TOO GOOD TO BE
by Steve Zeisler
"It's too good to be true," is a piece of folk wisdom we hear
on occasion. We warn our children to not accept candy from strangers. It
may be a bona fide offer we tell them, buy it's probably too good to be
true. "There's no such thing as a free lunch," goes another saying
along the same lines. There must be a catch to it somwehere. Our skepticism
really shows, of course, when we hear of used car bargains. "That's
too good to be true," is our usual response. The result of all this
skepticism is that we learn quite early in life to be suspect of blessings
and benefits that come to us unexpectedly. They're just to be too good to
be true, we reason.
As Christians, we know that the very best news of all, of course, is the
gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is one thing that in no way can be described
as being too good to be true. Yet we find the good news difficult to believe
at times because of the training of a lifetime that teaches us to be skeptical
of a free offer, of something that cannot be worked for and earned. Let
us keep this in mind this morning as we come to one of the most dramatic
scenes in literature, found in the story of Joseph and his brothers in the
book of Genesis. What a remarkable, astonishing scene this is! Joseph's
brothers are overwhelmed with such good news they find it almost impossible
to believe their eyes and ears. We can almost hear them say, "This
is too good to be true."
In our last study we discovered that certain remarks by Joseph's brother
Judah were given prominence in chapter 44. Judah was the hardhearted, tough
individual who used people for his own ends. There was nothing tender about
him. But over time this man, whose main interest in life seemed to involve
taking care of number one, began to question his priorities. God gradually
broke through his hard shell of self-reliance, pointing out to him his failings
and where he needed to change. Judah's heart is gradually softened; he begins
to think of others rather than himself. He finally starts to trust God,
not himself, to accomplish what needed to be done in his life.
We find evidence of this change in Judah's life in the speech we have mentioned
which he makes in chapter 44. There he states his willingness to become
a hostage and remain on in Egypt in place of his brother Benjamin. Judah's
concern for his aged father drives him to offer himself as a sacrifice lest
Jacob die of a broken heart. What a change has taken place in the life of
this former self-made man!
We pick up the account again following the conclusion of Judah's words.
Joseph at last reveals his true identity to his astonished brothers. Genesis
45:
Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood
by him, and he cried, "Have everyone go out from me." So there
was no man with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And
he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh
heard of it. Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my
father still alive?" But his brothers could not answer him, for they
were dismayed at his presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Please
come closer to me." And they came closer. And he said, "I am your
brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be grieved or angry
with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to
preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and
there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.
And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and
to keep you alive by a great deliverance.
"Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has
made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over
all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, "Thus
says your son Joseph, 'God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me;
do not delay. And you shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be
near me, you and your children and your children's children and your flocks
and your herds and all that you have. There I will also provide for you,
for there are still five years of famine to come, lest you and your household
and all that you have be impoverished.' And behold, your eyes see, and the
eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth which is speaking to
you. Now you must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and all that
you have seen, and you must hurry and bring my father down here." Then
he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept; and Benjamin wept on his
neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his
brothers talked with him. Now when the news was heard in Pharaoh's house
that Joseph's brothers had come, it pleased Pharaoh and his servants.
What a marvelous scene this must have been! All of the sons of Jacob were
together at last, seated in Pharaoh's opulent palace. Joseph, second only
to Pharaoh himself, probably was sitting on a raised throne, surrounded
by servants and slaves. Here was the man who had formulated the plan to
save the world during the seven years of famine. His word was law; he was
feared and respected by all. Joseph's brothers stood before him as beggars.
Canaan, the promised land, was unable to feed them, so they came seeking
food from this mighty man of Egypt.
They had already encountered this extraordinary figure who was addressing
them. Joseph seemed to know quite a lot about them. He asked questions of
them that only someone with strange powers could possibly ask. How could
he know their ages so that they were all seated according to their years?
Was he the one who had arranged for their money to be placed in their sacks,
together with the grain they had bought, on their first journey to Egypt?
Why would a perfect stranger, a high and mighty Egyptian, do that? Then,
on their second journey to Egypt, once more their money was returned to
them, only this time they were charged with stealing a silver goblet from
Joseph. And now Benjamin stood accused of that crime. But he was innocent;
they were sure of that. If anything should happen to him, one thing was
certain: their father Jacob would not survive the news of it.
Nothing made sense to these brothers anymore. Why should these mysterious
things happen to a bunch of nomadic brothers, nobodies, from Canaan? How
Judah's knees must have trembled, his hands sweated, as he pleaded for the
life of Benjamin and offered his own in return! Nevertheless he was sure
he was doing the right thing. No more was he counting the cost, figuring
the angles, cutting the deals to benefit himself. He was trusting the God
of his fathers to intercede for his brother Benjamin, and entrusting himself
and his future to the same God. Judah had returned to his spiritual roots.
Consider what must have been going through Joseph's mind during this encounter.
How his heart must have raced as he tried to gather his thoughts to share
his true identity with his brothers! It must have been an extremely emotional
time for him. The tears flowed, his voice wavered as he tried to control
his emotions. He knew the answers to all the questions his brothers were
asking themselves about this encounter. He had wined and dined them in the
past, then he had turned the screw a little tighter on them to see how they
would respond; to learn if they had truly repented and had indeed changed.
He had blessed them by restoring their money to them; then he had frightened
them by demanding which one among them was a thief. He had yet to know for
certain if they would allow the second son of Rachel, his brother Benjamin,
to remain on in Egypt alone. Had times changed, or was being a son of Rachel
still the kiss of death in that family?
Joseph knees must have trembled too as he listened for evidence of change
in these violent men, his own brothers, who had mistreated and abandoned
him as a teenager. Would they do the same with Benjamin, and leave him to
rot in Egypt too? He was as anxious as his brothers, but for a very different
reason. Then came Judah's sefless offer: take my life as ransom but release
Benjamin; send him back to Canaan so that my father Jacob may not die in
loneliness. Joseph listened, his heart pounding, to Judah, the spokesman
for the family. How can we express his relief, his joy on discovering that
they had indeed changed; that the God of his fathers had invaded their lives
and they were truly repentant for what they had done to him. At last he
finds they are willing to serve--even to sacrifice--rather than be served.
Yes, God had been at work with his brothers. Judah's offer of his own life
was evidence of that. His sacrificial offer demonstrated that he had crossed
over from darkness to light. He would never be the same again.
To the rich young ruler who found he could not forsake his comforts and
wealth, Jesus said, "There is one thing left which you must do..."
Judah, too, found there was one thing left for him to do. After a lifetime
of taking care of himself he at last chose to forsake his old ways and do
things God's way. What a great moment that must have been! At last Joseph
has heard all he needed to hear. He cannot contain himself any longer. His
joy is complete. All except his brothers are ordered out of the room and
he gives full vent to his emotions. His weeping is so loud that all in the
palace hear it. "I am Joseph!" he cries to his brothers. They
are so dismayed they cannot utter a word.
Let us contemplate this scene further. What God did in this joyful reunion
mirrors what happened to each one of us when we came to Christ. The only
difference, perhaps, was that we did not experience so outwardly dramatic
a change in relationship as did this family. But when we come to repentance,
God pours himself out for us and changes everything in our relationship
to him.
First, we might remark that the good news seemed to us then too good to
be true. Of course, we hastened to add, it would be wonderful if it were.
Just imagine the notion of God becoming a man, the notion that someone would
pay the penalty for our sin and lift the burden of guilt from us forever.
To be "accepted in the Beloved"; such an unexpected blessing was
just too good to be true, wasn't it? Were we just hoping for the best? What
about facts? Was there any evidence we could to examine which would back
this up?
This was what these brothers struggled with when Joseph revealed himself
to them. It was just too good to be true; they couldn't believe their ears.
The were dumbfounded. Then, sensing their incredulity, Joseph asked them
to come closer to him. They came forward timidly, fearfully. They examined
his face, looking for familiar features. It would indeed be wonderful if
this man was telling the truth, but they needed proof. The disciples of
Jesus were equally skeptical when the women raced back from the tomb on
that Easter morning and declared that he was risen. It's too good to be
true, they said. Sure, he had predicted that he would be resurrected, but
they know he was dead; everyone knew that. Some of them went to see the
empty tomb for themselves before they believed.
Haven't we all, at some point in our Christian life, asked, "Did it
really happen? Does history attest to it? Is it intellectually credible,
or is it just a fairytale we want to believe?" The Christian faith
is none of those things, of course. It can withstand whatever test man can
come up with. Joseph had to invite his brothers to take a closer look. Jesus
had to do no less with the doubting Thomas: "Come closer. Put your
hand in my side and see that it is me." "Yes, I am your brother
Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt."
Not only did Joseph's brothers doubt the facts, they doubted themselves
as well. Verse 5: "...do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because
you sold me here..." Have you fought that battle too? Once we become
convinced that the announcement of the love of God is just what it claims
to be, a sense of our own unworthiness enters in and we have another fight
on our hands. We say, "I know myself too well. I know what I've done
and what I'm prone to do. No one, not even God, could do that for me."
In the face of news that's too good to be true, that's how we often respond,
isn't it? But here Joseph steps in and ministers to his brothers' feelings
of unworthiness. "Don't weep or be angry with yourselves for what you've
done to me," he tells them, "for God has caused it to work for
good. What you did has redounded to his glory. There is no need for self-recrimination."
Imagine how overwhelmed Joseph's brothers were by his words. Their brother
had become lord of all Egypt, the counselor to the Pharaoh himself. He was
responsible to distribute the food which would save the whole world; and
he had predicted that there were yet five more years to go before the famine
had run its course. Now he was telling his brothers that he had a place
for them and their families to wait out the famine. They would be together
again. No longer was this brother of theirs the arrogant youth who wore
his multicolored robe every hour of the day just to demonstrate his favorite
sonship. Nor was he anything like they themselves had become--ordinary,
run-of-the-mill nomads who whiled away the hours tending their flocks. What
God did by taking their rebellion and wickedness into his own hands was
not just give them the relationships and circumstances they would have expected
if they had not attacked Joseph. He gave them much more. Imagine if they
had said to themselves, "What if God gave Joseph back to us and he
became just like one of us--a successful herdsman." That would have
been amazing. But they found that Joseph had become lord of all Egypt, the
one who would save the world from famine. When Jesus was raised from the
dead, he did not return as the Galilean carpenter he had been before he
died. Instead he returned in a glorified body. Resurrection does not merely
cancel out death; it overwhelms it.
The good news of the gospel is not simply too good to be true; it is overwhelmingly
good, overwhelmingly true. The apostle Paul says in Romans 5, "If by
the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those
who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will
reign in life through the one Jesus Christ." It is not just that death
once reigned but now life has taken its place. It is, death once reigned,
and much more will life reign. When God dealt with the mess we had made
of our lives he did not merely take away our wrongdoing so that we became,
as it were, neutral beings. No, he did much more than that: he gave us abundant
life. The good news of the gospel is infinitely greater than something we
could be tempted to regard as too good to be true. It is much better news
than we could ever imagine it to be, and it is overwhelmingly true.
If the brothers cannot believe their ears--they are struck dumb at Joseph's
words--Pharaoh's response is one of utter delight at what has been revealed.
The fact that Joseph has been reunited with his long lost family is a source
of great joy and satisfaction to him. I am reminded of what Jesus said happens
in heaven some someone here on earth repents: "There is joy in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." That is
not apparent to the sinner who for the first time is driven to his knees
in repentance. He may be like Judah, with trembling knees and sweaty palms.
He has no idea of what will happen next, and may even assume the worst.
Although it may not seem to the repentant sinner that anything of any great
significance is happening, however, the praises of God are being sung in
the heavenlies for that one act of repentance. The angels sang when you
and I became Christians. You may not be able to pinpoint the exact moment
you came to faith, but the angels marked the moment by breaking into a song
of praise.
Lastly, notice how everything changed so utterly for these brothers of Joseph.
Judah's offer of his life for Benjamin's was the turning point. Reconciliation
was now possible for all of the sons of Jacob. That too is what happens
between God and us when we are made new in Christ: Everything changes. And
not only do we have reconciliation with God, we are also have the possibility
of reconciliation with our family members and others. Furthermore, we become
members of a new family--the body of Christ on earth. That is what happens
when we come to Christ, when we entrust ourselves to God as Judah did.
Let us review what we have learned in this section. Early in chapter 45
the brothers of Joseph had honest questions about the identity of the man
before them who said he was their brother. They decided to come closer to
him and see for themselves. And it was as he had said; he was indeed Joseph.
The faith of those who have put their trust in Christ is also based on facts,
not wishful thinking.
Then the brothers began to question themselves, dwelling on their own unworthiness.
But Joseph reassures them that they don't need denigrate themselves. God
had accomplished great things and they had no need for self-recrimination.
Furthermore, Joseph declares to them that God had brought good out of their
wickedness. Sin is not merely canceled when God acts on our behalf; it is
totally overwhelmed. The brothers sinned but God saved the world through
their actions. The Messiah was put to death but God raised him in greater
glory. God overwhelms the choices of sinners; he doesn't merely cancel them.
And lastly, when we forsake our rebellion and instead become sons of God,
that decision changes everything else; all things become new. When Joseph's
brothers took a step of faith, they immediately were granted dramatic evidence
that they had done the right thing. The ruler of all Egypt came down from
his throne to weep tears of joy with them. Although we don't usually experience
anything as visibly impressive when we come to faith, yet God's response
to our act of faith is just as dramatic. Joseph reached out to his brothers
and placed them in circumstances where they had to make a choice. God too
does that for us. And when Judah made the choice to act by faith, all heaven
sang for joy. God likewise places us in circumstances where we must walk
by faith, and when we do, all of heaven rejoices.
Jacob reenters the picture in the closing verses of chapter 45:
Then they went up from Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan
to their father Jacob. And they told him, saying, "Joseph is still
alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt." But he was
stunned, for he did not believe them. When they told him all the words of
Joseph that he had spoken to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph
had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. Then Israel
said, "It is enough; my son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see
him before I die."
More than 20 years earlier these same sons had returned home with a report
that Joseph had been killed. The loss of his favorite son had hit Jacob
hard, and for all those years his spirits had flagged. Now this astonishing
news that Joseph is still alive elicits the familiar "it's too good
to be true" response from Jacob. His problem is different than Judah's.
Judah's problem was guilt; Jacob's was sorrow over the loss of his son.
But God ministers to the sorrowful as he ministers to the guilty. How was
it possible that the son whom he had mourned all those years was still alive?
Jacob's sorrow had an answer, just as Judah's guilt had.
What a marvelous word Jacob utters when at last he believes the news that
his son is alive: "It is enough; my son Joseph is still alive. I will
go and see him before I die." All his prayers had been answered. His
spirit within him was revived.
Many are tempted to accept one substitute or another for God's powerful
transformation of the truly repentant. On the one hand, we may want our
religious experience to be routine and predictable. We fear new things and
don't want to be shaken up too much. We want to attend the same church,
go to the same Christian conferences, and hear the same things said year
after year. We just don't want anything different or remarkable to disturb
the status quo; we want God to be predictable. Or, by contrast, we may want
instead what I call magic shows. We begin seeking an emotional, short-lived
religion of thrills. We even begin to expect God to become, in a sense,
a magician who will do wonders at our bidding. This is the kind of response
that is fascinated by the claim made recently by Oral Roberts to have raised
someone from the dead during a service he once held. But both of these responses
are an inadequate substitute for what the Lord God does when he interacts
with human beings. The book of Revelation says that the earth shakes, the
stars fall from the heavens, the sun turns to blood; everything that can
be shaken is shaken. That, in a sense, is what happens when God touches
a life and changes it. It is not a run-of-the-mill event, nor is it a magic
trick. If we could see things from a heavenly, eternal perspective--as God
sees them--we would never again long for the routine or the merely sensational.
Rather we would long for real, profound interaction with God.
If your life has become like Jacob's life was, chaotic and unpredictable,
touched by the loss of his son, threatened by famine, it is worth asking
whether you serve the same kind of God as Jacob and Judah did. Are you willing
to believe that the good news is thoroughly good and true and then begin
to face whatever circumstances are now besetting you? Do you believe that
God is determined to bless you, despite your present circumstances? He is
the same God today as he was back then when he met the needs of Jacob and
his family in ways that that no one could have predicted. He is the same
yesterday, today and forever, Scripture declares.
Do repentance and redemption count for much in your life? Many of us treat
evangelism, and our own coming to Christ, in a cavalier fashion. We are
tempted to downgrade someone's conversion experience and to treat lightly
our own coming to faith. We just don't see anything earth-shattering about
it, unlike what Scripture says occurs in the heavenlies when one sinner
comes to repentance. When Judah took his step of faith, everything in his
life and in the life of his brothers changed utterly. From God's perspective,
nothing is more important than having one individual's history completely
changed by an act of faith that delivers from death to life. Let us not
demean and undervalue such a dramatic change in our own lives or in anyone
else's.
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For
who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who
has first given to Him that it might be paid back to Him again? For from
Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever.
Amen.
Catalog No. 4047
Genesis 45:46:7
Ninth Message
Steve Zeisler
June 28, 1987
Copyright (C) 1995 Discovery Publishing, a ministry of Peninsula Bible Church.
This data file is the sole property of Discovery Publishing, a ministry
of Peninsula Bible Church. It may be copied only in its entirety for circulation
freely without charge. All copies of this data file must contain the above
copyright notice. This data file may not be copied in part, edited, revised,
copied for resale or incorporated in any commercial publications, recordings,
broadcasts, performances, displays or other products offered for sale, without
the written permission of Discovery Publishing. Requests for permission
should be made in writing and addressed to Discovery Publishing, 3505 Middlefield
Rd. Palo Alto, CA. 94306-3695.