falls on us to forgive, because Christ Himself teaches us that. We also know how hard it is to do.
There is a story of a man in the Bible that had many enemies that hated him. How he dealt with his enemies, is a sterling example of how we should deal with people that hate us. We find that story in the book of Genesis. In Genesis we read of the life of the man, Joseph. Joseph was not an ordinary man. In fact, he was an exceptional man and a man of exceptional character. The one quality or character trait that stands out in the character of Joseph, above all others, is Joseph's ability and willingness to forgive his enemies. Except for the example of Jesus Christ, Joseph is probably the best example of the virtue of forgiveness that we read of in the Bible
In reading his story, we find that more is written about Joseph than any other individualin the book of Genesis - this includes Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. If there was anyone that had good reasons to become bitter and unforgiving, it would be the man Joseph. In looking at his life, especially during his young years, we find that Joseph was terribly mistreated. But in spite of the abuse and the unfair treatment that he endured, we find that there was no evidence of Joseph ever reacting in anger or hate or revenge.
In this life, no one escapes totally the sting of undeserved bad treatment. Whenever we are treated unjustly, the natural reaction, of course, is to get even. Christ teaches us that when we are offended, we are to forgive our enemies. In Matthew 6, we read the words of Christ, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matt.6:14-15 ). We've all heard of the old saying, “to err is human and to forgive is divine.” Well, this is a slogan that is sometimes used by the U.S. Marine Corp, but they have added something to it. Their slogan goes like this, “to err is human and to forgive is divine, but neither is Marine Corp policy.” This is meant to be amusing, but it is true that forgiveness is a policy that is mostly rejected by the world that we live in today.
“You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love yourenemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt.5:43- 45). On the human level, such behavior that Christ teaches here is not possible. It is not natural to love those who hate you and harm you, but Christ commands that we love our enemies. This must be a matter of will and not of emotion, because in dealing with our enemies, we must learn from the example of Christ.
Something I read recently really struck a cord. It said that God will never call upon us to show more grace or forgiveness to anyone that what He has already shown to us. There was no man who suffered more or was more mistreated at the hands of other men than Jesus Christ. Before He was crucified He was brutally beaten. He was mocked, slapped in the face, spit upon, yet He carried His stake to the place where He was crucified and forced to wear a crown of thorns. As Christ was hanging on the stake, His tormentors seemed to get much satisfaction and joy from His agony and His suffering. Yet, while Christ was suffering, and just before He died, He set the example for us and He forgave His enemies. That is recorded in Luke 23:34. As Christ was hanging on the cross, He spoke these words, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” So to forgive our enemies is something for ourgood. An unwillingness to forgive our enemies will no doubt most certainly manifest itself in bitterness and resentment.
Paul said in Hebrews 12:14-15 [NKJ], “Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.” So you can see by this scripture that the root of bitterness is to be avoided.
We can read of the cure for bitterness, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you” (Ephesians 4:31-32). This is also repeated again in Colossians, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do” (Col. 3:12-13 NKJ). Here again, we are only instructed to do what Christ has already done for us!
God tells us, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit”(Romans 8:1 ). So, when- ever we are wronged or offended by others, we really only have two choices: The first choice, of course, is we refuse to forgive,but if we refuse to forgive, then we are sure to harbor resentment and bitter feelings. And if we do that, then this will only lead to our own hurt. The second choice is most certainly the wisest choice and of course, that would be to choose to forgive our enemies.
God's word tells us that “The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and it is to his glory to overlook a transgression” (Prov.19:11). Now, this is what the man Joseph did. He chose to forgive all of his enemies. This quality that Joseph had, allowed him to be able to rise above the all too common reactions of anger and resentment and revenge.
Joseph always put his hope and trust in the Almighty God. He allowed the abuse and mistreatment he received from others, to make himself a better man. The story of Joseph reveals that he came from a very dysfunctional family. Joseph's life is recorded in three distinct time periods.
From Genesis chapter 30:22 to Genesis chapter 37: these chapters record the life of Joseph from the time he was born, until the time he was 17 years old. In the early years of Joseph's life, there was a lot of family conflict. His brothers seemed to clash and argue among themselves. This arguing and conflict eventually developed into a growing antagonism.
The second phase of Joseph's life was from the time he was 17 years old until the age of 30. This is recorded inGenesis chapter 37 through Genesis chapter 41. It is during this time period of Joseph's life that he suffered the most. He seemed to have lost all control over his life. “Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. [This is the genealogy of Jacob.] Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him. Now Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. So he said to them, 'Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around, and bowed down to my sheaf.' And his brothers said to him, 'Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?' So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, 'Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.' So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, 'What is thisdream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?' And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind” (Gen.37:1-11 NKJ).
It plainly shows that Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob and that Jacob gave his son a new “many colored coat” and upon doing this, obviously marked Joseph as his father's pet. It was actually an in-your-face expression of raw favoritism. Also, on top of that, Joseph reveals the two dreams about his future and his dream of ruling over his brothers. One thing to consider here is that Joseph was only 17 years old, so when he told his brothers and his family about the dreams, we don't know if he was deliberately trying to exalt himself, or if he was naively trying to share the dreams with his family.
It really doesn't matter, because regardless of his reasons, he told them of his dreams and this provoked even more jealousy and hatred between him and his brothers. Eventually, we will see that when this happened, his brothers conspired together to come up with a plot to take Joseph's life. They really intended to kill him.
Let's continue on in Genesis 37, “Then his brothers went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, 'Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.' So he said to him, 'Here I am.' Then he said to him, 'Please go and see if it is well with yourbrothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.' So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem. Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, 'What are you seeking?' So he said, 'I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.' And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan. Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. Then they said to one another, 'Look, this dreamer is coming! Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, 'Some wild beast has devoured him.' We shall see what will become of his dreams!' But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, 'Let us not kill him.' And Reuben said to them, 'Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him' - that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father. So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, comingfrom Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. So Judah said to his brothers, 'What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.' And his brothers listened. Then Midianite traders passed by; so the bothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt” (Gen.37:12-28 NKJ).
When reading these scriptures, we see that Jacob foolishly sent Joseph to see his brothers. You would think that Jacob would have been aware of the hatred that existed between Joseph and his brothers and he would have been aware of the danger that Joseph might have been in. Nevertheless, that's the way the story goes.
He sent Joseph to his brothers and upon doing that, Joseph narrowly escapes being killed by his brothers. Reuben, being the oldest brother, did intervene and did intend to return Joseph to his family. In verse 23, we just read, the first thing that Joseph's brothers did; they stripped him of his coat. It's obvious they hated that coat because that coat is something that had apparently provoked more hatred toward Joseph by his brothers. So, they stripped him of his coat, they threw him into a pit, and in Reuben's absence, under the leadership of Judah, he and the rest of his brothers decided to sell him into slavery for only 20 piecesof silver. When Reuben returned, he was very upset. He was very angry and tore his clothes and, I suppose, being the oldest, must have felt some responsibility for what had happened. He was going to have to explain to their father Jacob, what had happened. Anyway, the deed had been done, and Reuben and of all his brothers conspired to come up with a plan to deceive their father Jacob. They took Joseph's coat, soaked it in goat's blood and delivered the coat to Jacob. Upon receiving it, Jacob was brokenhearted. When he saw the coat, he believed that Joseph had been destroyed by some wild beast and that he was dead. The brothers, of course, knew what had happened. They believed that Joseph was gone for good and, I'm sure, they hoped that they would never see Joseph again.
One remarkable thing to remember is that Joseph was only 17 years old! By today's standards, that means that he probably wouldn't even be out of high school yet. So, at 17 years old, he finds himself a slave in Egypt. He was in a desperate situation. He has no power or money, no friends and no family. He is totally alone in a nation with a new culture that he is not familiar with and he has to deal with a new language that he doesn't understand. But, Joseph, at 17 years old, proves himself to be a survivor and never saw himself as a helpless victim. Over the next 13 years he suffers betrayal and finds himself in prison. During this 13 year period, Joseph proves his resilience and perseverance. Heremains committed to his beliefs and faithful to God. Joseph, under these very difficult circumstances, never made any compromises. He stuck with what he believed under circumstances that many people would have been tempted to compromise with.
Genesis 39 continues the story, “Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmalites who had taken him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put in his hand. So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. So he left all that he had in Joseph's hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. And Joseph was handsome in form and appearance” (Gen. 39:1-6 NKJ). These scriptures show again that, even under adverse circumstances, Joseph enjoyed success. As we just read in verse 3, his master Potiphar, saw that the Lord was with Joseph. So he appointed Joseph overseerof his house and all that he had. Joseph was well favored by his new master. As we continue on though, we will soon see that this was about to change for Joseph.
Joseph, being a handsome man; Potiphar's wife made uninvited advances towards Joseph. Joseph, of course, refused. “There is no one greater in this house than I, nor had he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” And so it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her” (Gen.39:9-10 NKJ). Again we see, Joseph refuses to betray his master and remains faithful to God. Potiphar's wife persisted. She didn't stop there. She continued to make advances toward Joseph and he continued to refuse.
One day, when Joseph was in the house alone with Potiphar's wife, she again approached him, grabbed his garments and ripped them from him as Joseph fled. Joseph apparently ran out of the house, leaving his garments behind with a woman scorned. Potiphar's wife is very mad and angry and obviously seeking revenge. So she lies and falsely accuses Joseph. She conns and manipulates her husband, telling him that it was Joseph who made the advances. Of course, when Joseph's master heard this, he becomes very angry, and has Joseph cast into prison.
For the second time, we see in Joseph's very young life that he has been unjustly betrayed. This time Joseph finds himselfbound in prison. “Then Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing” (Gen.39:20-23). The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph's charge because the Lord was with him and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper. We see by these verses that Joseph, even though he is in jail, continues to enjoy success.
Shortly after Joseph was thrown in prison, Pharaoh's chief butler and baker commit some kind of crime. They offended Pharaoh and for their crime they was thrown in prison. Both of these men soon found themselves inmates of Joseph. Not only were they inmates, they were actually under the custody of Joseph. Both of these men had dreams shortly after they were thrown in prison. They did not understand these depressing dreams. One morning Joseph approached them. He was aware they were depressed and he asked them what was wrong so they told him. They had these dreams, they didn't know how to interpret them or what they meant. Joseph asks them, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” So he encouraged them to tell him of their dreams and he would interpret the dreams for them.
Unfortunately for the baker, Joseph told him that withinthree days he was to be hanged. When he interpreted the butler's dream, he told him that within three days the butler would be restored to his position and would be freed from jail. “Now within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your place, and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler. But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house. For indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon”(Gen.40:13-15 NKJ). Here we see that Joseph asked the butler just to remember him and to mention him to Pharaoh whenever he was freed.
“Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him” (Gen.40:20-23 NKJ). Here again Joseph had done a good deed, yet he was forgotten and left in prison for two more years. As they say today: “No good deed goes unpunished!”
Fortunately for Joseph, things are soon going to changefor him, because two years later, Pharaoh himself has two dreams: He dreamed that seven fat cows came up out of the river and following after them he saw seven lean cows come up out of the river. The seven lean cows ate up the seven fat cows.
Then he had a second dream. He dreamed of seven good ears of corn on one stock and then seven thin ears sprang up after them and the seven thin ears devoured the seven good ears of corn. Pharaoh was very disturbed by these dreams. He didn't know what they meant. He called for his magicians and his wise men, but no one could interpret the dreams.
“Then the chief butler spoke to Pharaoh, saying: “I remember my faults this day. When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker, we each dreamed a dream in one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream. Now there was a young Hebrew man with us there, a servant of the captain of the guard. And we told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us; to each man he interpreted according to his own dream. And it came to pass just as he interpreted for us; so it happened. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon; and he shaved, changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh” (Gen.41:9-14). Here again we see that Joseph is finally remembered. Pharaoh sends for him and as Joseph stands beforePharaoh, he interprets his dream for him.
We read of Joseph's answer: “So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, 'It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.'” Verses 28 through 36: “This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land. So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. Then that food shall be for a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine” (Gen.41:16 NKJ). Joseph interprets the dreams for Pharaoh and admonishes him that he needs to find someone to take care of this project and to store up the food.
“Then Pharaoh said toJoseph, 'Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.' And Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.' Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph's hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried out before him, 'Bow to the knee!' So he set him over all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh also said to Joseph, 'I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man may lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.' And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath- Paaneah. And he gave him as a wife Asenath, the daughter of Ponti-Pherah priest of On. So Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt” (Gen.41:39-46 NKJ). Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.
Here we see that finally, after 13 years of trial and testing in a foreign land, Joseph is rewarded. Joseph, now 30 years old, is about to enter into the third and final stage of his life. In verse 50-53 we read: “And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Ponti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him. Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: 'For God has made me forget all mytoil and all my father's house.' And the name of the second he called Ephraim: 'For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.' Then the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Egypt ended.” Notice in verse 51 Joseph said “For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house.” Here we see the forgiving attitude of Joseph begin to surface. Verses 54-57: “And the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. The famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, 'Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do.' The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt. So all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was so severe in all lands.” Now we find Joseph in the third stage of his life. This stage lasts all the way up until the time of his death. He dies at the age of 110 years. During this stage of his life, Joseph, at last finds years of peace, prosperity and reward.
But Joseph is about to meet his brothers again. They finally arrive in Egypt for food, but they do not recognize Joseph. To make the long story short, Joseph provided them with food and eventually reveals himself to them. When he does this, his brothers are very fearful. They have a guilty conscience becausethey know they did evil to Joseph when they betrayed him some 20 years before. But Joseph was a man of compassion and mercy and when he saw his younger brother Benjamin, Joseph finally forgives all his brothers.
After his forgiveness, he sends for Jacob who finally comes to Egypt with all his household where the whole family is reunited. Jacob and his family settle in the land of Goshen. He lives in Egypt for 17 years and just prior to his death, Jacob requests of Joseph that when he dies, he would be taken to the land of Canaan to be buried.
Shortly before the death of Jacob, he blesses Joseph's sons Manasseh and Ephraim. After his death, Jacob is taken to the land of Canaan by Joseph and his brothers where they bury him in a cave bought by Abraham for Abraham and his family. But after Jacob's death something happened. The brothers became fearful again. They still had guilt feelings for what they had done to Joseph. So Joseph, once again, had to reassure them that he had truly forgiven them.
“When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, 'Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.' So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, 'before your father died he commanded, saying, 'Thus you shall say to Joseph: I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.' Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father'” (Gen.50:15- 22 NKJ). And Joseph wept whenthey spoke to him. Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, 'Behold we are your servants.' Joseph said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.' And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father's household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years.”
At the end of the story, we find that if Joseph had been a vindictive man, this was his golden opportunity to get revenge on his brothers. Joseph, at last, was in a position of power, his brothers were vulnerable and they were really at his mercy. But, Joseph being the man he was, deliberately chose to overlook their unfair treatment and the evil they had committed against him. Joseph had not one word of blame for his brothers. He spoke no words of bitterness of Potiphars wife who had lied and unjustly sent him to prison. Joseph did not speak one word of rebuke against the chief butler, who, after he had regained his freedom, forgot Joseph and let him remain in prison for another two years. Joseph was an exceptional man who set an exceptional example for us. He was a model for the virtue of forgiveness.
James D. Carlisle