Scripture

Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to Yahweh, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

~Isaiah 55:7, LSB

Quote

It is difficult to remove terror from trembling minds, but the nature of God is that He is ready to pardon and be reconciled.

~John Calvin

We have talked about the fall of man and how it has affected our human nature. We humans are insecure and fearful. Our tendency is to doubt more than to trust. This deep insecurity keeps us from enjoying our gracious salvation. Joseph was a cut above. He was nothing like his evil brothers. As Alvin Tucker once said, “The brothers were thugs and hooligans.” He was right; you name it and they did it. Simeon and Levi lamed an ox just to see if it could manage on three legs. They raped, murdered, pillaged and were notorious liars. Those ten brothers would make Bill Clinton look like a Boy Scout. Well, that might be an exaggeration. To put it bluntly, they had no character and could not be trusted. Not even their father trusted them. They conspred against Joseph, thought about killing him but wound up selling him as a slave. Due to their treachery, Joseph spends thirteen years as a slave and most of that in prison and his aging father Jacob spends twenty years grieving.

After Joseph had been exalted and was one of the most powerful individuals in the known world, these sorry brothers show up on his door step begging for a hand out. As hard as it is for us to believe, Joseph forgives them. Not only does he help them, he becomes their provider for life. The brothers are mystified by Joseph’s favor and they could not help projecting their immoral character on him. They knew what they would have done had the situation been reversed. They would have gotten revenge, but Joseph sought reconciliation and no revenge. He showered them with love and compassion. Seventeen years later, their father Jacob died, and immediately the brothers conjured up another lie. They went to see Joseph and said, “Your father commanded before he died, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph, Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they dealt evil against you.”’ Joseph had already forgiven them. It was a done deal and all based on Jospeh’s character and integrity. It was a covenant of grace. However the boys could not get passed the nagging feeling that they didn’t deserve to be forgiven. We humans are skeptical when it comes to grace. Joseph told them once again, As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to do what has happened on this day, to keep many people alive. So now, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.”

We do the very same thing that the ten wicked brothers did. We know we deserved death and hell and question why Christ would forgive us. We doubt and we fear just like Joseph’s brothers and it is because we project our feelings and character upon God. We are created in His image, but we do not think the way He thinks and we are wrong when we assume that He thinks like we do. His ways are infinitely higher than ours. God made the choice to love us. It is a done deal and you and I had nothing to do with it. Junior sent me a card once that read, “I love you Dr. Jack and there is nothing you can do about it.” You can’t stop Jesus from loving you. Deny Him, betray Him and crucify Him: He keeps right on loving.

Extra

Nice cool morning PTL. Over 70% change of rain for Friday. I hope you have a good day and thanks for reading the blog. The blog above was inspired by my listening to Thomas Goodwin THE HEART OF CHRIST. You can listen to if free on YouTube. Have a great day.