I am Pastor Nathan. For those of you that don't
know me in this morning, we're going to be talking
about mercy for the guilty. Is anybody in this
room guilty? Yeah, if you're not raising your
hand, you didn't hear me, all right? We are all
guilty. The Bible is very clear that all of us
are sinners by nature. We are born with a nature
of sin, and that sin is defined as us breaking
God's law. And because God is holy and just and
we've broken his law, we are guilty of breaking
his law. And so that's what we're going to be
talking about this morning is his mercy for the
guilty. You know, back in the 60s and 70s, there
was a big anthem that kind of was permeating.
the world. It was a part of the whole hippie
culture and everything, and it was just love
and peace, right? It was all about love and peace,
and there was a song during that era that captured
that idea, and it was called All You Need Is
Love. Anybody remember that song? Yeah. I don't,
but I was born in 74. I just missed it, so. But
yeah, all you need is love, right? It's this
whole idea. I guess there was a line in the song
that says, it's easy. All you need is love. Now,
in one sense, sure, I guess it could be easy
to love in one way. It's easy to love people
who are lovely, you know. It's easy to love people
who are sweet and kind and responsive and grateful.
But it's not so easy to love the angry and the
contemptuous and the people that hurt us or that
are very bitter and difficult or whatever. You
know, the idea is just to love the lovely is
natural. To love the unlovely is supernatural.
For most of us, payback is natural. But pardon
is very supernatural. And the chapter we're in
this morning in Genesis chapter 43, it's a picture
of supernatural love in action. Because Joseph,
the man that we've been studying for a number
of weeks now, is going to find himself face to
face with the very men who hurt him. The men
who are his brothers who threw him into a pit
to die and then pulled him out, sold him into
slavery, lied to their dad about it. And they
did all this about 20 plus years earlier. And
in the story we're coming to this morning, now
he's in power. He's the number two person in
the entire Egyptian empire. He was in a place
where if he wanted revenge on his brothers, he
could have it with a word, a wave of his hand,
and they would be killed, tortured, whatever
he wanted. That was the place he was in now.
But instead of that, he grants them mercy. And
he is kind to them because his heart is tender.
We're going to see Joseph as a man who is a type
of Christ. He is overcome with mercy. However,
the mercy isn't soft. The mercy isn't casual
with what they have done in their sin. It's a
very strategic mercy. It's a mercy that echoes
a verse that many of us are familiar with in
Romans 2 .4 because his mercy is a kindness that
is intended to lead them to repentance. In fact,
Romans 2 .4 puts it this way. Or do you despise
the riches of his kindness? His restraint and
patience, not recognizing that God's kindness
is intended to lead you to repentance. You know,
sometimes when God is kind to us, even though
we've done something wrong and we've tried to
hide it and bury it and we have yet to confess
it, we might think we're getting away with it.
And that's not the case. The case is that according
to Romans, when we're not coming clean with what
we've done, God's kindness and his ongoing blessing
is not meant to overlook our sin or to say it's
no big deal or to treat it casually. It's meant
to drive us to repentance. Because if we never
come to that place of repentance, Roman tells
us that we're simply storing up wrath for the
day to come. And so we're going to see this morning
in Genesis 23 just a lesson that teaches us that
grace is not a casual attitude towards sin, but
rather grace is God's powerful kindness that
exposes sin. And it relieves our fears and it
brings sinners to him. But before we get into
that, we're going to worship because God is worthy
of worship. Do you guys agree with that? Are
you guys going to worship God this morning? Are
you going to praise his holy name this morning?
Amen. Let's pray. Father, we love you so much.
We're so grateful for who you are and what you've
done. We're so grateful for just you. You are
almighty. You are everlasting. You are everything.
And God, before the universe even began, in your
infinite foreknowledge, you saw us, each one
of us. Lord, you even saw those who may be sitting
in this room this morning or watching this video
online, Lord. And you knew the sin that we were
going to commit. You knew the wrong that we were
going to do. You knew the guilt that was going
to be upon us because of our own choices. And
yet, God, before creation, you put a plan into
place to save us. Lord, you put every decision,
every detail, every crossroad of our lives, Lord,
you weaved it all into your plan that, Lord,
we would eventually come to know you, to be saved
and forgiven, Lord. And God, for many, we walk
with a guilt that we've tried to hide for years.
We walk with a guilt of what we've done. And
we live under the delusion that nobody knows.
But you know, God. And I pray this morning, Lord,
you would remind us that, that you know. And
that the longer we walk trying to hide our guilt,
to not deal with it, it just poisons us. We're
not hiding it from you because you know all things.
And yet, even knowing our sin, Lord, There is
a kindness that you've extended to us, Lord,
that one you even allow us to live, to breathe,
to have life. But Lord, that kindness is so that
we would have the opportunity to finally come
to our senses, confess our sins, and come to
you as our Lord and Savior. That we would repent
of what we've done. Recognize, Lord, there's
nothing we can do to change our ways, that you
are the only one. And that, Lord, we would ultimately
come to you, God, to receive grace, to receive
mercy, to receive forgiveness. But, Lord, today
we're going to see in your word that sometimes
your mercy can be a little hard, can be a little
uncomfortable for us, Lord, and yet even that
itself is a grace. But, God, we want to praise
you for all that you are, to thank you for our
salvation, To thank you for calling us together
as one family in Christ. To changing our lives
and securing our eternity, God. We are eternally
grateful. So we praise you. We worship you. We
love you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
We are in Genesis chapter 43. And before we walk
through the chapter, I kind of really want to
name the sin that... is going to be focused on
today, and it's really the sin of envy. For those
of you that don't know what envy is, sometimes
we get it mixed up with covetousness, and covetousness
is one of the Ten Commandments, thou shalt not
covet, right? And, excuse me, the difference
between covetousness and envy is simply this.
Covetousness says, I want what you have, right?
Ten Commandments says, thou shalt not covet.
You know, somebody has a nice car and you're
like, I want that. And I'm going to figure out
how to take it from them. Or I should have that.
The idea is fill my empty hands with what you
have. That's covetousness. Envy is not that I
want what you have. Envy is I don't want you
to have it either. That's what envy is. Envy
is my hands are empty and I want yours to be
empty like mine are. That's what envy is. That
sin carries a very personal resentment in our
hearts. Envy is not... being upset with, like
I said, what they have. You don't resent the
blessing. You resent the person who has the blessing.
That is what happened to Joseph early in his
life with his brothers. He had that multicolored
coat, if you guys remember, that coat that his
dad gave him. And yeah, it was a sign of favoritism.
It was a sign of all that kind of really upset
the brothers. But in the story of Joseph, it
wasn't the coat that the brothers wanted. If
you remember, when they seized Joseph and ripped
the coat off of him, they shredded it. They tore
it to pieces and then dipped it in blood because
it wasn't that they coveted his coat, it's that
they envied him for having it. And that was kind
of what was behind what they did to him. And
so, you know, envy is a very... terrible sin.
The wreckage of envy is seen all over the Bible.
We see it with Cain and Abel. We see it with
Saul and David, and it litters our lives too.
Unfortunately, sometimes envy can be very public
and dramatic and very well seen, and sometimes
it's hidden and it's secret. And it's a sin that
we carry with us because we silently envy others
and thinking, you know, gosh, they shouldn't
be in that position or they shouldn't have that
thing or they shouldn't be able to do that. And
sometimes that envy can stir up in our hearts
in ways where we find ourselves being happy when
someone falls or when they fail. And envy is
a poison to the very thing that we want to see
develop here at Hosanna more and more, and that's
the covenant community. The closeness, the togetherness.
Envy is a destructive poison to that. And for
Jacob's family, if they were to become the 12
tribes of Israel, if they were to become the
nation from which the Messiah would come from,
envy had to be something that was completely
eradicated out of their hearts. And that's really
what's going to be taking place as God is walking
us through this second meeting between Joseph
and his brothers. You see, Joseph didn't have
the benefit of being all -knowing like God, even
though he was a Christ figure. And so as he is
wanting to reconcile with his family and reveal
himself to his brothers and have that relationship
restored, he wasn't sure if that was going to
be a good thing. I'm sure he was asking questions
like, are my brothers the same envious group
of guys they were 20 years ago? Right? The whole...
test that he put to them when he said, when they
came for grain and he said, you know, hey, I'll
sell you the grain. And they didn't know it was
Joseph. And he said, bring your brother back,
your little brother. And they were like, we can't
do that because our dad will not allow us to
bring our little brother back. He was worried.
He was worried that as his little brother was
now the favorite of the family, that his other
older brothers might try and kill him. out of
envy, might try and throw him in a pit. You know,
Joseph, I'm sure, was wondering if the conditions
were right, would my brothers descend to the
same murderous intent that they did with me years
prior? Like, if I reveal myself to them and try
and reconcile with the family, are they still
going to try and hurt me? And are they going
to try and hurt my little brother? And so, But
what God is doing behind the scenes here as he
is working through the family of Israel is he
needs to do a work inside the brothers' hearts
before he can do a work through the brothers
as they become the 12 tribes of Israel and ultimately
bring the Messiah into the world. And so that's
kind of what's taking place here as we jump into
the story here in verse 1. Genesis chapter 43,
it says, Now the famine in the land was severe.
So when they had used up the grain they had brought
back from Egypt, their father said to them, go
back and buy us a little food. Now again, we
had already studied the chapter where they got
hit with this famine. There's good reason to
think that during the first year of the famine
is when they said, hey, we heard there's food
in Egypt, right? Jacob said, go get food. And
they went down there with silver to buy food.
We had already studied and read the chapter how
Joseph recognized them and was like, oh, no,
and great opportunity to get revenge, but that's
not what he did. But he still, in wanting to
reconcile with them, had to find out if they
were going to own up to their sin, if they were
going to confess their sin, and if they were
truly wanting to be or were different people.
And so they went, they got the grain, they brought
it home. They said, Dad. The silver's still in
our bag. We don't know how it got there. And
everybody's like, oh no, Egypt's gonna come get
us. And so they stayed in the land of Canaan
and they ate up all the grain. And the famine
wasn't just a one -year famine. It went on. Of
course, we know that the dream God had given
Joseph was that it was gonna be a seven -year
famine. But Jacob's family didn't know this.
And so the time comes, they eat up all the food.
They're like, we need more. And Jacob's like,
go back. Now, Jacob already knew that they couldn't
go back unless they brought Benjamin. That's
what this powerful man in Egypt told them. And
so in verse 3, Judah steps in now to kind of
be the voice of reason in the family. And Judah
said to him, verse 3, the man specifically warned
us, you will not see me again unless your brother
is with you. So Judah says to his dad, if you
will send our brother with us, We'll go down
and buy more food, but if you do not send him,
we will not go. For the man said to us, you will
not see me again unless your brother is with
you. Now this is where we see Judah starting
to step up as the leader in the family. He is
brother number four on the list. And we'll talk
about it a little bit later, but we know that
Reuben, the firstborn, had already kind of disqualified
himself, had been demonstrated that he was a
selfish man. And so he really wasn't the one
that was going to end up leading the family,
so to speak. Simeon and Levi were brothers two
and three, and we'd studied before how cruel
and vicious they were, that they were the ones
back in Shechem who went and slaughtered all
the males who had been circumcised to try and
make right what had happened with their sister.
And so God was kind of moving past them, and
now we're at brother four, Judah. who we had
a whole chapter highlighting his sin where he
was just a guy who didn't take seriously the
covenant and the blessings of all that. But now
we see him starting to act different. He's stepping
up to be a leader among his brothers. And so
he tells his dad, like, Dad, I'm just going to
be honest with you. We can't go back unless we
take Benjamin. So let us take Benjamin and we'll
go get the food. Verse 6, why have you caused
me so much trouble, Israel asked. Why did you
tell the man that you had another brother? And
they answered, the man kept asking us about our
family. Is your father still alive? Do you have
another brother? And we answered him accordingly.
How could we know that he would say, bring your
brothers here or bring your brother here? So
again, we see this conversation happening in
the family where God is orchestrating their return
to Israel so that he could do what he needed
to do through this family. Jacob is just complaining
here. He's like, why did you tell the guy you
had a brother? Good old Jacob, the master deceiver,
is like, why didn't you just lie? Did I teach
you guys nothing? You know, and they're like,
how are we going to know he asked if we had a
brother, right? We're standing before the most
powerful or number two most powerful man in Egypt.
We're not going to lie to him. We were trying
to be honest. And Jacob at this stage is just
being a big negative Nancy. Now, if there's anybody
here named Nancy, I hope that doesn't offend
you, okay? It's just a phrase, right? But he's
just being a big poor me, everything's against
me, you know, blah, blah, blah. And oftentimes
when we're finding ourselves in these difficult
situations and situations where we have famine
in our life, maybe it's material famine, maybe
it's spiritual famine, we could just start...
to get whiny and complaining. And what Jacob
had no idea was going on is that God was about
to bless him and his family beyond imagination.
And so it was his fear, it was his own sin, it
was his own sin nature that blinded him to the
possibility that God was working through this
whole circumstance. So he's complaining. Verse
8, it says, Judah said to his father Israel,
look, send the boy with me. We will be on our
way so that we may live and not die, neither
we nor you nor our dependents. I will be responsible
for him. You could hold me personally accountable.
If I do not bring him back to you and set him
before you, I will be guilty before you forever.
For if we had not delayed, we could have come
back twice by now. So again, Judah here seems
to be a little bit exasperated with his dad,
right? I'm going to tell you how it is. You want
us to get food, we have to take the boy. Had
we gone back already, we could have made two
trips to Egypt, Dad. But let me make this pledge
to you. You entrust Benjamin to me, I will be
personally responsible for him. I will take personal
responsibility. Now the reason this is important,
and I believe the reason this is here, is because
we're seeing Judah become the leader that he
is meant to be. We're seeing an intentional contrast
between him and Reuben, who's the firstborn son.
Just a couple chapters earlier, when they came
back from their first trip, Reuben felt bad about
all that he had done that led to Joseph getting
captured and sold and all that. And then when
they said, Dad, we need to go back with Benjamin
to get more food, Reuben had made this very rash
claim. He said, Dad, if Benjamin dies under my
watch, then you could kill both of my sons. Now
at the time when we read that, we go, whoa, Reuben,
he's finally been responsible. He's finally stepping
up. The reality of the situation here is Reuben
was being reckless and selfish. What does that
look like? I'm going to step up and be responsible.
If Benjamin dies, kill my sons. Wow, good job,
Reuben, for taking personal responsibility, right?
He's passing the cost of him trying to be responsible
onto someone else. That's being contrasted here
with now Judah says, I. will take responsibility.
I will be the one. Put the blame on me forever.
Judah steps in with this completely different
tone from Reuben, and it's no wonder that the
Messiah ends up coming from the line of Judah.
Because not only is he taking responsibility,
not only is he showing great maturity here, Judah
has grown up a little bit, but what's happening
here is that Judah is willing to take personal
responsibility personal cost to himself to stand
in the place of someone else. He's saying, I
will stand in the place. If something happens
to Benjamin, I'm the one who will bear the cost.
I'm the one who will take the penalty upon myself.
And again, that's just a foreshadowing of the
Messiah coming from the line of Judah. So verse
11, then their father said to them, if it must
be so, then do this. Put some of the best products
of the land in your packs and take them down
to the man as a gift. A little balsam, a little
honey, aromatic gum and resin, pistachios and
almonds, right? Make a trail mix. Take twice
as much silver with you. Return the silver that
was returned to you in the top of your bag. Perhaps
it was a mistake. Take your brother also and
go back at once to the man. May God Almighty
cause the man to be merciful to you so that he
will release your other brother and Benjamin
to you. As for me, if I am deprived of my sons,
then I am deprived. Remember, when they went
the first time, Joseph said, look, you're going
to go back home. You're going to bring your little
brother to me. That's going to be the proof that
you're not spies. As collateral, I'm going to
keep your brother Simeon in jail. So they went
home and obviously they didn't go back right
away. They've been at home some time. They've
ran out of all this food. They're saying, Dad,
we can't get more food unless we take Benjamin.
So Jacob is kind of forced into this place where
he has to deal with his fear. He has to let go
of what he's trying to hold on to and trust.
And here we see a little bit of trust in God
for him or from him as he's finally coming to
the place of saying, okay, I'll let Benjamin
go. I'll let him go with you. Now, just as a
side note, you know, when he says take this gift
and all of that, sometimes, you know, we look
at stuff like that and we're like, oh, he's just
trying to manipulate and he's just trying to
schmooze and all of that. But Proverbs 18, 16
tells us this. A person's gift opens doors for
him and brings him before the great. There is
a place of being honorable. and bringing gifts
and being blessing when you're trying to get
audience with somebody or to be on their good
side because there's a reason you need to do
that. There's nothing wrong with being a good
person. You know, if you're in sales, you might
recognize the best salespeople are the ones who
often send gifts to their customers and stuff.
And hey, thanks for the business, and here's
the thing. So the idea of giving honor and all
that, it's not just this purely evil, manipulative
thing. There's biblical precedent to sending
a gift ahead to make sure that you can set the
table, if you will, to have the best possible
response. They do this. They send it forward.
Jacob, however, he's finally going, perhaps the
money being in the bag was a mistake. He's finally
starting to entertain possibilities that God
isn't just all against him. Because you remember
the first time, he's like, you guys have ruined
my life. I'm going to die because of you. Again,
God has let them go even more hungry. Because
he needed to bring Jacob and the sons to a place
where they finally start to face the sinful things
and the sinful reactions and the sinful behaviors
that they cling to. We see Jacob pray here when
he says, may God Almighty cause the man to be
merciful to you. That's a huge step for Jacob
in his growth. You know, he just said, why didn't
you guys lie? And then he was here going, okay,
fine. Now, that phrase, God Almighty, that is
the name that you may be familiar with in Scripture,
El Shaddai. That is a very loaded and powerful
name for God in Scripture. It's used in Israel
to reference the God who can do anything, right?
God introduced himself to Abram as El Shaddai.
Isaac invoked the name El Shaddai when he blessed
Jacob. Jacob is now using it over his sons to
bless them. But do you see what's happening here,
right? Why didn't you lie? Why didn't you do
this? And finally, at the end of everything,
fine. I'll trust the God who could do everything.
How often do we do that, right? My ideas, my
plans, my this, why did I lie? Scheme, scheme,
scheme, scheme. And then finally, finally, we
get to the place of saying, I guess I have to
trust the God who created the universe. Maybe
that'll work, right? This is where God needed
to bring this family to if they were going to
be the foundation of this nation who extolled
worship of God. When he adds, if I'm deprived
of my sons, then I'm deprived. Some people read
that and they hear fatalism. He's just like,
whatever, my sons are going to die. But in the
Hebrew, that's not how this reads. This is him
having what we would call resigned faith. Like
even though he's come to this place and it's
like for him the last possible thing, all right,
may the God who can do everything, you know,
go with you. There's faith on Jacob's part that
he's finally come to this place where God has
stripped away all his fears and all his stuff
and say, look, you either trust me or you're
gonna die. And he's like, okay, well, I guess
I have to trust God. You know, now, you know,
there's many times in my life where I'll be trying
to figure things out and, you know, it's like,
okay, and God lets bad things happen. And the
last thing I think of is, oh, maybe I should
trust God. Maybe I should just lean on him. You
know, let's try doing that first. Right? That's
what God wants us to do by nature is to be people
who, something bad happens, the first thing we
do is go, El Shaddai, God who would accomplish
anything, who created the whole universe, I trust
you, you can handle this. Show me what to do.
Lead me. Let me get into your word. Let me get
counsel. Let me find out what you want before
I try and handle things the way I want. Jacob's
finally here. And so it tells us in verse 15
that the men took the gift. They doubled the
amount of silver and they took Benjamin and they
immediately went down to Egypt and stood before
Joseph. You know, there's nothing like hunger
to motivate people. When you're hungry enough,
you'll do pretty much anything for food. But
on a spiritual side of things, spiritual hunger
is a great thing to have. It's something that
we don't really step into enough, I think. You
know, we'll think, I've had enough church, I've
had enough of the Word, I've had enough of this,
and, you know, why is my life getting so devoid
of spiritual vitality? And maybe it's because
God's letting that famine in your life happen,
so you finally get to the place where you're
desperate for the Word. You know, spiritual hunger,
it's really one of the best signs to see in a
church. That when God's people are people who
want his word and they want to study it and they
want to hear it and they want to learn it and
they want to be fed, right? One of the things
that I'm so blessed of hearing here at Hosanna
is over the last few years where new people have
come to the church and I always try and make
a point to meet new people and say, hey, how
did you find out about us? And as that relationship's
building, I'm like, oh, sweet. What do you like
about our church? Is it home yet? Have you called
it home? And for the people that have been like,
yeah, we've decided to land here and stay here.
So many of them, I mean, overwhelmingly have
shared that. You guys actually teach the word
here. And the way that's phrased is a blessing,
but it also breaks my heart, right? It's not,
wow, you guys teach the word and the way and
the worship and the style and all this stuff.
You actually teach the word here. What an indictment
to the church in America, right? Oh yeah, we've
been visiting churches all over and you guys
actually teach the word here. What does that
say about other places, right? There's so many
churches that might quote a verse and then give
a self -help talk. And the best self -help talk
you can have is the Bible. is to study it and
learn what it says. And when we're not hungry
for the Word, we don't read it. We don't study
it. When we're not hungry to learn and apply
what it says, then that's when we start going,
I don't need to go to church, and I don't need
to be plugged in, and I don't need to serve.
And then we find ourselves getting spiritually
dry, and we find our lives starting to go into
times of famine, and God's like, sweet, I'm going
to let that happen. to drive you to the place
where you're hungry again, and you're gonna say,
okay, I let go of my fear, and I let go of my
excuses, and I let go of my stuff, and fine,
take Benjamin. I guess I'll do it God's way.
And God's like, sweet. I'm glad you finally got
there. Now let's start moving in and with my
will. And so, verse 16, when Joseph saw Benjamin
with them, he said to his steward, take the men
to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare
it. for they will eat with me at noon. The man
did as Joseph had said and brought them to Joseph's
house. But the men were afraid because they were
taken to Joseph's house. They said, we have been
brought here because of the silver that was returned
in our bags the first time. They intend to overpower
us and seize us, make us slaves and take our
donkeys. Like, are these donkeys made of gold
or something, right? So they approached Joseph's
steward and spoke with him at the doorway of
the house. Now the steward here would be like
the chief household administrator. Incidentally,
this was the exact position Joseph had in Potiphar's
house, right? It was the one who ran the whole
house. And so Joseph's like, hey, you know, take
them home and all that. Now they start getting
all freaked out about it. They were afraid. When
we are living with hidden guilt, kindness can
seem very suspicious to us. especially God's
kindness. When we're realizing we've done wrong,
we kind of deserve punishment, but I can't tell
anybody because I'm afraid of getting punished.
When kindness happens in our lives, when good
things happen, when God still blesses us, sometimes
that could wig us out a little bit. Because we
know we don't deserve the blessing. We don't
deserve the kindness because we recognize our
sin. And Joseph's brothers, they were living
with this guilt. The guilt of what they'd done
to their brother, but then the guilt that they
came back with the money and they never returned
it. And guilt tends to make us think that our
thing is the only thing that exists in the world.
What I mean by that is this. They know that this
man, who is Joseph, their brother, is the number
two and the largest, most powerful kingdom in
the earth at the time. That thousands upon thousands
and thousands and thousands of people are coming
to him every day because the famine is everywhere
to get food. And this guy is administrating all
of that. But they think that for however long
it's been since they went back, that this man
in Egypt, with all the stuff he's busy with,
has been thinking about one thing. Those Hebrews.
They took the silver. And they're like, oh no,
he knows. He got us. We're caught. Now, incidentally,
Joseph is aware because this was a plan he had,
but guilt tends us to be pretty ridiculous with
paranoia and starting to think everything is
about us because we're afraid to get caught.
We're afraid for people to know, and so these
brothers, they start to panic. They're seizing
us. They're going to kill us. They're coming
after us. That's why he's sending us to his house.
And all Joseph said was, hey, take them to my
house. I want to have a meal with them at noon.
It can't be just a meal. It's a setup. They're
going to get the donkeys. I mean, guilt makes
us a little irrational, you know. But the reason
they're freaking out is because guilt ruins kindness.
Guilt ruins joyful experiences. Guilt turns what
one might intend for a good thing into misery
for us. You know, some leaders in psychology
voices in the world say all guilt is bad. And
biblically, that's not that accurate. We're not
to live under guilt biblically, but But biblically,
guilt is a good thing if it drives you to the
place where your guilt gets dealt with. It's
a destructive thing if you just live under it
and keep hiding it and think nobody knows, nobody
knows, and yet it's eating you up on the inside.
But when guilt drives you to the cross, drives
you to confession, drives you to forgiveness,
it's a mercy of God. It's a harsh mercy. But
it's a mercy of God. And so these guilty brothers
are like, oh no, he's gonna get us. We need a
mediator. They plead their case with the steward
at the door. And then the steward replies with
one of the most stunning lines in this chapter.
Look at verse 23. The steward says, may you be
well. Don't be afraid. Your God and the God of
your father must have put treasure in your bags.
I received your silver. Then he brought Simeon
out to them. The reason this is a stunning line
is because the steward of this house, he's an
Egyptian man. And he says, may you be well. That
phrase in the Hebrew is shalom lakum. Shalom
lakum. Shalom means peace. This phrase, shalom
lakum, means peace with you or peace be to you.
Or peace upon you, right? It's a Hebrew greeting
of great honor. This Egyptian man, who they're
going, please, we're trying to tell you the truth.
We didn't steal the silver. He responds to them
with this Hebrew phrase of great honor and respect.
Peace be upon you. Peace to you. It's very unusual
because, as we're going to see later, Egyptians
didn't like Hebrews for a couple reasons. Not
only that, this... This steward then appeals
to God and says, your God and the God of your
father must have put the treasure in the bags.
They're going, what is going on here? Now perhaps
Joseph, who remained a dedicated follower of
God, a monotheist in a place of polytheism, it's
possible he influenced this steward and some
in his household towards a true faith. We don't
know, but... What we see here is as they're expecting
judgment and they're expecting to be caught unawares
and they're expecting that we're being set up
to be executed, there's this mercy being extended
to them step by step through this process. Mercy
being not getting what they do deserve. Simeon
is brought out alive and restored. I can imagine
Simeon coming out and going, where have you guys
been? I've been sitting here. I can imagine Simeon
going, I thought you guys abandoned me like we
abandoned Joseph years ago. Now it's doubtful
Simeon changed much in prison because later on
when Jacob is dying and he's blessing the sons,
he says of Simeon and Levi, you guys are instruments
of cruelty. So there seemed to be that Simeon
didn't change and it's really unfortunate. When
God allows us to go through painful experiences,
that if we don't let those things change us,
to cause us to grow and to mature and to be better,
right? Trials, the Bible tells us, are meant
to produce wisdom. James 1 -2 -5, it says, Consider
it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever
you experience various trials. Because you know
that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
and let endurance have its full effect so that
you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask
God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly,
and it will be given to him. God allows us to
go through trials and to find ourselves in situations
that are very difficult so that we grow, so that
we mature. But asking God for wisdom, that's
this. Lord, I'm in a trial. What are you teaching
me through this trial? Because I want to grow
from this. You know, and oftentimes in my life
when I'm going through difficult things, this
is my prayer. God, what are you teaching me in
this trial? And help me learn it quickly so the
trial can be over. God, I'm stubborn. I'm thick
-headed. Please, Lord, I want to learn fast because
this is hard. And, you know, sometimes that prayer
is answered and sometimes I'm stubborn, right?
But if we don't go into situations of difficulty
that God has allowed, and often he allows those
things so that guilt and undealt with hidden
sin is brought to the surface so that we deal
with it. If we don't allow that process, it's
just, it's sad. Because again, Romans says that
it's his kindness that is meant to lead us to
repentance, but it also says that if we don't
respond to that kindness and come to repentance,
that when we might think we're getting away with
sin and we're getting away with sin, Romans says,
no, you're just storing up wrath. You're just
storing it up. That we should never mistake God's
patience and God's long -suffering for Him being
like, oh, no big deal. You're getting away with
it. But verse 25, we go on. It says, since the
men had heard that they were going to eat a meal
there, they prepared their gift for Joseph's
arrival at noon. When Joseph came home, they
brought him the gift that they carried into the
house, and they bowed to the ground before him.
He asked if they were well, and he said, how
is your elderly father that you told me about?
Is he still alive? They answered, your servant,
our father, is well. He is still alive. And they
knelt low and paid homage to him. When he looked
up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's
son, he asked, is this your youngest brother
that you told me about? And then he said, may
God be gracious to you, my son. Joseph then hurried
out because he was overcome with emotion for
his brother and he was about to weep. He went
into an inner room and wept there. Then he washed
his face and came out. Regaining his composure,
he said, serve the meal. They think they're being
set up. Joseph's on his way home. He said the
meal's at noon. And so they're like, okay, we
gotta get the gift ready. We gotta get everything
ready. We gotta put it all together. Is it almonds
first and then pistachios? Or is it pistachios
and almonds? I mean, this all has to be right
because they're trying to assuage their guilt
with this payment. Now you'll notice they offer
this gift and Joseph didn't even pay attention
to it. He comes home, they offer the gift, they
bow, which is just that dream being fulfilled
again and again. But all he's concerned about
is them and their father. How are you guys doing?
Hey, how's your elderly father? Love and worry.
is what's driving Joseph here. He wants a relationship
with them. He wants that reconciliation. He wants
to be restored, but he can't until he knows that
they're done with being these envious, sinful
people. I think he asks about dad because he
was aware of what having Benjamin come might
do to their father. And so he's like, is he still
alive? Because he sees Benjamin right there.
But when he sees Benjamin, he says, may God be
gracious to you. And he uses the word Elohim
for God, not El Shaddai. It's Elohim. That was
the Israeli way of referring to their God. Again,
like who's this Egyptian guy calling our God
by the name we call him, right? But then we see
this. of his as he sees his brother and he's
trying to maintain his composure and he loses
it and has to go into a back room there. It tells
us specifically that he goes into an inner room
to cry. Why? Why is that detail important? Well,
one, it's given us insight into Joseph, but he
went away into privacy to cry and yet it's recorded
here in the Bible for us. Why? Because I think
there may be some of us here today that In going
through our difficulties and stuff, we've found
ourselves leaving situations to go cry privately,
and we think we're alone with our tears, and
we think nobody sees our tears, and nobody knows
we're crying, and nobody knows we're hurt, and
we compose ourselves and go back out front. But
God records it here for us. Why? Because God
was there with Joseph in that inner room and
saw every tear. God saw every tear. The Bible
tells us that he keeps them in a bottle, that
God knows you're hurt, that when you think you're
all alone, you're not. God is there. When you
think that it's too much and overwhelming, you've
got to separate from everything, and nobody understands
the pain, and nobody understands what you're
going through, God does because he's there with
you. He sees it. Nobody else was in that room
with Joseph, but God was. And then, you know,
he had to wash his face because I imagine that
Egyptian mascara was running and stuff. But he
comes out to, okay, I need to still play this
part here. So verse 32, they served him by himself,
his brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians
who were eating with him by themselves because
Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews since that
is detestable to them. They were seated before
him in order by age from the firstborn to the
youngest. And the men looked at each other in
astonishment. Portions were served to them from
Joseph's table, and Benjamin's portion was five
times larger than any of theirs. And they drank
and became drunk with Joseph. So there's a few
details here about the seating arrangement, right?
Egyptians considered Hebrews outsiders. They
considered all foreigners outsiders, but Hebrews
were especially gross to them. Why? Because at
one point in Egypt's history, a group name is
the Hyksos or the Hyskos, whatever, depending
on your pronunciation. They were a nation of
shepherd kings that had invaded Egypt, conquered
Egypt, and took over. And then when the Egyptians
finally revolted and kicked those shepherd kings
out, the Egyptians as a culture were like, we
don't like shepherds. Shepherds are bad. And
the Hebrew people were known to be a shepherding
community. They kept livestock and all that.
And so not only were Hebrews foreigners, but
Hebrews were foreign shepherds. And so they were
double gross to the Egyptians. This is what makes
the surprise of how the servant greeted them
all that more like, wow. He greeted them, Hebrew
shepherds, with a Hebrew term of peace and honor
to you. When they were going, we didn't steal
the silver, we didn't steal the silver. And he
goes, maybe God put it in there, who knows? So
their minds are just reeling here like, why are
we being treated so nice here? And all of this
goes all the way back to how they treated Joseph
years before. But then it tells us that Joseph
seats them in exact order and they're shocked,
right? Would you be surprised by that if someone
who you didn't think knew you and there was 10
brothers or 11 brothers and he seats them all
in order, perfect order from firstborn to the
lastborn? It should be shocking because mathematically
there's a one in 40 million chance to do that.
And yet Joseph seats them in the exact right
order. Now from their perspective, why is that
surprising to them? Why is it shocking to them?
Because they're like, this man knows things.
And if he knows things, that means he knows what
we did. Going all the way back to now, every
sin in their life, right, is just exposed. This
man knows things he shouldn't otherwise know.
We, our guilt is out in the open. And then the
serving Benjamin five times more. Again, he was
testing their envy. When Benjamin, who's the
favorite in the family, is now sitting at the
table and he has five times the food they get,
are they going to respond with envy? Are they
going to respond with jealousy? Are they going
to get mad at him? Are they going to say, nope,
we're going to take that from him? How are they
going to respond? Are they going to resent him?
Joseph needed to see this because he wanted to
reconcile, but if they were going to still hold
on to their sin and stay in that place of sin,
relationship wasn't really possible. But they
pass the test this time. Instead of resenting
Benjamin, they just eat. They're merry. They
drink. They eat. I mean, this is all them finally
kind of letting down their guard here in the
face of what could be a very dangerous situation
for them. Now, morning is going to come, and
they're going to have one final big test, but
we're going to deal with that next time. The
story is not finished, but what do we get from
Genesis 43? What do we learn about grace and
mercy and God and us and our sin in this chapter?
Well, there's some modern thinking that says
grace means not coming down too hard on sin.
That's what grace means. Grace means tolerating
things that God calls deadly. And that's wrong.
That is not what grace is. Grace isn't tolerance,
okay? Grace is something very powerful and life
-changing, right? The Bible says that we are
saved by grace through faith. We live holy by
grace. We serve the Lord. Paul said, it's by
grace that I serve. And properly understood,
when we understand grace biblically, it's not
something that leads to coddling. Grace isn't
not calling sin out. Grace isn't... helping people
bury and ignore sin, excusing sin or dealing
lightly with it. Grace is something that's meant
to drive you into fear of God and ultimately
turning away from sin. Genesis 43 is a commentary
on what the kindness of God leads to repentance
looks like. Joseph being kind to them, hey, let's
come eat, let's do this, treating them with kindness,
that doesn't mean he's minimizing their sin,
going, oh, it's no big deal what you did. All
of that kindness is there, one, because he loves
them so much that he wants them to come to the
place where they finally confess and admit and
face and accept responsibility for their sin
so that he could go, cool, because I've just
been waiting to forgive you, let's reconcile.
Guilt can cause us to fear love. This is why
there's so many people that I've talked to in
my life, and maybe you have too, when you're
telling them about how much God loves them and
how much he wants to forgive them, they go, oh
no, you have no idea what I've done. There's
no way God could love me. You ever heard that
before? I've sinned too much. I'm such a wretched
blah, blah, blah, whatever. There's no way God
could love me. But, I mean, and it kind of makes
sense when we're... When we know we deserve punishment
and we get the opposite of punishment, we get
blessing, it feels suspicious. It's like, what
are you setting me up for, right? Are you trying
to reel me in so you could drop the hammer on
my head? And what guilty people do in that situation
is, I can't just receive the kindness, I have
to pay for it. And this is the brothers with
their gift, fussing over the gift. All right,
Joseph's coming. We need to get this gift right.
We need to bow down. We need to pay homage to
him. And that's exactly what sinners try to do
with God. We're like, I'm guilty. And God's like,
I love you. I just want to save you. You just
need to admit it. You need to face it. Just repent.
Come to me. Just admit you're a sinner. I can't
do that. Maybe if I give you money or good deeds
or clean myself up. Maybe if I give you my pistachios
and almonds, then you'll accept me and I don't
have to admit my sin. And we try and purchase
peace with God. Well, what do we see here that
illustrates what God does with that? Joseph didn't
even pay attention to the gift. Joseph didn't
go, wow, look at this gift you've given me. He's
like, how you guys doing? How's dad? He didn't
say dad, but you know, there is good reason to
fear approaching God because we are guilty sinners
and he is a holy and righteous God. There's good
reason to be nervous and afraid. I can't admit
it because we think he's going to strike us down.
But he hasn't. Because you're still alive. And
you're still breathing. God's kindness is saying,
no, come to my table. Come sit down with me.
Let's have a meal together. Let's talk. And we're
like, I can't because you're going to lightning
bolt me as soon as I get there. And he's like,
no. I want a restored relationship with you.
And we come to those moments where we start to
realize the grace that God has for us. Maybe
relieves some of our fear, but it also awakens
something unsettling us, right? We sit down at
the table and we start to realize he knows. He
knows everything. He knows every secret sin.
How does he know? I've been hiding it. I've been
suspicious. He was asking me to come to this
table because he's trying to trick me into admitting
my sins so he could wipe me out. And then we
sit there and we realize, he already knew. He
already knew everything I've ever done wrong.
He knows every sin I've ever committed. I think
this is why they were so shocked at that birth
order, right? Grace, it's welcoming, but it's
also exposing. When God showers grace onto people
and exercises blessing onto people, especially
his children, when we're in sin, and we have
that sin hiding, It peels back the layers, and
we're more and more exposed to the, I deserve
judgment. I should be punished for this, and
yet I'm still at his table. He still loves me?
Genesis 43, it ends with a feast, a day of great
mercy, considering who they were sitting before.
This is the brother they sold into slavery, the
one with the power to say, kill him right now,
and yet he's just having food with them. It says
he gives them food from his own table. That,
again, was a great honor because he was number
two in Egypt, and yet he's saying, eat from my
portion. Do you guys see the parallel between
Joseph and Jesus? That's why he's such a type
of the Lord. Now, again, morning's going to come,
and they're going to have one last final test.
And it's going to be that final test that really
drives them to finally face their sin and confess
everything they've done. And just like God, Joseph
can't allow them to keep their old sin buried
in the dark. There can't be reconciliation without
confession. And so they're driven to this place
where they're going to finally say, we did this.
We were so wrong, and that's exactly what grace
does in our lives. Grace doesn't let us just
say, oh, you don't have to deal with your sin.
Just God loves you. Come on. No. Grace says there
is forgiveness, there is mercy, but you have
to come clean. You have to come to the Lord and
say, I've sinned. I've done it. God, I believe
that you are God. I believe everything you say,
and please, I throw myself on your mercy. God
brings sin to the light, not to destroy you,
but to heal you. And so, you know, this chapter
raises just some questions for us. I mean, maybe
you've been living in a way where guilt is running
your life, right? There's secret sin. You haven't
dealt with it. God's been having things happen
in your life that keep bringing it back up, and
you're like, no, push it back down. Maybe the
devil has got you interpreting God's kindness
with suspicion. You have paranoia. You come to
church and someone says, God bless you, and you're
like, what do you mean? Pastor Ron's like, they're
going to ask me to write down my sins on a paper?
You left already. Bye. I can't do that. I'll
be exposed. But God's kindness keeps coming back
to you. And it's driving you nuts. Are you still
trying to pay your way with pistachios and almonds?
God's saying, confess this sin. And you're like,
no, let me, here's some good deeds. Here's some
religious efforts. Here's some bargaining. And
God's going, how you doing? I'm bowing to you
in homage, Lord. Get up. How you doing? Sit at
my table. Let's talk. Are you willing to let
grace do its real work? Are you willing to let
grace expose what you've hidden so God can forgive
you and cleanse you and restore you? Because
it's the kindness of God that is meant to lead
us to repentance. But like I said earlier, if
you shrug off that moment, if you shrug off that
call, you're just storing up wrath for yourself.
You're just storing up wrath. The Bible's very
clear. If you respond to that grace and that
kindness and you realize this is exposing your
guilt and exposing what you've done and you're
coming to a place where you're realizing he's
not trying to set me up to destroy me. He's simply
inviting me to be honest. And you confess and
you come clean. Then mercy becomes your story.
Mercy becomes your answer. And it's all been
a mercy, as uncomfortable as you've been, and
dealing with the guilt, and just being racked
with it, and just, ah! It's like, that's been
God's mercy the whole time, because he's like,
you deserve the punishment, but I'm not gonna
give it to you, because I wanna show you grace
and kindness that you repent, and receive the
forgiveness I have for you. Are you ready for
that this morning? Are you ready to come clean
with God this morning? Because he's here to meet
you. He's here to meet you. Let's pray. Father,
we're so grateful for who you are. And we're
so grateful for your grace and your mercy. We're
thankful, God, that you let us go through misery,
that we will finally open our eyes and look up.
That we would finally stop making excuses and
stop justifying and simply just realize we are
guilty and you already know we're guilty because
you see everything. You know the thoughts and
the intentions of our heart, your word tells
us. And Lord, it's not you making us miserable,
it's us making ourselves miserable because we
won't simply come to the table. And confess.
And Lord, I believe today is a day of confession
for some people here. Whether they're here in
our room or watching online. God, there's been
hidden guilt. There's been undealt with sin.
And Lord, You want to get us past those things.
You don't want us in bondage. In fact, you've
already set us free and there's no reason for
us to be in bondage if we've confessed Christ
as our Lord and Savior. And so I pray for all
of us, God. Any in this room that you've really
been dealing with through this message and maybe
just recently in the most recent weeks you've
been dealing. That God, right now, they would
finally stop being suspicious of your kindness
and realize That is because you've been drawing
them towards repentance. That in their heart,
Lord, knowing their guilt, knowing they deserve
punishment, Lord, they would right now today
as we're praying just say, God, thank you for
loving me so much. Thank you, God, for receiving
me even though I'm a sinner. God, I own it. I
confess it. I ask you to forgive me of my sins.
I don't want to hide it anymore. I don't want
to hang on to it anymore. I want to be free.
I want to be healed. I want to be restored. God,
I know you desire reconciliation, a renewed,
strong, Honest relationship. And I want that
too, Lord. So please forgive me. Help me to receive
your grace. Help me to celebrate your mercy.
Help me to live in the truth that you already
know so there's nothing I could hide from you
anyways. God, restore me to you. Help me to love
you better. Grow my faith. And be glorified in
my life. It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Well,
I pray God would bless you guys. If you were
just convicted right now and you're like, oh,
I gotta go back to that person I talked to during
a meet and greet and tell them what's really
going on so they could pray with me, do that
before you leave. And then pray for one another.
That's how we heal. We pray, we ask God to do
the impossible, to heal our hearts, to shine
light into the darkness, and that's how we grow
as a church, that's how we grow as believers,
that's how our relationships get better, that's
how our relationship with our kids and our spouses
gets better, that's the foundation of all of
it. And then I pray as you do that, you would
just experience a joy that is unlike anything
you've ever experienced, a richness in your walk
with God that is beyond what you've experienced
in your entire life. And that as your joy is
full, it would overflow abundantly to those around
you. But let him set you free. That's what he
wants to do. And you can be if you just let him
do it. Amen? God bless you guys.