Do you remember the television show, “My Three Sons.” I remember it from my childhood. A man and his wife had three sons. It was a picture of our own family. Thankfully, God blessed our parents with a fourth son. But for a season, our family matched the television family perfectly. I vaguely remember their family had problems, but they resolved them in thirty minute show. It didn’t always work out that quickly in my family. How about yours?
Joseph was the eleventh of Jacob’s sons. His brother Judah was the fourth son. When Joseph went into slavery in Egypt, Judah moved away and started a family. Judah and his wife Shua had three sons, as well. Everything seemed to be going well. But when we last saw Judah he was urging his brothers to sell Joseph into slavery. Genesis places Joseph and Judah side by side. In time, they would become the primary ancestors of the future of Israel. Did Judah ever think about his brother Joseph? Did Joseph know Judah had been the ringleader of the brothers who sent him away to Egypt?
One way we relate to conflict in our families is to cut off. Joseph was cut off but not by his own choice. On the other hand, Judah moved away voluntarily. I suspect the guilt of sending Joseph away made him uncomfortable living among his brothers and maintaining the secret lie in front of their grieving father, Jacob.
Remember Edgar Allen Poe’s sad tale about the “Tell-tale heart”? A man concealed his crime but the sound of a heartbeat gave him no rest. What do we do when we have failed members of our families or sinned against them? If we conceal our sin, our bones will ache (Psalm 32). Even if nobody else knows, we will know. God has a way to resolve conflict and guilt in his family. He wants his children to confess our sins so that we may be right with God and right with each other. If we cut off from our families, in a way we have cut off from our Father. We can’t be right with God while we live in anger and strife with our families.
