Remembering, commemorating, and cherishing life (Genesis 50:20)

Remembering, commemorating, and cherishing life

 

 

 

 

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (Genesis 50:20).

 

 

 

 

               We should not dwell in the past.  Instead, we must remember the grace that God has bestowed upon us in the past.  Not only should we remember, but we should also celebrate the grace that God has given us in the past, in the present.  In doing so, we can experience the true joy that God provides.

 

Today’s passage, Genesis 50:20, is Joseph's words to his brothers, as he remembers and commemorates the grace that God had bestowed upon him in the past.  I want to reflect on how Joseph remembered and commemorated the grace of God in three ways.

 

First, those who remember and commemorate the grace of God bestowed in the past, while celebrating in the present, view every situation from God's perspective.

 

Joseph, at the age of seventeen (Gen. 37:2), was disliked by his ten brothers for three reasons: (1) Joseph reported his brothers' wrongdoings to his father Jacob (v. 2), (2) Joseph was loved deeply by his father Jacob (v. 3), and (3) Joseph had dreams from God (v. 5).  As a result, Joseph was nearly killed by his ten older brothers (vv. 18-20), thrown into an empty pit (v. 24), sold to the Ishmaelite traders (v. 28), and eventually purchased by Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh in Egypt (39:1).  He served in Potiphar's house as an overseer (v. 4).  In the midst of such circumstance, Joseph, who was handsome in form and appearance (v. 6), faced persistent temptations from Potiphar's wife (vv. 7, 10, 12).  However, when they were alone, he resisted her advances, leaving his garment in her hands as he fled from the house (vv. 11-12).  Due to her false accusation (vv. 14-18), Joseph was unjustly imprisoned (v. 20).  If Joseph had later reflected on his past, when he became the prime minister of Egypt at about thirty years old (41:46), and only dwelled on the hardships and suffering he endured, he likely would have lived with resentment and sought revenge, sharpening the blade of vengeance in his heart.  However, Joseph did not do so.  Instead, he remembered the grace that God had shown him in the past.  What was this grace?  It was the fact that God was with Joseph, making him successful in all he did (39:2, 3, 21, 23).  Specifically, Joseph remembered that even when he was unfairly accused and imprisoned, God was with him, showing him kindness, which ultimately led him to find favor with the chief jailer (v. 21).  Because of this, when Joseph became the prime minister of Egypt, approximately nine years later [30 years old as prime minister + 7 years of plenty + 2 years (45:6) = 39 years old], he confessed to his brothers in this manner: “Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life” (45:5), "God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.  Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; …" (vv. 7-8a).  How was Joseph able to confess this to his brothers?  It was because Joseph remembered God's grace.  He recalled God's grace not only in his past experiences but also in every situation, viewing them from God's perspective.  Even though he was initially despised by his brothers and almost killed, even enduring imprisonment and further confinement in Egypt, Joseph came to realize that God's purpose in making him the prime minister of Egypt was to preserve his brothers' lives and to ensure the future of their descendants in this world (v. 7).  Therefore, he could confess to his brothers, ‘It was not you who sent me here, but God’ (v. 8).

 

Like Joseph, we should be able to view our lives and every situation from God's perspective.  To do this, we must remember the grace that God has bestowed upon us in our past.  When we remember God's abundant grace, we are able to see the events in our current lives from God's perspective.  We come to realize that what is happening in our lives is not a mere coincidence, but rather a result of God's good, pleasing, and perfect will (Rom. 12:2).  We also acknowledge that God's will has been unfolding in our lives from the past, and we earnestly desire for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

 

Second, those who remember the grace of God bestowed in the past, while celebrating in the present, serve their family members with the heart of God.

 

How did Joseph serve his family members?

 

(1)   Joseph forgave his brothers, who had hated him to the point of wanting to kill him.

 

If Joseph had not forgiven his brothers, he surely would have sought revenge against them.  However, Joseph did not do so.  Because God was with him and he experienced prosperity, Joseph looked back on his past years from God's perspective. I n doing so, he came to realize that God had sent him ahead of his brothers to Egypt in order to preserve their lives and establish their descendants in this world.  Thus, Joseph forgave them.  We can see evidence of this in the name he gave to his firstborn son in Egypt.  Joseph named him "Manasseh," meaning "God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household" (Gen. 41:51).

 

(2)   Joseph not only forgave his brothers, who had tried to kill him, but also showed them kindness.

 

When they came down to Egypt twice to buy grain from him, Joseph not only provided them with grain (42:26, 44:1) and money (42:28, 44:1), clothings (45:21-22), ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and other supplies (v. 23).  When Jacob and his entire family came down to Egypt, Joseph presented them with the best of Egypt's produce, calling it “the best of the land of Egypt" (45:18) and "the best of all the land of Egypt" (v. 20, see also 47:6, 11).

 

(3)   After Jacob's death, when Joseph's brothers were afraid that he might bear a grudge against them and repay them for the wrongs they had done to him (50:15), they falsely claimed that Jacob had left instructions for Joseph to forgive them (verses 16-17). Upon hearing this, Joseph wept (verse 17) and reassured his brothers, who had prostrated themselves before him (verse 18), with earnest words of comfort (verse 21): "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?  As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones" (vv. 19-21a).

 

How was this possible? How could Joseph not only forgive his brothers, who had once plotted to kill him out of hatred, but also generously provide for them, and comfort them as they trembled in fear?  Shouldn't Joseph have been the one to seek comfort instead?  How was he able to comfort his brothers instead of seeking it for himself?  How could he serve his brothers and entire family?  The reason lies in the fact that Joseph truly understood God's grace.  Joseph's heart was not filled with hatred, resentment, or a desire for revenge; instead, it was overflowing with God's grace.  Because of this, Joseph was able to serve his brothers and entire family with the heart of God.

How about us?  Are we truly serving our family members with the heart of God?  Are we genuinely forgiving our family members, just as Jesus forgave us, sinful as we are, even those who have caused us pain and hurt?  Or do we forgive the faults of our church members but withhold forgiveness from our flesh-and-blood family?  Are we living our lives by generously providing for our family members, or are we living in discontent and complaint, desiring to receive rather than give?  Are we comforting those in fear and pain among our family, speaking words of earnest consolation, as Joseph did?  If we do not know God's grace, we might live with strained relationships, withholding forgiveness.  If we have forgotten God's grace, we might expect to receive more than we give.  If we treat God's grace lightly, we may seek comfort rather than giving it.  Such thoughts and actions would diminish the great grace that God has already bestowed upon us.  Therefore, we must not allow it.  We must not squander the grace we have received from God.  We must never devalue God's grace.  Instead, we must remember God's grace and serve our families like Joseph, empowered by that grace.  We must serve not with our hearts, but with God's heart.  And in our service, let us serve our family members as Jesus did.

 

How are our lives, both yours and mine, unfolding?  Are we truly living lives that are beautiful in the eyes of God?  Are we faithfully carrying out the missions entrusted to us within God's grand plan of salvation?  Are we preparing for a death that is beautiful in God's sight?  I pray that we, you and I, who commemorate and remember the grace bestowed in the past, may live in the present.  I hope that we may commemorate while viewing everything from God's perspective.  Additionally, I pray that we may humbly serve our earthly family members and our spiritual family members in the church with God's heart.  Furthermore, I hope and pray that we may hold fast to the promise of God's word and faithfully bear the missions entrusted to us.  In the midst of all this, I pray that we may be able to welcome a death that is beautiful in God's sight.

 

 

 

 

 

Remembering and commemorating in the present, while desiring to taste the spiritual joy in God's presence,

 

 

 

 

James

(Praying that we may live a life savoring the spiritual joy in God's presence as we remember and commemorate)