BACKGROUND:
The famine continued and Jacob’s family needed more grain. This time, however, Benjamin had to go with them to Egypt. Judah reminded his father that without Benjamin their long trip to Egypt would be in vain. Jacob was, of course, reluctant; his scolding (why did you tell the man you had another brother?) was an effort to escape the decision he dreaded to make. Yet he must release Benjamin so they could return to Egypt. Otherwise they would all die from starvation.
Judah broke the deadlock with a warmly personal initiative, offering to take the blame if Benjamin were not returned. Judah (Jacob’s fourth son; 29:31-35) succeeded where Reuben had failed, and Benjamin went down to Egypt with his brothers. Interestingly Judah was the one who had come up with the plan to sell Joseph to Egypt. Now he had to negotiate with his father in order to get Benjamin to see Joseph.
Jacob suggested that they take some of their best products... to the man as a gift, including balm... honey... spices and myrrh... pistachio nuts, and almonds. Apparently these delicacies were not available in Egypt. They also took double the amount of silver, returning what they had found in their money pouches before. Jacob resigned himself to the high risk involved in possibly losing a third son—first, Joseph; then Simeon; and now perhaps Benjamin too.
The brothers hurried to Egypt. When they arrived, they were taken to Joseph’s house. They were frightened, thinking they were going to be captured. When they told Joseph’s steward about the silver they found in their sacks when returning from their first trip, the steward told them not to be afraid because their God had given them that money.
Perhaps Joseph had talked with the steward about the true God. Simeon was returned to them, and a noon meal was prepared for Joseph’s 11 guests. When they presented their gifts to Joseph... they bowed down before him in fulfillment of Joseph’s dream. Joseph, seeing his brother Benjamin, could not hold back his tears of joy. Benjamin, of course, was his full brother; the others were half brothers. As before when he talked with the 10, he went aside and wept.
At the dinner, Joseph demonstrated something ominous to them. The mysterious accuracy of the seating (from the firstborn to the youngest) would increase their uneasy sense of exposure to divine intervention. Yet in all the events of this visit the brothers were confronted with gracious dealings from God through this “Egyptian”. The chapter is a foretaste of future things for, as Joseph said later, God sent him down before them to provide for them in the midst of famine.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what i have read today?)
This chapter tells us that Joesph's brothers go back to Israel. They eat the food. They run out of food and they have to go back to Egypt, the second journey. Joseph meets up with them again and gives them some food again. Benjamin’s there. 43:15“The men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also, and they hurried down to Egypt and they presented it to Joseph. When Joseph saw Benjamin he said to the steward of the house, ‘Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare dinner. They’re to eat with me at noon.’”
So they have this great meal together. Here’s Joseph's test for them. Benjamin, the youngest, is the test. Joseph says, “Let’s have the youngest served more food than anybody else – five times as much as anyone else’s. Then when they leave, let’s take some silver cup and put it in Benjamin’s sack and let’s see what happens.” They do that and they send them off.
They leave and they find this silver cup in Benjamin’s sack. V. 11 “Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it and each steward proceeded to search [Joseph had set this all up.] He began with the oldest and the cup that was stolen was found in Benjamin’s sack. They tore their clothes, they loaded their donkeys, they returned to the city.”
Here’s the test: What are they going to do with the youngest? Perfect opportunity to throw him into the pit. Here’s the answer: “Joseph says, ‘What is this you have done? You know that a man like me can find things out by divination.’ ‘What can we say?’ Judah replied. ‘How can we prove our innocence? We are your slaves.’ Joseph said, ‘I can’t do that. Only the man who was found to have my cup will become my slave. The rest of you go back to your father in peace.’” Then listen to what Judah says, “Please, let your servant speak. Don’t be angry, though you’re equal to Pharaoh himself. We’ve told you we have an aged father. He’s going to die if we don’t bring our youngest back…. Your servant, our father said, “You know that my wife bore me two sons. One of them went away from me [what do you think Joseph thought when he heard that?] and I said he’s surely been torn to pieces and I’ve not seen him since. If you take this one from me too, harm will come to me. … “ So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant, my father is going to die. Your servant has guaranteed this boy’s safety… Please let your servant remain as my lord’s slave in place of the boy and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back if the boy isn’t with me?’”
That’s a long story that would make a great Hollywood movie. It’s told very quickly but it’s told for the ending. Judah says, “Take me instead!” Years later, Jesus was going to say, “Take Me instead!” and He died on the cross for us. Judah said, “I’ll be the slave in his place.” Jesus released us from slavery. Judah is a forerunner of Jesus and the end of the story is better than the beginning.
Maybe you had a tough beginning in your story of life. Maybe you made some real mistakes like Judah did. But when I read the story of Judah I say, “Here’s a man of faith!” People can look at you the same way even if you had a tough beginning.
45:7 Joseph reveals himself to his brothers. He weeps loudly. “He says to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father still living? God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on the earth to save your lives by a great deliverance.’” We started talking about forgiveness yesterday. Do you see the forgiveness? He’s able to say, “I understand what God’s doing. He didn’t send me here for my greatness. He sent me here to save your lives.” That’s forgiveness. That’s a man who’s come to a point in his life that he not only sees God’s hand at work and he’s able to say I forgive somebody else. But because of God’s grace in his life, he’s able to see how God wants to use him in the life that he’s forgiven.
You’re probably not there yet but Joseph's life tells us that you can be there. It took him thirteen years of faith to get there. You can be there. If you’re in bondage to unforgiveness it colors everything. It colors your attitudes, it colors your actions, everything.
How do you break out of that bondage of unforgiveness? Simple. Forgive. You say, “I’d love to forgive, how?” Maybe you can write on a sheet of paper everything God’s forgiven you for. And look at it everyday if you’re having a hard time forgiving somebody
Pray for the person that you have an unforgiving attitude toward every day. At the beginning you may be praying for them to die! But at least talk to God about them. Start to talk to God about them every day.
It’s not going to happen in a day it’s not going to happen in two days. It’s probably not even going to happen in a month. But if you’re struggling with unforgiveness that’s the way to break those bonds.
Some of you are thinking, “I don’t want to do that!” There’s the real issue! Sometimes we just don’t want to forgive. We don’t want to let go. But the truth is that God has forgiven us so much, how can we hold unforgiveness in our hearts towards anyone else when you start to look at what He’s forgiven us for. I understand the feeling full well of “I don’t want to forgive. They don’t deserve to be forgiven”, but when I say for you to forgive them, I'm not saying for you to release them of all accountability for their wrong actions. That’s not what forgiveness is about. Forgiveness is not releasing them from accountability. Forgiveness is saying, “I'm not the one to hold them accountable. God is.”
Forgiveness isn’t saying, “I'm not going to act in a different way towards someone because of what they did to me.” If you had a business deal with someone and they stole a million dollars from you and you forgive them and they say, “Let’s have another business deal,” I’d say forgiveness does not say you have another business deal with them. That’s not forgiveness. That’s stupidity. Forgiveness is saying, “I don’t hold you accountable. I put that in God’s hands because He’s the one who understands it all anyway.” We’re too small to hold the big issues of unforgiveness in our hearts. When we do it explodes us.
#5. Dream managers finish the job. They don’t just start it, they finish it. Joseph's most significant contributions came seven years (at least) after he received his dream, after he was given the signet ring and the robe was put on him. It wasn’t until seven years later he started making the significant contribution, feeding the world and bringing Israel down to Egypt. That’s the main reason God sent him there. He wanted to bring the nation of Israel down to Egypt for over 400 years. That was part of his plan. If Joseph had given up five years after he had received his dream and said, “I think I'm going to go on to something else,” he would have missed the very reason God sent him there.
Some of you came today, reading this devotional blog, needed to hear just that. God had you read this today just to say, “Don’t give up short of finishing the dream,” or you’re going to miss the very reason God sent you here.
#6. Dream managers pass the dream on. They pass it on to someone else. That’s what Genesis 48 and 49 are all about. In Genesis 48 you see the blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh. In 49 you see the blessing of the twelve sons of Jacob. Have you caught on that the twelve sons of Jacob are going to become the twelve tribes of Israel? Every time you read about the tribes you’re just reading about a family that started back here.
But have you ever wondered why there was no tribe by the name of Joseph? Joseph got a double blessing. His two sons would become tribes. There is a tribe of Ephraim and there is a tribe of Manasseh. That’s the reason. They each get a blessing. They have the dream passed on.
In Genesis 48 as Manasseh the oldest and Ephraim were blessed they’re sitting in front of Jacob to get this blessing that Joseph wants them to get. Remember Jacob was the younger son. Joseph was a younger son. 48:12 “Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down Joseph put Ephraim on his right hand, the hand of greater blessing toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on Israel’s left toward Israel’s right hand and brought them close to him. But Israel reached out with his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head although he was younger and crossing his arms he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head even though Manasseh was the first born.” So Ephraim is going to get the greater blessing. Why? Because God knew who was to get the greater blessing. The blessing is God’s not Jacobs. So he moves Israel to cross his arms and once again the younger gets the blessing.
If you feel like God can’t bless your life because of some circumstance of your birth, some circumstance of your life, the book of Genesis says that’s not true.
What is a blessing? What does it mean to pass on a blessing? If you go home tonight and read Genesis 48 and 49 you’ll find out that a blessing is not just an encouragement. A blessing is a statement of what you believe God can do in a person’s life. A blessing is saying, “God can do this through you. God can work in your life in this way. God can take what was a dream in my heart and pass it on to you, the dream of faith in Him, the dream of sharing that faith with others.” That’s what a blessing is. Passing on a blessing means you realize that the dream that God gives you, that God gives me, if it’s really a God-given dream it’s going to be bigger than your life. God wants to give those kinds of dreams. And once we’ve got them we’ve got to pass them on. Two questions:
To whom do you need to pass on God’s blessing in your work, your family, your ministry? Not just encouragement – blessing. “I believe that God will use you in this way.” This isn’t a lie, something you make up. It’s something you believe.
And secondly, who do you need to honor? Joseph honored his father Jacob. Jacob asked to be buried back up in Israel and so he was. In fact, they took almost half the officials from Egypt. A huge procession goes just to bury his father. Even after he died he honored him. One of the things that keep us from passing on a blessing is not honoring those that passed on the blessing to us. Who do you need to honor? It may be someone who has died. Honor them in your heart for the blessing they passed on to you. You’re not really a dreamer unless you pass it on.
We all need a dream that outlasts our lives.
#7. Dream managers see God’s hand at work. They see God’s hand at work in life and in circumstances. Jacob dies. In Genesis 50:15 “When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead they said, ‘What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs that we did him?’ [Guilt again. It’s a terrible thing. When they threw Joseph into that pit, who really went into the pit? When they sold Joseph into slavery, who really went into slavery? Guilt is a terrible thing.]
So they sent word to Joseph saying, ‘Your father left these instructions before he died. “This is what you say to Joseph, ‘I ask you to forgive your brothers, the sins and wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’” [It doesn’t even sound like Jacob, does it? Sounds like one of those notes you used to write to teachers to get out of something. They wrote one of those kinds of notes.] And now please forgive the sins of your servants.’ When the message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers came and threw themselves before him and said, ‘We’re your slaves.’ [And here’s one of the most dramatic moments in all the book of Genesis.] Joseph said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? [That’s somebody who sees God’s hand at work in their relationships, in their character, in their actions. He recognized “I'm not in God’s place. It’s not my place to judge, it’s God’s.] You intended it to harm me. But God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done the saving of many lives.’”
In Genesis 50 you see Joseph living, not with his solution but with God’s solution. Not guilt or grief like his brothers or his father. You see him living with grace. Here at the pinnacle of his life, the pinnacle for an opportunity for revenge he instead takes the opportunity to sum up his faith. Who would you rather be in this story? The brothers or Joseph? Everyone wants to be Joseph but it took him thirty years of faith decisions to get to this point. God intended it for good. He had God’s perspective on his circumstances.
That’s a great dream manager, someone who prays for that and looks for that. You want to take charge of your circumstances? Recognize who’s in charge of your life. Do you want to be the kind of person who can manage things and come in and take control where it’s needed? Then recognize that God is the one who’s in control. That’s how we manage God-given dreams.
One final practical step. You may need to think about how to receive a dream and focus on what next step does God want you to take. Is it humility? Is it risk? Is it tenacity? What next step do I need to take?
Or you may be managing a God-given dream right now and I challenge you this next if you are. If you’re a parent, you are managing a God-given dream. If you’re married, you’re managing a God-given dream. If you’re in ministry – if you’re in this church – you’re managing a God-given dream. Take one of those seven things we’ve talked about over the last few days and apply it to your dream so you can better manage the God-given dreams in your life.
I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.
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