Observation: Upon the death of Jacob, his sons realize that now there is no restriction from Joseph finally seeking revenge upon them, so they go to him in humility and lie to him about their father's words. All Joseph does is correct them about the proper authority for judgement. Judgement belongs to the Lord alone, and in fact the very thing for which they are seeking forgiveness was something the Lord orchestrated for good. Joseph will not judge them, and he will not take any actions that could be considered judgement to punish them.
These are the words of Joseph. The actions of Joseph are ... to comfort his brothers, and in fact to never take any action. From his position of authority, the family keeps the land of Goshen and dwell there throughout their generation. Joseph said he would not judge his brothers, and by his actions he did not judge nor punish them.
Application: Not judging some who has wronged me is difficult. It may be easy to say I don't judge them and/or forgive them, but it is the subsequent behavior and attitude that is most difficult. How do you truly treat someone good after they have done evil against you?
Who knows how much interaction Joseph truly had with his brothers. At his father's death, they send him a letter before coming to see him, so likely they were not anywhere near each other, and the last verses of Genesis say nothing of any subsequent interaction between the brothers. So yes, it wasn't likely that Joseph was actually interacting with his brothers and thus treating them kindly face-to-face on a semi-daily basis. However, he took no negative action ever. He had aided them and saved them, and he didn't just do that for his father's sake.
Joseph explicitly said he did not judge his brothers, then he implicitly did not judge them by never taking judgmental action. His words explicitly gave authority to God, and his actions implicitly yielded to God's authority in this matter. This is a lesson to truly take to heart.
Prayer: Lord, I have stated forgiveness toward others, and I have never in any way taken action to punish or seek revenge. May that always be true. Yes, in my heart I sometimes think of scenarios where I would have such an opportunity, however I sincerely pray for your strength so that I never act against anyone. Judgement is yours and yours alone, and frankly I am thankful for that as I hope to never be victim to any other human's judgement against me. Thank you for Joseph's example. Amen.
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