Of course, yeah.
Hey, thanks for being with us on Thursday as we close out not only the week,
probably today,
assuming we make some progress,
we will close out the book of Genesis.
Now, we won’t be finished because next week we’ll come back and we’ll look at the transition from Genesis to Exodus.
We probably,
well, we don’t plan to study Exodus next,
but we do think that
it’s important to look at the bridge that Genesis builds into Exodus in order to understand and
put some of the story into context.
And then we’ll have a couple days of reflection.
But today we get to the last part of chapter 50.
We’re in verse 15.
And we can talk about this,
but there are those who would make the case that this is the high point of the book of Genesis.
You can make an opinion about that as we go,
but let me read it for you and then we’ll revisit it.
“Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brother said,
‘What if Joseph still bears a grudge
against us and pays us back in full for the wrong we did to him?’ So they approached Joseph,
and they said, ‘Your father gave us these instructions before he died.
Say to Joseph, ‘I beg you,
forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.
Now,
therefore,
please forgive the crime of the servants of God of your father.’
Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
Then his brothers also wept.
They fell down before him
and said, ‘We are here as your slaves.’
But Joseph said to them,
‘Do not be afraid.
Am I in the place of God?
Even though you intended to do me harm,
God intended it for good
in order to preserve a
numerous people as he’s doing today.
So have no fear.
I myself will provide for you and your little ones.’
In this way, he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.” Just as we get into
this, let me point out that
verse 20 here is sometimes translated in an older translation.
You may be more familiar with it.
It says, “Though you meant it for evil,
God meant it for good.”
And really, Michael, that is probably the line that has garnered theological attention and
there’s some real positives to framing the way this seems to be framed.
There’s some
potential downfalls as well.
But as we set the stage here,
we’ve seen this before.
Most notably, we saw it when Jacob’s own father died, Abraham.
And Esau said,
‘Look,
when dad dies,
I’m going to get even with you.’ Here we have a kind of recycling of that.
The brothers are worried that now that Jacob is dead,
Joseph could intend to get revenge on them,
that maybe he’s been waiting until it
would no longer upset his father and now they feel like they’re at risk.
What’s interesting is that there’s no record of Jacob actually saying the thing that they tell Joseph he said.
I don’t know what we make of that.
It is not impossible that they are making that up,
though it certainly could have been a conversation.
But typically, the Bible would
have told us that,
maybe even let us listen in on that.
There’s been no indication in any other part of the story that
Jacob knows what they did.
And here,
they report to having had a conversation with them in which he
said, ‘I think let’s look at the complicated nature of this text first.’ There’s a sense in which it is
complicated for the exact reason you just say,
Clint, is that it does introduce a new detail
into the story that we haven’t necessarily seen thus far, which is interesting.
And that kind of
later beyond the fact kind of information often points to things like what source this might
come from or the editor that was at work at this part of the text.
There’s also a part here, though,
that’s really interesting because fundamentally,
the idea that the brothers believed
that this would help them,
the idea that this might move Joseph in the right direction,
is unto itself somewhat interesting.
And it’s a reflection of a family culture we’ve seen so many
times before.
That’s really why this fits,
is because the number of times where there’s been
a little goading or a little negotiation or a little bit of,
you know, filling in the blank,
hoping that that’s going to move the needle in your direction.
We’ve seen that by so many brothers in this family,
so many wives in this family,
that now this is a very commonplace kind of element in
the story, that there’s some inner jockeying,
there’s some inner sort of striving to make all
the different ends of this story meet.
And so I think it’s complicated why exactly they felt
compelled to do this.
We don’t have clearly said.
What it does set up,
though, Clint, and this is where I think the text begins to have a very powerful sort of resonance,
is it does set us
up for a moment when we as the readers can look backwards,
not just in the Joseph story,
but certainly specifically the Joseph story.
And we can see the way which Joseph’s words offer a kind
of concluding note that tie all of these Genesis themes together.
The idea that what was intended
for evil,
God has found a way to work for good,
all the way back to that fruit in the beginning of Genesis,
all the way to, you know,
Abraham and all of his misgivings with,
you know, giving his wife away to people or,
you know, the trouble that that caused.
All of the inner striving between Jacob and Esau,
the fighting that led to Joseph’s brothers nearly killing him,
then selling him, you know, all of these very painful turns in the story,
and there are many more that I didn’t summarize there,
all of those have been used to,
as Joseph says here,
provide for many people,
to provide not just for some people,
but for the future nation.
And so God is in many ways
framed by this as the one orchestrating it all.
We’ve said that
countless times now in the study,
Clint, but it’s amazing to hear that explicitly now named by Joseph at the end.
Yeah, and it is that line specifically that has caused a lot of diversity probably and how it could be understood.
You meant it for evil,
but God meant it for good.
On the positive,
this can mean that in spite of human inclination,
in spite of human behavior,
God is working to redeem good.
God is working to bring human activity into his plan and move
forward in such a way that
his actions protect and prolong and gather a people.
There are those, though, who read this and say, “Well,
that God did the thing,” that this must
mean that God made the brothers do that to Joseph,
that God directed the evil in order to bring about
good.
And our theologians in the family,
our historic people,
the Reformed Church,
Presbyterian Church,
have argued strongly historically that God is not capable of evil,
nor does God do evil or condone evil or use evil,
but God works in spite of the evil that people do
to bring about good.
And so, I think there is a divide here.
On one hand, this is a very
strong affirmation of God’s work in the face of human flaws and failures.
On the other hand,
if you take it too far,
you can be in danger of sort of the idea that when something terrible
happens, it’s because God wants to do something good with it.
And I think we belong to a tradition
that has been very reluctant and very cautious to suggest that God could at any level be held
accountable for the evil.
We get credit for the evil done.
God gets credit for the good.
That is not explicitly clear in this verse,
but from our tradition,
that’s how we have interpreted
it, and I think that matters.
Well, I would point us here,
Clint, to verse 21, where it says, in this way, “He,” being Joseph,
“reassured them,” speaking kindly to them.
What that tells us is the
intention of the words that came before,
that the idea that was being communicated,
and clearly that was an idea of comfort,
an idea of consolation,
or here the word translated,
you know, of reassurance.
So,
when we understand that,
then we need to recognize that this previous
statement is not one that’s intended to reveal the nature of God or how God works in the face of evil.
Now,
it is that, but that’s not the point.
The point that is being communicated here is that you
can have comfort because the providential God has worked in spite of the evil that was done
and the intentionality of evil.
Now, you know, if we want to have a conversation with theologians
about, you know, who bears what part of that,
I think that’s an interesting conversation,
but when we’re reading a scriptural text like this and we see something like that,
this reassurance, I think it should be for us a reminder that fundamentally,
in the midst of complicated
lives, where, you know, today we could speak to in our own experience all of the things happening
in our individual lives,
in our national and international world,
sort of the state of humanity even,
that it can feel like grasping in the dark.
It can feel like
having,
being moored to nothing
and seeking and striving to find some place of comfort,
a shed of light in the middle of deep black.
What we’re told here is that even in a moment of struggle,
we can be comforted and
certainly this would have a meaning to the Israelites in a period of exile that would
come later as they returned to a text like this.
Surely this must have, for them,
communicated a kind of comfort in even knowing that as God worked in Joseph’s life to bring about good amidst objective evil,
that the same could happen for them.
And so, you know, I hope that these words
would mean the same for us.
What it teaches us about God,
that’s a good conversation,
but what it should affect in our souls,
I mean, I think that is clearly named as one of the purposes in the text.
Yeah, I think Joseph here displays tremendous confidence, tremendous faithfulness.
Even though you intended to harm me,
God intended me to do good and it shouldn’t be missed that this
allows him, he makes this conversation,
makes this statement in a conversation about forgiveness.
His brothers have asked his forgiveness and he essentially says,
“It’s not my place.
God forgives,
but God is working in this to bring good.” And the other thing that’s very fascinating,
I don’t know if I’ve thought about this before, Michael,
I cannot think of another biblical character who
we get told weeps as much as Joseph.
Every time he has a conversation with his brothers,
he weeps, he wept over his father.
We just saw that on Tuesday.
And so here we have, you know,
Joseph wept when they spoke to him and his brothers wept.
It’s not explicitly clear,
but there’s a wonderful thread of reconciliation that goes through these stories.
And ultimately, I think it is this confidence from Joseph.
God meant it for good.
God is working to bring good
that allows him, I think, to treat his brothers graciously.
He truly, genuinely believes
that despite the bad that has happened to him,
God is at work for good and that he is a part of
that process, that he has been placed in a role in order to have a participation in that.
And it seems to me, at least,
that’s his bridge to graciousness.
And there is a deep lesson in
that for us.
And I think if you read this text through that lens,
it is incredibly devotional.
It’s incredibly challenging.
It’s incredibly helpful.
Clint, you know, a thing that is a small detail in this story,
but I think important,
it says here in verse 18,
“We are here as your slaves.” You know,
this is a really interesting language.
If you know what’s about to happen in just
literally a few words,
paragraphs, we’re going to be moving into Exodus.
And very quickly,
we come to know that the Israelites have become actual slaves.
And what is really,
really interesting from a reformed perspective is,
you know,
we in the reformed tradition emphasize that ultimately,
we are subject to God.
As God is creator,
we are ultimately the created.
And so there’s nothing that we possess that is innately ours.
So we can’t innately
own
even the things of our life.
We’re made stewards of these things.
And so when they offer themselves
to their brother as a way, a token,
a sign of making amends,
it is striking here that that is
when Joseph turns to these words,
when he says, “No,
you can’t make payment.
You can’t give of
yourself to earn the reconciliation.” I’m adding some here.
I’m extrapolating.
But there’s a kind
of beauty in recognizing that only God can do that work.
And God has done that work.
And there is this
beautiful narrative arc that’s turned to,
as you say, Clint, the weeping,
the reconciliation,
there’s a beautiful moment here where God has done this thing that no human could have done.
And even though the brothers seem to,
maybe they don’t trust it,
or maybe they’re a little wary of
it, it’s clear that Joseph has landed strongly here in the text to make that an explicit offering
that this is God’s work and it’s not for me or for you to do.
Yeah, and probably beyond the text,
but if I were preaching this text,
I think I would certainly
make note of the fact that when they say slaves,
that that is exactly where Joseph ended up because of them.
Joseph’s own slavery is tied to their actions.
So a really powerful text.
This is one of those texts I think that you could easily unpack for a long time.
There’s a lot in it.
It’s wonderful, devotional, deep material.
It does lead us then to the last words of Genesis.
So let me read those and then we’ll cover those quickly.
“So Joseph remained in Egypt.
He and his father’s
household and Joseph lived 110 years.
Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation and
the children of Makir son of Manasseh were also born on Joseph’s knees.
Then Joseph said to his brothers,
‘I’m about to die,
but God will surely come to you and bring you up out of the land to
the land that he swore to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob.’ So Joseph made the Israelite swear saying,
‘When God comes to you,
you shall carry my bones up from here.’ And Joseph died being 110 years old.
He was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.” So not a lot here.
We’ve seen this kind of formula before.
Joseph
has a blessed, later life.
He sees grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
It’s a nice way that the Hebrew says it.
They were also born on his knees.
Literally, you can think of
how a grandfather would hold a child on his lap,
and that’s the image here.
And then when he knows
it’s about his time, interestingly,
though one of the youngest brothers,
the other brothers are
written into the story as still alive,
so he is one of the first,
maybe the first to pass away,
at least in the context of Genesis.
And he tells them,
“As all the ancestors have,
when you leave this place, God is about to take you up,
and when you leave this place,
take my bones with you
to our own land.” But true of Joseph’s story,
he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.
Joseph is one of the major characters of the story whose primary work doesn’t happen in Israel,
that happens in Egypt.
Joseph, in some ways,
is Egyptian.
Remember his wife, his children.
There is a deeper tie for
Joseph to another nation than really any other character I can
think of, certainly any character in Genesis.
And maybe
in the Old Testament you could argue Daniel, Persia.
There would
be others who you could—but Joseph is deeply tied to Egypt.
That’s the point that I think I’m trying to make here.
And the last
line is that he’s placed in a coffin in Egypt.
And I think that is—I don’t think that’s an accident.
I think he ends there on purpose.
Yeah,
this is,
in its economy of words,
or just the lack of details here,
is unbelievably effective.
Look at the end here,
verse 25.
“When God comes to you,
you shall carry up my bones
from here.” When is a powerful word.
Not if,
not someday,
far down the road,
but a firm confidence,
the same kind of confidence he had that God had worked for good.
It’s now the confidence in which he says,
“When God comes,
then it’s time for you to take my bones.” That is
fundamentally
the experience of Genesis.
That God will lead.
That God will be faithful to the promise.
And when that happens,
in time,
I want you to move my body.
Now, it’s not going to surprise you to know
that the Old Testament is going to tell us that that’s exactly what happens in the future.
You’re promise is fulfilled and that Joseph is indeed moved to the land of the ancestors because—and
this is going to transition into next week,
Clint—because this is all one story.
The scriptures are one story.
Yes, there are books and there are different ways in which we can see that those books are unique,
but we can also see this promise that was made has been threaded throughout.
And now we see Joseph looking ahead,
even at the point of his death,
to say, “Watch this thread.
It’s going to happen.” And so as a reader,
you know, it’s in our calling,
as those who submit
to scripture, as Christians who try to take scripture seriously,
to hear in Joseph’s words
an invitation to look ahead and to see what does happen when God comes.
And, you know,
Clint,
in many ways,
that when language at the moment of like the Exodus,
which becomes one of the pivotal
moments of the understanding of who God is in all of the scriptures,
is fulfilled by simple words like this.
So these,
the economy, the words may be small.
The sentences aren’t long.
The paragraph’s not huge.
But what this both communicates as it summarizes and what it foreshadows as to what
will happen is substantial.
And that’s a gift.
Yeah, I will save this for some of this for next
week.
But Joseph is a fascinating character.
And I think, in many ways, a powerful ending
to the book of Genesis to focus on Joseph’s story.
His story is transitional,
but his story is deep.
You know, we saw how many chapters were dedicated,
essentially, to his narrative.
And the idea that
this is a man who has suffered but remained confident in God.
He’s had to wrestle with
forgiveness.
He was hurt by his own family.
He
had supernatural insight into things,
yet was a man of integrity and follow through.
A really interesting character.
In some ways, we don’t know as much about him.
The scripture has an economy when it comes to
Joseph and doesn’t praise him and say some of the things we saw about his ancestors.
But in other ways,
it’d be hard to make a case he’s the signature character of Genesis.
But certainly, the Bible pays a lot of attention to the Joseph story,
particularly as it comes back together with
the brothers and with Jacob and becomes Israel’s,
the beginning, really the origin,
the Genesis, if you will,
of Israel’s story.
And Israel’s story, unfortunately, takes a very dark turn early.
And we’ll look at that next week as we think about this book in context with the rest.
So I hope you can join us next week because we will offer some thoughts on the place of Genesis
and some final thoughts on what we learned from it.
But really,
I think a really good ending.
It’s been great to have you with us today,
this week, and all the months
prior.
We look forward to seeing you next week as we finish it up.