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The Glory of Mercy – Part 2 (Genesis 43:15-45:28 July 27, 2008)

One of the great debates of the Reformation was whether works plays a role in our salvation – or whether the grace and mercy of God alone saves. I have to admit some part of me is tempted to think that we contribute to our salvation – but the universal testimony of Scripture is that even the best of men are sinners deserving of hell and if they are to be saved – it will only be through the mercy of God. When you read the book of Genesis, it is impossible to come to the conclusion that man has anything to add to his salvation. Genesis displays for us the lives of the Patriarchs – the men of faith who were chosen by God to be the founders of a new nation – a chosen people. Yet the universal picture is one of men deeply coloured by sin – who desperately need the grace of God. Abraham – the man chosen as the father of the nation – was a moon-worshipper when he was called by God. He failed to fully obey the call of God and needed a second call to get him to Canaan. At the first sign of famine – he ended up in Egypt where he lied about Sarah and put the seed line at risk. He offered Lot the land of promise. He struggled to trust the promise of God. He took matters into his own hands by sleeping with Hagar. He lied about Sarah again with Abimelech. Then of course there is his nephew Lot – move near Sodom, move into Sodom, become a leader in Sodom, absorb the values of Sodom, offer daughters to the mob, sleep with daughters – Lot. Yet he is called a righteous man – so clearly any righteousness he has is not his own – it can only be based on the grace of God. His son Isaac – ignores the word of God that the line of blessing is to pass through Jacob and does everything he can to give the blessing to Esau. He also lies to Abimelech concerning his wife Rebekah. And the next Patriarch is Jacob – a man I find hard to warm to. He deceives his brother Esau to get the birthright and his father Isaac to get the blessing. He is concerned about money and the here and now. He ends up with four wives. His open favouritism and lack of leadership cause his family to implode. He fails to look after his daughter

The Glory of Mercy – Part 2Genesis 43:15-45:28

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leading to her rape. He lets his sons lead and they kill a whole city. His overt favouritism for Joseph leads his brothers to hate him and sell him into slavery. He becomes angry at God for seemingly allowing Joseph to die and he refuses to change until he has no choice. And the sons are little better. Rueben sleeps with his step-mother. Simeon and Levi wipe out a whole city. Judah ignores his role as a father – leading to two sons being killed by the Lord and then ends up sleeping with his daughter-in-law. The ten brothers plan to kill Joseph but settle for selling him into slavery and then lie to their father causing him years of immense pain. These are the Patriarchs of the chosen people. The overall force of Genesis is that God does not choose men based on their godliness and sterling character. Nor is it their works that save them. But it is here that the glory of Genesis comes into play. As we come to the end of the book of Genesis – Joseph becomes a picture of the plan of God in salvation. Throughout Genesis – we have seen two great themes. The first is the theme of the seed line. God will send a Saviour – a Messiah to save men and undo the effects of the fall. The second theme is that the salvation that comes through Messiah is undeserved – and based entirely on the grace and mercy of God. Joseph is not the promised Messiah. In fact we find that the seed line leading to Messiah does not even pass through him. But Joseph becomes a picture – a type – of how Messiah will show mercy on sinners and forgive them. And the heart of the Joseph story is one long narrative – chapters 42-45 of Genesis. Last week we looked at the first part of this incredible story. Joseph had been sold into slavery by the sin of his brothers. Thirteen years as a slave and prisoner – before God raised him from prison to the palace and made him the vice-regent of Egypt – second only to Pharaoh. For seven years Joseph collected one fifth of the incredibly abundant harvest. Then came the start of a devastating famine. By the second year – the chosen family in Canaan were suffering and the brothers were forced to face the sin they had buried by journeying to Egypt in search of food. Joseph’s dreams had prepared him for the ten brother’s coming. He had determined to test them. So when they arrived – he accused them of being spies and locked them in prison. The brothers saw this as the hand of God punishing them for what they did to Joseph.

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Initially Joseph had said – nine brothers will stay in prison and one will get Benjamin and return. He relented and sent nine home and kept one – Simeon. The brothers returned home and Jacob was in despair. These brothers go away and come back less one brother and with silver in their pockets – he suspects they had something to do with Joseph’s disappearance – and so he will not risk sending Benjamin – the last son of Rachel. But the famine is unrelenting. If they don’t return to Egypt – they will all starve. Jacob is forced to relent. And as we saw – at last there is the beginning of a thaw in relations between the family members and before God. Judah – who suggested selling the first son of Rachel into slavery – and was able to watch the pain in Jacob’s eyes for twenty-two years – finally he says enough! I will guarantee Benjamin’s safety. And there are echoes of some faith in God’s promise to create a nation from the family. As well, Jacob is forced to trust his sons. But even more – he is forced to trust God. Once again he is called Israel – Let God Rule. And significantly in Genesis 43:14 he says:

May God Almighty – El Shaddai – the God who made a covenant with our father Abraham to make us a nation – may He grant you mercy before the man.

And the nine brothers – plus Benjamin – head off to Egypt. The hope of these men was to go to Egypt – get Simeon – get grain and get out of there fast. But when Joseph heard they had arrived he told his steward – take them to my home – I will slaughter an animal and we will eat together at noon. The brothers are shown a great kindness – but because they are living under a cloud of guilt for what they did to Joseph – they immediately suspect foul play. They say – hang on. No one else coming to buy grain gets invited to the man’s home. He still thinks we are spies. He thinks we stole the silver. In fact they are thinking so irrationally – at the end of verse 18 – they say – boys – I know what he is after – its our donkeys – he wants to steal our donkeys. Let’s put this into perspective. This would be like me being invited to James Packer’s home – and me saying – why is he doing this? – I know – he wants to steal my eighteen year old Ford Laser. The vice-regent of Egypt does not go to all this trouble to steal a few donkeys – but their guilty conscience is making them think irrationally.

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So they find Joseph’s steward and cry – please – we aren’t thieves – we didn’t take the silver – in fact we brought that silver and more to buy grain – we are innocent men. And then comes this remarkable verse. Chapter 43 verse 23:

“It’s all right,” he said. “Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver.”

What a rebuke – this is an Egyptian speaking to the Hebrew Patriarchs – reminding them of the faithfulness of God. He starts off with the greeting – shalom – peace be to you. God’s peace be upon you. Then he basically says – listen – aren’t you the children of the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob? The God who said He would be with you and bless you. Your God blesses you by giving you silver and you think the worst. Your God blesses you by having you invited to a meal and you think the worst. Where is this faith that is supposed to mark your family? Your God must have put the treasure in your sacks – you know full well I received your silver – so why are you so frightened? These are remarkable words of faith from an Egyptian. Perhaps this steward has seen the power of faith first hand in the life of Joseph – faith that God works all things together for good. He has worked with Joseph for eight or nine years. He knows Joseph sees the hand of God in the events of slavery, prison, ruling and famine. Now the brothers turn up – and they don’t see the hand of God in anything that is happening. They are fearful – and he wants to know – where is your faith? But I think much more likely – these are the words Joseph told him to say. Joseph is testing them. Are they men of faith? Do they trust God? Joseph wants to know if they have learned to trust God in all things. Do they see all the events happening to them as being under the control of God? Do they trust the promise that God will turn them into a mighty nation which will bless the world? But either way, what a rebuke from the mouth of an Egyptian. Brothers and sisters – how often are we like these brothers? We fail to trust the hand of God in all things. Even blessings are treated with suspicion. And what a rebuke when it is the pagan neighbour or friend who says – aren’t you a Christian – why are you so worried about things – don’t you trust your God?

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So these brothers need a little more testing yet. The steward brought Simeon out to them and the brothers prepared to meet Joseph. They washed and prepared their gifts ready. Finally, Joseph arrives and he asks about their father. Then he sees Benjamin. The son of his beloved mother. Benjamin was but a boy – now he is a man. He utters a greeting to Benjamin – God be gracious to you, my son. At this point – Joseph is preparing for the next test. He is setting out to show favouritism toward Benjamin – to see how the brother’s respond to a son of Rachel who is marked out as a favourite. This was Joseph’s plan all along and why he was so insistent that Benjamin come down. God be gracious to you, my son. May the grace of your God be upon you. I am sure the brothers thought – he never uttered such a greeting to us – he accused us of being spies and threw us in prison – but he wants the grace of God to be on Benjamin. This statement can also mean that Joseph is singling Benjamin out as the one marked to be the successor to his father – the chosen son. I am sure this was premeditated – but the sight of Benjamin – the only other son of his mother – the one he had only known as a boy – now a man – it was too much for him. He ran out and wept. Finally, he washed his face and came back. The meal is then served – but again – this meal is designed to highlight Benjamin. According to custom – Joseph is served by himself. The Egyptians were together and the brothers together. As the meal began – the brother’s were astounded by two things. First, their seating arrangements. They were arranged perfectly – from oldest to youngest. And second, no one could miss that the youngest one – Benjamin – was receiving five helpings of every good thing from Joseph’s table. One bread for the brothers – five for Benjamin. One serve of lamb for the brothers – one, two, three, four, five – serves of lamb for Benjamin. The seating arrangements highlight Benjamin as the youngest and the five times helping along with the greeting have to mark him out as the favoured one. This has to bring back memories. What is it that wherever they go – the sons of Rachel are the golden boys?

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The brothers were astonished. They have to be asking what is going on? We came here expecting to become slaves. Instead we are given a banquet. And these seating arrangements can’t be random – the odds are astronomical. I need to ask Cathy Zerk or some mathematician – but I am told that the odds of randomly seating the brothers in the correct order are approaching 1 in 40 million. They are thinking – Is God at work? Does this man know something? And why is Benjamin the favoured one? There is no hint that they ever suspected that the man was Joseph – so most probably they finally decided to follow the advice of the steward and take these events as the blessing of God. El Shaddai had granted them mercy before the man – Benjamin would go home – they would have grain – so they feasted and drank freely with the man. But, the thought is planted – why does everyone favour Benjamin? Finally, they head home. Plenty of grain – Benjamin with them – all is good. But Joseph had instructed the steward to put his cup in Benjamin’s sack of grain. Most likely Joseph was drinking from this cup at the banquet. Just outside the city – the steward stops them and drops his bombshell, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil? The ruler of Egypt treats you well. He gives you a feast – he fills your sacks to overflowing with grain – and now you repay his kindness by stealing his cup? They say – no way! We are innocent men. We even brought back silver we thought had been put in our sacks by mistake – so why would we steal? Then they make a bold statement. We are so confident of our innocence that if any of us is found to have taken it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves. That is a fairly rash statement. But the steward is under instruction from Joseph – only Benjamin is to be singled out – so he says – look – I just want the thief. He will become my slave – the rest of you can go. He then begins searching the sacks – oldest to youngest. Again – the brothers have to be thinking – Rueben, Simeon, Levi, Judah … he is going from oldest to youngest. This can’t be random. Is this of God? Are our sins finally going to find us out? I would imagine that the brother’s began to get more and more anxious as the steward finally came to Benjamin – Benjamin has been the centre of everything.

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Unless he comes to Egypt – no grain. He gets the blessing. He gets the five times serving. Finally, his sack is opened. I would imagine eleven hearts were close to bursting. The sack is searched – and the steward finds something – it comes out – its the cup! They felt close to fainting. It just couldn’t be. We are innocent! I am sure that the options flashed before their eyes. Their choices are limited. They could try and fight. These men are handy with the sword. Remember Shechem. But we assume the steward came with enough men to make this impossible. So in a very real sense – they are faced with the decision they faced twenty-two years ago in Dothan. The life of a son of Rachel lies in the hands of the ten. Here is a son that everyone seems to favour. Everyone loves Ben. Dad sees him as the only real son. The man in Egypt liked him too. He will probably be the chosen son. Get rid of him and maybe we will finally be visible. The easy decision would be to throw Benjamin to the wolves – as they did with Joseph. One son of Rachel goes into slavery – the others return home. Do they abandon him to slavery in Egypt or not? In fact it would be easier to do this than it was with Joseph. This time there would not have to be the guilt of plotting to get rid of him – they had nothing to do with this situation. And they would not have to lie to Jacob – they could tell him the truth. But, we come to find that these are not the same brothers as twenty-two years ago. They make a difficult choice. We will all return to the city and we will plead with the man for Benjamin’s life. We will not leave a brother. We will not destroy our father. We are going back to the city. Twenty-two years ago – only Jacob tore his clothes – now all the brothers feel the pain of Benjamin and tear their clothes. There is one other factor at work here. All throughout this narrative we have seen that playing on them is their guilt for what they did to Joseph. They understand these events as the judgment of God. The steward was right – God put the silver in our sacks – and now God put the cup there. Our guilt has found us out. We might be innocent of stealing the cup – but the truth is – we are guilty of selling Joseph into slavery.

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They also realise that they have one hope and one hope alone. To find mercy before the man. On their arrival they threw themselves before Joseph – to ask for mercy. And once again – it is Judah who speaks up:

What can we say to my lord? What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants’ guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves—we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup.”

This is a fascinating speech. They know they are innocent with regard to taking the cup. And they know that Joseph only wants to punish Benjamin – but they say – we are guilty – we will be slaves – all of us – the ten and the one found with the cup. The key is this – God has uncovered your servants’ guilt. The whole situation – forced to decide whether to sacrifice one brother into slavery into Egypt – the parallels are too close – they see this as God uncovering their sin in regard to Joseph. They may have been innocent in regard to the cup – but they were guilty. We accept our punishment from God. Joseph pushes them:

Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace.

Don’t be fools – I just want the one who took my cup – Benjamin – the rest can go. The temptation is there. Father we went back and pled with the man. We offered to all stay as slaves. We tried everything. What happens next shows the change in these brothers. Judah steps up. In the longest speech recorded in Genesis – he pleads – if it is just one man you want – take me – my life for his life:

You said to your servants, ‘Bring your brother down to me so I can see him for myself.’ And we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.’ Our father would not let the boy come – but the famine made us come. I guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father. I said, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!’ Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father.”

Think about this. Twenty-two years ago – Judah was the one who suggested selling Joseph into slavery – now he says – let me be a slave in place of Benjamin.

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Twenty-two years ago – Judah cared so little for Jacob he would let him mourn daily for Joseph – now he says – I cannot bring such pain on my father. This is the father who says – I only have one real son – but Judah is now willing to do this for him. Judah is a changed man. In chapter 38 we saw the change in Judah. A man who brought up two godless sons – so godless the Lord killed them. A man who refused to do what was right in regard to his daughter-in-law. A man who was a hypocrite – he would sleep with a prostitute – but would order his daughter-in-law burned to death for prostitution. But when confronted with his hypocrisy and sin – we saw a changed heart. We saw repentance. This Judah is not the same man. He offers – my life for his life. Remember, Judah finally becomes the seed line. From Judah the Messiah comes. The one who lays down His life that we might live. In this way, this is a picture of what Christ will do for us. Joseph looks at his brother prostrate before him – offering his life for Benjamin’s – wanting to spare his father. Now he knows – they are ready – ready to become the promised nation – ready to serve the Lord in faith. Finally, Joseph can be done with the pretence. He clears the room of attendants. And he began to weep – all the twenty-two years pour forth in great sobs. All the Egyptians heard this. Imagine what was going through the brother’s heads. They are begging for Benjamin’s life. Judah offers himself in place of Benjamin. The man – the ruler – the one who has their lives in his hand orders the room cleared and begins to weep in great sobs. They must have wondered what was going on. Were they all dead? Had their appeal for mercy and the tale of their father touched a cord? What was going on? Then in Chapter 45 verse 3 – he utters a couple of words – most likely in Hebrew:

I am Joseph! You can almost imagine the thought processes. They heard the words – I am Joseph. And they begin to try and make sense of them – Joseph – the only Joseph we know is our brother. But that can’t be this man. Then they hear his next words.

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Is my father still living?

My father – this man is claiming to be our Joseph. They look at his face – and ask – could it possibly be. This week I was reading the Courier Mail and I came to an article on Dennis Ferguson. There was a large picture of his barrister with the story – but I paid no attention to the picture. But as I was reading the article – it mentioned the name of his barrister. I shook my head – I know that name – it was one of my closest friends at high school. I looked back at the picture. Take away that ridiculous barrister wig. Take away a few kilos and thirty years – and yes – it was my friend – but I would never have picked him out in a thousand years. But when the name came up – then it all fit. And so it was with the brothers – Joseph – our Joseph. Take away the Egyptian clothing, headdress, makeup – and yes – it is our Joseph. But then their minds put everything together. This man – who holds our lives in his hand – is the one we contemplated killing and sold into the living hell of slavery. God is indeed punishing us for our sins – and this man has the power and the motivation to make sure our punishment is gruesome and painful. And his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!”

Yes – the one you sold into Egypt. I haven’t forgotten. This could get ugly. But what is incredible is that Joseph is not after revenge. All the years have given him perspective. Joseph is not after revenge – he knows he is a player in the great work of God.

And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. … But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

Three times he says – God sent me to Egypt. Then he says – God made me Lord of Egypt. You might have sold me into Egypt … but in reality it was not ultimately you who sent me here, but God. You and I are pawns in the great plan of God to effect His salvation.

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Joseph has processed the twenty-two years – the slavery – the prison – the rise to power. Read through this statement a few times. It is an incredible theological masterpiece. Remember, Joseph was but a boy when he left – no Bible – no other Christians in Egypt. But God enabled him to grasp the reality of what was happening. First, notice the theocentric nature of his understanding of the events of his life. God sent me. God raised me. God is ultimately in control. Father sending me, the dreams that angered you, the man who directed you to Dothan, Rueben being away, the Ishmaelite caravan, slavery, Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife, prison, the Baker and Cupbearer and their dreams, the forgetful Cupbearer, Pharaoh’s dreams, my rise to power, the abundance, the famine – every single step is under the control of God. It all works toward this day – the salvation of our nation. Perhaps my favourite expression of this theocentric view of events is found in Isaiah 46:9-13:

I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfil my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.

I decide everything that happens from the moment of creation to the end of time and nothing can change my purpose. A bird doesn’t fly across the sky except I decide. I use men as I will to fulfil my purposes. But then he says this:

Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, you who are far from righteousness. I am bringing my righteousness near, it is not far away; and my salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion, my splendour to Israel.

In the same way I am sovereign over events – I am sovereign over salvation – and I will bring about salvation in the way I choose. And He then goes on to say that the way He will bring about their salvation is to purify them through the oppression of Babylon and save them by sending His Servant – the Messiah. God does what He does to save His people. Joseph understands this. Notice the theologically freighted language. Genesis 45:7:

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But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

Wow! Do a study sometime on the words remnant, salvation and deliverance. God has His people and He will preserve them and deliver them and save them. These words are particularly associated with the Exodus and the Exile to Babylon. Verse 10:

[Come down to save] you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have.

Joseph understands the promise made to Abraham. God promised to build a nation from the descendants of Abraham. This nation has to be purified. The famine and the time in Egypt will turn them into a nation. To work this plan, the Lord sent Joseph ahead and raised him up to preserve a remnant – to save the lives of the nation by His great deliverance. He then told them that in the plan of God the famine had five more years to run. To save the nation – the whole family must move to Egypt. Look at verses 14 and 15:

Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.

This would have been an interesting conversation. A lot of healing and forgiveness needed to happen. Joseph had to forgive the brothers. Benjamin had to forgive the brothers who robbed him of his brother. The brothers had to forgive each other. The brothers had to come to realise that Joseph intended good for them not harm. We then find that Pharaoh himself invites the nation to enjoy the fruits of Egypt. Joseph then loads them up with gifts – carts, donkeys, silver – and to Benjamin – five times the gifts – but this time there is no hint of resentment from the brothers. He sent a magnificent gift to Jacob – the best of Egypt. Notice the new clothes. Clothes signify the change in status – they are being raised to be veritable princes in Egypt. We know that at this time in Egypt’s history that they were ruled by the Hyksos – a group of Semitic people who established a dynasty over Egypt. They were known to

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bring other Semitic people down to Egypt – so bringing Joseph’s family down fits with the history. Again – God is sovereign – at just the right time in history – Egypt is ruled by Semitic peoples who will welcome them. God is indeed sovereign. Notice that Joseph knows his brothers well. As they leave, he warned them not to fight among themselves – apportioning blame for these events – but to go – get Jacob and all the family and return quickly. When they arrived home and told Jacob, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.” Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. Of course he is stunned. Imagine the conversation that has to take place there.

How can he be alive? We saw his blood stained coat – the animal tore him to pieces. Don’t mess with an old man’s affections? I mean how did he end up in Egypt? Well father – there is more to the story – we have a confession to make of a terrible, terrible sin.

Can you picture the pain? Jacob coming to grips with the hatred his favouritism engendered in ten of his sons. Then having to realise that these sons sold their brother into slavery and lied to him and caused his mourning over his lost son for 22 years. Jacob has to ask forgiveness of his sons for his favouritism and leadership of the family. They have to ask forgiveness of their father for the lies and pain. Finally, the wounds that have torn this family apart are exposed and repentance and forgiveness heal them. Verses 27-28:

When they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, “I’m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

It is a hard thing to come to grips with your sin and the sin of your sons. But if this family are to take their place as Patriarchs there has to be forgiveness. And there has to be reconciliation with God. They reported the words of Joseph – God did this – He sent me – He raised me up – in order to save the nation. Then Jacob was convinced. God is in this. God is working all things together for good. Then Jacob revived – he would see his son before he died.

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This is a wonderful piece of narrative – and incredible story. But there are great lessons here for us. First, we see the sovereignty of God in all areas of our lives. In the events of our life and in our salvation. God works all things together in order to affect His plan of salvation. We need to see the hand of God in our lives and trust the hand of God on our lives. Every event – large and small is part of the divine tapestry of God for his people. We need to trust Him and live for Him. Read the stories of how various men and women were saved. Martin Luther, John Newton, Charles Spurgeon – you cannot help but see the hand of God in the trials and events that led to their salvation. Read the Bible, read church history – the One who knows the end from the beginning – He is orchestrating every event. But, there is a second purpose for this account. It becomes for us a picture of the Messiah to come and how He saves. Think about what it meant for the brothers when they heard the words – I am Joseph! The man they stood before held their lives in his hands. One snap of the fingers and they would be tortured, imprisoned or executed. And what is most galling – this is the man they have grievously sinned against. They deserved to be punished. We are not to miss that this is a picture of us before Jesus. Perhaps the most vivid memory I have of my conversion is when the truth of who I was and who Jesus was penetrated my mind. Like a great veil being removed from my eyes I knew that Jesus was God Himself – Creator, King, Judge. My life – my eternal life was entirely in His hands. But I also came to realise who I was – a sinner – a profane man. My sin had nailed the innocent Son of God to the cross. My sin had caused His pain. I fully deserved punishment. I was like Saul – when he saw a great light and fell to the ground and cried out – “Who are you, Lord?” only to hear – “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” I was like Isaiah –“Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” One day – every One of us will stand before Jesus – the Judge of all. And we will hear – I am Jesus – the One you nailed to the cross by your sin.

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And we will know – we are lost – fully deserving our fate. But this account tells us that there is one hope. The same hope the ten brothers had. The hope of mercy. The Lord gave us this account to picture His plan of mercy and the deliverance of a remnant. As Joseph had mercy on his brothers and blessed them, saved them, rewarded them, brought them to the land and gave them the best of the land – so Jesus blessed us, saved us, rewarded us, and will bring us to the land of heaven to enjoy it forever. Jacob sent his brothers to Egypt with the prayer:

May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man. How that prayer was answered. Similarly, our prayer has to be:

May God Almighty grant us mercy before the Man – Jesus. Because mercy is our only hope. When I was in High School – the first Shakespearian play we did was The Merchant of Venice. I knew that the most famous speech in that play was where Portia – disguised as a lawyer addresses Shylock. At school, I read the words – but I never understood them until I came to Christ. Shylock the Jew had a contract to extract a pound of flesh from Antonio. But Portia says that as a Jew he should understand mercy. I suspect that as the Old Bard penned these words – he may have had in mind Joseph and his brothers and did have in mind Christ and all of us. Listen to these words:

The quality of mercy is not strain’d, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: ‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God’s When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, Though justice be thy plea, consider this,

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That, in the course of justice, none of us Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy; And that same prayer doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy.

Mercy – is twice blessed. It blesses him that gives and him that takes. It befits a ruler better than his crown. Any King can show temporal force – but mercy is real power – above all earthly powers – it comes from heaven itself. It is an attribute to God himself; and earthly power is most like God’s when mercy seasons justice. If you want to be like God – then season justice with mercy. Then comes these words:

In the course of justice, none of us should see salvation: we do pray for mercy. If all we want is justice – then no one will ever be saved. Every one of us falls short of the glory of God. Justice says to the brothers – die for what you did to Joseph. Justice says to each of us – die for what you did to Jesus. But mercy says – you are forgiven. You are blessed. Reign with Me. That is the true message of Joseph. Every one of us is lost and deserving judgment. Our only hope is mercy. In this way, Joseph points to One far greater. One who will preserve a remnant and to save our lives by a great deliverance. And thus Genesis comes full circle. Adam sinned and was separated from God. The second Adam bore our penalty – forgave us – and by this mercy reconciled undeserving sinners to God. This is our gospel. In this we rejoice.