When Emotions Stifle Our Conscience Series

When emotions stifle our conscience

In Genesis 42:21, we read, “Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” (ESV)

These are the words of the brothers of Joseph as they stood before him, unaware that the Governor of Egypt before whom they stood, was their own brother Joseph whom they mercilessly threw in a pit, and later sold as a slave to some merchants. They attributed the predicament they were in, to the hardness of their hearts when they ignored their brother Joseph’s plea, when he begged them in his distress and pleaded with them to have mercy on him.

When jealousy overpowers our conscience

In Genesis 42:9-12, we read, “And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.”(WBT)

For a background to this story, Joseph was sold by his brothers as a slave, but the Lord intervened and raised Joseph to become a ruler, next in command to Pharaoh, King of Egypt. The severe famine in Israel had forced the brothers of Joseph to go to Egypt to buy food for their families. The Lord was with Joseph and has raised him up to be the Governor in Egypt, but his brothers were unable to recognize him. When Joseph accused them of being spies, who had come to survey the land of Egypt, the brothers of Joseph felt compelled to give Joseph a background to their family. They mentioned that they were twelve sons of the same father, and that one of the son’s was lost, and the youngest was back home with their Dad.

When Joseph refused to believe their explanation, his brothers begged him to have pity on them, but he turned a deaf ear and threw them in prison for three days. Joseph later released them on the condition that they bring back their younger brother, when they come back for more food. As Joseph’s brothers stood before Joseph with fear and dread of what would happen to them, they recalled a similar situation many years ago, when they had ruthlessly sold their brother Joseph into slavery, and had completely ignored his cries for mercy. They perceived that the reason for their predicament was because of what they connived and did most heartlessly to their brother, not giving heed to his intense cries for help. Even though their conscience bothered them as they sold their brother, the brothers of Joseph were so overwhelmed with the feelings of jealousy, that their conscience got dulled in the process. Their jealousy was so extreme that they stilled the voice of their conscience, and sold their own brother for money, as a slave to strangers.

The reasons Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him was that their father favored him. Joseph was also a young man of integrity, who would not tolerate any indiscipline from his elder brothers and would report them to his father. The Lord gave Joseph dreams about his glorious future, which Joseph shared with his brothers, all of which made his brothers even more envious of Joseph. Joseph however, lived with the awareness that the Lord was with him and watching over him.

As we have looked at in the previous chapters, our conscience is God’s precious gift to us, that cautions us before we do wrong, convicts us when the deed is being done and worries us with guilt when we are done with wrong doing. When we like Joseph, are rejected by our family or society, we can be sure that the Lord is working out something amazing in our lives. The very people who despise us will one day come to us, to seek our favor and therefore there is no need to despair.

Many people are struggling with these intense emotions of jealousy. Notice how jealousy arises in our hearts only when we compare ourselves with others, their looks, their position, possessions etc. Most often our comparisons are only with those who are doing better than us, never with those who have much less than us. If we don’t train ourselves to be content with what we have, we will be overpowered by jealousy. When feelings of jealousy, overtake us, we will find the voice of our conscience will be stifled and sometimes stilled within us, thereby prompting us to do things that are contrary to God’s will and plans.

Joseph’s brothers stood where he stood once