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This subject getting
even some how doesn’t fit the mold of Christian ethics. It seems to be out of
order, and it cuts against the grain of all that the Bible teaches us about the
way we should conduct ourselves. We’re supposed to do unto others, as we would have
them do unto us. But somewhere between here and there that translation has been
lost or no longer applies.
Now it means, if you
do something to me, you better watch your back. Getting even bears a striking resemblance
to retaliation, or revenge, or retribution, or even vengeance. Its behavior is the
sponsor of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. To be honest with you, this
is not the Christian way to do anything. As a matter of fact Christianity promotes
a better way of behavior with its emphasis on love instead of revenge.. So why then
is this message entitled getting even? Why would God send a message that seems to contradict His own instructions? If someone smites you on the cheek, aren’t you
supposed to turn the other cheek? The Lord
did say vengeance was His didn’t He?
As believers we are to
embrace a love ethic that is so mysterious, that we are to love even our enemies,
we are to bless them that curse us, we are to do good to them that hate us, and
we are to pray for them which despitefully use and persecute us. That’s what we’re
supposed to do. So why would God send
a message that seems to contradict His
teachings?
I need you to understand
first of all that the ways of God are
not always easy to explain. Who among you can explain His ways? God is sovereign.
Whatever He says goes without question.
And He does not owe any of us any explanation
for doing things the way He does them.
Yet He has so much love for you and I
that He’s willing to go to great lengths
to save us and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies. And He doesn’t have to tell us how He’s going to do that either.
Here in this story of
Joseph and his brothers, is a message of God’s
plans to save His people from certain
death. Nobody but God knew that a life
threatening famine was coming. And He
needed somebody to go ahead of the famine and fix it so that His people should not perish, but live.
Each Biblical lesson has a revelation of a savior. Joseph is considered to be a
type of Christ. Well how Christ like is he? Both Joseph and Jesus were their mother’s first born. Each
of their births were by special intervention of God. He opened the womb of the then barren Rachel and she brought forth
a son and named him Joseph. The Holy Ghost
came upon a virgin named Mary who conceived and brought forth a son and called his
name Jesus.
Both Jesus and Joseph were objects of special
love from their fathers, and were hated and rejected as rulers over their brothers.
Both were sold for silver and robbed of their robes. Both were innocent of all charges
against them, but were found guilty and sentence pronounced on them. Both became
a blessing to the Gentiles and received a bride. For Jesus, His bride is the Church, and Joseph’s bride was the beautiful
Ebony skinned Egyptian named Asenath who birth his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim.
Both were raised from humiliation to glory by the power of God. Pharaoh saw in Joseph, one in whom was the Spirit of God, raised him from the prison pit to become lord of Egypt. And Jesus is manifested in resurrection power
as the very Son of God, who raised Him from the dead to become the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
So when Joseph had this
dream that he was exalted and that all of his brothers were bowing down to him,
he had no idea that God had already chosen
him to go ahead and be the one who would save his people. Joseph told his brothers
about his dream, and instead of them laughing it off as though it were of no consequence,
they resented him for what he had said, and in due time their resentment led to
their rejection of him, and the first chance they got, for twenty pieces of silver,
sold him to the Ishmaelites, who brought him into Egypt. Where some twenty-three
years would pass before these brothers would see each other again. And what a reunion
that was going to be.
It would be around the
time that the great famine had come. And as only God could have known, the only place that would have plenty of food,
to buy, was in the land of Egypt, where Joseph was. While he was in Egypt Joseph
went through the mill. He was accused by Mrs. Potiphar, and charged with rape, although
he was innocent, the courts found guilty; and for the next few years he would spend
his time wasting away in Pharaoh’s prison. Even though Joseph was ill-treated in
Egypt, his faith in God never wavered.
He never stopped believing that no problem was to hard for God. And no matter how low he would go he knew that God would one day raise him up.
God
blessed Joseph with the ability to interpret dreams, two of which had come true
for both Pharaoh’s butler and his baker. And in the course of time God would also give Joseph the interpretation
of Pharaoh’s dreams. Pharaoh could see that the Spirit of God was with Joseph,
so he made him lord over all of Egypt, second only to himself. He removed the prison
clothes and dressed Joseph in fine linen, hung a gold chain about his neck, took
a ring from his own finger and placed it on Joseph’s finger. Then Changed his name
to Zaph-nath-pa-a-ne’ah, give him to wife As’e-nath daughter of Pot’i-phe’rah priest
of On. Because his faith in God never
failed, Joseph was raised from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs.
When the time came, there
was a famine in all of the land and Egypt was the only place where food was available
to buy, and everyone who bought food had to buy it from Joseph one of the most powerful
men in all of the land. So then some twenty-three years later, here come his brothers
bowing down to him and calling him lord, not recognizing who he was. The last time
they saw him he was a young lad, now he’s a man, they had sold him as a servant
to some, now he has been made a ruler over many. Never did it cross their minds
that Joseph’s dream had now become a reality.
Now if you use your imagination
for a few more moment you will see why this message is called Getting Even. What
is about to happen to the brothers will have a greater effect on them than
everything they did to Joseph will. Joseph recognized his brothers immediately,
but instead of embracing them and identifying himself as their brother Joseph, he
spoke rude to them, even accused them of being spies. As though that wasn’t bad
enough, he had them all thrown in jail where he personally interrogated them. For
three days he would ask them all sorts of questions about their father and their
younger brother. They were so scared of what Joseph could do to them they would
do anything, short of making him angry, to get out of this trouble that they had
so mysteriously gotten into.
To make matters worse
for them Joseph released everybody except Simeon. He ordered his men to fill every
man’s sack with food, to give them provisions for their beast, oh yea and put all
of their money they used to pay for all of this back into their sacks. And as Joseph
sent them away he warned them that unless they brought their younger brother Benjamin
with them they were not to return to Egypt again.
Their trip to Egypt had
turned from a delight to a disaster. How could a simple chore like going to the
grocery store turn out so wrong? That man in Egypt was mean to us, he threw us in
jail, he accused us of being spies, he let everybody out but Simeon, when we got
home with the food, the money we took to pay for it, all of it is here in our grocery
bags, so now we look like thieves. What are we going to do brothers? Soon we’re
going to run out of groceries and what do we tell Daddy? He’s already lost one son
Joseph because of us, and with the way the fellow down in Egypt treated us, whose
to say that he won’t lose Benjamin too.
Lord
have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, we should have let Joseph
alone. We didn’t have to do him in like we did. After all it was only a dream that
he had, that shouldn’t have gotten to us like it did. Dreams don’t really come true,
do they? God is letting us know that
we got by for a season, but we didn’t get away with what we did to our brother,
our sins have found us out What are we going to do? What next? What are we going
to tell daddy? How do we explain the mess our sins have gotten us into? And as they
pondered over all of those possibilities, their food supply got low.
Despite all of his concerns,
their father Jacob agreed to send Benjamin with them back to Egypt. Now that he
had seen Benjamin, Joseph seemed to have a change of heart. He released Simeon from
jail, had a sumptuous meal prepared for them, again he had their sacks filled with
food, and provisions for their beasts, and once again had all of their monies placed
in their sack with the exception of Benjamin in whose sack was placed Joseph’s silver
cup. And as his brothers began to make their
way back to Caanan, how good they felt leaving Egypt with no signs of being in trouble.
Joseph’s plan to get even with them for what they did to him was just getting started.
He had them stopped on the outskirts of town and had their sacks searched for probable
cause, which was stealing the silver cup of the lord of the land. And they began
to search from the eldest to the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.
What are they going to do now? They have
to change the direction they are traveling and travel another direction. The doctrine
of repentance tells us that we must do some turning. Some things must be turned
down, some things must be turned off, some must be turned away, some turned around,
some turned in, while others turned over.
The Prophets Joel, and Zechariah
preached repentance. Jeremiah and Ezekiel also preached repentance, as did John
the Baptist and the Apostles. Repentance unlocks the door to Gods pardoning grace,
it starts mercy to moving, and the wheels of eternity to start turning, forgiveness
begins to flowing like a river. Salvation is now getting even with sin, while a
new heart and a new spirit along with a new life are given to the believer.
After the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack,
they all turned around, headed back to Egypt to face this man named Joseph. They
didn’t need justice, justice would have demanded that they should die, they didn’t
need justice. They needed grace and they needed mercy. Grace and mercy told justice
oh no, they had already paid the price, grace and mercy will see you through. And
when they stood before him who was lord of Egypt, they expected the worst but because
they had repented of their past sins, instead of the worst they received the best.
What a time it was when they found out that
this man was their brother. And he invited them to go and bring everybody to come
and enjoy all that he had. What a time it
was when we found out that Jesus is our elder brother. And like Joseph, He wants
to give us the best.
He wants us to bring everybody to come and
enjoy all that He has When He died on Calvary.
His hands and His feet were nailed to a cross. He was lifted up between the heaven
and the earth He hung there between the sixth and the ninth hour. And while He hung
there, He was getting even with all of our enemies. I heard him say Father forgive
them, for they know not what they do. Then He hung His head in the locks of His
shoulders and gave up the ghost. He died and they buried Him in a grave. While he
was in that grave He was still getting even with our enemies. He robbed the grave
of it’s victory and He took the sting from death. And on the third day morning He
rose from the dead with all power of heaven and earth in his hands. And if you give
Him your life, He will make a difference.