The slow process of change (Gen 42:18-38)

Every once in a while, we encounter someone who has undergone a dramatic change in a short period of time, but for most of us, transformation is a slow and often painful process. I suspect that even for those who seemingly become a different person overnight, the lead-up to it may be a protracted period.  Although it may be frustrating to see little change in ourselves or others over time, we must remember that it is also a safeguard. If it happened easily and quickly, we would be bending and changing with every new wind and would have no constancy. But how does true and lasting change happen? While it is possible to impose our will on our habits and it can yield some results, unless there is a deep conviction that motivates transformation, change will only remain skin-deep.

Joseph’s brothers awaken

Continuing with our story, we see this process of change in Joseph’s brothers. When confronted by his demands, their response is a heartfelt acknowledgement of their sin – at least to one another (Gen 42:21). What is most striking about their admission is that they make the connection between their present difficulties and their past sin against Joseph even though the latter occurred at least twenty years earlier. They talk about that event as if it only happened yesterday! What tormenting guilt they must have endured over the years that the memory of what they had done stayed with them so fresh! Although the brothers do not mention God, their words imply that they see divine justice in what is happening to them (distress for distress, reckoning for their brother’s blood; Gen 42:21-22). When they meet with kindness (the return of their money), they are fearful and dismayed and again see God’s hand, though the significance of it evades them (Gen 42:28, 35).

Jacob – resistant to change

By contrast to the promising changes in the brothers, Jacob is unmoved and rigidly holds on to what God is slowly trying to prize from his grip. He does not see God’s hand, only his sons’ actions and blames them for his losses (Gen 42:36). He has not learnt from the past and does not recognise that his earlier loss of Joseph may have been God’s way of awakening him to an unhealthy attachment, hence he makes the same mistake when he favours Benjamin. He cares little for anyone else’s life (Simeon in prison, the potential starvation of his family) and, even when Reuben offers to stand surety for Benjamin with his own two sons, Jacob keeps blaming them all for his sorrow (Gen 42:37-38). Dismal as this assessment may feel, God is nevertheless at work even in him, though he will have to endure more pain before healing can come.

Aspects to the question of change and God at work

Change, then, comes when we admit that something we have done in the past or keep doing is wrong. This is not merely an emotional response of remorse, nor a fluctuating perspective that sometimes sees the wrong and other times feels that it is not so bad after all. Rather, it is a deep and lasting conviction, often based on the knowledge that what we have done caused distress to someone. The more we care for that person, the more it will hurt us that we hurt them. As we have seen in the brother’s awakening, there also needs to be a recognition that events do not happen randomly but form a pattern with actions yielding consequences. God’s people recognise such a pattern as God’s hand, but by His common grace, even non-believers can discern lessons in the sequence, if they are willing to let go of blaming others. Although I have focused in this episode on the human actors, the most important message of this unfolding drama is that God is working in the hearts and minds of this family bringing together circumstances that will eventually lead to reconciliation and a great deliverance. Whether we ourselves struggle to change or we pray for others who seem resistant to change and turning towards God, this passage encourages us all that God’s hidden hand is at work and sometimes unexpected events trigger change and a new beginning.

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