An Amazing Thought

December 1, 2006 at 5:23 pm (OT-Genesis)

In Genesis 49-50, we see the brothers still fearful of Joseph’s retaliation. But we also have Jacob giving blessings. What is most conspicuous by its absence is any mention of how Joseph was taken by the brothers into slavery. Since Jacob had mentioned Reuben’s sin, Simeon’s and Levi’s sin, etc., it is unthinkable that Jacob would have left unmentioned something which threatened to take him down into the grave. Therefore, Jacob must not have known about what the brothers did! This is not so amazing in and of itself. Nor is the fact that brothers did not mention it. What is so amazing is that Joseph did not mention it to Jacob either! And there was no lack of opportunity, since Jacob was in Egypt for 17 years communing with Joseph before he died. That is not only amazing love for his brothers on Joseph’s part, but also an amazingly forgiving spirit. “As far as the East is from the West…”

4 Comments

  1. theologian said,

    December 1, 2006 at 7:24 pm

    That is an amazing. I have never thought about it.

  2. Seth McBee said,

    December 1, 2006 at 8:48 pm

    Very well said…

    I have heard it said that forgiveness for a Christian is like a spark flying into the air and falling into the vastness of the ocean, quenched upon entry and never to be seen again

  3. Susan said,

    December 1, 2006 at 11:52 pm

    Wow. I’d never thought of that. That’s true Christian forgiveness. Thanks for that insight, Lane!

  4. greenbaggins said,

    December 2, 2006 at 3:22 pm

    You’re all welcome. Of course, that forces a particular interpretation of Gen 50:17, I realized just now: it means the brothers were lying in saying that Jacob said this. That is not an insuperable obstacle, since there is no record of Jacob ever saying such a thing, except what the brothers here say. They could very well be lying. But my interpretation forces that conclusion, if taken as a premise.

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