All Misery Will Be Forgotten: For Now It Is Working For Us An Eternal Weight Of Glory Beyond All Comparison

Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house” [Genesis 41:51]

Life is full of twists and turns and Joseph was one young man who experienced a number of them. He was the youngest then in his father’s household, one who is normally supposed to be the baby of the family, spoilt, loved and protected by everyone, but that was not the case for him. We all know how the story went. He shed a lot of tears and like our Lord, Joseph was acquainted with grief, sorrow and rejection [Isaiah 53:3] yet there came a time in his life when the Lord blessed him with family. 

Names have significance in many cultures and many people in Southern Africa can identify with and understand why Joseph called his firstborn son Manasseh which means “causing to forget”. Scriptures say, ‘For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house’ [Genesis 41:51]. Like Job, Joseph was a righteous man and he did not choose the things that befell him; no one really does. They both went through a lot of hardship yet they trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. When we look at their lives and the lives of many other saints, we can see the truth of Scripture which says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all” [Psalm 34:19] proving true. 

Many people today want to rub shoulders with politicians and economically successful people and they believe the presence of God in their lives brings them before kings and cite Proverbs 18:16, “A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before the great”. But the many people of God who we see in the Bible who stood in the presence of kings and those in authority were all coming from a position which is less desirable than we see today. Joseph was coming from jail after having been hated [Genesis 37:4, Genesis 37:8, Genesis 49:23] and sold by his brothers [Genesis 37:28], falsely accused [Genesis 39:14] and forgotten for two years [Genesis 4:1ff]. Moses was a fugitive [Exodus 2:15] and Pharaoh thought he was wasting his time and taking people away from their prescribed job of slavery [Exodus 5:4-5]. Elijah too was an outlaw, a wanted man [1 Kings 17] during his time that Jezebel wanted to kill him and Ahab the then king called him the “troubler of Israel” [1 Kings 18:7]. The Hebrews boys were first thrown into the fire and the lion’s den and after that, they stood and testified about their God in the presence of the king.

And when we come to the New Testament, we see Peter and John testifying before the religious leaders, the High Priests, and the Sanhedrin but they were whipped instead [Acts 4:1ff, Acts 5:40-41]. So too was Paul. He stood before Felix, Agrippa and Bernice while in chains, then also before Caesar. We all know his words before king Agrippa, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains” [Acts 26:29].  The chains that bound Paul did not bind his love and obedience toward God and they certainly did not stop him from declaring the gospel. He did not become timid but declared it was for the gospel “… which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak” [Ephesians 6:20].  Their gifts brought them before kings alright but not in the way we might think or see today. These men of God were not singing for their supper before the kings. They were messengers of righteousness, ambassadors of Christ, sent to represent and speak on behalf of God. 

Our Lord Jesus also testified to the truth before both the religious leaders and the political leaders while He was ‘bound’. It was before Pilate that He said, “You would have no authority over Me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered Me over to you has the greater sin.” [John 19:11]. You see, no matter what circumstance you may be in, if you are in the will of God, nothing and no one can really harm you. There is coming a time in your life when the Lord will make you forget all your hardship and all your father’s house. You may like Joseph experience this kind of deliverance on this side of Heaven or in Heaven itself when Christ comes but the truth is, you will forget all these troubles [Revelation 7:17, 21:4] because He will eventually wipe away all your tears. When Christ comes, all the problems we face now will look like a walk in the park for us. 

But Joseph did not forget his father’s house in the sense of not ever thinking about them. That text means Joseph was given so much joy and expectation and hope in life that he forgot the difficult times he had in his father’s house. Those times were over and done with and that is the hope we have in Christ Jesus. Joseph longed for his father and wept more than his family [Genesis 43:30, 46:29, 50:17] because the Lord had dealt with his heart through the trials he faced. When the Lord breaks a person, He does it so that he may become more pliable in His hand, more fruitful and we can see that in the life of Joseph. Joseph no longer belonged to himself but to God. He became a vessel which though marred in His hand [Jeremiah 18:4ff] was reshaped so that he could become a vessel of honor fit for service wherever the Lord wanted him. 

He called his second son Ephraim saying, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction” [Genesis 41:52]. Where many are tempted to give up when the going gets tough, the best fruit is actually borne in the land of affliction. You cannot get wine unless grapes have gone through some crushing. I read the devotional “Streams in the Desert” for November 23 and there was a poem by Maltbie D. Babcock; 

Heroes are forged on anvils hot with pain,

And splendid courage comes but with the test.

Some natures ripen and some natures bloom

Only on blood-wet soil, some souls prove great

Only in moments dark with death or doom.

God finds His best soldiers on the mountain of affliction

It is the tree which is well pruned which produces fruit [John 15:2] and the Lord wants us to produce fruit that remains. And it is also true that “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” [Hebrews 12:11]. The fruit of the Spirit is not produced by human effort but by total reliance on God. He wants to bring each of us to a place where we are truly sold out for Him. 

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” [Galatians 6:9]

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About The Author:

Pastor Sam Machacka is co-founder of Brink Ministries Southern Africa. A wonderful colleague and good friend. Equipping Pastors and Church leaders in Southern Africa. He grew up in Harare, Zimbabwe with his beautiful wife Mildred and they are blessed with three lovely children namely Samantha, Munashe and Joshua but they are now serving as missionaries in Malawi since August 2018

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