Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood. ” His brothers agreed.
28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels[a] of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. Gen. 37:26-28
and
3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. Gen. 45:3-5
So Joseph had been done wrong. He received the favor of his father at a very early age, which later fueled his brothers hatred towards him. To the extent that they initially wanted to kill him, then fake his death, then sold him, their own brother into slavery. He is then put into a great position only to be lied on by the bosses wife, so he's imprisoned wrongly for many years, and all the while GOD's favor rested upon him in prison and he was restored to his God ordained position in Egypt. So many years later when a famine hit the entire land, Joseph being led by God in wisdom had stored up provisions for such a time. His brother being affected by the famine came to Egypt seeking "gov't" assistance for their family. Remember these are the same blood-thirsty, decietful brothers that sold him off......and they came face to face (initially unknowingly) with the brother they cared nothing about.
Joseph always had a great attitude, but did His brother's deserve to eat at his table? Did they deserve to get the grain Jospeh provided for them (they still didn't recognize that it was JOSEPH dealing with them)? After Joseph revealed himself fully to them they covered their faces in terror and wept many of them, and Joseph asked for the to come and stay with him, is that what they deserved? While it is easy for us to read this, study this account and judge....what they really deserved....but what about you?
Do you really deserve the house you have? Do you really deserve the health, or the portion of good health you have? Do you really deserve ................anything outside of the pit of hell? As I said ....TWISTED THINKING, but according to Jeremiah 17:9 all of our hearts are decietful, and like Joseph's brothers because of God's great love......we don't get fully what we deserve, and this is why we all should be compelled to show compassion to EVERY LIVING BEING because as GOD has been forgiving to us, we ought to reminded daily of why we are to forgive others. We all DESERVE to be LOVED! LGLP
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