The Power Of Forgiveness

                                                                    Sunday School Lesson
                                                                         January 22,2012
Lesson Focus:
Forgiveness brings healing
Lesson Scripture:
Genesis 50:15-26

Introduction:

After Jacob died,Joseph's brothers still feared him.they thought Joseph's forgiveness lasted as long as their father lived.So the brothers concocted a lie:"Your father said to forgive us our sins and wrongs commited against you."They even threw themselves down bodily before him as slaves.They didn't get it.Joseph had already forgiven them and had no plans to punish them after Jacobs death.It broke his heart to know that his brothers did not accept his genuine forgiveness and love.Joseph repeated his comments when he first revealed himself to them years before.Kindly and tenderly he said,"Don't fear; God placed me here.You had an evil,devious plan to destroy me out of jealousy,but God was working in the mist of hatred and strife.He saw the future and sent me here to make sure all of our family stayed alive.Joseph could have killed his brothers.After his father's death, he did not have any reason to keep them around and continue to care for them.But this is true forgiveness, when we have the power to destroy a person,their reputation,their future or career and you don't. Joseph demonstrates for all of us how to look at the larger picture of what God is working out in any given situation.When those around us are  feeling guilty,broken,full of doubt and anguish, christians must show the love of Christ by encouraging them and helping them move forward.

Joseph Reaffirms His Forgiveness
Gensis 50:15-21KJV
¹⁵And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.
   ¹⁶And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
   ¹⁷So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
   ¹⁸And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
   ¹⁹And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
   ²⁰But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
   ²¹Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

Footnotes:

Evidently,the terror Joseph's brothers experienced when they first learned his identity 17 years earlier had diminshed while their father was living,but had now dissipated.Now that Jacob was dead,the brothers axiously wondered if Joseph still held a "grudge against " them for all the wrong they had done him.The brothers told Joseph that Jacob's last words were to forgive your brothers of the sins and the wrongs they committed against him.When Joseph received the message he wept.He realized that his brothers still feared him and didn't believe he had forgiven them.His brothers once resented him and his dream of them bowing before him,yet here they were throwing themselves at his feet.He reassured them that  he had forgiven them and held no malice towards them,explaining their intention were meant for evil,but God was always in control, and God sent him to Egypt to save many lives.

Joseph Lives in Peace with His Brothers

Genesis 50:22-26KJV

 ²²And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.

   ²³And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph's knees.
   ²⁴And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
   ²⁵And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.
   ²⁶So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Footnotes:

Joseph and his brothers, indeed all his family apparently lived harmoniously in Egypt for the remainder of Joseph's life.Joseph lived to see his great grandchildren.The instructions Joseph gave his brothers just prior to his death are the same as those given Joseph by Jacob before he died. Joseph assured his brothers twice that even after his death,God would surley come to their aid. He would guide them out of Egypt,back to the land he promised to Abraham,Issac and Jacob. Jacob had bound Joseph by oath not to bury him in Egypt but take him to the land of Canaan for burial with his fathers.Joseph also wanted to be buried in the land of promise.