Restore, Resist, or Revenge?
This is the fifth in a series of devotionals called "Expressions of Hope in Joseph" in anticipation of the 7th annual Kingdom Justice Summit on February 27 with the theme of Hope.
By Dietrich Gruen
Collaboration Project Story Team
Resistance to change. Upon seeing nine sons return from Egypt, safe and sound, toting food and stimulus funds, Grandpa Jacob gets grumpy. He sees only that Joseph and Simeon are missing. Instead of moving to Egypt to make the family whole, Jacob throws a pity party: “Everything is against me!” (Genesis 42:29–38). Though he has walked with God for over 100 years, he betrays that legacy of faith by his negativism. His horizontal thinking is limited, his vision narrow-minded. Given the options of either returning to Egypt and restoring his whole family—or holding back and staying put in Canaan—Jacob freezes.
But the fear that causes one to freeze in place can bring on the very disaster we fear the most. Our response matters. Faith reframes the outcome. If Jacob had taken time to ponder the situation, he might have discerned God’s hand and not resisted change. Likewise, in our pandemic crisis, we too panic, blame others, or throw a pity party—rather than trusting God to work in extraordinary ways. Instead of trusting God for a new day, a new normal, or new outcomes, we resist.
Stuff happens—a winter storm, economic shutdown, a canceled wedding—most of it out of our control. All we can control is our response to it. Will we groan under the weight of it all, as did Jacob? Or will we grow up and act in faith?
Openness to change. Back in camp with Jacob and sons: First Reuben steps up (42:37), then Judah (43:3–10). This is the same Judah who sold Joseph to slave-traders heading to Egypt 20 years prior (37:27). In the intervening years, Judah has come full circle and grown up to be the leader of the pack. But only after some severe learning experiences.
Judah, who had deceived Jacob into thinking Joseph had died, was himself deceived by his daughter-in-law Tamar into conceiving a child (Genesis 38). Judah, who had trapped and humiliated Joseph and sold him into slavery, was himself trapped and humiliated by one “more righteous” than he (38:26). That comeuppance led Judah to do the right thing 20 years later regarding Joseph. From here on (see 43:3–10; 44:16–34; 49:8–12), Judah stands out among Jacob’s sons. (And from his line will come Jesus, the “Lion of Judah”).
Judah prevails and so, eventually, Jacob’s downer thoughts turn upward, his grumpiness becomes gratefulness. And the pitiful “Woe-is-me!” attitude turns God-ward: “What is God showing me in this crisis situation?” As we journey with Jacob’s eleven sons, we leave the worsening famine in Canaan for a royal feast in Egypt. Fear turns to faith, guilt to grace.
Surprised by grace. Along with the pouches of money for food Joseph’s brothers carry back to Egypt, they carry bags of fear, guilt, and uncertainty. The brothers expect to meet the Egyptian prime minister at the public granary, not his home. This disguised “homecoming” fills them with dread instead of bread. Haunted with guilt for selling Joseph into slavery two decades earlier, they fear the same fate (43:15–18).
But Joseph catches his brothers off guard. He graciously invites them into his home to feast at his table. Each seated in order by age, Benjamin (the youngest and most beloved) is fed five times as much (43:19–34). They must wonder, What’s up with that? They resented Joseph getting special treatment years ago, but they do not begrudge Benjamin. Whoever said, “Kill them with kindness,” had this story in mind. Joseph invokes and pours blessing upon blessing his long-alienated family!
In Joseph’s realm, as in God’s kingdom, we get seated at a king’s table and served royally. In both realms, we experience unexpected mercy, which surpasses the justice we deserve. May the COVID-19 crisis and rollercoaster transition to a “new normal” teach us similar lessons: to react less fearfully and more gracefully to every new turn of events. And thus, may you bask in the warmth of God’s gracious smile throughout the year ahead.
Dietrich Gruen is a free-lance writer and benevolence fund coordinator for High Point Church, serving those displaced and impoverished by COVID-19.
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