The Power Of Forgiveness Series

“THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS” Gen. 50:15-26

FBCF – 6/25/23

Jon Daniels

INTRO – Every person here has at one time or another, found themselves in a situation in which you need to be forgiven by someone, & every person here has found themselves in a situation in which you need to forgive someone. It’s a universal experience.

- Could be an experience w/ a family member

- …a friend

- …a business associate

- …a fellow church member

- …even a total stranger

It can be difficult to grant forgiveness at times for lots of different reasons. Our emotions run high. Our feelings get hurt. Our circumstances have been altered. Our motives are questioned. Our family members are impacted. Our deep-seated pain & anger at those who have hurt us.

And yet, when it is truly & genuinely granted, it is a powerful thing that speaks volumes about the love of God & His power to change hearts & lives.

One powerful picture of someone granting forgiveness came in a LA courtroom way back in 1992. Some of you will remember this. In 1991, a black man named Rodney King was beaten by some LA police officers during a traffic stop. The incident was caught on amateur video (days before cell phones). When the officers were acquitted of any criminal charges, LA erupted into several days of rioting during which 53 people were killed. During the riots, a white truck driver, Reginald Denny, was savagely beaten by four young black men & barely survived. His skull was fractured in 91 places when one man smashed it w/ a concrete block, resulting in years of surgeries & rehab. His assailants were caught, tried, & acquitted of most charges. Yet, @ the end of the trial Denny went over to Georgina Williams, the mother of one of the men, & hugged her. Other family members of the other young men began to hug him as they all offered word of peace & reconciliation. After this unbelievable gesture of forgiveness, a reporter commenting on the scene wrote, “It is said that Mr. Denny is suffering from brain damage.”

For some people, the only logical explanation for granting that kind of forgiveness is that the person must be suffering from brain damage. If that’s the case, then Jesus must have suffered from brain damage b/c He taught us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Then He drove the point home even deeper when He said in Matthew 6:14-15, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

- Paul wrote in Colossians 3:13 – “Put up w/ each other, & forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you.” (CEV)

We conclude our series on Joseph’s life – “From the Pit to the Palace” – w/ a powerful display of forgiveness.

EXPLANATION – Genesis 50:15-26 (p. 44)

These verses are at the end of Joseph’s life (notice the next 5 verses – his death). Let me back up & fill in a few gaps in this story.

Remember Joseph’s dreams of his brothers & parents coming & bowing down to him? Remember Pharaoh’s dreams of the 7 fat cows & the 7 skinny cows, & 7 ears of healthy grain & 7 ears of shriveled up blighted grain? All of those dreams came to fruition.

- First, Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream was that Egypt would have 7 years of bountiful harvest followed by 7 years of famine. That’s exactly what happened. B/c of Joseph’s wisdom & character, Pharaoh appointed him governor over all the land, in charge of all the grain production, storage, & distribution.

- When the famine began, Joseph’s brothers went to Egypt to buy grain. It had been years since they had thrown their 17 yr-old brother into a pit, then sold him into slavery. They had no idea what had happened to him, & certainly never dreamed that he was in this position of authority in Egypt. Joseph’s dream of them bowing down to him was realized. Genesis 42:6 – “Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came & bowed themselves before him w/ their faces to the ground.” Verse 8 – “And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.”

- Over the course of time, Joseph provided food for his family w/out them knowing his identity until he could finally no longer hold it in. Told them who he was & there was an amazing reunion & restoration – Genesis 45:1-5.

Remember that all of these things happened b/c the Lord was w/ Joseph every step of the way. And b/c the Lord was w/ Joseph, he was able to completely forgive his brothers for all they had done to him.