Posture for Grace: Genesis: 44:14-17

The only thing required from us is to receive His grace.  We cannot earn His love.  We can desire relationship with Him, but we cannot earn it.  He gives us His grace freely.

When the brothers return to Joseph, he’s still in his house.  Of course he is!  He set up his brothers to bring them back, so why would he not be waiting for them?

Joseph’s brothers fell before him a third time.  This time, they fall before him completely, prostrating themselves in full genuflection.  They know the decision of the vizier before them is greater than any voice in Egypt except for Pharoah.  What this man says will be done.  They have every reason to make sure the Egyptian vizier is in a mood to extend grace.

When Joseph responds, he asks his brothers if they doubt his ability to do divination.  Joseph had two dreams and his family didn’t believe either one.  They ignored God’s message in the dreams, assuming Joseph’s pride was the source of the dreams.  For repentance to happen, it must come from the source.  The brothers need to realize the root of their sin was their unwillingness to hear God through Joseph’s dreams.

Judah steps up to speak and mounts no defense.  Knowing grace is the only way out of this moment, Judah acknowledges everything the vizier says.  Judah confesses to have no genuinely meaningful excuse.

What a great example for us!  When we come before God desiring grace, why do we present our excuses?  Does God not already know our heart?  Sin is sin; our justification for sinning only increases our guilt.  Our best posture before God is one of full genuflection knowing His grace is all we need.

Behold the great power of God.  When Judah confesses guilt, he is primarily talking about the theft of the silver cup.  However, there is enough detail in prior conversations to realize the brothers understand their current predicament is the long-awaited divine judgment for what they did to Joseph.  They don’t understand how the two things are connected, but they do understand their guilt.  God has humbled the brothers to a place of genuine repentance, even though they don’t understand the full context of the situation.

Joseph has one more twist.  Joseph tells his brothers he plans on only retaining Benjamin.  He knows God's plan.  He understands the difficulty in returning to Jacob without Benjamin.  To bring out the full confession, God wants to apply a little more pressure.

For those willing to listen to Him, God is at work shaping our lives.  We may not be able to shake His hand or talk to Him face-to-face, but He is at work.  His hand can be felt if we are willing to feel it.  His Spirit shapes our thoughts and our feelings if we are willing to acknowledge it.  The only thing required from us is to receive His grace.