Foundation Building Blocks

15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.”
16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died:
17 ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
18 His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.”
19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?
20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people[a] should be kept alive, as they are today.
21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
Genesis 50:15-21

During a bible study in early June of 2024, we studied the above scripture in conjunction with a book called “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality” by Peter Scazzero. It was during this time when we were presented with a question…

Why did Joseph weep in verse 17?

We had an array of answers ranging from, “he was overcome with emotion because of all that he had been through”, “he was saddened that his brothers were still lying to him”, “he wept because he knew that God’s purposes were the reason”, “he still had love for all of his brothers”, and lastly, the one that I want to focus on here…

“Joseph wept when his brothers were pleading for forgiveness because it hurt him to realize that his brothers still did not realize the heart and love that he had for them.”

This explanation sparked many thoughts within me. Being that the Bible is a big love letter from God to man and in many ways is a mirror that reflects the reader to himself and God’s heart to the reader, I came to view that scripture in a different light.

Throughout the Bible we see Jesus in various forms such as Melchizedek with Abraham, The angel that wrestled with Jacob, and The burning bush with Moses.

We also tend to see the heart of God displayed in His judgment for sin, His mercy for His people, His protection for His people, and His rewarding of His people.

I wonder now though if verse 17 doesn’t show another aspect of the Heart of God through the person of Joseph. Could it be that just as Joseph wept when his brothers didn’t recognize the love and compassion he had for them, God also weeps when we mischaracterize and do not recognize the love and compassion He has for us through His son Jesus?

Earlier in chapters 44 and 45, Joseph first tested his brothers, then he came clean and showed them that he indeed was Joseph and that he was still alive. The Word of God states that when he did this, he was overcome with emotion, so much so that the Egyptians and pharaoh’s household heard it.

“1 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.”
Genesis 45:1-3

He didn’t stop there either, he gathered his family and had them come move closer, gain land, food, and were protected from the famine that was still raging on.

“9 Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. 10 You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11 There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’”
Genesis 45:9

He also told his brothers to not be afraid or angry with themselves, because he recognized that God had done this to preserve the people including his family.

“5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.”
Genesis 45:5

Fast forward back to chapter 50 verse 17, the brothers still hadn’t come to realize the love that Joseph had for them and how he held no ill will towards them. So when they came up with this story of his father telling him to forgive them, his heart was probably broken.

How much more does God’s heart break when we struggle to understand the deep love that He has shown to us all through the sacrifice of His son Jesus.

Personally, this made me sad. I should not struggle with knowing and believing the love that God has for me, regardless of my testimony and the things that have happened in my life. If anything, those moments clearly display God’s intent to love me and never leave nor forsake me. All throughout the word God echoes the words that Joseph spoke to his brothers: “Don’t be afraid”.

Yet how many times when we do something wrong or feel as though we aren’t living up to the standard, do we question God’s love for us? How many times do we beg and plead for forgiveness when God’s word says that we have already been forgiven by the ONCE and FOR ALL sacrifice of Jesus? How heartbreaking it must be for the Father of all creation, to see the ones He died for, question and struggle to understand His love.

It is a process though for sure, even the writer of 1 John realized this when he penned:

“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”
1 John 4:16

My prayer for myself and for anyone reading this is this:

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for showing us your heart. You desire for us to KNOW and to BELIEVE the love that you have for us, in and through your son Jesus. Help us to understand and stand in confidence of your love so as to not cause you to weep or grieve.

Help us to be firm, to not doubt, and to not be afraid. Your word says that fear has to do with torment and he who fears has not been perfected in love. So perfect us in your love, and help us to abide in you so that we may spread that love to others and be fully convinced of your goodness.

Father, we thank you for helping us in these areas and we receive your love with excitement.

In Jesus’ mighty name we pray!

Amen!

Who are you? That’s a question I thought I could answer for many years. However, that wasn’t the case… I fought myself internally for years, struggling with the “why am I like this” questionnaire. I never seemed to get things right, constantly in a cycle of self-sabotage. As a believer in Jesus I struggled with living up to what I believed the standards were. Though I knew we weren’t under the law and it was only by grace that my salvation came about, I still harbored self-hatred and frustration because of my inability to do right. It’s funny because if you listen to enough things on the internet, it’s easy to fall into the trap of “you aren’t doing enough” or “you have to change XYZ”. I soon learned though, the harder I tried, the worse things got.

Paul figured this out and attempted to help believers yet it now seems to be overlooked.

“¹⁹For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

²¹So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. ²²For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, ²³but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” – Romans 7:19-25

Aha! A better understanding is at hand here. Paul recognized a work at play and that work revolves around two opposing laws. The law of Godly desire and the law of sin. God gives us desires that long to please him, it’s the reason why our consciences become distressed whenever we do something wrong. Yet the law of sin continues to draw us in to itself only to abandon us once the damage has been done.

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

The reason many of us struggle in doing the things we desire from a heart directed towards God, is because we do not realize who we truly are. You can only do things that line up with who you are, you become what you practice, and many of us practiced failure and self-sabotage. It doesn’t have to be this way though.

After wrestling with my thoughts and listening to a few believers who focus on Jesus and not sin, I came to realize much of my struggle was because I allowed my circumstances or actions to dictate who I was. I allowed every troubling moment to shape my identity instead of coming into agreement with Jesus. Understanding that He made me to be righteous and that I should walk in that gift.

If you are a struggling believer, I encourage you to accept the fact that Jesus has made you righteous and because of that you have free roam to practice righteousness. You are no longer enslaved to those things you don’t want to do, instead you are free.

If you are not a believer, but you find yourself also struggling in matters of doing things you don’t want to do, or feeling enslaved by your choices. I encourage you to put your faith and trust in the One who can set you free. His name is Jesus.

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” – John 8:36

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