In their narration to Jacob about
what took place in Egypt, the brothers did not make mention of the fact that
money was found in one of their bags. So while they were emptying the other
sacks of grain, money was found in every sack. When they saw the money, they,
including their father, became afraid. Jacob could hold it no longer so he
blurted out emotionally, saying, “You
have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more,
and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.” He
literally blamed them for what happened to Joseph. In his mind, he also felt
that Simeon would not be released. To bring Benjamin along would never happen
as far as he was concerned.
As the oldest, Reuben tried to
placate the situation. He offered something absurd. He offered his sons as
collateral. He said Jacob could sacrifice his two sons if he failed to return
with his youngest brother. Though wanting to be accountable, he made a stupid
suggestion. Why should Jacob take his offer seriously? In fact nothing could
lessen the pain of Joseph’s loss. His grief at the loss of Joseph had already
taken its toll. He shuddered to think that he might lose Benjamin as well. It could
only happen over his dead body. So he did not think that he could take another
episode of sorrow should Benjamin be taken as well.
Silly as Reuben might have sounded, it was truly a reflection that godly fear had kicked into his life. He was now a candidate for the grace of God. In fact meeting the brother whom they could not recognize had taken their soul one step into God’s redemptive grace. We could see that there was the admission of guilt, and taking the responsibility to own up to their sin. This opened the door to receive forgiveness. Then we see godly fear. It dawned on them that God had brought about the affliction. If we desire the grace of God, we need to repent. For repentance to happen, we need to feel the guilt of our wrong. Let’s heed David’s advice in Psalm 32:5, “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.” God wants to do just that for us.
Silly as Reuben might have sounded, it was truly a reflection that godly fear had kicked into his life. He was now a candidate for the grace of God. In fact meeting the brother whom they could not recognize had taken their soul one step into God’s redemptive grace. We could see that there was the admission of guilt, and taking the responsibility to own up to their sin. This opened the door to receive forgiveness. Then we see godly fear. It dawned on them that God had brought about the affliction. If we desire the grace of God, we need to repent. For repentance to happen, we need to feel the guilt of our wrong. Let’s heed David’s advice in Psalm 32:5, “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.” God wants to do just that for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment