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We are told in Micah 6:8, “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you, But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” Justice comes first, then mercy. Once God has extended mercy, then we can walk humbly with Him.
One important thing to understand from Torah reading ויגש Vayigash (“he approached,” Genesis 44:18–47:27) is that Yehudah (Yehudah) and the other brothers of Yosef (Joseph) operate under the assumption that Ben Yamin (Benjamin) actually stole Yosef’s goblet.
Vayigash covers the response of Yehudah and the brothers to Yosef’s accusation. It’s important to understand why Yosef is doing this, because it helps us understand God and ourselves in a different light. This passage gives us a shadow of the great interceding mercy and sacrifice of Yeshua the Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ).
It doesn’t dawn on the brothers initially that Ben Yamin may have been framed. Even though they assumed Ben Yamin was a thief and deserved to be punished by the Egyptian official, Yehudah boldly asks for the young man’s life and offers his life in his place.
The sin Adam and Eve committed was a response to the influence of another individual, haSatan, the Adversary. They responded to his influence. This is not to excuse them but this is just to remind you that we can either sin based on own natural sin inclination or but we can also sin in response to the influence of another.
Cain, on the other hand, was not lied to by an outside influence but based on his own innate jealousy of his brother Abel. It was his own personal response to his desire being thwarted. Our sinful nature is always with us, “crouching at the door” (Genesis 4:7) but we are expected to subdue it.
When we start to sin, it causes a domino effect of additional sins. Cain committed murder and then compounded it by lying to the Creator about it.
God made Adam and Eve complete and whole. All humans have free will that can either bring life to us but it can also get us killed, either our own sin or the sin of another.
Those who are in leadership who set up a debased culture that victimizes women will be held responsible not only for their sin but for the sin of the women who are forced into lives of sexual slavery and adultery. God will not judge the harlots and adulteresses as harshly as he will the men who put them into that lifestyle.
“When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death. They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer! “Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him.’ Then let us see what will become of his dreams!” But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands and said, “Let us not take his life.” Reuben further said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him” — that he might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him to his father.” (Genesis 37:18–22 NASB)
The nature of Yosef’s brothers towards him was very sinful. Both murder and kidnapping are grievous sins in God’s eyes. They wanted to harm and destroy him and sin always leads to more sin. The sin of kidnapping lead them to lie to their father. Sin compounds on itself.
Yosef’s brothers were not good and godly people even though they were raised by Ya’akob (Jacob).
“But remember me through yourself, when it should go well with you, and you shall do mercy with me and make mention of me to Pharaoh and bring me out of this stronghold. For by stealth I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here I did nothing, but they put me into this pit.”” (Genesis 40:14–15 New English Translation of the Septuagint)
Yosef understands that he has been the victim of great injustice. He is not in prison because of his own sin, but because of the sins of others.
The culprits knew that what they did to Yosef was very evil.
“Then they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.” Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not tell you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Now comes the reckoning for his blood.”” (Genesis 42:21–22 NASB)
Why did they think this? Is this “karma”? God is seeking vengeance on them for their actions. They don’t know that the powerful Egyptian official was Yosef. They assumed that God was inflicting vengeance on them. The very thing they feared was coming upon them. Sin is not just about what we do to each other, but what we have done.
Yosef inflicted several punishments on his brothers that were tests. As far as Yosef was concerned, when he was 17 years old, they were all evil and wicked individuals. They casually ate their lunch as he was starving in a pit.
He was testing them by invoking a jealousy among them to see if they had subdued their own wickedness and jealousy or not. He created a scenario to make them jealous of Benjamin to see if they would act like they did the last time.
He gave Ben Yamin more food, more clothes and more blessing exceeding what he did for the others. Yosef wanted to see how they would act. Would that suppress the jealousy they unleashed on him or not. Have they grown up in the 22 years Yosef has been gone?
Then Yosef had one of his servants slip a cup and falsely accusing him of theft. Yosef wanted to see if they would discard Benjamin as they discarded him.
How do the brothers respond? They have assumed that Benjamin did steal the cup, yet Yehudah still is willing to pay the price for Ben Yamin’s crime.
Yehudah makes an impassioned defense for Ben Yamin (Gen. 44:18-34), which showed Yosef that Yehudah had finally grown up and become a man, no longer just a male. Yehudah has become his younger brother’s savior.
Yehudah is now acting like a messiah to save someone who, in his eyes, deserves a severe punishment.
“Then Yosef said to his brothers, “Please come closer to me.” And they came closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. “Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. “For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 45:4–8 NASB)
God used the brother’s sinful behavior as an opportunity to get Yosef to Egypt so he could save them from the famine. That is what happened to our Messiah as well. He knows how evil and corrupt yet He is willing to suffer and die for us.
“For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:13 NASB)
Just because someone is sinful and happily living in their sin doesn’t mean that God is upset with them. Justice is not merciful to those who show no mercy. God may put justice on someone but we don’t show some mercy and compassion, than God won’t show compassion and mercy on us.
Yosef did inflict some harsh testing on his brothers but he also showed a lot compassion and mercy to them.
There’s a world of difference between permission and mercy, even though they look similar. The brother need to understand what kind of mercy they are receiving. God doesn’t permit sin. We have to realize, we are guilty, not just a little guilty, but very guilty.
Micah 6: Mercy without justice?
Mercy is only valid after justice. Otherwise, it’s just permissiveness. A permissive society is a sinful society, while a merciful society is a godly society.
“So he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the journey.”” (Genesis 45:24 NASB)
If person A commits a sin that leads to death and person B commits two sins that lead to death, person A is not a better person and has no right to point fingers or pat himself on the back. Both are equally bad.
“Then Israel said, “It is enough; my son Yosef is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”” (Genesis 45:28 NASB)
Did Ya’akob ground or punish his sons for lying to him for 22 years? No, Ya’akob had to forgive his sons just as Yosef already had.
“”Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.
“He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him.
“So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth.”” (Hosea 6:1–3 NASB)
God doesn’t respond favorably to this. Why? Their repentance is too shallow. Their sin was deeply rooted and can’t be dealt with on the surface level.
“What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your mercy is like a morning cloud and like morning dew when it goes away.
“Therefore I cut off your prophets; I killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment will go forth as light.
“For I want mercy and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than whole burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:4–6 NETS)
If we don’t understand the depth of our sin, then God can’t extend His mercy to us, otherwise we would assume He was granting us permission to continue in sin, rather than extending mercy to prevent our sin.
“With what shall I come to the LORD And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves?
“Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
“He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you, But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:6–8 NASB)
If we want God’s mercy and love, we have to extend mercy and love to others. If we never understand truth and justice, than mercy is meaningless. God looks at the complete picture, all the history that we can’t know. Nothing can be hidden from God.
God chastises those who He loves (Prov. 13:24; 2Tim. 1:7; Heb. 12:6). That comes first, then the mercy and comfort come later.
“Who is god like you, removing injustices and passing over impieties for the remnant of his possession? And he did not retain his anger for a witness, because he is one that desires mercy.
“He will turn and have compassion upon us; he will sink our injustices and cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
“You will give truth to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, as you swore to our fathers in former days.” (Micah 7:18–20 NETS)
Banner Photo: Free Hugs at the March Against Barbarism in Toulouse, France on November 21, 2015. (Photo by Gyrostat via Wikimedia, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Summary: Tammy