JOSEPH #63 | JOSEPH IN EGYPT #45 | LAST WORDS OF JACOB #34

Pastor Christopher Choo

Lesson 3659

JOSEPH #63

JOSEPH IN EGYPT #45
LAST WORDS OF JACOB #34

11. JOSEPH #10

PRINCIPLES OF GODLY LEADERSHIP FROM THE LIFE OF JOSEPH #4

4. MERCY

In many motivational seminars on leadership, there is no mention of mercy being a defining trait of a good or godly leader.

Joseph showed uncommon mercy towards his brothers who rejected and betrayed him.

Let us study Joseph's merciful treatment towards his brothers who were slated to become leaders themselves of their respective tribes.

1. Finally reunited with his brothers and father - Gen 42:1-45:15 2.

2. Arranged for them to live in Goshen - Gen 46:16-20,28-34; 47:1-12 3.

3. Reassured his brothers that he has forgiven them

a. When he first revealed himself to them - Gen 45:4-8

b. When their father Jacob died - Gen 50:15-

In the Bible, mercy is extended to an offender in the form of forgiveness or to the suffering in the form of healing or other comforts. In any case, mercy can be characterized as compassionate treatment of those in distress. Whether the distress is caused by the guilt or penalty of sin or by a debilitating physical condition, mercy is there to help.

Joseph saw God's big picture, unlike his brothers who wanted his firstborn privilege by  "killing" him off though, in the end, they sold him instead as a slave. They could not even recognize him in Egypt for in their mindset who will not be corrupted beyond recognition by the fleshly temptations of Egypt? 

But Joseph recognized his brothers and devised a clever way to get them all to come to see him. He had his palace manager provide food for his brothers but also told him to sneak in money and Joseph’s possessions to make it look like they had stolen from Joseph!

Once he had them all in the room with him, he had the perfect opportunity to take revenge on all of them for the cruelty they had shown him so many years before.

But rather than giving punishment, Joseph had mercy on them. After sending his attendants out of the room so that he could be alone with his brothers, he revealed to them who he was. He broke down and wept. He wept so loudly the Egyptians could hear him, and word of it quickly carried to Pharaoh’s palace.

His moving speech of reconciliation and forgiveness is a truly touching testimony.

" I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt."

What is today's lesson on leadership?

Joseph had the right and the power to take revenge on his brothers, yet he chose to show mercy. He did this because he realized that it was God’s Mercy that allowed him to become a powerful ruler, and be in a position to save his family and Egypt from famine.

Joseph was able to be merciful because he had experienced God’s mercy. And this is a picture of what Jesus meant when he said “Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.” i.e. only those who have experienced that saving mercy of God can be truly merciful. 

Jesus said this knowing that His own death on the Cross would be the ultimate act of God’s mercy for us so that we can be merciful to others.

Jesus Himself is God’s mercy for all who put their faith in Him (Eph 2:1-10), who was anticipated in the Old Testament  by the Mercy

The seat of the Ark of Covenant ( Exodus 25 ) where the blood of the sacrificial goat was sprinkled 7 times on the Day of Atonement to cover the sins of the nation of Israel for one year only. But the Blood of Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, cleanses our sins forever in His grace and mercy of forgiveness.

Indeed  Matthew 5:7 which records the words of Jesus is worth repeating again and again:

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”