Pressed Down For More
I was going to leave my brother for dead. I took his coat he loved so much away from him and I threw him in a deep pit. He would get me in trouble all the time and our father always liked him best and gave him special privileges. No more having to put up with him. All my brothers helped me do it and after, we sat down to eat and celebrate his long-awaited death.
After hearing him crying for some time in destress and begging for mercy, some traders came by. I realized I could get a little money for him. So why not? I pulled him out and sold him for a slave rather than kill him, giving him a little mercy. As they dragged him off, I just smiled ear to ear; he was good as dead and I no longer needed to hear his dreams about all of us bowing down to him.
This is the story of Joseph from the perspective of his older brother Simeon. Simeon was a violent man filled with envy and hatred for his brother. Commentary notes, “They threw Joseph into a pit, to perish there with hunger and cold; so cruel were their tender mercies. They slighted him when he was in distress, and were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph, see Am 6:6; for when he was pining in the pit, they sat down to eat bread. They felt no remorse of conscience for the sin.” [1]
The verse that the commentary is referring to here is about the people of God. Amos uses this analogy to talk about the people of God and their sickness of heart at the time they were going into exile. They were cold hearted towards their brothers and even their mercies were unkind. They were full of jealousy, envy and hatred of others –centered on themselves.
Amos spoke to the people at the time, “Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.” (Amos 6:3-7)
He was saying that while they were living in the lap of luxury and the blessings of the Lord, they were going through the motions of religious practices but their hearts were hard. Their hearts were not compassionate for others that were crying out in distress but rather, self-focused and self-concerned. They were not even listening to the cries of their brothers stuck in the pit but feasting on luxury in the midst of it.
One commentary notes about the people Amos was speaking to, “Self-indulgence! Oh, this is the God of many! They live not for Christ – What do they for him? They live not for his Church – What care they for that? They live for self, and for self only. And mark there are such among the poor as well as among the rich, for all classes have this evil leaven.” (Spurgeon) [2]
Their success and prosperity was being used to further enhance themselves and indulge themselves. They were comfortable with the wrong kind of peace and rest. Rather than seeing the need around them and answering it, they enjoyed themselves and made themselves comfortable at the expense of everyone else around them suffering.
Jesus tells a parable about separating out goats and sheep in the pen. The sheep were invited in while the goats were shut out. In His parable, the sheep were the ones that saw the needs around them. He tells them in Matthew 25:40, ““The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” They were the ones who visited those in prison, cared for the sick and fed those who were hungry. The goats were the ones who missed these opportunities because they were busy indulging themselves.
Matthew 23:25 (ESV) says to the religious leaders, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”
Self-indulgence is not as overt of a sin as murder or hate that leads to taking someone’s life. Rather, it is being led by one’s urges for want rather than being led by the Spirit of God. Indulgence is a lack of self-constraint and excess that has to do with want and personal appetites or urges. It is indulging for one’s own benefit rather than giving and serving out of love.
1 Timothy 5:6 says that those who are self-indulgent are spiritually dead. And then he goes on to say that greed from want and craving has caused people to move away from God, lose their faith and pierce themselves.
Where do you want in life? Is it for food, luxury, money, being served, position, or power? All our self-serving desires rooted in want are sin and do not come from the Lord. They leave us in lack and draw us away from the Lord. Over-indulgence is not good for us and can make our hearts hard towards God.
Here is the dividing line in how to avoid indulgence laid out in Galatians 5:16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desire of the flesh.” We choose to deny our flesh and wants and choose instead the Spirit or we choose to feed our wants at the expense of our spiritual health.
There is also a spirit behind indulgence and greed. The desire to get the biggest piece of pie, be served, lifted up, glorified, and carry power over others is revealed in Revelation 18:7 (ESV). It says, “As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, ‘I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.’”
This is why it is important to pick up our cross daily in following after Him. We need to say yes to the Spirit of God while saying no to the spirit of indulgence and greed. We need to say yes to serving and giving and no to glorifying ourselves and seeking our own benefit or power. We renounce feeding our wants and desires to live a self-controlled life that continually honors God (Titus 2:11-12).
Here is where it can become a little confusing: Not everyone that has power or lives in luxury is operating out of a spirit of indulgence. Rather, we see with Joseph, who held power and lived in luxury, eating anything he wanted, that he put others first and used what he had to care for those around him. We shouldn’t judge what others have. They may have been given resources and power because they have been proven faithful and are using it for God’s glory.
I come back to this question that was asked by man since the beginning of time when Cain killed Able, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord has answered this question over and over again with one resounding word, “YES.” We are called to be our brother’s keeper.
Joseph, knowing the pain of begging for mercy with his brothers and finding none, could have grown bitter and angry just like them. But instead, it made him deeply compassionate towards others. He let it mold his heart over and over in each disappointment as he was let down by man. First to be thrown in a pit by his brothers and then to be put in the dungeon by his master he served so faithfully. Then also to be overlooked and forgotten for his tender mercies to the king’s cup bearer.
Yet, over and over, Joseph let the pain of disappointment and lack, lead him to generosity. He freely gave to others without any bitterness or anger. He looked at his situation from the perspective of giving rather than receiving. He saw the small influence he could have in every situation to give and serve and he answered it.
Because of his desire to give and serve, God blessed him at every turn. He was abundantly blessed in serving his master. He had freedoms and worldly power to make decisions for his master. Yet, he owned nothing himself.
When Joseph was given the opportunity to serve Pharoah and given power over the entire kingdom, he used it to save people and serve the Pharoah. He was making sure that everyone had food and rationed it out while establishing the Pharoah’s kingdom under him as all the people, previously independent, came under his rule. He had everything the world had to offer but he used it to serve Kingdom purposes rather than his own. Like Jesus tempted in the wilderness, he refused to take possession of all the world offered for himself. Rather, He was a sacrifice for others to benefit from it all.
Even Joseph’s brothers, who did him such harm, he forgave and embraced. He looked out for their best interest even when they had not shown him any mercy. He never held an offense but rather looked at how he could give and serve, even them as he saved their lives. He saved their entire families even though he had experienced such loss himself at their hands.
Imagine Simeon’s story later on… We were desperate and in need of mercy. We had no food left for our families and there was a severe famine. We went to Egypt to purchase some grain to feed our families. Fortunately the Egyptian leader let us purchase some or we would have perished. But at the last minute, he accused us of being spies. One of us had to stay behind while we went and got our little brother.
Ever since we came back all those years ago with Joseph’s robe full of blood, our father was broken in grief. His only consolation was our little brother, Benjamin. Having him taken, would send our father to his grave.
Suddenly, I was being tied up and put in prison until my brothers returned. While I had food to eat every day, I had plenty of time to think. Time to think about my brother that I sold into slavery and if he experienced the same. Remembering him beg for mercy. Time to think about my actions when I murdered a clan over my sister, Dinah and they begged for mercy as well. Would God show me mercy now?
After being there long enough to think things would never change and my family would not come back for me at all, suddenly I was released! I was set with my brothers as food was served at the Egyptian leader’s table. Only to find out, after some time that this was our brother that begged for mercy from us. He was now showing us mercy. We would have starved and our families perished if it was not for him. He tells us that he is not angry with us and it was for our benefit as well as other’s that he was taken. If he wasn’t, we would not have been spared. Now we have food, care, and the best of the land of Egypt before us. All coming from the hand of the one who we left for dead.
From Simeon’s story we learn that mercy and grace is amazing and has no limits. We can’t explore the depths or heights of it because we just even fully get it. We are always looking for justice in people getting what they deserve but it is best described by the least deserving. They inherit everything and then are told to go do the same, forgiving their brothers and give as freely and they have been given to and forgiven.
From Joseph’s story, we learn that significance comes from service as we give our lives away. We gain influence and trust as we serve the undeserving with love and self-constraint despite our woundings and hurts. We continue to trust in love and follow our Spirit rather than the flesh of want and indulgence.
Taking this a little further, in a recent book called, “Trust & Inspire,” Stephen M. R. Covey writes that we need a new leadership style for the changing world we live in and it is one based upon trusting others and inspiring them rather than command and control – a tool used so widely in the departing generation. Because of the changing and uncertain dynamics of the world, we need a style that can adopt and expand rather than one that is one person centered. [3]
I love this as trusting and inspiriting others is all about investing in others and serving them. While command and control is about what people can do for us rather than with us. Command and control comes from a place of centering people around self where trusting and inspiring comes from centering people around God. When people get connected with their purpose and are inspired and given the opportunity to live it out, they flourish. They adjust and bend and meet changing dynamics with creativity and value.
Lord Jesus, I am not sure where I am going in this but I long to fully live by Your Spirit in and through all things. Lord, lift us to a higher level. Help us to identify and crucify anything that comes from want or our own personal desires.
3. Covey, Stephen M. R., Trust and Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others. Simon & Schuster. 1230 Avenue of the Americas. New York, NY 10020.
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