The Bible teaches us a lot about forgiveness, and how important it is for us to forgive others what wrongs they have done to us. It teaches us that we are to forgive no matter what the other person has done to us, no matter how terrible and grievous that offense may be. There is to be no limit to our forgiveness. In our Scripture passage for today we read the account of Joseph, a young man who had some very horrible things done to him, yet later when he had risen to very powerful heights, and had the opportunity to, did not retaliate and take vengeance. Let’s take a look at the life of Joseph, and his example we should all aspire to follow.
As our Scripture passage opens, we see Joseph revealing to his brothers who he is. Over twenty years earlier, Joseph’s brothers had committed a very treacherous and horrible sin against him. While growing up, Joseph’s ten older brothers had been very jealous of him for many years. Then one day when the opportunity arose, they stripped him of his clothes and threw him into a pit, probably having severely beaten him, and then sold him as a slave to traveling merchants enroute to Egypt (Genesis 37:18-28). These were his brothers, yet they threw him naked into a pit, and then sold him as a slave, where he was forced to walk naked in the hot desert sun for several hundred miles into Egypt. How could brothers do that? Yet they did.
While in Egypt, Joseph was sold as a slave to one of Pharaoh’s chief military generals, where he became one of his most trusted servants. After a few years, though, more treachery made its way into Joseph’s life, as his master’s wife told some vicious lies about Joseph which got him thrown into prison. There he remained for several years (Genesis 39:1-20). Many years after that day when his brothers threw him into a pit, through the mighty working of the Lord God, Joseph became second in command after Pharaoh, over all the land of Egypt (Genesis 41:38-44).
Now, as Prime Minister of Egypt, the most powerful country in the world at the time, Joseph is standing in front of his brothers who have come to purchase food during a great famine. They do not recognize Joseph, as it has been about 22 years since they last saw him. They had sold him as a slave, and would never dream that he is now prime minister, just about the most powerful man in the world. We might think that now is a perfect opportunity for Joseph to get his vengeance. Sold as a slave, that tortuous trek through the desert, vicious lies, put in prison. All of that because of these ten brothers. Nobody would question why he would have them imprisoned, or even put to death. Nobody questioned Pharaoh, and Pharaoh trusted and admired Joseph, putting him in charge of just about everything.
What did Joseph do when he had this opportunity for vengeance? Rather than having spent the past 22 years stewing about what had happened to him, Joseph saw the hand of God over every event that happened. He saw that God had sent him into Egypt for a divine purpose. Joseph knew that God controls all that happens in our lives, and that the Lord, seeing and knowing what will happen in the future, orchestrated events so that he would be in Egypt, and in a position to help before the famine even occurred. The brothers had wanted to get rid of Joseph, but God used their evil actions to fulfill His ultimate plan (Genesis 50:20).
All through the difficult years he went through, Joseph kept a very close and personal relationship with the Lord God. He didn’t allow anger or bitterness to grow. He saw God’s hand in everything that happened to him. Thus, when the opportunity came, Joseph used it for good, rather than to seek vengeance. He used his position and this opportunity to be a blessing to those who had harmed him, rather than to retaliate.
Probably most people who read this have not gone through quite the events Joseph did - slavery, beatings, unjust imprisonment. Some may have gone through some things that might rank up there in severity and trauma. Regardless of how terrible the things that others may have done to us, are we willing to forgive? Can we forgive abuse of any sort? How about lies that destroy our reputation completely? How about the murder of a loved one? Joseph forgave his brothers, despite how unforgivable it may have seemed.
God calls us to have a forgiving spirit, especially knowing that He remains in control of all that happens to us. Instead of asking why God allowed something bad to happen to us, we need to ask what God can teach us, and be looking for the good He will bring from the event.
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