JOSEPH, SON OF JACOB…

I was thinking a lot about forgiveness again. Sometimes it sounds like God’s people are to forgive everyone of anything…  But what was on my mind was forgiving an evil person who is headed for Hell.

Selah.

Does the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob want us to forgive a wicked man who cares nothing for God? A man who doesn’t love us and repent? A man who, indeed, would rather see us dead? No!

Joseph is a prime example of a Hebrew who wouldn’t forgive: unless the one in sin repented! As we read of him in Genesis, those who study and meditate find that Joseph is indeed a foreshadowing of Messiah. And what did he do with his brothers who wanted first: to murder him? Second: to sell him into slavery because they decided not to spill their brother’s blood after all? He tested them! This devout man of God would not forgive his very own family members until he knew they were changed men. After all, how could it possibly help someone with a murderous spirit to forgive that attitude and/or action without demanding a changed heart?

Indeed, not only did Joseph first test them to make certain they were repentant for the evil they had perpetrated over him; he tested them a second time!

Selah.

Perhaps this wonderful counselor of God was weeping deeply for the changed actions of his once murderous brothers; thankful to God that his biological brothers who had orchestrated this plot were now also brothers in the LORD with him.

Joseph has always been one of my heroes and a man worth reading about again and again. I hope you do!

POINT: Israel has a right to defend herself…. God does!

Genesis 12:1-3
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”