GENESIS 42 GUILT AND SHAME CONSUME THE BROTHERS
GENESIS 42
26 Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed. 27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. 28 He said to his brothers, “My money has been put back; here it is in the mouth of my sack!” At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”29 When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, 30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. 31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we have never been spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’ 33 Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way. 34 Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’– Genesis 42:26-34
GENESIS 42 GUILT AND SHAME CONSUME THE BROTHERS
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
After Joseph’s brothers were sent to get their youngest brother
They discovered their payment for the grain were returned
They were afraid that God is punishing them for their past sin
Why else could the ruler of Egypt not have taken their money?
They assumed that they won’t be able to convince him they were honest
They were scared how their father would react to such a request by Joseph.
This story is interesting as it shows how guilt and shame can consume humans, especially when they haven’t confessed their sins. They made their father Jacob believe that Joseph was killed by a beast and up to this point, which may have been at least a decade and a half, they still kept those lies intact and hidden. Unless sin is exposed in God’s light, it will stay in the dark and produce more sins. Sins couldn’t be cleansed if we don’t confess and repent of them. It will keep us living in guilt and shame.
REFLECTION
- Why is it difficult to let go of lies and sins when we have kept it hidden for long?
