How do you forgive a person who has ruined your life? How do you forgive people who have spent their lives working harm and evil against you? We have a saying, “Time heals all wounds.” I don’t know that “heal” is the right word. Maybe the word “forgets” may be more accurate because once the harm is brought back to mind, the hurt from the wound quickly returns to our minds and hearts. While healing can happen, the scars can still remain. Some of the hurts in my life reach 40 years back now. But they are not gone. They are healing but they are not gone. We have been looking at the life of Joseph and looking at where God is in the midst of suffering. Jacob has died and Joseph and his brothers have buried their father in Canaan just as he instructed. But this leaves Joseph with these brothers who hated him, wanted him dead, and sold him into slavery. We are told back in Genesis 47:28 that Jacob will live 17 years in Egypt. This means it has been about 40 years since Joseph’s brothers have sold him into slavery. What will Joseph do with his brothers now that his father is dead? What has Joseph learned about God for these 40 years?
Great Fear (Genesis 50:15-18)
You will notice in Genesis 50:15 that Joseph’s brothers do not believe that time heals all wounds. They are afraid now that their father has died. They are afraid that Joseph is going to hold a grudge against them and retaliate against them. They are afraid that Joseph will “pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” Notice that the brothers do not think that this would be unjust. They are afraid of payback. They are afraid that Joseph will hate them because they hated him. The brothers clearly understand that they did wrong to their brother.
But they do not run away. Instead, they seek a path to forgiveness. They send a message to Joseph that came from their father before he died. The instructions are found in verse 17. Jacob said, “I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrong they committed in treating you so badly.” The ESV reads, “…because they did evil to you.” This is what their father said to do. Forgive the sins and transgressions of these who have sinned against you. Further, the brothers include their own message at the end of verse 17. Notice that these brothers ask Joseph for forgiveness. Our father asked you to forgive and we are asking you to forgive. Then look at verse 18. The brothers come to Joseph and bow down, pleading for forgiveness. They said, “We are your servants.” We see three things from these brothers. They ask for forgiveness based on their father. They ask for forgiveness for themselves because they know they have done wrong. Further, they show their sincerity, bowing on the ground pleading for forgiveness. I want you to notice at the end of verse 17 that the message has moved Joseph. Joseph is moved to tears from their message. But what is Joseph going to do? We have seen Joseph cry when seeing his brothers, but continue with his own plans for his brother, Benjamin. What will Joseph do now that their father is dead and these brothers are truly in his hands for repayment for all the evil they did to him?
Great Forgiveness (Genesis 50:19-26)
Notice the first words Joseph has for his brothers in verse 19. “Do not be afraid.” Joseph does not say, “You better be afraid!” Rather, Joseph immediately alleviates their fears. I am not going to retaliate. I am not going to repay for all the suffering you have inflicted on me. You are coming to me and there is no need for fear. In fact, I want you to jump to the end of verse 21. Notice that we are told that Joseph comforted his brothers and spoke kindly to them. How does Joseph do this? How is Joseph able to speak kindly to his brothers and comfort them in spite of all that they did to him? I want you to notice that Joseph proclaims three reasons for how he is able to forgive and do good to his brothers.
First, Joseph says that he is not in the place of God (Genesis 50:19). What does Joseph mean by this? What Joseph means is that it is not his place to punish. It is not his place to deal out justice or give retribution. That job belongs to God, not to us. The apostle Paul taught this very important truth to the Christians in Rome.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19 ESV)
Notice that Paul says that repayment is God’s job, not ours. We are not the dealers of justice on others. That work belongs to God alone. Joseph understands this truth and he expresses this to his brothers. God will do the judging. God will repay what needs to be made right, not me. Justice is not in our hands and not our prerogative. Friends, we are living in a time where we see people trying to use Christianity as a means of enforcing social justice and putting things to right. But this is not our work. This is not our job. This is God’s work. Christ is the one who will put things to right and enforce justice, not us. We cannot lose track of our mission by worrying about justice. We do not need to worry about justice because we are not in the place of God.
But please notice that this is the first step to forgiveness. We will never be able to forgive people if we think that we need to be the one to repay them for what they did. But we will more easily forgive people when we remember that God will take care of any wrongs you have experienced.
Second, Joseph notes that God has been at work in verse 20. Notice what Joseph understands about God and about his brothers. Joseph does not deny that his brothers did evil. They did evil. They did intend harm. They meant to hurt Joseph. Joseph also does not deny their motives. Joseph is not absolving his brothers of their guilt or denying their sin. But Joseph says that God was at work. In fact, Joseph is able to say that God meant it for good. This might be one of the hardest truths to accept yet it is a truth that God puts into practice repeatedly in the scriptures:
God accomplishes his plan through the evil intent and actions of others. God is at work even when evil is going on. Joseph understands that all the evil his brothers intended and accomplished was ultimately God working to accomplish his purposes. As much as this can be stunning, we have the greatest picture of this truth in the cross. The evil intent and actions of Judas was used by God to accomplish his purposes. The evil intent and actions of the Jewish and Roman leaders was God at work to accomplish his purposes. It is hard a truth to remember when we are experiencing suffering and evil. But God is working even when we are experience evil or suffering. This is what the apostles preached to the crowds after the resurrection of Jesus. They repeatedly declared that God was at work through they had evil hearts to crucify the Son of God (cf. Acts 2:23; 3:13-18; 4:24-28; 13:28-29).
In fact, I would like to push this point even more strongly into our hearts. God must work through the evil of others because there is no other people to work through. Since none of us are perfect or righteous, then God’s only way to work is through sinful and wicked people. So, while others may be doing evil against us, this does not mean that God is not working through those events to accomplish his plans. Just as God was using these brothers’ evil to keep many alive, so God was using Judas and the Jewish and Roman leaders to save the world. This does not eliminate their accountability regarding their evil. But it shows that God can overcome evil with good.
This is the second step to being a forgiving people. God can be accomplishing his purposes and doing good through the evil that we are experiencing. I can forgive because I know God is at work. I can forgive because I know God is accomplishing his will through the circumstances. This is a powerful way to trust in the sovereignty of God. This is what opens us up to do good in the face of evil. It is what God expects us to do. God expects us to overcome evil with good because that is exactly what he is doing (cf. Romans 12:21).
The final picture is simply the great faith Joseph has for his future (Genesis 50:22-26). Like his father, he knows that God will be faithful to his promises and bring his people back to the promised land. So he makes his family take an oath that when they go to the promised land to take his embalmed body with him so that he will rest in the promised land. Joseph has the faith that God will do as he said and bring him home. In spite of all that Joseph has experienced, he is still looking to God because God will complete what he began with him. God has carried Joseph through his fractured family, through false accusations, through the pit, through the hatred, and throughout his whole life to get him home. In fact, of all the ways we see faith in Joseph, the writer of Hebrews in chapter 11 points to these final verses as his example of Joseph’s great faith.
This is the final step of our forgiveness process. We can forgive because we know God’s great purpose is to bring us home. How sad it would be to miss out on our eternal home because of our unwillingness to forgive? How awful it will be to miss out on going to our promised home because we felt the need to bring retribution on someone now rather than leaving all these things to God? Remember Jesus’ warning: he will not forgive us on the final day if we are unwilling to forgive one another (cf. Matthew 18:35).
It is easy to see Jesus as we conclude our study of Joseph. Jesus has forgiven us for all our offenses. He has told us to not be afraid. He is speaking kindly to us and promising to provide all that we need in spite of all our offenses against him. So we extend the forgiveness we have experienced from Jesus to others. They may mean it for evil when they harm us. But God meant it for good. Forgive because God is at work.