Genesis 45:1-7, Genesis 45:15, Psalm 133:1-3, Philippians 1:3-11, Matthew 18:21-35.
A). JOSEPH REVEALS HIS IDENTITY.
Genesis 45:1-7, Genesis 45:15.
The Old Testament Joseph is very much a Type of Christ. Favoured by his father (cf. Genesis 37:3), Joseph was sold by his brethren for twenty pieces of silver (cf. Genesis 37:28). Favoured by His Father (cf. Luke 3:22), Jesus ‘came unto His own, and His own (people) received Him not’ (cf. John 1:11), and He was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (cf. Matthew 26:15).
Joseph went from his father’s favour, to the pit, and into slavery. In Potiphar’s house, he went from his master’s favour to false accusation to prison. In prison, Joseph went from the warder’s favour, to the forgetfulness of his surviving former cell-mate: but at last the LORD intervened, and Joseph was raised from prison to the position of Prime Minister of the land!
In the passage before us, we see Joseph’s brethren on their second visit to Egypt. They were totally unaware that the powerful man who had been toying with them, seemingly seeking occasion against them, was their despised brother of so long ago. Neither were they aware that he understood every word they were saying.
For Joseph, it finally became too much, and he tearfully revealed his identity to his brethren (GENESIS 45:1-2). “I am Joseph!” he declared. And, following that revelation, the first item on the agenda: “Does my father still live?” (GENESIS 45:3). To which the reply was gobsmacked silence!
The powerful man in Egyptian regalia again spoke to his brothers: “Please come near to me” (which they did). “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt” (GENESIS 45:4). [I see a similarity here to the words of our Lord to Saul of Tarsus: ‘I AM Jesus, whom you are persecuting’ (Acts 9:5).]
Is Joseph now beginning to accuse them, after all these years? No, he encourages them not to be angry with themselves, and three times informs them that “God sent me” here “to preserve life” (GENESIS 45:5); “to preserve a posterity for you… and to save your lives by a great deliverance” (GENESIS 45:7); and ‘it was not you that sent me here, but God’ (cf. Genesis 45:8).
Jesus said, in effect: ‘Love your haters, do good to those hostile to you’ (cf. Luke 6:27). It is the kind of Love which God demonstrated when He gave His only begotten Son (cf. John 3:16), loving US even while we were yet sinners (cf. Romans 5:8). Jesus also said, ‘Be merciful, as your Father also is merciful’ (cf. Luke 6:36).
This seems to be what Joseph accomplished here. Joseph “kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers talked with him” (GENESIS 45:15).
The whole Joseph cycle shows us the outworking of God’s providence in the life of His servant. Years later, Joseph would reiterate: ‘you meant evil against me: but God meant it for good’ - not only for His own family, but also in sparing ‘much people alive’ (cf. Genesis 50:20). All things DO work together for good for those who love the Lord (cf. Romans 8:28).
B). THE DEW OF HERMON.
Psalm 133:1-3.
I like the Scottish Metrical version of this Psalm:
“Behold, how good a thing it is,
and how becoming well,
Together such as brethren are
in unity to dwell!”
A good one to sing, perhaps, as we break bread together.
“Behold” calls us to look carefully, to look intensely. In the Greek of the New Testament, we are told that John ‘saw’ the grave clothes lying on Resurrection morning; but Peter ‘looked intently upon’ them (John 20:5-6). Or we could say, Peter ‘beheld’ them.
So, in our Psalm, what are we to look upon with such intensity? We are to look upon, to consider, “how good and pleasant a thing it is” for “brothers” (and sisters) to dwell together in unity. This applies on every level of life.
First, it applies on the level of kinship. It is more than just ‘nice’ if we can get on with our siblings. However, we are more familiar with negative examples: like Cain’s murderous, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ (Genesis 4:9); or the supplicant before Jesus who complained that his brother had not divided the inheritance with him (Luke 12:13).
In the Bible, Jonathan and David were only brothers-in-law, but their souls were ‘knit’ together in a mutual, covenantal, love (1 Samuel 18:1; 1 Samuel 18:3).
Second, it applies on the level of community. As the bombs fell on London in the early 1940s, many were the acts of sheer human kindness between people in the same plight as one another. Similarly, in the times of distress caused by natural disasters elsewhere in the world.
Third, it is good and pleasant when nations and peoples can learn to get along with one another. But how can they, outside of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ? While any of us tolerate evil, none of us will ever get on!
And of course, fourthly, Christian people. Those who are born again are called upon to ‘bear one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’ (Ephesians 4:2-3). After all, we have but one God and Father, and one Lord (Jesus), and are all members of the same covenant family (Ephesians 4:5-6).
Our unity is found in our very diversity. We do not lose our individuality but live to serve one another. Like the voluntary sharing of the early church (Acts 2:45).
Now, how lovely is this?
“Like precious ointment on the head,
that down the beard did flow,
Even Aaron’s beard, and to the skirts,
did of his garments go.”
The reference is evidently to the anointing of Aaron as high priest. It sounds messy, but it is the aroma of unity. We have a much greater high priest, and our unity in Him is a matter of fact, not of boring uniformity.
Think of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with costly oil, and how the fragrance filled the whole house (John 12:3). Jesus associated this act with His burial (John 12:7). And without His death and resurrection, there are no grounds for unity.
Then we have another illustration:
“As Hermon’s dew, the dew that doth
on Sion’s hill descend:
For there the blessing God commands,
life that shall never end.”
From Mount Zion, Mount Hermon is far to the north, on the border with Lebanon. So how does the dew of Hermon water Zion? Well, it is not meteorologically impossible, and has been known - although it is rare - for dew from Hermon to bring refreshment to Mount Zion during the arid summer.
But what a picture of unity! The melting snows of Lebanon watering Zion, even as Zion has sent the Gospel out to the wider world (including Lebanon). Or Paul’s churches elsewhere feeding the needy poor in Jerusalem (Romans 15:26).
Christians here, and Christians there, all one in Christ Jesus!
‘We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren’ (1 John 3:14).
And we should ‘pray for the peace of Jerusalem’, from whence our blessings came (Psalm 122:6).
C). GROWING TOWARDS THE DAY.
Philippians 1:3-11.
Paul had fond memories of the church which he had planted in Philippi, and each time they came to mind he thanked God for them (Philippians 1:3). The Apostle’s prayers for them were persistent - “always… every… all” - yet ever joyful (Philippians 1:4). Just as he and Silas had sung praises and prayed in prison after the founding of the church in Philippi (Acts 16:25), so Paul continued to rejoice in the Lord and pray for them in the midst of further adverse circumstances: - he was back in prison again when this letter was written.
The Apostle was thankful for their partnership in the spreading of the gospel, which had continued “from the first day until now” (Philippians 1:5). In Thessalonica they had sent “once and again” for his needs (Philippians 4:16). Now their kindness towards him was beginning to flourish once more (Philippians 4:10).
The Apostle expressed his confidence that, “He who has begun a good work in you will continue working at it, and will be bringing it to completion until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). The sure ground of our hope is not based on our own ability to persevere, but in the Lord’s ability to accomplish His own purposes in our lives. It is the Lord’s work, not ours: so we can be sure, as we hasten towards the Day, that it will not be left unfinished.
This does not mean that we sit around doing nothing. What God is working IN our lives, we must work OUT (Philippians 2:12-13). The reality of our faith is manifested in the works that follow (Ephesians 2:10).
Paul grounds some of this confidence in the love which he has for the Philippians (Philippians 1:7). It is also evident in their love for him, and in their identification with his bonds in the cause of the gospel. Their quickness to defend the gospel against the gainsayers - and to affirm it to those who had an ear to hear - was a manifestation of the grace upon which all our works are based.
Paul’s love extended to a yearning for them all, like a parent missing his children (Philippians 1:8). The Apostle prayed for their love to grow (Philippians 1:9). Love is the seed which Paul desired to see “abound more and more” in their lives, “in knowledge and discernment.”
To become a Christian is to enter into the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). Christian growth is attested by an increase in our knowledge of the things of God (Colossians 1:10). The attainment of a fullness of knowledge is also the goal (Ephesians 4:13).
Discernment is right thinking in relation to that knowledge: a correct reaction and subsequent action. Paul prayed that they would “approve what is excellent” (Philippians 1:10). This is an approval which we are to put into practice in our lives: embracing things which are not only different, but of a superior quality.
The LORD has said, “Walk before me, and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). We might realistically strive in our inner life to be pure, even as He is pure (1 John 3:2-3), and may live our outer lives blamelessly before men, giving no offence except the offence of the Cross (Galatians 5:11). Thereby we grow towards the day of Christ, with a view to His coming.
The evidence that we are rooted in Jesus is that we will “bring forth fruit” (John 15:16). Paul prays that the Philippians - and all of us - will be “filled with the fruits of righteousness” (Philippians 1:11). This can only occur when we have a working relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the harvest towards which we aim as we grow in love towards the Lord. But it is God who gives the increase (cf. Mark 4:26-29). In the final analysis, our salvation - from beginning to end, and throughout - is “to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:11).
D). A CALL TO UNLIMITED FORGIVENESS.
Matthew 18:21-35.
Peter’s question, “How many times shall I forgive my brother?” (MATTHEW 18:21) arises out of the context of church discipline (cf. Matthew 18:15-20).
Perhaps the original grievance was resolved, between one brother and another. The brother was ‘regained’ (cf. Matthew 18:15): but what if he offends again?
How many times, then, shall I forgive him? The rabbis recommended three times. Peter’s magnanimity stretched to seven times.
So it must have come as a surprise when Jesus replied, “seventy times seven” (MATTHEW 18:22). In other words, unto infinity!
# Christian forgiveness thus stands in stark contrast to the spirit of primitive man, who presumptuously demanded unlimited vengeance (cf. Genesis 4:24).
Jesus illustrated this with a powerful parable (MATTHEW 18:23-35).
MATTHEW 18:24. A servant owed his king an unimaginable amount of money - perhaps equivalent to the gross national product of a small state.
MATTHEW 18:25. Needless to say, the man could not pay. So the servant was subjected to the extremes of the law of the time: he would be sold, along with his wife and children.
MATTHEW 18:26. The servant accepted the justice of this, but pleaded for patience.
MATTHEW 18:27. The lord’s compassion went one step further, and granted undeserved forgiveness.
MATTHEW 18:28-30. Yet the forgiven debtor laid hands on a fellow-servant who owed him a comparatively small amount, and sought to exact the debt by violence and cruelty.
MATTHEW 18:31. The other servants rightly reported the matter to their lord, and the cruel offender was brought to account.
MATTHEW 18:32-35. There is nothing that so grieves the Holy Spirit as an unforgiving spirit amongst Christians (cf. Ephesians 4:30-32).
I bring torment upon myself if I have an unforgiving heart. I am not hurting the brother, but myself. Heaven’s door is shut upon my bitterness, until I repent.
I reap blessing for myself if I nurture the determination to forgive the repentant brother. How many times has God forgiven me? Then I must forgive the other to the uttermost.
We pray, ‘forgive us… as we forgive others’ (cf. Matthew 6:12). If I am unforgiving towards others, then these very words disqualify me from forgiveness.
There is perhaps no greater evidence of my having received God’s forgiveness than my own forgiving attitude towards others (cf. Matthew 6:14-15).
