No Excuses
Genesis Chapters 41 – 43
We all know the story of Joseph, and all the abuse he endured at the hands of his hate-filled brothers. He was basically robbed of his young adulthood, and had to spend many years in prison.
Through all that Joseph went through, he remained faithful to God. God knew everything that happened to Joseph, and He knew why. He knew that none of this was Joseph’s fault. And God rewarded Joseph’s faithfulness in a way that far surpassed anything that Joseph could imagine.
Because God was with Joseph, Pharaoh promoted him to Prime Minister over all Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt Genesis 41:41. He was actually placing Joseph in a position to fulfill the will of God. Pharaoh immediately shrouded Joseph with all the elegance of Egypt. He named Joseph after one of their popular gods and gave him a wife of the heritage of the priest. He truly favored Joseph, and had a tremendous amount of respect for and confidence in him.
Pharaoh did everything within his power to help Joseph forget his past, and Joseph cooperated as best he could. And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house Genesis 41: 51. Even though we may come out of a bad situation, we have no excuse to allow it to prevent us from where God is taking us.
The famine came just as God said it would. There wasn’t grain anywhere but in Egypt, and Joseph had the key to the storehouse. God had given Joseph abundance in the midst of famine. No matter how well we are doing, we should put up something for tomorrow.
Joseph was 17 years old when his brothers threw him in that
pit and 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh. That’s 13 years that the
bottom fell out of his life; 13 years of one set back after another. While it is
true that we may go through long periods of underserved affliction, we can be
sure that God will ultimately bring us out victoriously.
There is one thing for certain about a persistent worldwide famine; eventually it will affect everyone in one way or another. In time the famine reached Canaan, the home of Joseph’s family. Joseph’s father (Jacob) and brothers were all alive, but they were not doing very well. All the cisterns were dry, the land was barren and their homes faced devastation. Finally Jacob told his sons to get up and go to Egypt to buy food (see Genesis 42: 1-2).
Jacob sent all of the sons, except Benjamin, off to Egypt. At this point he thought that Joseph was dead. He still believes the lie that his sons told him. All these years the brothers were living the lie. Apparently they had forgotten the look of anguish on Joseph’s face when they threw him in the pit. It is a big problem when dads don’t know the sons and sons lie and deceive the parents. In order for a family to be a family, the daddy has to help the son and the son has to respect and honor the dad. We have no excuse for the avalanche of broken homes that we witness in our day.
Therefore the brothers went down to Egypt, and when Joseph saw them, he recognized them. Joseph knew who they were, but they didn’t know who Joseph was. Part of the reason is because of the position that Joseph was in. They never considered that the brother they sold into slavery all those years ago could now be the Prime Minister of Egypt. They never considered what God could do in the life of someone He chooses.
No matter where you are right now, you don’t have to stay there. Don’t ever give up because you are facing difficult circumstances. Do not allow yourself to be consumed by discouragement. If you remain faithful, He will surely reward you.
After years of wondering what was happening with his family, all of a sudden, here they were. They stood before Joseph face to face. Then Joseph remembered the dream he had. He remembered the sheaves of wheat bowing before him; the sun, moon and eleven stars bowing before him. He remembered how they mocked and made fun of him. But Joseph didn’t say, "I told you so." You see, when God is involved in your affairs you have nothing to prove to anyone.
And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us Genesis 42: 21. Now we see that the brothers have not forgotten their crimes. The wound is over twenty years old, but it is still so fresh that they remember the expression on Joseph’s face. Whatever sin we have done, we have to take responsibility for it. We cannot blame daddy, no matter how passive he is. We cannot blame childhood neglect or abuse. There are many people who explain why they act the way that they do. But an explanation is not an excuse. The alcoholic has an explanation to why he gets drunk and abuses his wife and family, but he has no excuse. He is still accountable for his actions. We have no one to blame for our apathy in the things of God. We may have a long list of reasons why we were hindered, but ultimately, we have no excuse.
When we have done somebody wrong and neglect to make things right with them and God, we become a victim of the distress we put that person through. If we never deal with our transgressions, our transgressions will deal with us.
This same thing happened with David after his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. With each passing day, the guilt ate away at the very fiber of David’s soul. When I kept silence about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long, Day and night thy hand was heavy on me; Psalms 32: 3-4. The Message bible says "The pressure never let up; all the juices of my life dried up." Time cannot heal sin; it takes the blood of Jesus to purge us.
After three days in the dungeon, Joseph’s brothers came out confessing their sins. Joseph spent years in the dungeon and came out with a heart full of forgiveness. He named his son Manasseh saying "God made me forget". The sting of my past tried to consume me, but God made me forget. My so-called friends mistreated me but God made me forget. I was lied on and talked about but God made me forget.
The brothers confessed their guilt. They admitted that what they did was wrong. Now, after so many years of distress, they can begin to heal.
Have you been mistreated? Has someone brought undue hassle into your life? Are you tempted to hold a grudge or plot revenge? Do you feel like you have a good reason to get back? Listen friend. Reasons are not excuses. Be like Joseph. Keep trusting God through the tough times. And when the time comes, your life will prove to be something special.
By: Edmund Brown