What do you mean ‘one is no more’?

Sunday  1-17-16 (Home in Modesto, California)     

Scripture reading for today:    Gen 42 – 43   Psalm 5     Luke 17

S=Scripture  O=Observation  A=Application  P=Prayer  SOAP for the soul.

S.  Gen 42:13-16  And they said, "Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more." NKJV

O.  Now the roles are reversed.  Joseph is the governor of all Egypt.  He wears Egyptian regal clothing, has his hair and face made up like Egyptian royalty, and speaks to them only in perfect Egyptian and through an interpreter.  There is no way these men could even suspect that he was Joseph, their half brother.  What a temptation to play the fish on the hook.  Joseph could have said, “What do you mean ‘one is no more’?  Is he dead?  Did you see him die?  Did you kill him yourselves?  Did you sell him as a slave?  Where did you hide the 20 pieces of silver?”  Instead he insists on seeing his only full little brother, Benjamin and devises a plan to see if these bad boys had ever truly repented and changed their attitudes.

A.  What might I have done in Joseph’s place?  He had every reason to have them all whipped and thrown in prison, all except maybe Rueben, who had tried to save him and return him to his father.  Joseph was well acquainted with the prison system.  He had been held as a prisoner for years because of these guys.  Would I have given them a little taste of what I had suffered?  Vengeance can be a temptation to us all.  But the Apostle Paul gives us the Christ-like way.  Rom 12:19 “‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ saith the Lord.” KJV..."If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.” NIV  The Jesus way is “forgiveness” and once Joseph had proved the repentant spirit of these fellows... he forgave them fully.

P.  Lord Jesus, today I ask for a heart like Your heart.  Make me quick to forgive those who have attempted to treat me with evil.  You were suffering unimaginable pain hanging on the cross.  You could have said, “Father, whip these guys good for this evil!  Give them the hell they deserve!”  But rather You pled for their forgiveness.  Make me more like You, Jesus.  Place Your beautiful, loving, forgiving Spirit deep in my soul.  Amen.

Ralph