WHO’S THAT KNOCKING AT THE DOOR?

Who is knocking at your door? Is it that trickster, the one who has deeply hurt you?

Image of chained door

Post WWII, Corrie ten Boom decided to go on a speaking tour of Germany, to win to Christ the hearts of her former enemies. She remembered, “It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower door in the processing center at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there – the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, My sister Betsie’s pain-blanched face.… My sister’s death.”

HOW DOES JOSEPH DEAL WITH HIS HATEFUL BROTHERS?

In Genesis 42:1-43:10, can you imagine the same type of shock when Joseph recognizes a group of men appearing at the palace door? He instantly remembered the brothers who despised teenaged Joseph with such a revulsion and enmity that they sold him into slavery. With crocodile tears told their father that a wild animal killed their brother. More than twenty years have passed. How does Joseph deal with the men he had known as brothers, now bowing before him, begging to buy food?

Joseph is the last person on earth the brothers expected to see, especially in Pharaoh’s Court. The aristocracy before them spoke with great authority and appeared Egyptian. This man is Pharoah’s right-hand man.

EVERYTHING HAS COME FULL CIRCLE

Did angry vengeful thoughts first swirl around in Joseph’s brain when he recognized them? “Joseph recognized his brothers; they did not recognize him. Then he (Joseph) remembered his dreams about them.” The God of the Universe reminds Joseph that everything has come full circle. The dreams he was given years ago in which God placed him over his brothers, are being fulfilled.

HAVE THE BROTHER’S CHANGED?

How does Joseph respond? Certainly, he is entitled to revenge. He wonders if the brothers have changed. Do they regret their murderous plot to get rid of Joseph? In their minds, Joseph “is no more”. Joseph uses an interpreter, so they assume he doesn’t speak their language. Then Joseph hears them say, “Surely, we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come on us.”

Joseph knows his brothers as tricksters. After all their father’s name is often interpreted as “someone who seizes or circumvents”. Joseph gives his brothers a run for their money to reveal where their hearts stand. In the process, he makes possible his heart’s desire: to see his younger brother Benjamin and father, Jacob. Dad has never recovered from the loss of Joseph. Jacob laments, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!”

Joseph maneuvers the situation in a series of tests: the silver in their saddle bags and Simeon being held hostage in Egypt. God provides the answers regarding the former tricksters at the palace door.

FORGIVENESS IS POSSIBLE, EVEN WHEN COUNTERINTUITIVE

What lesson do we learn from this? Forgiveness is possible even when it is counterintuitive. Joseph responded in wise trusting obedience to God when confronted with the deepest hurts of his past. Corrie Ten Boom remembers, “Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.” Who is knocking at your door? Is it that trickster, the one who has deeply hurt you? Or is it much worse, Corrie’s guard from Ravensbruck? How are you going to respond to God’s call for wisdom and forgiveness?

Click to hear the story of Dana St. John

Author: Jacquelin Stoner

Jacqui is a writer, teacher, life coach, and an encourager. She walks alongside of individuals who need help navigating to the better place God has envisioned for their lives. She has discovered that God is central to genuine lasting life change.

Delight in helping women to discover wholeness in their "New Normal".