Past sins

At Bible Study tonight we were in Genesis 44, the story of Joseph and a trap he laid for his brothers. There are a lot of things to learn from that story (and a couple things I have questions about) but this verse struck me tonight. Judah is answering on behalf of his brothers when Joseph tells them they are free to go if Benjamin becomes his slave as the penalty for having stolen a cup. And Judah replies:

'We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother's sons left, and his father loves him.' (verse 20, emphasis mine)

Here's the thing - in today's terms this was a pretty dysfunctional family. Four mothers, twelve brothers, one father and all the rivalry you could imagine tossed in at both the parental and the sibling level. One of the ramifications of this tension was that one day, in a white hot rage, the brothers sold Joseph as a slave.

I cannot imagine that they thought Joseph would have survived the trip with the men that bought him, or even if he did, that he would have survived for twenty years in slavery. That day, they didn't care. Slaves were a commodity, and were not likely to get the best food, the best treatment, the best chances at living to a ripe age. And so to their minds, after twenty years, Joseph was dead. Period.

They watched their father grieve, watched him turn to Joseph's brother to be the favored son, watched how protective he was of Benjamin and eventually had to argue for their very survival against the strength of that one relationship. For twenty years, they had lived with their choice from that desert day. It would seem that they never shared that secret with their parents, but by the time they stood before Joseph, they'd been carrying that guilt for a long time. And they've run out of excuses,

"What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants' guilt." (verse 16b)

In fact, while Judah still doesn't tell the truth of what happened to Joseph, he made this double-edged promise to his father (and reports it to Joseph),

"'If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!'" (verse 32b)

Do you see the irony? Judah had already been bearing the blame for the loss of a brother. He had no idea that there may be no need for that burden of guilt. He was convinced that his brother, Joseph, was dead, and there would be no way to be rid of the guilt.

Until Joseph revealed himself to them.

Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still living?" But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

"So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God." (Genesis 45:3-8a)

So let me ask you - is there guilt you've carried because you assume there's just no option? Choices you've made, people you've wronged and it's simply not humanly impossible to make it right? You've committed the crime, now you'll just have to do the time?

Let me assure you that Jesus is waiting to reveal himself to you. And when he does, you will find that he can take that mess and take the guilt and take the past and redeem it. Judah and his brothers couldn't undo what they'd done when they sold Joseph but they could accept Joseph's forgiveness and the hope he offered them.

And you have the same choice. You can't change the past, but you can let God use it to change the future. Turn it over to Him and let Him "use it for good."