Welcome to Connect with Skiff Heitzig. We're glad you've tuned in for today's program. Connect with Skiff-Heitzig wants to connect you to God's never-changing truth through verse-by-verse teaching of His Word. And that's why we make messages like this one today available to you and so many others on air and online.
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Now let's get into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Verse 27 Then your servant my father said to us You know that my wife bore me two sons. And The one went out from me. And I said, surely he is torn to pieces, and I have not seen him since. Stop there.
Did you get that? Uh Judah is saying what his father said because this is what his father always believed. His father always believed that because that's the lie Judah and the rest of the boys told their dad Jacob.
Well, this is the very first time Joseph ever hears what his father has been told about his disappearance.
Now he gets it. Oh, you guys told him that I was torn. By wild animals. That's the lie you told him when, in reality, you sold me to make money off me to the Ishmaelites. But verse 29.
This is Jacob speaking, continuing. But if you take this one also from me, and calamity befalls him, you shall bring down my gray hair with sorrow. to the grave.
Now therefore, When I come to your servant my father, And the lad is not with us. Since his life is bound up in the lad's life, it will happen. When he sees that the lad is not with us, but he is That he will die.
So your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father. With sorrow. to the grave.
Look at that descriptive phrase of the relationship. that Jacob and Benjamin have. His life is bound up in the lad's life. The Amplified Bible adds, and his soul. is knit with the lad's soul.
They are inseparable. Because of the loss of one, the only one to remind Jacob of the love that he had for the wife Rachel is young Benjamin. He's the only one that reminds us. That's part of that link. in that love relationship.
His life is bound up with the life of that lad. It's a beautiful phrase.
However, You would think that after 21 years, the father would be able to move on. And we saw the last couple of studies, he wasn't. The way he talks about Joseph after 21 years. is unhealthy. Sure he should miss em.
I miss my brother. My brother died. I miss my mom and my dad. But I can talk about it and I can have fond memories of it. Every time Joseph was brought up, he made everyone miserable, Jacob did.
By how he treated it. I've watched people who don't recover from the loss of a loved one. I've seen the torment and the pain in their lives. You can talk to them and pray with them and counsel with them, but. It seems that they never went through all of the right stages of grief.
Maybe they stuffed it down and they refused to grieve at the time, never shedding a tear, trying to be strong. That's a mistake. Typically, there are stages of grief, and there is something called good grief. Usually when somebody is informed that their loved one has died. The first stage is typically denial.
No. It couldn't have happened. It must be a mistake. You must be thinking of somebody else. Surely this couldn't be happening to me.
That's the normal response. Second, there's shock. Followed by anger. Anger at God for letting it happen. Perhaps even anger at the person who died.
I told them not to do that. I told them they shouldn't go there. or anger at oneself. Why didn't I prevent this or that? That's typically followed by another stage, deep depression.
Person is coming to grips with it. They're in utter despair because of the loss of life. They don't know how to move on. But eventually, as they follow through the stages, they'll learn how to cope with it. All of that is normal.
It's typical human emotion. It's the way we're wired. Hush. I don't know what stage Jacob skipped, but He hadn't dealt with it in a healthy manner. And so, thus, the phrase, Jacob's life, is now completely bound up and intertwined with the only son of his.
marriage that he really loved. And that is Benjamin.
So He lays it out, verse 32: for your servant. became surety or collateral. For the lad to my father, saying, If I do not bring him back, then I shall bear the blame before my Father forever. Therefore Please let your servant remain instead of the lad, as a slave to my Lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. Yeah.
For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me? lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father. Yeah. Wow. What a switch.
What a switch from chapter 37. When Judah said, I got an idea. Why should we kill him? We can make money off of this creep. Let's sell him.
Now Here's Judah. pleading for the life of Joseph's younger brother, the favored brother, Benjamin, Not jealous, but sticking up for him. Not only that. but willing to be the substitute himself. and let everybody else go free.
I'll be the substitute. The punishment will fall upon me, everybody else, especially that boy. Let him go home.
Okay. That's a change. Not only is it a change, but I see it as a prefiguring. of somebody else doing that.
Somebody else giving a substitution of his life so that others could go free. Very interesting. At the very end of Jacob's life, when he's giving those blessings, we'll get to it in chapter 49, but I've sure been alluding to it through this whole study.
So by the time we get there, it's familiar ground. He says to Judah his son, Second born, Judah is a lion's whelp. A lion's whelp. That's how he describes his son: a lion's whelp, a cub of a lion. Yeah.
Now it's because of that that Judah, the tribe of Judah, will be typified in the wilderness wanderings when we get to Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, et cetera, as a lion. And that is why we find the reference, since Jesus is of the tribe of Judah, we find him referred to in the book of Revelation, chapter 5, as the lion of the tribe of. of Judah. Here we have Judah, the forefather in the tribe of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving himself as a substitute. Foreshadowing what Jesus Christ, the lion of the tribe of Judah, would do for the whole world.
Giving himself In substitutionary atonement, or the theologians call it vicarious atonement, they like fancy words. Substituting His life So that we could go free. It's a beautiful picture.
Now There's a lesson to be learned before we jump into chapter 45 and get lost in some of the wonderful details there. I suppose the lesson in all that we have studied so far is be careful. How you handle Your relationships. You all have them.
Some of them are great and some of them aren't so great. And some of them are downright bad. with other people. I say be careful as possible because relationships, though they're precious, they can be very fragile. One incident.
One word. Spoken in wrath or anger. One action can sever a relationship, and the consequences can last. for generations. Do you understand that concept and that principle?
Relationships. R incredibly precious and very fragile.
So it would help. If we could think before we speak or act. James said.
Okay. Every man should be swift. To hear. Slow. to wrath, slow to speak.
God gave us two ears and one mouth. I wish we would function. in that equation, listening twice as much as we talk. If we would think through what will this action or these harsh words do to this relationship in the long run. Think of this relationship.
Think of Judah and his brother Joseph. 21 years, over two decades. Of suffering through the guilt and not dealing with reality, telling lies, cover up pain. That's what Judah and his brothers have been dealing with. When I worked in radiology, and even as a pastor, I've been in many hospital situations, emergency room situations.
where a family member has died, and I was there when the family member died. The person is pronounced dead. The sheet covers the head. And we wait for the family. The family arrives.
Two, three minutes after the fact. They didn't get there in time. They were informed, but they didn't get there in time. And the information is given. Your husband died.
Your father died. Your brother died. And then, so often, the deep guttural cries, wailing of remorse, and words like. I never forgave him or I never let him know that I loved him. I held a grudge for so long, and now it's too late.
I wish I would have, I could have. But it's too late.
So relationships are precious. but very fragile. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzk. Before we return to Skip's teaching, what would your life look like if God's fingerprints were all over it? In God Print, The Life of Abraham, Pastor Skip takes you through seven powerful messages on the faith journey of one man who learned to trust God through crisis, fear, and uncertainty.
Abraham's life was shaped by God, and so can yours be. The God Print 7 Message Series is our thank you for your gift of $50 or more today to support the worldwide ministry of Connect with Skip-Heitzig. Your support helps reach more people with verse-by-verse teaching of the Bible so they can connect with God's timeless truth.
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Now, let's get back to today's teaching with Pastor Skip. I did an interesting thing a few years ago. I'd been doing a series of studies and taught through a number of books. Years ago, in this fellowship, I decided to let people write questions. Or give me ideas, topics.
Of questions that they wanted answered from the Bible. What things have I not dealt with so far? What issues do you deal with that you'd like me to deal with from a scriptural perspective? And then I thought, I'll base a whole series of teachings on questions that people ask. It was fun.
It was a fun idea. It was fascinating.
Now, I was sure that there was going to be most of the questions on eschatology or, you know, all sorts of things that maybe I had been interested in, but to my. Utter shock. 90% plus. were questions about how do I fix This relationship or that relationship. And I discovered Boy, there's a lot of people in God's family.
that aren't handling those relationships responsibly.
Now let me give you the three R's of relationships, if I may. Number one, Is repentance. Number two is responsibility. And number three, results. If you Repent.
For what you've done wrong, not what they've done wrong, or ask them to repent for what just you. Humble yourself and repent for what you've done wrong in the relationship. If you too take responsibility for your part of the wrong done, number three, it will yield results. You cannot be held responsible for them not fulfilling their end of the deal or part of the relationship. You can't do that.
I often get questions. How can I get so-and-so to understand? You can't get them to understand or see it. Nor is it your responsibility, but you can do what you only can do, and that is take responsibility for your part of the mess. Repent of it, humble yourself.
And you'll see results. Repentance. Responsibility Results. I've spoken to many people. Oh, you don't understand.
My situation is so bad. It's so dire. This is such a can of worms. That's the descriptive phrase, a can of worms.
Okay. So take one worm out at a time. And soon you'll have an empty can. Do your part. in emptying the can.
Well, cans about to be emptied. Chapter 45. Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him. This is the greatest moment of this section of Genesis, perhaps one of the greatest moments in all of history, certainly in the Old Testament. It ranks way up there in terms of.
Significant moments. Fulcrum Moments. These brothers Wanted food. These brothers Wanted to go home. But these brothers needed.
Forgiveness. What they wanted and what they needed were two different things. They didn't know what they need. They knew what they wanted. Joseph's about to give them what they need, and they'll discover it's what I wanted all along.
Now, Joseph could have handled these brothers a few different ways. Have you ever thought about this? Joseph could have, number one, Put his brothers in jail for five years. Just give them a little taste. Of what he went through.
How's it feel, guys? Pretty bad, huh? That's what I felt like for a long time. Just so you guys know what it's like, I just want you to suffer in prison. He could have done that.
Yeah. Number two, he could have sent them back home with nothing. Get out of here. I'm Joseph. Get out of here.
I never want to see your face again. Number three. Make it easy. Easiest option, cut their heads off. Kill him.
Capital punishment. was not uncommon for somebody in his position to do. Joseph chose the fourth option. Here it is. I will forgive them, I will love them, and I will lavish my provision on them as long as they live.
Somebody once said, Love your enemies, it'll drive them nuts. Lavish agape love is a force nobody No one can withstand for a long period of time. I can attest to it. I've told you about the relationship that I had with my father for years, and it was bad, and it got worse after my brother's death. And the night after, or the night of his funeral, my dad blamed.
a lot of his death on me and yelled at me and The Lord spoke to my heart and said, You're the Christian in this family. You need to operate at a higher set of values. If they don't see this from you, they'll never see it from anyone. It was difficult, but I walked up to my dad and I embraced him. We hadn't hugged for years.
It was hard to hold that man. But I embraced him. Got it. And I held him close so that my mouth was close to his ear, and I said, I love you. And I started praying out loud, so he couldn't interrupt.
And it wasn't a directed prayer, like, Lord, show my Father how evil he has been. And how righteous I am. Seems to me a guy tried that like in Luke chapter 18, right? I just ask God to forgive me. and to restore our relationship.
After I let him go and looked into his eyes. He had tears in his eyes. He said that was beautiful. He couldn't say anything else.
Okay. I said, Dad, I love you. He didn't say anything. When I left The next day, I said, Dad, I love you. He didn't say anything.
Next time I saw him, I said, Dad, I love you. He didn't say anything. But after a few times, he said, I love you, son. God's love, agape love. Love your enemies, it'll drive em nuts.
Joseph is lavishing love upon his brothers. You'll see. I'm getting ahead of myself. I love the story. Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, Make everyone go from me.
Whew, what do you think his brothers thought when he said that? Oh no. This is it. Why else would he do it? He's going to kill us.
Get everybody out of the room. All the Egyptians, all of my servants, all of my stewards, out of the room.
So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known. To his brothers. And he wept aloud. And the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh Heard it. What's it last week?
Maybe you remember back when I gave you the outline for chapter 43 and 44, and I said you could be divided up this way. Number one, There was a predicament in Canaan, a famine in the land. That's chapter 43, verses 1 through 15. Do you remember that? Followed by a party in Egypt.
It's verses 16 through 34 of chapter 43, followed by. Number three. Um Penitence from his brothers, penitence or sorrow, repentance in his brother's heart. Let me add a point now. Chapter 45: pardon in the family.
Pardon in the family. This is where forgiveness is extended and enjoyed when reconciliation takes place in this family. He reveals himself to his brothers. He weeps aloud in the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh Heard it. Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph.
Why did Joseph want everybody to leave? Was it because he's about to get emotional, he didn't want to show any emotion? Maybe. But let me Let me give you another idea. Maybe it's all part of what genuine forgiveness is.
Maybe genuine forgiveness. Doesn't want to parade other people's sins. If you genuinely forgive somebody, You won't have to tell others what they did to you. If you're out telling people what somebody has done you wrong in, You haven't forgiven him. But true forgiveness, genuine forgiveness, doesn't want to parade anybody's sins.
First Peter chapter four, I believe, says love covers a. Multitude of sins. It's genuine forgiveness. Get everybody out of here. I'm going to reveal myself.
I don't want them to know what these. guys have done to me.
So he says to his brothers, I am Joseph.
Now notice he's not using an interpreter, it would seem. Before he did, he's looking directly at his brothers, no interpreter, so it must have meant he spoke in Hebrew to them because they didn't understand Egyptian.
So this is what it sounded like. Ani Yosef In Hebrew, I am Joseph. What do you think that sounded like to them? They were in. Utter shock.
Their faces would go white. This guy is speaking in Hebrew and he says he's Yosef. We haven't heard that name for years, especially out of Somebody like this is lips. I am Joseph. Does my father still live?
But his brothers could not answer him. For they were dismayed in his presence. That's putting it mildly. It could be translated they were Distress. Dumbfounded.
Immensely. They just gone. Uh uh nothing to say. Joseph said to his brothers, Please come near to me.
So they came near, and he said, I am Joseph, your brother. whom you sold into Egypt.
Something I didn't comment on that just came to my mind, and that is. Um Joseph wept.
Now, this isn't the first time. Last time, remember, he got everybody out, he was alone, and he went into the next room and he started crying. And then he patted himself and came in and was all cool again. He showed emotion. There's something that I learned about Middle Eastern cultures, both ancient and modern.
That are interesting and I like. They don't hold back emotion. It's not considered a sign of weakness to emote. Even men emote. in those cultures.
Now here we are in our Western civilization. And we have been taught, especially if we came from European ancestors, especially if you came from British ancestors. And uh you've been told to keep a stiff upper lip and Men don't cry. And I remember I had three older brothers. If I cried, it's like, boys, don't cry.
Then When I started going to college, and I realized that men have these little things in the corner of their eyes called lacrimal glands that they're not just given to the female gender, but Men have lacrimal glands as well. That means we cry too?
So we're designed by our Creator to emote and to weep. And I thought, hmm, they've been wrong. Maybe it's not a sign of weakness. Maybe it's a sign. Being real.
Being genuine. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skiff Heitzik. Before you go, don't forget to request this month's resource, GodPrint, The Life of Abraham. This powerful seven-message study from Skip-Heitzig shows how God's presence shaped one man's life and how he can shape yours. It's our thanks for your generous gift of fifty dollars or more to support this ministry.
Call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And while you're there, sign up for Skip's weekly devotional email to grow deeper in your walk with Christ. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig.
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