Wept

DEVOTION

GENESIS

WEPT

Gen 50:12-17

12 So Jacob's sons did as he had commanded them: 13 They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field. 14 After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father. 15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?" 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father left these instructions before he died: 17'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

NIV

Life must go on. The funeral was over, the time of mourning was over, and the living must proceed with whatever they do. The language here does seem a little strange when it says that when Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead. It makes it sound as if they had no idea he was dead until the funeral was over. Oh, that was our father we just buried, and mourned for seventy days? They knew he was dead, they were at his bedside when he breathed his last. But what this passage, these words are conveying is the idea that after all the mourning, the viewing, the funeral and more mourning and grieving were over, they now considered their relationship with Joseph without the intervention of their father. The thought that all that Joseph did for the family was out of respect for his father and now that he is gone, they are afraid he will now exact his revenge on them for their mistreatment of him those years before. They were afraid he held a grudge against them. So they invoke the name of Joseph’s father. It is interesting they did not say our father, but your father. What we are seeing in all this is the relationships between siblings after the last parent dies. What appears to be have been the case in this family was again a dysfunctional relationship between the brothers. In the beginning, they could not agree as to how to get rid of Joseph. Now they are in his debt and their father is gone. How will this relationship endure after the patriarch has gone? Sometimes we see this very same scenario play out in our lives with our siblings. There could have been some tensions between us, but we remained civil out of respect for our parents. After their death, the civility may either turn hostile or disappear completely, simply all going our separate ways, never speaking again. These brothers made an attempt, whether what they said was the truth or not, to establish a working relationship with Joseph. His response to their message was to weep, again, giving us a picture of Jesus. Joseph had a good heart. He was not a perfect man by no means, but he did have a relationship with God and thus his heart was softened toward his brothers. We will see this all play out in the next portion of this narrative. But this should, even now, just knowing he wept, give us an insight into how we should respond to our siblings when we are all that are left after the death of our parents. That age old phrase, that blood is thicker than water, should bear some truth for us. If we are at odds with any of our siblings as believers, such as Joseph was, we should not take the opportunity to take revenge, but we should respond with the love of Jesus. This may be harder than simply saying we should. Sometimes there are years of dysfunctional behaviors that need to be hurdled. Jealousy, envy, and mistreatment based on hatred are just a few of the attitudes Joseph’s brothers needed to deal with now. Perhaps we might have to acknowledge certain attitudes we carry regarding our siblings before we can weep and carry on as Jesus would have us do. Although each of us may have moved on with our own lives being married with children and even grandchildren, all that is left of our original family is our siblings. Should we not make every effort to be at peace with them? Should we not love them as Jesus does? If the only thing that was holding any relationship between us was a parent, we are missing something in the truth of the word of God. Maybe we should have wept. There is still time.