saved

Joseph's brothers tried to murder him by throwing him into a pit, but if they had ever been brought to trial, any lawyer could have got them off. Not only did Joseph have offensive dreams in which was a saviour-type and they were all groveling at his feet but he recounted them in sickening detail at the breakfast table the next morning. He was also his father's favorite and they seethed at the sight of the many coloured coat he flaunted while they were around in t-shirts and dirty jeans.

After tossing him into the pit, the brothers decided to tell Jacob, their father, that this favorite had had a fatal tangle with lion with a bad attitude. They even produced a blood(goats blood) stained shirt as evidence. Jacob was convinced. no worries.

Long story short, Joseph winds up in Egypt where he is bought by a military man named Potiphar. He gets himself in deep trouble over a false accusation, Potiphar's wife accuses him of trying to molest her...Joseph ends up in the slammer. But, as the story goes, Pharaoh gets wind of Joseph's ability to interpret dreams and springs him to see what he can do with the couple of wild ones he has had. Joseph nails it, and subsequently becomes the head of the Department of Agriculture and eventually #2 in terms of power in the nation.

Here is where I was struck this morning...years later Joseph's brothers, who had long since succeeded in putting the terror of their actions out of their minds(or at least numbing the pain), turn up in Egypt too...looking for food as famine has swept their land.

Joseph knew them right off...but they did not recognize him.

I have always wrestled with what Joseph did over the next couple of chapters in Genesis. Why? Why the games?

Maybe he couldn't resist getting a little of his own back for a while. He pretended that he thought they were spies. He gave them grain to take home but made one of them stay as a hostage. He planted silverware in their luggage and accused them of 'liftin it' from his house. Maybe he was testing them to see if they had changed...were they still mean and willing to do whatever they needed to to get their way? Maybe he just enjoyed watching them squirm...what we do know is that part of Joseph's heart was so moved that he had to get out of the room in a hurry so they couldn't see how his heart was so full. Scripture says he wept loudly. a full heart. full of emotion. pain. memories. coulda, shoulda, woulda's.

Finally its seems he has had enough. He tells them. And they all fall apart. weeping and embracing. The whole family relocates to Egypt.

What is interesting is that the moment of truth comes when Joseph's dad, Jacob dies. The brothers start wondering, with dad gone is the generous, forgiving Joseph going to disappear? Will he get his payback? So they find him and fall on their knees begging him to forgive them.

I love Joseph's words: Don't be scared. Of course you are pardoned. Do you think I'm God to grovel before me like this?

In the old days, of course, God was just who he'd rather suspected he was and the dream where they groveled were his all time favorites.

random thoughts:

1. This is a story of how Joseph's brothers spent much of their life defined by one terrible moment. A decision to get whats theirs. They can't shake it, and the deep pain, sorrow and regret mark all of them, for their whole lives. They were seemingly forever tied to what they had done...until they were able to look what had happened fully in the face...and hear the words pardoned. How many of us live like this? running, dodging, hiding...desperately afraid that what we have done, will catch up to us...when Jesus calls us to stop, turn around(this is what repent means...with a different spin) and face it. And come to Him, who is the only one who can truly pardon. what a picture.

2. Almost as much as it is a story of how Israel is saved from famine and death, it is a story of how a man is saved. And I am talking about Joseph. His journey started with his intoxication with his destiny, place and incredible potential...I mean obviously he was going to go far...shoot, with the dreams he had, wow, what a gifted young man...sigh. Yet his heart was in no condition to understand and embrace what he was seeing. All he saw was power, position and who he was going to be.

The journey is was saved him. betrayal. pain. loneliness. false accusations. servant hood. selflessness. love. It is moving to see that this once young man was salvaged in the darkness of what he could not understand. Did he think of his dreams in prison? probably.

It would be interesting to ask the Lord which of the two achievements was more precious and maybe captured more of His attention: providing food for a people, or saving a man....and which one he was prouder of.

just thoughts

j