The Slow Burn of a Guilty Conscience
Dear Mosaic Family,
As Joseph, 2nd in command to Pharaoh, was working out God's plan in Egypt, his family back in Canaan began to feel the hunger pangs of famine. At the behest of their father Jacob, they make their trek to Egypt in hopes of purchasing grain.
In Genesis 42, Joseph's 10 older brothers, the same guys who two decades earlier sold him to slave traders, are forced by God's sovereignty to reckon with their sins. They meet Joseph, who immediately recognizes them. They don't recognize him, however, seeing only a man who has authority over their very lives. In order to test their hearts, Joseph accuses them of espionage, a capital offense. However, he provides a way for them to clear their names: he imprisons Simeon, and demands the brothers not return without their youngest brother, Benjamin. Realizing their predicament, the slow burn of their consciences awakens a raging guilt.
Genesis 42:21-22 says "Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.”
Imagine the guilt they carried for over 20 years, which must have been simmering and progressively smoldering as they walked the same path Joseph had, except he did it in chains. They believed to have killed their brother. Now this same man, stands in judgment over them. The murderers stand condemned before the murdered, as if he had come back from the dead.
In the first sermon preached post-Pentecost, the Apostle Peter presented the Gospel for the very first time in similar language by proclaiming in Acts 2:36 "Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."
Joseph's brothers attempted to murder him. Jesus' creation crucified him. Joseph, upon his elevation forgives his brothers. Jesus, upon resurrection, offers forgiveness to any who would ask.
Peter's listeners were immediately "cut to the heart" crying out "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
Join us this Sunday as we study Genesis 42.
Praying for you,
Pastor Jan
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