The Immobilizing Nature of Guilt and How to Get Rid of It
Genesis 42 reveals the guilt that long resided in the hearts of Joseph's brothers. It also serves to display the havoc guilt plays on your hearts. Consider that when Joseph imprisons the brothers taking them to be spies they immediately start looking at each other for blame.
Genesis 42:21–22 (ESV) Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” 22 And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.”
First we see, their guilt makes them interpret all the bad things in their lives as payback for their sin. Then the blame game begins. Reuben tries to plead his case and feels implicated even though he took no part in the sale of Joseph.
What is so fascinating is that this is 22 years later. They have held on to this guilt for more than two decades. I think we could surmise that for 22 years, they interpreted every bad event in their lives as just recompense for their evil deed of so long ago. That's the first sign that guilt has been hanging over your heart. It crushes you and leaves you expecting hardly anything good from God.
But the second sign in the exact opposite. Notice they cannot accept the good favor Joseph has shown them when they open their sacks and find their money returned:
Genesis 42:28 (ESV) 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?”
They just got really blessed and all they see is a curse. That's what guilt will do to you. Remember Adam and Eve were guilty and ran from the Lord instead of seeking His grace? Moses ran for the hills from Egypt when confronted with his murder of the Egyptian and he spent 40 years on the back side of a desert trying to work things out. When God calls him, he's unwilling, weak-minded and completely self-deprecating. Guilt tears you down. Moses could not see the good God wanted to do in his life because guilt was hanging over him.
For sure, the brothers must confess their sins and come clean. But this is the ancient world and they have no frame of reference for the sacred way of confession that leads us back to God and into His freedom.
But we do.
Christians do not have to live with guilt. God sent Jesus to take away our sin, our shame, and our guilt before a holy God.
Hebrews 10:20–22 (NLT) By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
1 John 3:20 (NLT) Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.
Genesis 42:21–22 (ESV) Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” 22 And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.”
First we see, their guilt makes them interpret all the bad things in their lives as payback for their sin. Then the blame game begins. Reuben tries to plead his case and feels implicated even though he took no part in the sale of Joseph.
What is so fascinating is that this is 22 years later. They have held on to this guilt for more than two decades. I think we could surmise that for 22 years, they interpreted every bad event in their lives as just recompense for their evil deed of so long ago. That's the first sign that guilt has been hanging over your heart. It crushes you and leaves you expecting hardly anything good from God.
But the second sign in the exact opposite. Notice they cannot accept the good favor Joseph has shown them when they open their sacks and find their money returned:
Genesis 42:28 (ESV) 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?”
They just got really blessed and all they see is a curse. That's what guilt will do to you. Remember Adam and Eve were guilty and ran from the Lord instead of seeking His grace? Moses ran for the hills from Egypt when confronted with his murder of the Egyptian and he spent 40 years on the back side of a desert trying to work things out. When God calls him, he's unwilling, weak-minded and completely self-deprecating. Guilt tears you down. Moses could not see the good God wanted to do in his life because guilt was hanging over him.
For sure, the brothers must confess their sins and come clean. But this is the ancient world and they have no frame of reference for the sacred way of confession that leads us back to God and into His freedom.
But we do.
Christians do not have to live with guilt. God sent Jesus to take away our sin, our shame, and our guilt before a holy God.
Hebrews 10:20–22 (NLT) By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
1 John 3:20 (NLT) Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.
The narrative will continue for a few chapters as Joseph plays this cat and mouse game with his brothers. It will bring strife, division, separation and confusion to the brothers and their father for years. They will withdraw back to their homes and live in fear of returning to Egypt for what may happen to them. When they do return, they will bring double the money as penance for a crime they did NOT commit. All these signs are the fruit of guilt in our hearts.
Thankfully, our true and better Joseph does not play any games. He pays for our sin in full. What is more, He knows our hearts and came to cleanse them. Give Jesus your guilt. Start enjoying your blessings and stop looking for people to blame. It is finished.
It really is.
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