“He turned away from them and began to weep, but then turned back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.”
~ Genesis 42:24
Hi James and Ellen,
If one of the kids at your school did something that maligned you, how would you feel? If one of the kids who you know in your neighborhood stole something from you, how would you feel? If one of the kids who go to your church tells a story to another kid about you that is not true, how would you feel? Would you be able to forgive the kid who slurred you at school and forget what he or she did to you? Would you be able to forgive the kid who you know in your neighborhood who took something from you and forget what he or she did to you? Would you be able to forgive the kid from your church who blabbed a story to another kid about you that was not true and forget what he or she did to you? To forgive a kid and to forget what he or she did – like a kid at your school who tore up the art project that you had just finished, like a kid who you know in your neighborhood who stole your bicycle and like a kid who goes to your church who tells another kid in your church that you tell lies when you do not tell lies, is not easy to do. A kid who went to the church that your grandpaa went to with his dad, ma and siblings thought that it was cool to hit your grandpaa’s chest really hard with one of his fists. If your grandpaa should happen to cross paths with Derk today, your grandpaa would remember how it felt when Derk hit your grandpaa in the chest with one of his fists and . . . your grandpaa does not think that he would find it easy still to talk with Derk if he should happen to cross paths with Derk today. Ten days after your grandmaa and grandpaa moved into a house in a Guatemala City suburb called San Cristobal, thieves broke into the house and stole their camera, TV, VCR, a two dollar bill and some of your grandmaa’s jewelry. A neighbor saw the vehicle that the thieves had backed into the driveway of the house that your grandmaa and grandpaa had moved into – to load up with things that . . . the neighbor described the vehicle to your grandmaa and grandpaa that the thieves backed into the driveway as being a gray Toyota hatchback. For months after your grandmaa and grandpaa had things stolen from their house, your grandpaa each time when he saw a gray Toyota hatchback being someplace on a street, your grandpaa would have an urge to run into the gray Toyota hatchback. When your grandpaa was a missionary in Bolivia, an acting Field Director called your grandpaa into one the South American Mission mission base’s rooms to tell your grandpaa to stop talking about him to other missionaries. Because your grandpaa had not been talking about Kirk to other missionaries, your grandpaa was not happy at all that Kirk was accusing your grandpaa of doing what your grandpaa was not doing. Even though it really bothered your grandpaa at the time, your grandpaa knew that he had to put what Kirk said to him behind him. Your grandmaa and grandpaa were able to have some really good times with Kirk and his wife Kate – eating out together in a favorite restaurant, during the years after that while they were field team missionaries together in Bolivia.
If you had big bros, how would you like to have them put you into a dry well because they did not like what you told them about a couple of dreams that you had? How would you like to have a couple of your big bros sell you to some Midianite traders who were passing by in a camel caravan? What would you do if you saw your big bros again – especially the bros who were the ones who had first put you into a dry well and then who sold you to some Midianite traders who were passing by in a camel caravan? If you had been Joseph 3900 years ago, your grandpaa is sure that you would not have been cool with your big bros for what they did to you when they decided to first put you into a dry well and then when they decided to sell you to some Midianite traders who were passing by in a camel caravan. The Midianite traders took Joseph to Egypt where they sold him to Potiphar. Potiphar was the manager of the Egyptian Pharaoh’s household affairs. Joseph – because what took place was a God thing in the first place, after a number of years found himself in Egypt in a position that gave him a lot of power and prestige. After the Egyptian Pharaoh had two dreams that no Egyptian sorcerer or medium could interpret, the unique occurrences that God had planned out before He created planet Earth had the Egyptian Pharaoh asking Joseph to interpret the dreams. Both dreams warned of an impending seven year famine. When Joseph told the Egyptian Pharaoh that his dreams warned of an impending seven year famine, the Egyptian Pharaoh gave Joseph the job of preparing for this seven year famine by seeing to it that tons of grain was stored and then to be the guy to oversee this stored up grain.
Moses recounts in Genesis 42 what happened next. The seven year famine did not just affect guys, gals and kids who were living in Egypt; this seven year famine also affected guys, gals and kids who were living in Canaan. Joseph’s dad and Joseph’s bros were living in Canaan. When Joseph’s dad – Jacob, heard that grain had been stored up in Egypt, Jacob sent his ten oldest sons to Egypt to buy some of the grain that had been stored up there so that they would have something to eat. Joseph recognized his big bros when they arrived at where he was to buy grain. Joseph’s bros did not recognize him. If you had been Joseph at that moment, would you have told your big bros who you were? If you had been Joseph at that moment, would you have sold your big bros grain after all that they had done to him? Joseph called his big bros spies and demanded that they go back to his dad’s place to bring back to Egypt his kid bro – Benjamin. Verse 24 says how Joseph really felt, “He turned away from them and began to weep, but then turned back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.” If another kid did something averse to you, would you forgive that kid just as Joseph was willing to do with his bros?
Genesis 42 (418)