BUT GOD

- Hi there, welcome to Don't Miss This, a scripture study podcast with Dave Butler and Grace Freeman. - Each week, we point out things in the scriptures that we love and think you don't wanna miss. - Thanks for listening. - Hi there, I'm Dave Butler. - And I'm Grace Freeman. - Welcome to Don't Miss This. You guys, I'm not gonna say we love the Old Testament because I know I said that last week. - I've been waiting for you to just tell in the tone of your voice when you said welcome to Don't Miss This, that you cannot wait to be telling people about this chapter. - I love this book. I love the Old Testament is my favorite year by far. I might have to quit in actually a new Testament, I love. - Yeah, that was a crazy moment to quit. Right before the New Testament is crazy. - I know, that's true. Well, maybe I just love scripture, everybody. And that's our goal. For hopefully that you do too, that you fall in love with scripture, most importantly, the walk away, feeling encouraged and more hopeful. This is God's story. And we see, especially in these last couple weeks that we're in, that he meets people just as they are. And their lives can be messy and they can be unexpected and everything seems to work out. And that's what today is. Today is another one of those lessons. And I actually like that we ended on a cliffhanger last time. I mean, it was a little, no one likes a cliffhanger, right? Cthangers used to be really bad, by the way. Now I feel like I'm a grandpa talking to a grandchild, or something like that. But really, we had to wait week after week for TV shows when I was growing up. - I had to wait for that. - When I was growing up. - I had to. - You waited for new seasons. - All right. - It's different. - So no one really loves a cliffhanger, but I love, I do love that last time ended in a cliffhanger because it was the middle of the story. And most people listening, most people reading their scriptures right now are in the middle of their story. They are in the spot where they're saying, I don't know how this is gonna work out, right? And, but then we get the end of the story in this one, which I think is also so valuable to see how everything works out in the end. And it made me excited when I was driving today thinking about, I can't wait actually until we're all in heaven. And we can look back on life and see all of the spots where we were like, oh my gosh, then that happened and that set me up for this and that prepared me for, you know, or, you know, and just to be able to see and to see clearly the way God's hand moved through the whole story. It just really takes time and perspective looking back to see the good that came from it. I mean, I was talking to a friend today and she said, getting fired was the best thing that ever happened to me. And I was like, I don't think you said that when it actually happened. - The day of. - Yeah, and she was like, no, it was really hard and heartbreaking. But as I look back on it now, I do really feel, like that's the greatest thing that ever happened to me. Had that not happened, I wouldn't have discovered this and I wouldn't have fallen into that. And it's just interesting to see when you get to the end of a story how that happens. So last time, if you didn't watch Go Watch, but it leaves you in a cliffhanger in that spot of trying to find God in our pits and in our prisons. And then this one is more of a lesson of, you know, we get to look back. But our favorite part probably of this lesson before we get into just how everything works together in the end is throughout the Old Testament, there are so many people, symbols, events, moments that show us the character of Christ, that become types and shadows of Jesus. And sometimes that's, you know, like a picture of Jesus can pull out an emotion from you that is different, right? Or a song about Jesus can pull out a particular emotion. So I really like types and shadows because they feel like art almost. They feel like songs that are a little bit poetic, you know, about him in it and it helps pull out a different emotion about who he is. - And you know what I've been loving about it lately? Is I've been thinking how sweet it is that all of this happened before Jesus was ever on the earth. But I love that it's almost like the story that we are reading is preparing us to already love the story of Jesus. That it's why like wait, like Jesus is gonna be familiar to you. You know why? Because you read the story of Joseph. When you read about Jesus, when you hear about Jesus, when you see his life, you'll say, oh, I know someone like that. And I love that it's almost as if God is building up to this moment that he's like, no, like, trust me, watch these stories, watch how they play out. And then watch who Jesus is and you'll say, oh, I know him. And I have known him because I've seen this. - Yeah, that's cool. It reminds me of I read about C.S. Lewis, you know, who wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, Lion the Witch in the Wardrobe. You see all these or whatever. And as Lion, who is the Lion there and is like a Christ figure the whole time throughout all four of the books. And the one that's the wardrobe one, right? He lays down his life to rescue everybody. And at the end of the books, C.S. Lewis doesn't write and say, this is just like Jesus. He just leaves it and someone asks him about that. And he said, I did it because I wanted people to read The Chronicles of Narnia and say to themselves, when it ended, man, I wish that there were someone like Aslan in this world. My heart yearns for a hero like that. And then he said, and then when they encountered Christianity in their life and the story of Jesus, it would ring true to them and they would say, there is someone like that. And I never knew. And just kind of like what you were saying, which is so cool. So we're gonna start by talking about Joseph as a type of Christ and go through some verses that kind of show that character of Christ in his story. And then we're gonna do a second one with Judas. So if you open up your journal, we're gonna go to the digging deeper page in here and you're gonna see there's a box for verses about Joseph and things that you find and discover about Joseph. And then one for Judah that we're gonna get to after Joseph. And let's just start with things from last lesson that just sort of are quick, like rattle off some things about how Joseph is a type of Jesus. They're both hated by their brothers. They're both betrayed by somebody who's really close to him. And both are actually sold for the same price ironically for what was the price of a slave, 30 pieces of silver. Interestingly, the one who betrays Jesus is called Judas and the one who like sells Jesus is called Judah in this story, which is kind of wild. They both go into a prison and into a pit. And it is their prisons and their pits that then enable them at the end of the story to rescue and save everybody else. So was there hardship that was the price that was paid and ordered to be a rescuer in the end? So those are just some of the things that we learned from a story that introduced us to him last time that show us him as a type of Christ. - And then the cliffhanger ends from last week and we jump into what happens now. And we're in the middle of a famine and Egypt because of Joseph has everything that they need and they're kind of like thriving in the least likely time to thrive ever. And everyone else around them is obviously starving. And which also should, let's put that as a type of Christ too that in a time of famine, right, that you can actually thrive and survive and help others. And that is, you know, Joseph provides that for Egypt. - So good. - And Jesus provides it for us. - So good. And so Jacob sees and he hears the rumor, he finds out that there's corn in Egypt, there's food in Egypt and he looks at his sons and he says, "Okay, I need you to go and I need you to go get us food because we're starving. We need it. I need you to go to Egypt. I need you to get us food." And so the boys go and they leave the youngest one behind because the dad has a little bit of trauma from the brothers. So he says, "I'm gonna keep him here. You guys go. I've already lost one son. Let's not do that again." And he sends the boys and all the brothers go to Egypt. And they get to Egypt and of course, in good story book fashion, of course the person that they get to Egypt and they need to ask for food is their long lost brother. And they get there, they don't recognize him. Immediately Joseph sees his brothers and he knows exactly who he is, who they are. And so he starts like formulating this plan. And he, I love when it says this in verse number seven. And Joseph saw his brother and he knew them, but he made himself strange into them. And all of a sudden he like starts speaking in this different voice. He doesn't want them to realize who he is, but he immediately knows who they are. And automatically that's like a moment for me to pause. And I think it's a time that you see Jesus there as well. And it is someone who looks at you immediately and says, "I know exactly who you are. Where you are standing in front of me, as a beggar, Jesus looks at us and Joseph looks at his brothers in this moment." And says, "I know who you are. I know everything that you've done. I see you fully and completely. Even if you don't recognize me." And it's interesting. I don't know if this is going to come up later. So let me throw this in right now to say, spoiler everyone. In the end of this story, he is going to help them. But there is a lot of time where it kind of feels like he's not. And I feel like that is also a type and shadow of our relationship where I am confident and know in the end, Jesus intends to bless me. And he intends to make everything right. but his timing also is good. to help me to become someone different, to become someone better in the process. - Well, and it's interesting that you say that because I always think it's so interesting in scripture. This comes up all the time in Psalms and in other scriptures also when it talks about the Lord hiding from you. Like why are you hiding from me? Why are you keeping yourself from me? And it's interesting because Joseph shows up to his brothers and you're like, wait, why are you hiding yourself from them? And what we're gonna find out as we go through the stories, Joseph wasn't hiding himself from his brothers for no reason, Joseph was working for them. And it's not in the way that they expected. It's not in the way that you would initially want at the beginning of the story, but it is in the way that is going to make the story work. And it's interesting it's making me rethink of those verses and how often we are like, why are you hiding from me, Jesus? Why are you hiding your face? Why are you hiding your blessings? Why are you covering this up for me? And it's like, wait, what if his hiding is actually him working? And you just don't see that yet, you know? - Yeah, yeah, 'cause I think that's really important to remember about the Lord that his silence doesn't mean indifference. I don't think he has an indifferent bone in him. So it would be wrong to assume his silence. Now silence can be hard. Silence can be deafening even, but I was, saw this little reel on Instagram today where this grandpa was saying, you know, there were times in my life where I was so frustrated that God was hiding and that God was silent. Until I remembered that the teacher is always quiet during the exam. And it's not because they don't care, but because they have a different purpose. Their silence has a purpose. And that is true of the Lord. - So Joseph goes, he's hiding himself from his brothers and immediately they start talking. And he looks at them and he's like, oh, you guys are spies. You're coming to take and all the brothers start panicking. They're like, no, no, no, like we just want food. Like all we want is to buy food from you. Like we are not spies. And Joseph is relentless. Like he just looks at them and he's like, no, your spies, your spies, your spies. And then they're like, so having this conversation and Joseph's like, okay, so tell me about yourself. Tell me about your dad, tell me about your family. And the brothers look and they're like, okay, well, we have a dad and he's still alive and we have a little brother and he's still alive and he's with our dad, but we've lost one of our other brothers. And so like, that's why the little brother doesn't come and they're explaining all of this. And Joseph relentlessly just keeps saying, like no, your spies, your spies, your spies. And he says, okay, if you want to prove that you're not spies, I need to see your little brother. Like I need you to go and get your little brother. So like I'm going to keep all of you and you can send one to go get your brother and they're like, no, no, no. And so he sends them all to prison. And he says, okay, go stay in prison then. And they stay in prison for three days. And then Joseph's like, kind of like starts formulating the plan and they all start figuring it out. And what ends up happening is Joseph says, okay, one of you is going to stay. The rest of you can go take your food, pay for the food, you can go get your little brother and bring him back. And if you ever want to see this boy that I'm keeping prisoner, he keeps simian. He's like, I'm going to keep simian. I'm going to lock him up in prison. And if you ever want to see him again, and if you want to prove you're not spies, you need to go and bring your little brother back here. And so all of the boys-- - This part is not type of crisis. - No, it's not. - It gets you working and confused. - Not all parts of a story. - This is like the plot. Okay, you're just reading the plot right now. This is not going to be a shadow. - And-- - Although I will say this, maybe I can say this because I was just, I just noticed this verse looking down. I was like, oh, maybe I'll bring this up later. But he puts them in jail, right, for three days. And he does things that are for their benefit. I actually think, you know, that most of the time in my life when there's things that I want to say, you know, why did God do this to me? The, I would probably say why did God allow this? I just think the majority of the time, like he, I don't think he's doing it, but he does allow things like this to happen. Or sometimes he does things that are painful and hard. And that verse 24 is so interesting. Like during the time of testing, it says he turned himself about from them and wept. And I like that there is that verse again that reminds us that yes, the things he's doing are for their benefit, but he still weeps about it. And he still is emotionally, he still knows it's hard for them. And I think that is, there's a lot of Jesus in that verse. - Well, and I was telling David this because to be honest, I read this and then I legit, I had to sit down with David before this and I said, I don't think I'm understanding this story, right? Like I was like, I think there's a part that I'm missing because I'm gonna like, we're gonna do like a little spoiler that we're gonna go back and finish the rest of 42. But Simeon gets taken and locked up. The boys leave. They get food. They go back home. They eat all their food, okay? They're like, it was like, and all of a sudden I was like, we didn't mean it, but what about Simeon? Like you left him behind. Like he is still captured in Egypt. And you are feasting with your family back home as if Simeon doesn't even exist. And he's in jail and I like the jail was like, that can't be right. That cannot be part of the story. Like that does not make any sense. And Simeon, it doesn't make the brothers have left another brother before. So it did like a little bit make sense. - Unbranded from here. - Yeah, but like I was so worried about it. And then like we were sitting here and we were like talking about Joseph as a type of Christ and him, capturing Simeon and keeping him. And it's interesting because like right now, like it just makes me want to pause and say, the story's not finished. And there are going to be things that happen that don't make sense. And my mind, it did not make sense that Simeon had to stay in jail. Well, all his brothers went home and had feasting with it like his family. Like it was normal. And Simeon was stuck in prison. And I would say if you do not know the rest of the story, that seems absurd. If you think this is the end of the story, you're like, those boys are evil. Joseph is evil for keeping Simeon away from his family. Simeon's in jail, that doesn't seem fair. The more you think about it, the more you're like, that's not fair, that's not fair, that's not fair. And really what we should be saying is that's not the end of the story. The story's not over yet. And that was part of the plan. It didn't seem fair, but that didn't mean that Joseph wasn't working. And that's true for our lives. The moments that don't seem fair in all reality. I wonder if in heaven, everyone, all the angels are looking and they're like, no, it's just not finished yet. It's just not over the story's not over. So Simeon, like I said, gets captured, okay? And Joseph looks and he's like, okay, fill their bags with corn. And then all of a sudden, the craziest part about Mr. Joseph is then he says this, and put back all of their money into their sex and give them provisions for the way. And thus he did unto them. And they fill the sacs and everyone's like, okay, like hurry go and they fill up their sacs and they start going and they get going on their journey. They don't even realize when they leave, they don't understand what happens. And then they get going on their journey and then all of a sudden during the journey, he looks at his brother and he says, wait, my money's restored and it is in my sac. And their hearts filled them, they couldn't believe, like their heart stopped, they said, what is going on? And then they were afraid and they said, what is this that God has done unto us? What is this? This doesn't even make sense. And to me, the story of Jesus that we understand from Joseph is undeserved goodness. Goodness that doesn't even make sense. And not only was Joseph good enough to share the portion of food that they had that they had reserved, like that would be like bare minimum. He's like, no, I'm good. Like I'm going to share. Joseph didn't need to share. So like the expected goodness, yeah. The expected goodness, even if those were strangers who came and asked for food would be like, oh yeah, here you pay, I'll give you food. Nonetheless, the brothers that sold him into slavery, that they actually didn't deserve anything. Like it would have been really easy for him to say, your spies, let me throw you in jail because you don't understand what you did to me. You don't understand the terrible things that happened because of you. What you deserve is actually nothing. And then we read this story and it's like, wait, wait, wait. You're telling me that the people who did the most wrong to Joseph, he looked at them and he said, I will give you what you ask for. And even more than that, I will give you more than you could imagine. More than you could deserve. So much goodness, it will stop your heart. You will not be able to believe. And you will ask the question, what is this that God did this for me? And that is the story of Jesus. Is someone so good to people who do not deserve it at all. I cannot even imagine the list of reasons why I do not deserve any mercy, any grace, any forgiveness from Jesus at all. And yet he will look at me and he says, I will give you what you ask for. Not only that, I will give you more. And you might not even realize it in the moment. But as you go on your journey, you will look back and you will say, whoa, this is more than I could ever imagine. And it makes me just want to stop and live my life asking the same question, what is this that God has done unto us? What is this that God has done unto me? And it makes me just like want to pause and think like, what is the undeserved goodness that I have experienced because of God? And what is the even more goodness that I have received because of Jesus? And it makes me want to pause and think like, there are times when I ask Jesus for things, when I ask Jesus for mercy, when I ask Jesus for forgiveness, when I ask Jesus for grace, and what I will never be able to comprehend is the fact that I get to believe and someone who looks back and says, "I will give you grace. I will give you mercy. I will give you forgiveness. And then I will give you more." Yeah, and especially to somebody like you were saying, who, I mean, I can count the days that I feel like I've broken the heart of God. And in this story, you would say to the brothers, "You deserve the prison and you deserve the pit." I didn't, but I will go to those places for you so that I can rescue you in the end. The price Jesus, or both, the price Joseph paid in order to be that generous was seven years in prison and in the palace as a slave. And we look at the story of Jesus as it comes in the New Testament and the price he paid for his generosity was the cross and it was guessemony. He paid those terrible prices in order that he could be so wildly generous with all of us. And it makes me think about this forgiving nature of Joseph in here, that line that Elder Holland said once about God that surely the thing God loves most about being God is being merciful, especially to those who don't think they deserve it. And we see that in this story so richly. I love it. There's this other line in that same chapter when the boys get back to their dad and they say, "Dad, we have to take Benjamin with us." And the dad is like, "I can't. "I can't." And I know but Symians there and where we will starve. We have to take Benjamin back. And the dad says this line, Jacob in verse 36, "Me have you bereaved of my children. "Joseph is not." And now Symian is not. And you will take Benjamin away. All these things are against me. And I just can imagine people saying that same exact line as they catalog where their life currently might be, that their conclusion might be all these things are against me. Why is Joseph of Egypt so against me? Or they might say, "Why is God in heaven so against me? "Everything is going wrong and is against me." And I want to put as a cross reference next to that 36. And I want to be one of those angels in heaven that say, "Hold on, the story's not over yet." And add Romans 8, 28 as a cross reference. This great truth that Paul teaches, and I think we mentioned it last time, but and we know that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. And I love a couple verses down where it says, what shall we then say to these things? If God before us, who can be against us? 32, the proof, he spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? And I just feel like those verses go so great with this story, especially that one where in opposition to what we might think all things are working against me and the truth actually is all things are working together for good. And there's something about that verse, and I don't know what it means. I might have to study the Greek or something of Romans 8, 28. But there's one way of saying, and we know that everything works together for good. But I like reading that verse to say this, and we know that all things work together for good. Almost as if to say, the sum total of all things that happen will work together for good. Some days it'll look like you're in the red. But the sum total of all things will work together for good. And not just even, but that story said, paid back and paid above and beyond. So I think that is such a great verse that shows that, and let me do one more in, while we're in this section, when they get back, they bring Benjamin back and we'll come to the middle of that story in just a second, the conversation that happens at home, we'll come back to that. But they take Benjamin and they take Benjamin back to Egypt to prove and say, see, we do have a younger brother, we're not spice. And when they get to him, he has them all sit down for dinner. And then it says, when he sits down for dinner in verse 33, this is chapter 43, verse 33, it says, and they sat before him, the first born according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, and the men marveled one at another. Because Joseph sat them down in their order of birthright. And how many boys are there? There have been 11 of them, right? So there's 11 boys and he got them all right in order from oldest to youngest. So after he did that, they all kind of looked at each other and we're like, that's how it's pretty. Yeah, and Rubens like, do I look that old? Yeah, I think like, where? I can see Gray and Judas beard or whatever. But he puts them all in order. And I just love that line that the men marveled one at another. To me, that is another type of Christ. There are some things that work out and some stories that happen in our lives that when they're over, we are compelled to say, I don't know how you did that. This had to be God because the details were so perfect and so lined up. How did, how would you have known that? I was just listening to this interview today on a podcast of someone who just was in a spot and you've heard stories like this, but she had just lost her job. It was around Christmas time. And she was like, I don't know what we're going to do. And she was just in this place of panic about what are we going to do and then gets a knock on her door. And a friend had been on a morning run running by came a knock on the door and said, I don't know why I came by your house. But I came with this message that God sees what's happening and everything's going to be okay. And that girl sat there and thought, how could you possibly have known what happened this morning? And how could you possibly have known what is going on in my heart? And that is a type of Jesus and the God we worship is it'll cause us to marvel. We'll think, how do you know that? How did you get all of those details, right? Well, and you know what I'm thinking about right now is this is so silly. We're recording this in advance in case you're wondering. And we talked about that last time. I don't know why I didn't need to read it or anything but it's because of the story that I'm going to say is I am a big Broncos fan. It runs in my family, okay? And we just like right now the Super Bowl has happened the NFC, NFC championships have happened. Nothing's happened yet. But the Broncos just won a game and immediately after the game, the quarterback they like announced that the quarterback broke his ankle. And it's like right before the two biggest games of the entire year. And the quarterback like his name's Bonix. And like like he is like obviously very important to the team. And so like finding out he's out for the next two games was like devastating. It was heartbreaking. And I watched the head coach of the Broncos talk about Bonix and he said, Bonix is a believing man. And right when I found him, he was like sitting in the corner with his broken ankle he just found out the news. His family was there, his wife was there. And the head coach walked over to him and he said, I know that God's going to figure this one out. I know that God has a plan. I know this wasn't an accident. And I watched that interview and I was like, what in the world? This is the biggest moment of that boy's life. This is the most important thing that he's probably ever been a part of. He's like, this is his moment of his career, fallen apart, disaster, everything went wrong. The worst possible timing. What is he doing sitting on the floor of that locker room saying that it's God's plan? And I was like, what made him think that that's possible? And when David just taught that, I just thought in my head, you know what? It's the moments of goodness that make us marvel and think, oh, God knows me. God knows something about me that then allow us to say the same thing in moments of tragedy and moments of heartbreak. Is if we've seen the marvelousness of God in those moments, treasure those up, build those in your hearts that one day when your ankle breaks or when things fall apart or when you lose your job, you can say, no, I know something about God. He knows me. He showed up for me before. He will show up for me again now. And it just made me want to pause and really think, like I need to treasure those moments. The marvelous moments I've experienced so that when the bad days come, when the heartbreak comes, I know, oh, I know about God and he is marvelous. He still will be in the future. - And I think, you know, that verse back in Romans 8, I'm just thinking about that one where it just said, he that spared not his own son. Even if you don't have any that you can catalog, which I doubt, right? Open up your, your money, your corn's hacks and count the money that's in there. Like take moments to do that. But above all those, and even if there were none of those, that verse is so sweet to say, this is a God who spared not his own son. How can you believe anything? else but that he is going to freely give to you also. And in that story, our central story of Christianity is there was a cross and then an empty tomb. The story ends with an empty tomb. And that is the central story of Christianity. It's the central story about the heart and character of God. And I love that Paul teaches it in Romans because he is saying, if he is that good, I promise whatever your life looks like right now is going to end in a hallelujah. So good. And then you start seeing Joseph's plan play out. And I'm not going to lie when I was reading it this time. I was like, this is crazy. This is a wild plan. But a minute one of this story, this is like one of the craziest stories of all time. And what I love about it is that all along Joseph had a plan. And for me, that is another type and shadow of Jesus is that it might be crazy. It might be wild. You might not be able to believe it. But Jesus is planning. I like to like, it almost feels like Joseph's like a Schumer. Like you're like, how did you even think of this? And I love that Jesus is the same way that I hope that at the end of my life, I look back on the story of my life. And I think to myself, how did you even think of that Jesus? How did you even plan this? How could you have come up with a story like that for my life? Because that's how you know it was a good one. And you get into chapter 44 of Genesis. And all of a sudden Joseph looks and he's like, okay, he goes to a servant and he's like, here's what I need you to do. I need you to fill all the men's sacks with food, fill it, burst and give it as much as you possibly can. You know that story about Jesus is exactly the lesson we've been teaching. And then he says, and I need you to put my cup, my silver cup, the nicest cup I've got the cup I use every single day, I need you to put that cup in the bag of the youngest son. And all of them are like, okay, like the servants are doing whatever they say they pack them up, they load them up, they time off and then they give them to all the kids. And then he says to the servants, let them go for a while. But then after they've been gone for a second, chase after them, not when they're too far, chase after them and go and say, someone's still my cup and say they're going to say no, no, no, and they do. It plays out exactly how you think. He goes, the servant goes, the people are, all the brothers are gone. Servant chase after him, he says, someone stole Joseph's cup. They don't say Joseph, that would give it away. Someone stole the master's cup. They're like, no, no, no, like we didn't, we swear we didn't, we swear we didn't on everything. Like we really didn't take it. And he's like, okay, well, if I find it, like that boy's like mine, like he's, what are they going to kill him or make him a servant? Well, either I can't remember taking the jail. I can't remember. Taking the jail. Okay, everyone. They're like, oh no, like we promise, like we don't have it. We don't have it. We don't have it. And he's like, okay, let it, like that's great. Like I'm going to take your word for it. Let me look in all your bags then. So show me your bags, undo all your bags. And if we find it, then that, like that kid's going to be ours, like just so you know, so they start opening up all their bags. They start oldest to youngest because the drama, okay, all this, everyone's like, no, like see, we told you, we told you, we told you, and then little Benji, okay? The one that was never supposed to go. The one that the dad was terrified of letting go of the one that is like the most like they all were looking out for Benji. And then he opens up his sack and there's the cup. They start losing their minds. All the brothers are like, no, no, this isn't possible. They are so sad. They're, it's tragic. All of them are falling to the ground. They're like, what are we going to do? What are we going to do? The kind of middle of this day, it's going to get into, I think, right? And then, and so I won't like say anything. But, um, what happens is finally it's all disaster. They're all losing their minds. They're crashing out. And finally at the end, like one of the brothers is like, no, like, like take me instead, take me instead. And Joseph, in all of this gets to witness it. All the brothers losing their minds, all of them trying to figure this plan out. And then in chapter 45, these to me are some of the most tender verses of scripture of all time. This is the first time I've studied it like this. But I studied it in a way that here's these brothers who are guilty, not of the cup, but of other things. Coming before almost the judge. And I think 45 is a shadow of the judgment day. To walk up as the guilty party and this is the response you're going to get from the judge. And when I read it like that, that chapter became so sweet. And all of a sudden you get all these boys who are terrified, who are so nervous, who are panicking about their life and what's to come and what's going to happen. And then you see Joseph and that first line already you need to underline. And Joseph could not refrain himself before all of them that stood by him. He could not help it. His heart was moved for them. That will be the experience on judgment day. It has to be that Jesus will look at every single individual and he will not be able to help himself. He will have to step in. He will say, no, I can't, I can't let this go on any longer. I cannot let the pain and the guilt and the sadness and the upset. And I cannot let any of the wrongness continue. Let me step in. And then I would highlight this part too. He says, let every man to go out from here. He made everyone leave and isn't that so true for encounters with Jesus that he says, let this be between me and you. No one else. No one else's opinion matters. No one else's stance on the matter matters. No one else's thoughts or words is going to matter. Get them out of here. This is a one-on-one experience. This is between me and you. It reminds me of the story of the woman taken in adultery that one of the sweetest parts about that is when, you know, he says, who's without sin let him cast the first stone. And it said, then everybody left from oldest to youngest. And I think that story is showing that same thing. Where he's down in the dirt with her and says, okay, this conversation about your sins and your life are going to be between you and I only. It's so tender like this one. It's so good. And he sends everyone away and then he finally shows his brothers who he is. A brother who they thought died. A brother who had died in their life who was gone and escaped was now back. That is Jesus in and of his self. And do you know what I love is he's the one that cries in verse number two. He looks at them and he weeps. And Joseph says to his brothers, I am Joseph and is my father still alive and his brother and could not even answer him because they couldn't even believe it. They said, whoa, whoa, what is even happening? This doesn't make sense. And isn't that true for the story of Jesus about a man who died who came back again even our brother? That is the type of story that should leave us the same way. What is happening right now? And Joseph looks at his brother and looks at the people who betrayed him, who hurt him, who caused him suffering and pain and affliction, who caused him more trouble than good. And he looks at them and he says, come near to me and won't that be true on judgment day? That when we stand there and we look and we say, I've caused you more trouble, more pain, more suffering than any good that I've done to you. And Jesus, I think, will look at us and say the same thing. Come here. I've missed you. You've been far for too long. Please come closer. And I like putting those two lines next to each other at the end of three. They were troubled at his presence because in my mind, I imagine people will step before the Lord someday and be troubled because we're the ones who sold him into Egypt. And then for him to say those words, I just love that anybody who walks in thinking, oh no, maybe they think I'm in trouble when he's like, it's me, Joseph, and they're like, oh, oh. And then his immediate statement to them is, come here. Come close. There is nothing that I am more passionate about than verse number five. And especially when it comes to judgment day for the fear that we have, for the regret that we have for the guilt and the shame that we carry. This is what Joseph's going to say to his brothers, but I can't help but think that Jesus one day will say the same thing to us. And we might be hearing the same conversation on judgment day, but I think sometimes this exact sentence is said to us in prayers of repentance, in hope and begging for forgiveness, that he might say to us, now therefore, be not grieved nor angry with yourself, that you sold me, that you hurt me, that you caused me to suffer. For God did send me before you to preserve life. I went before you to take away your suffering and your pain and your guilt and your shame. That is why I did it. It's so that one day I could have the conversation and say, come here and get a little closer. And don't be sad or angry with yourself because I have suffered for you. God sent me before you so I could preserve your life. God sent me before you so I could suffer and you do not have to. And God sent me, verse seven, before you to preserve you and to save your lives by a great deliverance. That is the garden and that is the cross and that is the grave that he conquered. I went before you so that one day I can look at you and I can save you from whatever life or death you deserve. That he might stand before us and say, no, no, no, this was the plan all along. I just like I love that all of this comes before the apology that there's certainly going to say and that verse five is just so sweet and I like that you said this comes in answer to prayers over pendants, not just on on judgment day to anyone listening who has done something that has caused you to stay up at night or be angry with yourself. I have done things that I wish I could erase and I say to myself, I'm so mad that myself for doing that. Why did I do that? And for my prayer of repentance to be answered, be not grieved or angry with yourself. For God sent me before you to preserve your life. It just is such a sweet, sweet promise to anyone listening or reading these words. And I think the rest of the 45 something that would be just great to do. We're going to come back to favorite verses at the end in there because there's one other lesson we're going to teach 45 but words like in seven to preserve you, to save you, a great deliverance. 14 and 15. Yeah, 14. He kisses them. They weep. They talk 11 on nourish you. Verse 22, he gives them all clothes that close but five times the amount, you know, that they would need. And then the very, very last verse when dad gets to come and see Joseph and he says in 28, it's enough. It is enough. And I think that will be everybody's response. Like with all the debt and hurt and sorrow I've been through. Once Jesus is done with his restoring, each of us will say, it is enough. And I can't help but see a shadow of the cross there. When finally the father who lost his son looked down and said, I've seen your suffering. I know your story. I know what you've gone through and it's enough. Yeah. It's enough to save the family. So sweet. Let's talk about one more type of Christ in here, which is Judah. And we kind of missed parts of his story and conversation on purpose to tell it together. Sorry if you thought we forgot it. Okay. Just be clear. Remember, Judah is the brother who has the idea to sell off Joseph in the first place, right? And so when they go back, remember after they've been to Egypt the first time they go back to their father and say, the mass, this Pharaoh guy in Egypt wants us to bring Benjamin and the dad's like, absolutely not I can't, I will die if you take him. And Joseph, I mean, excuse me, Judah says in chapter 43 verse 8, and Judah said to Israel his father, send the lad with me and we'll arise and go that we may live and not die both we and thou and also our little ones. I will be surety for him. That conversation I believe is the same one that Jesus had with the father before we came to this world when he said, I can't send off my kids. I can't it will ruin and break me. What if I lose them? And for this type of Christ to say to his father, send them with me, we will arise and go together and we may live and not die both we end thou and all your little ones. I will be the surety. I will be the guarantee that you don't have to lose anyone. And I love the in nine he says, let me bear the blame forever. If I bring him not back home, I just love that promise from a son to the father that said, I will be your surety. I will go with them and I will make sure all the little ones make it back. And so when they get there to Joseph's house and it looks like Benji stole the cup and he is going to get taken and I love that he that Judah thinks immediately of his father. And he says, I can't I can't let this happen. This will break it will our fathers. It'll break our yeah. Yeah. And I always have read he ruse the verse in he ruse where he says for the love that was placed before him, he endured the cross and thought that he thought about me. But I also love thinking that Jesus thought about the father and said, this will break his heart. If he loses any of his kids, I have to finish this. I have to complete the the rescue. And this conversation that Judah has to Joseph that causes him to just weep aloud is in chapter 44 and starting in 30. And I'm going to read this in from the new living translation. And I would suggest member stories are great to read in NIV or NLT to just hear the story and not get caught up in the in the King James language and then go back and he says, and now my Lord, I cannot go back to my father without the boy. Is that such a great goodbye? Goodbye. Yeah. It's such a good line. Our father's life is bound up in the boy's life. If he sees that that boy is not with us, our father will die. We your servants will be responsible for that. My Lord, I guarantee to my father, I would take care of the boy. I told him if I don't bring him back to you, I'll bear the blame forever. So please, my Lord, let me stay instead of the boy and let the boy return with his brothers. I that they I know you can already see it and you already know what my next lines are even going to be. But I read this story and see this older brother say, please take me instead and and it makes me read this story and say, I wish I had an older brother like that. And the reality is I do and so do you. And there is just it's such a sweet picture of the heart of the Savior in the story of Judah too. It's interesting because I think for me sometimes I hear these types and shadows of Christ and I think there's no way that's too good to be true. That response is not going to be for me. That heart is not going to be that perseverance, that dedication is going to be for his better kids for the better ones than me. There is no way that that is as good. Like that's too good to be true. It just seems like that. And there's this little moment in chapter 45 verse eight that you almost get a glimpse and an answer to that that question of like, is this for me? Is this too good to be true? Does this really work? Is this really real? Because I don't deserve it. Because I have been too bad. I have made too many mistakes. I've done too many things I regret. I'm not good enough for a love like that. I've hurt Jesus too much. Jesus has had to suffer for way too much simply because of me. And then you get that response that Joseph is saying to his brothers, but I do think that Jesus will say to us in verse number eight, it was now. So now it was not you that sent me here. Or in fact, maybe you could change that to it was not you that sent me there to that garden and that cross. It was not you that sent me there, but God. And I circled that but God in my scriptures over and over and over as about eight circles over it. And next to that in the margins of my scriptures, I just wrote, when we don't feel worth Jesus is suffering, when we feel bad about what we put Jesus through, let this be evidence not of our badness, but of God's goodness. And that is the story to me of verse number eight is that we believe in a God so good that said, I will send him there not because of your wrongdoings, not because of your evil hearts, but because mine is so good. But because the heart of God is so good. good and so overwhelmingly kind that he looked down and said, I will suffer. I will take the hurt. I will take the pain so that you don't have to. That is the story of the cross. That is the story of the suffering. And there's this one other time that that's repeated at the very end of Genesis 50, the end of the book and what happens. And what's going to happen is it's really tragic and Jacob passes away and all of the brothers start panicking because they're like, wait, what is going to happen now? Because we know we know that Joseph loved our dad. But we're not sure that Joseph could ever really forgive us. We're not sure that Joseph could ever get over all the pain and the suffering that we put him through. And maybe he was only pretending to because he wanted like the love of the dad. He wanted to go back home to our dad. And now that the dad's gone, is he going to hate us? And what are we going to do? And in verse 15, it's almost you might like want to start, like it just seems like a glimpse of that judgment day. Again, I think in the words that they say because they go and all his brothers see that the dad is dead. And they say, Joseph will surely hate us. And he is finally going to punish us for all the evil that we did to him. There is no way that even now he's going to look at us with mercy and goodness and grace. And then they go and they sent a messenger unto Joseph, I think is the cutest part because you know they were so scared. They said, wait, let's just say it like it's like when you get in trouble with your parents. Go ask God. Go ask God. Go ask God. Yeah, you go find out. I don't want to be there when you ask. They're so scared. And I love their response because they're going to try to put it on the dad and they're going to say, "Losing, remember, our dad said this before you died." Okay? Like it's like, like this is asking like it's your dad that you love. You love him more than us. So shall you say unto Joseph, forgive, I pray the now, the trespass of your brothers and their sins, for they did unto you evil. And now we pray, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And then you get Joseph's answer. And Joseph wept when they spoke unto him. Joseph heard them pleading for mercy, pleading for forgiveness, pleading for goodness. And Joseph cried. And his brothers fell down and I usually want to pause here. And it seems as if those brothers thought that Joseph's response was going to be anger and mean and punishment. And instead they saw a brother who cried. And I would dare say that the tears from that brother probably came not because of the suffering that they put him through, but because they didn't really believe that he had already forgiven them. And there he was crying, a boy who already forgave the brothers, brothers who didn't believe goodness like that was possible, who needed even a reminder. And they said, "We'll be your servants." And Joseph says, "Wait, wait, wait, don't be afraid. And I in the place of God. But as for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good. You thought you messed this up. You thought you destroyed the plan, but God meant it for good. God meant it for good." And that is a beautiful story in the type and shadow of Jesus. But I also would dare say, isn't that a beautiful sentence to remember in the depths of the darkest moments of our lives that we will suffer. And oftentimes, it will not even be our fault, that we will be cast into prisons and into pits and servants in palaces. And it will be at the fault of someone else. That is the truth of mortality that unfortunately sometimes other people's agency will cause us suffering, will cause us heartbreak, will cause us devastating moments in our life. And maybe at the end, it will not make sense. But maybe we might say the same thing. You thought you were doing evil against me, but God meant it unto good. God took an unfair circumstance. God took unfair suffering. God took moments that we did not deserve, rudeness and harshness and evil things that we did nothing to deserve. And God will use it for good. God will turn unfair moments. And he will look at us and say, I can change the story because you do not deserve that. That's not the suffering that you deserve. That is someone else's fault. But I can change the story. And those two words bring more hope than you could ever imagine. Someone did me wrong. Oh, but God will step into your story. Someone caused me suffering, but God will step into your story. I am in the pit of my life, but God will step into the story. I am suffering. I am sad. I am devastated. But God will step into the story. And he will mean it. For good. He will change it for good. And that is the poster of the week. And it's just those two words. You get double words today. But God, because there will be tragedies. There will be suffering. There will be moments when you have to cry, when you are stuck in a pit, when you think why is this happening to me? And maybe the response is, but God, he will step into the story. And he will change it for something better. Yeah. And even, you know, if you're going to make this for the lesson, I would say at the very end of this, they are out, they're living in a palace, right? They are living like kings and queens in this palace. And there might be some blessings. And some promises that are in scripture or have been made for you that you think, I do not know how that is ever going to happen. That would take a miracle. And then the response would be back. But God, don't forget that God is going to step into this story. No matter what it is, he is like everything's going to work out. And I love that when Joseph dies and when Jacob is father dies in these last chapters, that's their final lesson. Their final lesson, Jacob goes through and he gives blessings to these kids and he mentions some hard things that are going to happen and some good things that are going to happen. But I love this line of 48, 21. And Israel said into Joseph, "Behold, I die, but God shall be with you and bring you again to the land of your fathers." I'd love that Jacob at the end of his life, after the fight with his brother and and and all the trouble with his wife and the kids and his father and law. And then at the end of his life, he just says, "There's one thing I know that God will be with you and he will bring you again to the land of your fathers." And it's the same promise that Joseph gives at the end of his life. With everything I've been through, the one lesson I want to leave everybody with is, "But God, right? Listen, he's going to be with you and he's going to bring you back to the land of your fathers." That is his promise. And it's one you can take to the bank. So such a good story. What a way to end the book of Genesis, which arguably is the best book in this book, but there's just more great stuff coming. Next week, we will pick up in the book of Exodus because now the family is in Egypt and we're getting into the story of Moses. So there's such awesome stuff coming. So thanks so much. We'll see you next week. This audio was taken from a YouTube video from our YouTube channel. You can find us on YouTube at Don't Miss This. Also, sign up for our newsletter at Don't Miss This Study.com. And you can follow us on Instagram at Emily Bell Freeman and at Mr. Dave Butler. Thanks for listening. Bye.