Title: Joseph pretending not to know his brothers
Contents
It is a great blessing from God that Joseph became prime minister at the age of 30. It was possible because Joseph was with God rather than being smart. Although Joseph became prime minister, he did not enjoy wealth and glory through that position. Rather, he worked hard for Pharaoh's dream.
What should be remembered here is what is the goal of a Christian's life? What is your vision of success?
We cannot be the goal of our life to reach the top, to be successful. A Christian is not the goal of success itself, but that he should become a servant through the place.
Also, our success is only a means of accomplishing God's will and purpose.
Because there was a clear understanding of this, Joseph was a man who always led a life of service, even when he was in prison or became prime minister. We hope that our lives will be service-oriented rather than success-oriented.
‘At the time’ (1) It is now the eighth year since Joseph became prime minister. According to Pharaoh's dream, it refers to the time when seven years of great abundance are over and a severe famine is in full swing. A famine came to all the neighboring countries, and Jacob's house, which lived in the Promised Land, was no exception. We ran out of food, so we were in a dire situation where we had to go to neighboring countries to buy food.
A father rebukes his sons for their actions (1-2) Why did he say this? It was because the appearance of the sons who did not take any measures in spite of the great famine was pathetic. Instead of sending servants, Jacob let his sons go and buy grain. Because the famine was so severe that buying food was paramount.
However, when Jacob tells his sons to buy food, he does not send them all, but only 10. Why did you only send 10 people? It was because I was afraid that I would lose my son again by making a mistake.
Jacob was truly a man who lived in fear all his life. I was afraid of dying because of lying to my brother Esau, and I was also afraid when I secretly left the house of my uncle Laban. Also, when their sons killed the Shechemites, they feared revenge, and now they are afraid of losing Benjamin.
What you need to know here is who has a lot of fear? Even those who are self-centered and possessive have a lot of fear and a lot of sense of harm. People who think they have won are always afraid of being taken away.
So, how can you overcome your fear? You can overcome this when you live centered on others rather than self-centered. When I think of my job, my business, and my success as serving others, there is no sense of harm. why? Because it wasn't for me in the first place. So no grudges. I don't think I've been kicked out of my job. You think you've moved on.
The brothers bowed down in front of him. This is the fulfillment of Joseph's 17-year-old dream. After 20 years of separation, the brothers meet for the first time. What kind of status did they meet? One of them became prime minister, and the other is that not much has changed since 20 years ago or now. For example, when we graduated from high school, we were alike. No. I didn't study more than I did, and I had an ugly face, and there was nothing wrong with it. However, 20 years later, when I went to the reunion with great effort, nothing has changed for me, but that friend has become an executive at a large corporation. Why is there such a difference? Their beginnings were similar. However, the gap between those who have dreams and those who do not have them widens as the years go by.
Today is the first week of March. Are you progressing well towards your goals for this year? If you are doing well in reading the Bible, how is your prayer life and godly life going? Our departure in early January of this year must have been similar. But remember, there is a huge difference between those who have goals and those who don't. Owning a dream, goal, or vision is not a matter of choice, it is a matter of life and death. why? Because without a goal there is no future.
‘One is gone’ (13): Looking at other Bible translations, ‘One is dead’ was thought to have died after losing contact with his family for 20 years. But this is also a lie. I just wanted to think that it was gone.
The thing to think about here is, did the older brothers completely forget what happened 20 years ago?
No, it's been 20 years, but it's not that I've forgotten, I've been pretending to have forgotten. I remembered it vividly. What we're learning here is that guilt doesn't go away with the passage of time. Sin does not go away with the passage of time. Being drunk doesn't mean you'll be forgotten. Sin accumulates gradually and never goes away.
Likewise, like Joseph's brothers, old sins may still remain in us. Of course, the church also works hard, volunteers, and prays, but whenever I go to the Lord, if there is some kind of burden, rejection, unnatural and reluctance inside me, why is that? Some people even take 3 days to read through the Bible. Every time I read Genesis, I can't make progress. Also, the church comes out and sings hymns, but there is no peace, freedom, or joy in my soul. The reason is that there are still sins hidden within me, sins I do not want to forget. You must reveal it to God and have it completely resolved. That's when you feel free
There is a saying, ‘The beginning of treatment begins with acknowledging the disease. It hurts, but you need to remove the wound to become a healthy person. Likewise, this problem will not be resolved until they have vomited all their faults. After making a full confession, Joseph reveals his identity, because only in this way can he experience true forgiveness and freedom from sin.
Joseph never pretends to know his brothers. Because the time is not yet. Rather, they hide their emotions and manage them well. And wait. Don't be in a hurry. In other words, we can see that Joseph was a person who was thorough in ‘self-management’. In other words, ‘self-management’ is ‘mind management’.
When we are trying to achieve a certain goal and plan, what is the first object to conquer? self. This time at the Winter Olympics, we won a lot of gold medals on the ice. In our opinion, winning a gold medal in figure skating looks bigger, but what is more surprising to foreigners is winning a gold medal in speed skating, not figure skating. At 500m and 10,000m, those countries connected to Scandinavia are absolutely strong. Even Americans shake their heads saying they can't beat them, but we won the medal, which we didn't expect. So that's even more surprising.
How did you get the medal? Simply put, it's because you're taking care of yourself. If you cannot conquer yourself, you cannot conquer the world. Therefore, those who know themselves well are wise. Knowing yourself is difficult, but even harder is to overcome yourself. When you beat yourself, you can control your emotions.
Joseph was a man of thorough self-management. Likewise, I pray that you will become thoroughly self-managed in order to realize God's dream for us.