11-16-2025- FACE TO FACE WITH THE PAST -Genesis 42-43

MENSAJE POR EL PASTOR ROB INRIG

DE BETHANY BAPTIST IN RICHMOND, BC.

I invite you to pray together: O Father of mercies and God of all comfort, our only help in time of need: We humbly beseech thee to behold, visit, and relieve thy sick servants for whom our prayers are desired. Look upon them with the eyes of thy mercy ( Vicky O, Nancy R, Tere G, Liz N, Stevie A, Socrates D, Sara's mom H, Margarita G,   Rosy Ch, Patricia L. Lina J.  Magda- Laci M.  Gloria F, Miguel A H. Silvia H, Brianda M, Alejandro M, Natalia M)   Comfort them with a sense of thy goodness; preserve them from the temptations of the enemy; and give them patience under his affliction. In thy good time, restore them to health, and enable them to lead the residue of their life in thy fear, and to thy glory; and grant that finally they may dwell with thee in life everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

You can add names from family and friends who need prayer

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This morning, let’s dive right in to our story - :1   Why are you staring at one another?

Are you so blind that you don’t understand we are dying here?   Do you think that by ignoring the situation that our difficulties will disappear?  Quit staring and get up and do something     

Yet in their guilt, the brothers have become incapacitated.  For years they’ve been imprisoned in their secrets, on edge hoping that the truth would never come out.  Silent in their secrets, no doubt staying far distant from the pit where they imprisoned their brother; far distant from a mound of earth hiding the goat used to smear blood upon a despised coat; far distant from a caravan path that carried Joseph out of their lives.  But never far distant from their guilt.

And now Jacob demanding that they go to Egypt where they would soon be put face to face with their sin.  It was a sin they thought they had buried, the only problem was - its skeleton kept kicking the dirt off.  Though they didn’t know it at the time, if they wanted to be free, they must go to Egypt and come face to face with their actions, where light would be brought on the secrets they had kept, where they would be challenged to own the guilt that was theirs.

Ironically yet fittingly having to go to Egypt that in Scripture is often used as a picture of sin’s bondage.  Its hold tight, its escape hard, its message shame. Faced with these, no wonder we hide, no wonder we deceive, no wonder secrets are kept.  The result of these is that often we become convinced that  we must live in this place rather than be set free from its power.  

Its power that is only answered by God putting us face to face with what we hide.  Where He calls us to own our secrets, to admit our shame and not deny our sin. In this place, God wanting us to know that in love, He points us to the Cross of Jesus, the only where our sin can be forgiven, ALL our sin.  Where in repentance, we come face to face with our Egypt, our sin, what God tells us, All our righteousness is as filthy rags... The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord Is 64:6. Rom 6:23. 

The sin we try to bury always has a way of becoming uncovered, sometimes with sudden exposure; more commonly manifesting in a slow toxic leak, first poisoning within, then leaking out to the world around which is where the brothers were.  I think we see hints of this leakage in Jacob’s refusal to send Benjamin to Egypt along with his brothers because he was concerned harm may befall him. At first glance Jacob’s actions make sense with Benjamin being the youngest child, obviously a vulnerable innocent – but here’s the problem – he wasn’t.  He was approximately 22 years old. But like Joseph, he was Rachel’s child – the wife Jacob loved and with that it seems that the factor leading to Joseph’s death - favouritism still lived.  In essence the message, ‘You guys go to Egypt and if evil befalls you, so be it - but not Benjamin ‘. I wonder, did Jacob sense that danger actually lurked closer to home than in Egypt?  Did Jacob suspect that his sons had a part in Joseph’s death?  Did he see something in their faces, feel something in their shame?  That something in the story of a bloodied coat and a voracious animal begin to show cracks?  

Undeniably, the brothers hadn’t shown signs of grief at his loss; hadn’t shared Jacob’s fond recollections of who he had been; hadn’t fortified themselves with predator protection when they tended sheep.  Simply, the brothers’ subsequent behaviour wasn’t the response of grief, it was the response of guilt.  Guilt keeping them silent. Bloody hands keeping them distant.  

Day by day leakage seeping out destroying joy and stealing life.  The process so normal, its existence barely noticed.  Instead a heaviness of life.  Vision no longer dreamt.  Relationships eroding away.   

Sin’s leakage – its power not overcome by willpower.  It can temporarily be suppressed, redirected or delayed but it can never be denied, it always collecting payment.  Scripture reminds, Whatsoever a man sows, that will he also reap Gal 6:7.  But God offers to do what we can’t - disarm sin, stripping it of its power by forgiving it.  Through Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross, God’s penalty for sin, Jesus covering what we cannot.

That is where Scripture takes us today reminding that God will kick the dirt off the things we try to hide – He exposing our guilt and our sin - not to condemn but to rescue.  His truth, ‘If we want to live, we must go to where sin is covered by something greater than ourself.

The whole idea of sin is somewhat repugnant to us.  We would much rather see our actions as inappropriate, a bad choice, an impulsive reaction, an alternate lifestyle – but sin?, hardly.  Following the Los Angeles’ riots years ago, psychologists stated the riots, ‘Served a beneficial purpose, because it gave people an outlet for their frustrations which would otherwise have been kept bottled up’. Never mind that dozens of people were mugged, millions of dollars of goods were stolen, millions more destroyed by arson, and 65 people murdered, all of which was entirely illegal. All justified because people could ventilate their frustrations!

William Kilpatrick observes: The new psychological idea seems to be that we should have harmony at any price. If our actions aren't in line with our beliefs, (you don’t change behaviours) you change beliefs  .…. if your self-concept won't let you feel good about having casual sex, and yet you still want casual sex, then you ought to adjust your self-concept accordingly. The alternative is feeling bad about yourself, and that seems an almost unacceptable alternative these days 

In other words, if the standard doesn’t fit, change the standard.  That is what the brothers did when driven by hatred, they set upon Joseph. Hate the standard – eliminate the standard, this is a strategic necessity not a  sinful tragedy. No one needed to know not understanding that sin always get revealed - returning us to Egypt and Joseph’s encounter with his brothers. 

When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them :7.

What a moment that must have been!  Finally, his time for retribution.  Seems fair enough - hadn’t they accused him? Hadn’t they cast him into a pit leading to slavery and prison?  So now let them taste what is means to be quaking in fear. Let them taste what it’s like to have everything taken from them.  

Why not?  It’s not like Joseph needed his brothers.  They were no longer in his life.  He had long since moved on from them.  Now he had the upper hand and by a use of force, he could easily find out all he needed to know about his father and his brother Benjamin.  He could bring them to safety and quietly dispatch his brothers and no one would be the wiser.  Who would question? – he had the power of life and death and these ones were entitled to nothing.  That’s what he could do but that isn’t what he did do.  Because Joseph had been released from the past.  Verse 9 and information yet to come tell us that Joseph didn’t live in a world of payback.  

In some miraculous way God helped Joseph understand that in the pit and in the prison - He had been there. There - even though the begged for rescue didn’t come as he had hoped.  There - when prison release came long after any time frame that made sense.  Yet in his waiting, Joseph made aware of his ever present God. 

Though his brothers may have shaped his past, God was using this time to transform his present and now, in the appearance of his brothers, God giving Joseph assurance of his future.  His long ago dreams now being fulfilled just as God promised.  The pit and the prison God’s preparation for a throne to come.  Joseph had never been forgotten, not for a moment.  Instead, God’s grace at work.  It’s for that reason Joseph, while physically a captive, could live free while his brothers, even though free, lived as captives. 

Their captivity obviously a result of guilt but also because they wanted to hang on to how they wanted to see themselves, their presentation to Joseph, We are honest men :11.   Oh really - honest like Simeon and Levi, who deceived the men of Shechem so they could massacre them?  Honest like selling him to some Midianite traders?  Honest like concocting a story you knew would break your father’s heart?  

Kind of think, you shouldn’t play the, “We are honest men card” because you are hardly that.

Hearing these words could easily have caused Joseph to attack seeing them still living in their lies.  But Joseph’s freedom didn’t come because he discovered they were different, it came because he was different.  I think Joseph’s command that they be thrown into prison wasn’t coming from vindictiveness as much as it was his desire that they come face to face with their wrong.  He understanding that there is no release from the past until sin is confessed.  The truth is, when we deny sin, rename sin, cover over sin, we forfeit the work of transformation God wants to do in us. 

And as it applies to us? - following Christ has never been about getting a better life.  It’s not about smoother highways and thicker wallets.  It’s about redemption - being given life when we were living in death.   But redemption does not happen without repentance – seeing our sin for what it is, not for what we call it.  It’s not about bad attitudes or wrong behaviours or hurtful choices.  It’s about sin and that we are sinners by nature and by act, people who live saying we choose how we will live, we orchestrate our life, we determine our outcomes.  

But repentance is about Jesus bringing us face to face with our sin then calling us to choose forgiveness of our sin that He alone can give. 

I think it this ‘face to face’ experience God was doing through Joseph when he let his brothers taste prison life for 3 days.  As they stood by the door as the metal slammed shut, their protests were familiar ones, “We’re Not Spies.  We’re Not deceivers. We are Honest Men” ringing very hollow.  The truth overpowering their shouts, But you are destroyers and deceivers.  Your appearances of something different is a sham.  From the moment you wake up to the moment you fall asleep.  The cries from the pit remind of that.  The wails of a grieving father remind of that.  The violence engaged in remind of that. 

And in the quietness of the prison when guards are asleep, let those reminders speak truth.  For a time they will taste what it was like to be falsely accused, what it was like to be stripped of rights and their identity.  But even with these, they had one more lesson to learn.  And that would come with the imprisonment of one.

They could all go free with the exception of one, one staying as payment for the rest.  This revelation would move them closer from regret to repentance which is the place we all must come.  Not regret for being found out but repentance of the sinners we are, Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore distress has come upon us.  :21.

Interesting isn’t it how their minds drew a straight line from where they now stood in the palace to a dark pit in the desert.  Geographically they left that place 13 years ago but it never left them.  Like Edgar Allen Poe’s Telltale Heart, the sound of guilt continually beating wherever they turned and whatever they did.   Their admission, We are guilty.  

For 13 years they had tried to cover their guilt, hide their guilt, silence their guilt, but the guilt just kept beating - doing its damage as it threatened to be  exposed.  David describes it well, When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.  For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.  Ps 32:3-4.

Apart from one person, finally they owned it, In truth we are guilty concerning our brother :21.  In prison, God cut open their heart where they could see themselves for who they are.  Guilty sinners – without excuse.  We did it.  

God’s story has never changed.  He will do what it takes to show us our heart without Christ.  We can go to whatever lengths we want to cover it, beautify it, redefine it but God’s diagnosis never changes, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked  Jer 17:9.

Reuben however is still playing the Not Me game. He doing his best wanting to wash his hands clean.   Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen :22.  He turning the finger of blame onto others.  He still choosing to hide.

Later when Reuben pledges he would safely return Benjamin to his father, he offers his children as collateral.  How noble!  By appearance, they are just disposable goods to be traded. if required.  Imagine Jacob’s response, Reuben – you still don’t get it.  Do you think the loss of my grandsons will lessen my grief? You’re so entrenched in what’s in it for you, so caught up in denial that you’ve never taken time to own your guilt.  And there is no forgiveness without ownership; no reconciliation without ownership; no transformation without ownership.  I think this is in part why Jacob rejected Reuben’s offer.  

His place of authority as first born son is over.  Instead Jacob allows Judah to carry out the request just rejected, only note the difference, Judah offering himself as surety – his life offered as payment.  This, a picture of what God has done for us, He in love choosing to be our sacrifice, the payment for our sins, While we were still sinners, Christ died for us Rom 5:8  

I believe the actions that followed, were Joseph’s efforts to bring about the repentance necessary to break his brothers out of their prison of self reliance and guilt.  They have lived in their hiding places far too long and if they were to have a redeemed future, they needed to come face to face with their past.  Without repentance there would be no reconciliation. 

His place of authority as first born son is over.  Instead Jacob allows Judah to carry out the request just rejected, only note the difference, Judah offering himself as surety – his life offered as payment.  This, a picture of what God has done for us, He in love choosing to be our sacrifice, the payment for our sins, While we were still sinners, Christ died for us Rom 5:8  

I believe the actions that followed, were Joseph’s efforts to bring about the repentance necessary to break his brothers out of their prison of self reliance and guilt.  They have lived in their hiding places far too long and if they were to have a redeemed future, they needed to come face to face with their past.  Without repentance there would be no reconciliation. 

His place of authority as first born son is over.  Instead Jacob allows Judah to carry out the request just rejected, only note the difference, Judah offering himself as surety – his life offered as payment.  This, a picture of what God has done for us, He in love choosing to be our sacrifice, the payment for our genuine repentance of our sin.  Where we bow to Him as Lord - wanting to obey and please Jesus more than anything else we do.

To bring repentance, Joseph took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes 42:24 as an object lesson to move them past regret for what they’d done, to actually repent for what they’d done.  To truly see and own their guilt - above all before God.

It would be an object lesson that draws the brothers back to memories when they sat together eating a meal while their brother screamed for his life, an object lesson of a brother chained as the property of slave traders as they removed him from their lives.   

My guess is that Joseph chose Simeon because he had the bloodiest hands.  An ancient Hebrew commentary states he was the lead voice calling for Joseph’s death but there’s no way to know this.  We do know it was Simeon’s (and Levi) blade that spilled blood in the slaughter at Shechem and on his deathbed, Jacob will say, Simeon and Levi are brothers; instruments of cruelty ... cursed be their anger, for it was fierce and their wrath, for it was cruel  Gen 49:57.

And there’s one more thing that gives reason to believe Simeon was a leading perpetrator in what was done to Joseph.  When we last see Simeon he is bound, reading no more about him until events beginning in 43:2, When they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.  When the brothers were previously in Egypt, they left with bounty that would provide for a long time which means Simeon’s prisoner stint was not short.  

Joseph didn’t imprison the brothers and bind Simeon because Joseph needed it.  He bound them because they needed it.  How do I know?  Well in part because of the name Joseph gave his son – Manasseh – forgotten - God has made me forget.  I can almost guarantee, he didn’t forget the event but he didn't live there.

We leave our story this morning with an account of sacks of grain filled to overflowing.  These sacks are given freely and without cost.  They are a picture of what is to come – picture of grace.  There’s provision here.  There’s abundance here.  And though they don’t know it yet, there forgiveness and reconciliation here.  In the place where grace lives, all you need is provided but it is only entered by repentance and with the presentation of a Son.

When the brothers opened the sacks and found their money sitting there at the top, they first reaction was fear.  They couldn’t explain it.  Hadn’t earned it.  Didn’t merit it

How could they be given what hadn’t been earned?  And their response was fear.  This can’t be right.  Their hearts sank and they turned with trembling with one another.  

Where they got it right was their understanding that God was doing something that  far surpassed their understanding, “What is this that God has done to us?”  A great gift given all because of grace.  Undeserved?  Yes.  All given when we come in repentance and are forgiven at the Cross.

As the great philosopher Lucy explained to Charlie Brown at the end of the game explaining why she had lost sight of the baseball and had failed to make the catch. “Sorry I missed that easy fly ball, manager, I thought I had it, but suddenly I remembered all the others I’ve missed, and the past got in my eyes.” 

This morning - may you know and enter

into the joy of being forgiven so don’t let the past get in your eyes.  

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