I have some thoughts on this subject that are pressing upon me. Forgiveness is a sweet and wonderful thing; something each one of us needs, every day of our lives. How blessed when we forgive one another, in tenderness, rather than hold on to the poison of bitterness until we are destroyed.
Christ said, "If you forgive not men their sins, neither shall God forgive your sins".
How often have we heard, "well, that is just UNFORGIVEABLE!" regarding a particular hurt, crime, or act of treason. But, we must consider that the hurt person may not simply be saying that they will not forgive, but perhaps, just that they cannot forget.
Forgiving and forgetting are separate issues, yet are cousins--close cousins to each other.
Joseph had the life. He was young, rich, his father's favorite, and had very soft hands; while his older brothers had to work the fields to provide for the family. They resented Joseph deeply. One day, while they are out working hard in the field, perhaps clearing rocks with their bare hands, acre after acre, Joseph was out for a leisurely stroll. He walked peacefully, letting his hand play over the rising grain, soaking up the sun, and wearing...
"What is that kid wearing now?"
The famous "coat of many colors". An obvious ostenatatious coat Daddy had custom made for him. Looking fine, feeling fine, nice tan, well rested...and, perhaps, one spoiled 17 year old.
Then, he lays upon his brothers a couple of dreams that he had---they work so hard that they are, perhaps, too exhausted to dream, and even if they dream, too exhausted to remember it! But the dreams have a theme: basically, Joseph stands before his family, and they bow to him.
This enrages them to the last straw and they conspire to commit murder. They will cover it up by taking his coat of many colors and soaking it in blood and saying to their elderly and indulgent father, "we found this coat. Obviously, some wild beast has devoured whoever was wearing it". They threw Joseph into a pit, (to kill him later) and brought the elderly Jacob the blood soaked coat. Jacob's heart broke within him.
Joseph, a real immature baby at his age, is in a pit and cannot climb out, as darkness falls. (one of his brothers could not bear to murder him, so convinced the rest to throw him in there; planning to rescue him later). I imagine Joseph crying out for his Papa, and as the night gets darker and colder, even for his Mommy. Men, even in war, when faced with death, often cried out "mama!" instinctively. Joseph must have prayed all night, after exhausting himself trying to climb out. He had pleaded with his brothers, begging them not to, promising them anything, and cried and cried as they walked away. Joseph must have prayed loud and strong to God: "Don't abandon me! Save me, Lord!". As Joseph is crying out to God, and the dawn is breaking, at last he hears footsteps! God has not abandoned him! He will live!
But his joy is short-lived as he learns that he has not been sold as a slave to Egypt. He will be marketed as a wild beast, tied hand, foot, arms, and shoved behind a camel, to be dragged to a foreign country, where he would see no recognizable faces, hear no recognizable languages, and have not much food....God has abandoned him. It must have been hell to Joseph.
Joseph now finds out that someone owns his labor. He no longer can take walks. In fact, in Egypt, unlike Israel, it is not so much that the masters own his labor, but they own HIM. He is worked 7 days a week, long, long hours (Egypt was well known to work foreign slaves to death). Joseph thinks that God has abandoned him.
But God has not.
God is with Joseph and blesses his labors. As the years past, the master, a wealthy eunuch (hey, don't ask) sees that whatever Joseph puts his hands to, increases. Joseph works his way up the workforce and is promoted highly. In fact, he is now the eunuch's "right hand man" and is living a good life. The eunuch is also married...talk about a frustrated wife.
She sees the Israeli Joseph and forgoes any great pick up lines and says, "lie with me!". Joseph, lonely, alone, and still a captive in a strange land, knows that a wealthy eunuch is going to have a beautiful wife. He refuses her and quickly leaves. He knows that if he hesitates....
Well, she is now a woman scorned. She keeps this up until Joseph finally and literally RUNS away from her, as she grabbed his clothing, which ripped. Bitterly rejected, she takes the torn garment to her husband and claims attempted rape! Joseph, falsely accused, is now thrown in prison. Again, he must feel that after all these years, he is absolutely destined to fail.
He is in prison and begins his labors there. Instead of rotting for years, he works hard and after awhile, is incharge of all the prisoners. In land two famous men that work for the King of Egypt, known as the Pharoah. Both men have dreams and Joseph interprets them, saying to one, "In 3 days, you will be taken and your head cut off", but to the other, "In 3 days you will be restored to your former glory. So, when you go before Pharoah, remember me to the king, for I am an innocent man".
The dreams fulfill perfectly, but....the survivor who is restored to the Pharoah is so happy and throws himself such a party, that he forgets Joseph.
Joseph spends 2 more years in prison.
He is no longer a boy, but a full grown 30 year old man. But, has God forgotten him?
Pharoah has a bad, bad dream. He calls in his people to interpret. They are nervous because if they are wrong, they will likely lose their jobs, and then their heads. (in that order). Suddenly, the man who met Joseph says, "oh, King! I forgot something. Remember when you were mad at me and threw me in jail? I met this man who can intrpret dreams..." So, they give Joseph a shave and a bath (a luxury for him) put on some decent clothes and bring him before Pharoah. Joseph interprets the dream: You shall have 7 years of plenty, followed by 7 years of famine that will wipe out the 7 years of plenty, so you better prepare". Pharoah knows it is true and finds no one wiser than Joseph and PROMOTES him to the highest rank in the biggest superpower of the day: 2nd only to Pharoah. Joseph, now wealthy and powerful, does NOT return to his childhood laziness, but is diligent in building grain elevators for the upcoming famine and makes a fortune for the Pharoah, using the stored grain, during the famine to barter for land and gold. Smart man.
So, whatever happened to Joseph's brothers and Dad?
They were now in the midst of the famine, years and years away. Jacob tells his sons, "rumor has it that there is grain in Egypt; travel there and buy as much as you can, or we will all die".
So, who do the brothers face to buy grain? Joseph.
They do not even recognize him, but he sees them. After a series of tests to see if these men have regretted their crime against him, Joseph orders all Egyptians out of the hall, including the interpreter, takes off his fancy Egyptian costume and says, "it is me, Joseph, your brother!".
They were astonished.
Then, they realized that they were but dead men now. He is going to kill us all! They all bow down before him (remember the dream?)
Joseph rightly interprets his life, first of ease, and then of struggle and says to them: 'don't be afraid of me. I will not harm you. I forgive you. There are more bad years to come. I will feed you, give you lands and nourish your families. FOR YOU MEANT IT EVIL, BUT GOD MEANT IT GOOD and sent me ahead of you to save your lives".
Joseph forgave them all, such treacherous and cruel treatment. Amazing man. Later, they bring his aged father to Joseph (Jacob must have been pretty angry at the cruelty of his sons) and Joseph introduces Jacob to his grandsons. One grandson, in particular, has a beatiful name which meant "caused to forget" because God, in His wisdom and mercy, had raised Joseph up in life to the place, where the bitterness of the trauma had passed; and Joseph had "forgotten" the incredibly cruelty of his brothers. Of course, Joseph remembered the facts, but the sting was gone; replaced by the blessings of God.
Forgiveness is something that needs to be taught, and then we need training in it. Our sins always look so much worse on someone else. We are sinned against and are stunned, shocked and appalled. Why? Because we think SO highly of ourselves, yet, we sin against a TRULY holy God, Who has no faults, and He does what?
He freely forgives us.
He then commands us to do the same.
It is not easy. It takes time, experience, and even practice at truly forgiving someone, and putting aside the differences. Like a child training a dog, both the child and the dog must learn.
We must learn to forgive, and then learn to forget the sting. We need to meditate upon good things; holy things and the blessings of God.
God is looking for a "Joseph" today. Someone who can rise above, forgive, and help others, even if those others have harmed.
Are you a "Joseph"?
Am I a "Joseph"?
