Posted by
aurorawatcher on Sunday, August 30, 2009 5:41:51 PM
When my daughter was a little girl, she went through a period of thievery. She was only about three or four at the time. First, she stole a fascinating item from the store. I, of course, found it in her little purse when I got her home and made her return it, pay for the item with some money her grandmother had sent her and apologize to the manager of the store. I remember her plaintive little voice as she stood before the man -- "Mommy says I have to be sorry that I took this." Not exactly full repentence, but at that stage of life, she was still learning right from wrong. When she stole again a couple of months later, I made her return the coveted item to my friend and she said "It was just so pretty and I wanted it. I'm sorry I made you mad by taking it."
I began to wonder if I might ever be able to teach her right and wrong, but about six months later, she announced that she wasn't going to steal anymore because Jesus didn't want her to. We later realized that she accepted the Lord around that same time (a Vacation Bible School in which her teachers were legendary retired missionaries to the Arctic), but at the time we recognize and rejoiced at the repentence without realizing the full import of her change of outlook.
Similarly, Joseph's brothers dwelt in Egypt for a year or more before he revealed his identity to them. Some scholars are quite disturbed that it took so long and tend to focus on what in Joseph's character was missing. I think they look in the wrong place. There was no evidence of genuine repentence in his brothers until Genesis 44. Joseph's brothers recognized the hand of God in their trials during their first journey to Egypt (42:21-22,28), but there response was more regret than repentance. When Judah and the others geniunely repented in Genesis 44, Joseph finally disclosed his identity and turned their sorrow into joy.
Repentance is an indispensable part of the gospel of Jesus Christ that is seldom discussed and frequently misunderstood, yet our Lord's last words to His disciples spoke of its necessity (Luke 24:46-47). As we approach this final test of Joseph's brothers, we should think long and hard on the matter of repentance and its role in our Christian lives.
"He instructed the servant who was over his household, "Fill the sacks of the men with as much food as they can carry and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack. Then put my cup – the silver cup – in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the money for his grain." He did as Joseph instructed.
When morning came, the men and their donkeys were sent off. They had not gone very far from the city when Joseph said to the servant who was over his household, "Pursue the men at once! When you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil? Doesn’t my master drink from this cup and use it for divination? You have done wrong!’" Genesis 44:1-5
On the first journey to Egypt, Joseph had secreted money in the sacks of grain. The brothers had returned it on the second journey. This time, along with the money, Joseph had the steward place the silver cup belonging to Joseph in Benjamin's saddle bags, thus setting the scene for the final test of his brothers.
Not far outside the city, Jacob's sons were stopped by Joseph's steward, who charged Benjamin with theft. The brothers weren't overly concerned over this accusation because they knew they had returned the first amount of money and, so felt confident in pronouncing their own sentence should this act of thievery be discovered. "Let the thief be put to death and the others become slaves." Slavery was what these men had most feared, yet they were willing to risk it because they were certain of their innocence. Fortunately, the steward -- perhaps aware of Joseph's plans -- modified the sentence to slavery for the one found with the cup while the others would go free.
Imagine what each of them experienced as they lowered the sacks to the ground and found coins therein. Oh, my! Their hearts must have been in their throats. Their basis for righteous indignation was gone. The steward apparently ignored the money, seeking the cup.
Now commensed the true test of Joseph's brothers. They were free to walk out of there, absolved of all crime. Only Benjamin faced a penalty and, for all they truly knew, he was guilty of stealing the cup. Yet, so contrary to the way they had acted 20-odd years ago, the brothers all rent their clothes as a sign of grief and mourning and returned to Joseph's house. They did not renounce Benjamin as a thief and desert him. These were not the same men who had sold Joseph into slavery at Dothan.
In a way, Benjamin had taken Joseph's place in the family -- the favored son Jacob could not bear to lose. Before, they had resented Joseph and gotten rid of him when Jacob wasn't looking; now they were faced with a similar situation with Benjamin. They could return to Jacob and break his heart once more with the news of Benjamin's self-imposed slavery, or they could act in a more honorable matter. The moment of truth loomed over them!
On their first visit, the brothers had been awe-struck by the severity of this Egyptian official. They knew he was a man to be feared. On this second visit, they gained an appreciation of the generosity and kindness of the governor. The meal and generous provisions were intended to assure them of Joseph's kindness. Perhaps this explains why they returned en masse to appeal to Joseph on behalf of their brother. Joseph, playing his role to the hilt, insisted that he was not deceived, that he knew all. Judah, acting as leader, admitted that they had no defense. He didn't seek to give an explanation for the cup nor did he accept guilt in the matter. He confessed that the origin of this disaster was their sin against their God. They weren't in trouble for stealing Joseph's cup so much as they were paying for past sins. He commended them all over to slavery, if that was what Joseph wanted.
Joseph would not hear of this. Why should all suffer for the sin of one? He wanted to set matters right in the theft of his cup. He didn't care about their past sins. No, all of them should go home, except Benjamin, who would remain as Joseph's slave in payment for his crime.
Judah had offered himself as surety for Benjamin's safe return, so it was in his best interest to convince Joseph to act in mercy. Rather than keep secrets, as Jacob had counseled, Judah opted for honesty. It seems as though he approached Joseph in private. He reminded Joseph that he had taken an interest in Judah's family. He explained the family dynamic to Joseph, reminded him that they had been reluctant to bring Benjamin to Egypt because of Jacob's attachment to him. Judah explained that he could not return to Canaan without Benjamin; to do so would be to risk the untimely death of his father. Judah was willing to remain behind as Joseph's captive in Benjamin's stead.
Everyone knows what happened next. Joseph identified himself as their brother and the entire situation was suddenly reversed. We do this passage a disservice when we skip over what actually happened here. Judah's appeal did not suddenly win Joseph over. Joseph had intended to reveal himself at some point, but had always been able to control his emotions (sometimes barely). It was not that now his emotions finally controlled Joseph, but that Joseph’s purposes had been realized. Judah’s appeal did not change Joseph’s heart so much as it revealed that Judah’s heart had undergone a significant change since the day many years before when he had been instrumental in selling Joseph into slavery. Joseph was now able to reveal his identity because genuine repentance had been evidenced.
Before this moment, Judah and his brothers had come to regret their decision to sell Joseph into slavery. Every prisoner regrets their crime, or at least the fact that they were caught. Repentance is more than regret. The regrets of Judah and his brothers had not brought them to the point of confessing their sin to Jacob nor of making any attempt to learn of Joseph’s fate. Now, given the opportunity to repeat their sin, they showed a significant change of heart and action, represented by Judah. They had once determined to do away with Joseph, regardless of its impact upon Jacob, in order to seek revenge and to avoid becoming Joseph’s subordinates. Now, Judah was willing to become the slave of Joseph, even though he was declared innocent of the theft of the silver cup. He could not stand the thought of causing any further suffering. He experienced and evidenced genuine repentance.
Repentance is the recognition of our sins which results in the kind of sorrow that brings about a change in our intellect, emotions, and will. Repentance recognizes sin and is genuinely sorry for it, so much so that this sin will be shunned and a new course of action will be sought. There can be no reconciliation without genuine repentance. Joseph delayed identifying himself to his brothers so that he might experience true reconciliation with them, which could not come before they experienced and evidence Biblical repentance.
We see similar circumstances in the New Testament in the parable of the prodigal son and Jesus' encounter with the rich young ruler. The prodigal (Luke 15) came home in true repentance and experienced true reconciliation. The rich young ruler went away sorry, but not repentant or saved, for he could not part with his old way of life (Matthew 19:16-22). Similarly, Zaccheus evidenced genguine repentance and conversion when he sought to make amends for the sins of his past (Luke 19:1-10).
Few of us would go to such lengths to be reconciled with our fallen brothers, because truthfully, we don't think it's necessary, nor do we seek to produce repentance to that degree in the lives of others or ourselves. We are too often satisfied with "confession" rather than "repentance".
My husband BJ grew up in a Catholic household that went to confession every Saturday afternoon in preparation for Sunday morning communion. He admits that too often he gave the priest a laundry list of things that he was "sorry for", but he had no intentions of not doing again or of making amends for. As long as he did the right number of "Hail Marys" and "Our Fathers", he felt quite content to go to communion. When he became a Christian at age 20, he recognized the folly of such skin-deep confession, but over the years, we've recognized that many Protestants have the same mentality. We admit builty to obtain forgiveness, which is not at all what the Bible teaches. Reconciliation is based upon genuine repentance, not just some glib recital of wrongs committed.
Unfortunately, that glibness tends to permeate all of our relationships, not just the one with God. How many marriages might be saved if the partners could just learn that genuine reconciliation requires repentance? What an offended mate fears most is the kind of situation where their partner admits to wrongdoing, pleads for forgiveness and promises radical changes, but where nothing really happens. Old patterns resume and old problems continue. Repentance does not guarantee that old problems will not recur, but it does assure us that sins will be recognized as sins and shunned. Repentance tries to break old sin habits and looks to God for enablement to live a godly life (Romans 7).
Moses was not just recording history in Genesis. He was teaching lessons to the Israelites. Similar to Judah and Joseph, God seems a severe and frigtening Being to the unsaved. Yet, upon repentance and genuine heart-felt confession, God reveals Himself to be a loving and forgiving Deity. The truth was, Joseph's brothers never had anything to fear from him. The truth is, neither do sinners have anything to fear from God. Jesus offers you the kind of righteousness which God requires for salvation and eternal life. If you will acknowledge your sins, turn from them, and trust in the Savior God has provided, then you will be born again. You can be restored to fellowship with God just as Joseph’s brothers could once again have intimacy with their kinsman. However, like Joseph, God will not make life easy for you nor pour out His blessings upon you until you have learned the need for and experienced repentance.
Christians must be reminded that repentance is a vital element of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not a popular doctrine and is a dimension of the gospel that is often omitted these days. Popular wisdom is that it will be easier to save souls if we leave it out. Unfortunately salvation will not and cannot occur without it (Acts 2:38; 17:30-31; 20:21; 26:20; 2Corinthians 5:18-21). Once we are saved, the need for repentance does not magically disappear. The way salved is conceived is also the way that it continues (Colossians 2:6; Romans 12:2; Acts 26:20). Conversion starts on ongoing process whereby we daily present ourselves to God, learning more of His mind and becoming aware of new truths, as well as being convicted of transgressions of which we were previously unaware.
For Christian and non-Christian alike, repentance is a step beyond recognition of sin and regret of its consequences; it is the decision to turn from sin to Him Who is sinless and Whose way is righteousness. We turn from our sins and self-effort and rely upon our Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness and enablement. How beautifully the Apostle Paul described this step beyond regret:
"For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while—I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you, what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you it was not for the sake of the offender, nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be made known to you in the sight of God." 2Corinthians 7:8-12