WHEN LIFE IS THE PITS: GUILTY CONSCIENCE
A. In our study of the Life of Joseph,
1. We have been looking at various PITS that Joseph has endured, and today we will see how he deals with his brothers “GUILTY CONSCIENCE”.
2. Joseph’s DREAMS of being a RULER have now come to pass after 13-years, and God has BLESSED
him ABUNDANTLY.
a. After interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, the King of Egypt not only puts Joseph as second in charge of all of Egypt but he gives him a new name: “Zaphenath-Paneah” (Genesis 41:45)- “the God who
speaks and lives.”
COMMNET:
Although Pharaoh may not fully understand whose Joseph’s God is, he KNOWS that He SPEAKS to Joseph, and he wants to RECOGNIZE that while, in turn, give him a more ACCEPTABLE Egyptian name.
b. Pharaoh also sanctioned Joseph to MARRY the DAUGHTER of the PRIEST of ON, “Azenath”.
3. “He and his wife have two sons, both born before the seven-years of famine began”- Gen. 41:50ff.
COMMENT:
Although Joseph was given and Egyptian name by Pharaoh, the NAMES that he chose for his SONS were HEBREW NAMES that give us a GLIMPSE into the HEART, MIND and SOUL of Joseph as he had to GRAPPLE with all the HURT and BETRAYAL and PHYSICAL DURESS he endured for over 13-years.
a. He gave his OLDER SON the name “Manasseh”, which means “FORGETFULNESS”. (God made Joseph to FORGET all the PAIN and INJUSTICES he had gone through.)
COMMENT:
Joseph had been SPOILED by his FATHER, REJECTED by his BROTHERS, then ATTACKED and SOLD into SLAVERY by them. He had been THROWN in PRISON for HONORING God, and the ONE he had helped FORGOT him. Despite years of this kind of TREATMENT, Joseph could say, “I choose to forget it all.”
b. He then gave his YOUNGER SON the name “Ephraim”, which means “FRUITFULNESS”. (He gave him this name because God has made him FRUITFUL in a FOREIGN LAND.)
COMMENT:
He was RAISED from the PIT to a PALACE, and was made to be a POWERFUL RULER next only to Pharaoh. Through all the PAIN and HEARTACHE that Joseph endured, God had never FORSAKEN him but was with him EVERY STEP of the way.
B. During the Seven-years of Abundance, Joseph put his PLAN to work by STORING UP 20% of all the
GRAIN that was HARVESTED in the land of Egypt during those years.
1. “When the FAMINE came, Joseph opened the STOREHOUSES and began selling the GRAIN not only to the Egyptians, but to people from other COUNTRIES who were also affected by the severe FAMINE”- Genesis 41:56-57.
2. Remember, the Seven-years of Abundance followed by Seven-years of Famine is God’s PLAN unfolding to SAVE and PROTECT the DESCENDANTS of Abraham who will become the Nation of Israel through whom His Son Jesus Christ, the SAVIOR OF THE WORLD, will be BORN.
MESSAGE:
I. HOW JOSEPH DEALS WITH THE GUILTY CONSCIENCE OF HIS BROTHERS
A. The FAMINE brings Joseph’s BROTHERS to Egypt- Genesis 42:1-5 (READ)
1. The severe FAMINE that plagued Egypt also adversely impacted the Land of Canaan where Jacob
and his SONS and their families lived, which was about 300 miles away.
a. They can’t GROW any CROPS to FEED themselves, much less their LIVESTOCK.
b. So, their LIVESTOCK is DYING and they are running out of GRAIN to FEED their FAMILIES.
2. Jacob heard WORD that Egypt had PLENTY of GRAIN that they were SELLING, and I’m sure
that his SONS were AWARE as well.
a. But when he decides to SEND his sons to Egypt to BUY grain, their GUILTY CONSCIENCE
begins to RESURFACE.
COMMENT:
The very mention of Egypt caused the BROTHERS to get this dreadful look on their FACES. Their FATHER asked, “Why do you just keep looking at each other? Why do you look so STRANGE? I mention Egypt, and you guys act so WEIRD!”
b. The word “EGYPT” brought up all the MEMORIES and the GUILT that they had tried to FORGET over the last 20 years—how they had SOLD their little brother into SLAVERY to MERCHANTS who were HEADED to Egypt.
3. So, Jacob sends his older SONS to Egypt to BUY some GRAIN, but he would not allow his
youngest son Benjamin to go for FEAR that he might be HARMED.
COMMENT:
Benjamin is Joseph’s full-brother born to Rachael, the only WIFE that Jacob really LOVED. I’m sure that after LOSING Joseph, Jacob didn’t want to take any chances that he might LOSE Benjamin as well.
4. “After arriving in Egypt, the brothers had to go before the GOVERNOR of Egypt, which just
so happens to be Joseph, and BOW DOWN to him with their faces to the ground” - v. 6.
COMMENT:
The BROTHERS have had this terrible SECRET that has created a GNAWING GUILT for
over 20 years. They never TALKED about it, but it has never LEFT them. This EGYPT TRIP has brought their SINS that they had committed against Joseph back to the FOREFRONT.
What these brothers NEEDED, even more than the GRAIN, was to be SET FREE from the POWER that this SECRET and this GUILT had over their LIFE. And God is going to use JOSEPH to DO IT.
B. How does Joseph deal with his brother’s GUILTY CONSCIENCE?
1. He CONFRONTS them HARSHLY- vv. 7-14 (READ)
a. Joseph is seeing his DREAMS that he had over two-decades before being FULFILLED.
COMMENT:
The brothers are BOWING DOWN before Joseph not KNOWING who he is. Joseph was only a spoiled 17-year-old kid when they saw him last, and now they see a 37 or 38-year-old Egyptian Ruler before them.
Although Joseph is no longer wearing the ORNAMENTAL ROBE that his BROTHERS had RIPPED from him before throwing him into a PIT, he is dressed in the VESTMENTS of a King: “a ROBE of fine linen, a gold chain around his neck, and a signet ring of the King on his finger”- Genesis 41:42.
b. Now, there are different ways that Joseph could have DEALT with his BROTHERS:
(1). He could have demanded RETRIBUTION. (“Throw them into a pit. Sell them into slavery. Take them from their families.”)
(2). He could have sent them back home EMPTY HANDED. (“You are not going to get a single ounce of GRAIN from me. Go home and FEND for yourselves.”)
(3). He could have HELPED them out, but completely SEVER their RELATIONSHIP. (“I’m going to give you the GRAIN, but I don’t want to ever see you again. Get out of here!”)
(4). Or he could have REVEALED himself and just let BYGONES be BYGONES. (“Hey, guys! It’s me, your brother Joseph. I’m so glad to see you guys—Simeon, Reuben,
Levi, Judah…” Welcome to my new HOME.”) Wouldn’t that have saved us six chapters in Genesis?
c. Instead of doing any of that, Joseph is beginning a RECONCILIATION PROCESS with his BROTHERS that at first is going to be PAINFUL, but in the END will bring REPENTANCE
and FORGIVENESS and JOY.
(1). “Joseph ACCUSES his brothers of being SPIES, but they insist that they are not—they
are just there to buy GRAIN for their FAMILIES”- vv. 9ff.
COMMENT:
Please UNDERSTAND that Joseph’s HARSH CONFRONTATION with his BROTHERS is not because he wants to TORTURE them. This has nothing to do with REVENGE, but everything to do with RECONCILIATION.
(2). God is working through Joseph to help his BROTHERS to finally ACKNOWLEDGE the SINS they have COMMITTED against their BROTHER, and to begin HEALING their RELATIONSHIP.
2. Joseph puts his BROTHERS through a TEST- vv. 15-20 (READ)
a. Obviously Joseph wants to see his brother Benjamin. They were much younger than their other
BROTHERS, and were RAISED together and, no doubt, had a CLOSE RELATIONSHIP.
COMMENT:
To ensure that he will get to see Benjamin, Joseph tells his brothers that he will put nine of them in PRISON and send only one back to Canaan to get their little brother and come back.
b. “But after putting his brothers in PRISON for three days, Joseph amended his previous order by allowing nine of the men to go back and care for their STARVING families, and then return
with their younger brother”- vv. 18-20.
C. Undoubtedly, the THREE DAYS in PRISON gave the BROTHERS time to do some PERSONAL
REFLECTION.
1. They are beginning to LOOK DEEP within themselves, and they DON’T LIKE what they SEE.
a. This HELPLESS and HARROWING situation in which the BROTHERS find themselves has stirred up a MEMORY of the DAY they SOLD Joseph into SLAVERY that they’ve been trying
to FORGET, but their GUILT won’t let them- v. 21 (READ and COMMENT).
b. Then Reuben, the brother who tried to RESCUE Joseph from the PIT but was too late, said to his brothers: “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we
must give an account for his blood”- v. 22.
2. Now, Joseph had been speaking Egyptian to his brothers using an INTERPRETER to RELAY his
WORDS in Hebrew. They don’t realize that he UNDERSTOOD every word they said to each other.
a. Being MOVED by their CONVERSATION about how they MISTREATED him, “Joseph
turned away from them and began to weep”- v. 24a.
COMMENT:
Not only are the brothers disturbed by the MEMORY of what they had done to their kid brother, so is Joseph. And he STEPS AWAY out of the sight of his brothers, and WEEPS.
b. “But then he RETURNS and has Simeon BOUND before their EYES”- v. 24b.
COMMENT:
Joseph gives orders to FILL their BAGS with GRAIN, and then secretly returns their SILVER that they had used to BUY the GRAIN. He then sends them on their way with the ORDER that they RETURN with their younger brother Benjamin, or else their brother Simeon will DIE.
3. As they travel back home to Canaan, they discover the silver in their bags- vv. 27-28 (READ)
COMMENT:
When they asked the question, “What is this that God has done to us?” They are now BEGINNING to see that God may very well be at WORK here. God is using Joseph to bring about REPENTANCE, FORGIVENESS, and RECONCILIATION . . . as PAINFUL as that might be.
II. HOW TO DEAL WITH OUR GUILT
A. We are GUILTY people.
1. We all commit SIN with our WORDS, ACTIONS and ATTITUDE that fall short of God’s IDEAL.
COMMENT:
Most of the time we CONFESS our SINS and seek God’s FORGIVENESS. But there may be a SIN(s) in our LIFE that we committed 20, 30, 40 years ago that we have yet to truly TURN OVER to God, because we don’t even want to THINK about it, and the GUILT gnaws at us.
2. King David, the man after God’s own heart, knew the MAGNITUDE of GUILT and the need for
God’s GRACE.
a. What does he do? He commits ADULTERY, then LIES about it, and then trying to
COVER-UP his SIN, he has a man KILLED.
b. David was eaten-up with GUILT, until one day after being “HARSHLY CONFRONTED by the Prophet Nathan” (2 Samuel 12), he finally turned his SIN and GUILT over to God-
Psalm 32:1-5 (READ).
B. What we learn from David’s Psalm to RELEASE us from our GUILTY CONSCIENCE?
1. We must ADMIT our GUILT. David- “I acknowledged my sin to God”- v. 5.
a. We can never be SET FREE from GUILT, if we refuse to ACKNOWLEDGE the SINS that
we have COMMITTED.
COMMENT:
Renowned pastor and author Gordan MacDonald in his book Rebuilding Your Broken World, which he wrote after his world fell apart as a result of committing ADULTERY, writes: “We cannot expect to live healthily in the future when the baggage of our past keeps banging away at the trap door of our minds demanding attention.”
b. David’s life had FALLEN APART because of the SINS that he had COMMITTED and REFUSED to ACKNOWLEDGE, even to himself.
2. We must CONFRONT our GUILT. David- “I did not cover up my iniquity”- v. 5.
a. David finally STOPPED trying to HIDE his SIN.
COMMENT:
During the months that David kept “silent” about his sins, he writes, “my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me”- vv. 3-4.
Because of his refusal to ACKNOWLEDGE and CONFRONT his SINS, David was living a MISERABLE EXISTENCE both PHYSICALLY and SPIRITUALLY without any RELIEF.
b. The refusal to truly CONFRONT our SINS can affect us in may ways: DEPRESSION, SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, PHYSICAL ILLNESS, PROBLEMS on the JOB, at HOME, and at CHURCH—it can SAP the VITALITY right out of you.
3. We must CONFESS our GUILT. David- “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”- v. 5.
a. David finally CONFESSED to God and brought his SINS before Him.
COMMENT:
It wasn’t until the prophet Nathan CONFRONTED David with a REVEALING STORY that he CONFESSED his GUILT and said, “I have SINNED against the Lord”- 2 Samuel 12:13.
For almost a year David had been LIVING in MISERY because he kept SILENT about his SIN. And it wasn’t until he CONFESSED it saying, “Lord, I have sinned against you,” that the BURDEN of his GUILT was lifted. The ACHES of his BODY left him. His CRIES turned to
JOY.
b. Do you remember a time when you got CAUGHT UP in SIN and you kept SILENT for a while,
but then you finally CONFESSED it?
COMMENT:
How did you FEEL? Did you feel RENEWED? Did you feel this ENORMOUS WEIGHT lifted off of your SHOULDER! Did you CRY? Did you LAUGH? Did you FALL on your KNEES and say, “Thank you . . . thank you God for FORGIVING ME?”
4. We must FORGET our GUILT. David- “You forgave the guilt of my sin”- v. 5.
a. Now, obviously, we will NEVER truly FORGET certain SINS in our LIVES, but let’s not
DWELL on them and FRET over them, because have been FORGIVEN.
b. David- “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sins the Lord does not count against him…”- vv. 1-2a.
COMMENT:
Confronting his sin David said, “I did not cover up my iniquity”- v.5a. But did you notice that after David CONFESSED his SIN that God turned right around and “COVERED IT UP.”
Never again will his sin of ADULTERY, DECEIT and MURDER be held against him. God keeps His PROMISE when He said, “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember them no more”- Hebrews 8:12.
c. Brothers and Sisters, if you have ACKNOWLEDGED your sins, CONFRONTED them, and CONFESSED them to God, then please LET GO of the GUILT and QUIT DWELLING on the SINFUL things you have SAID or DONE, and REVEL in the FORGIVENESS of God.
CONCLUSION:
ARE YOU STILL HANGING ON TO GUILT?
