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Commentary on "The Coat of Different Colors"
Day 6: Thursday, April 21, 2011 - "Thy Son's Coat"
Overview
Today's lesson is a culmination of the entire week's tone, pointing out the extremely sinful behavior of what seems in many ways a dysfunctional family. The final chapter of this drama deals with the smart way in which the brothers of Joseph covered their sin. The cold way in which they presented Joseph's coat dipped in blood as forensic proof of Joseph's violent death to their father raises the question of this lesson: how can a family who supposedly lived a life morally superior to pagans go so deeply into sin?
Observations
The way the lesson is written raises the question of whether the author of the lessons ever heard about the concept of original sin. Adventism is known for rejecting entirely this Christian concept, allowing instead for an inherent inclination toward sin. Adventism's view is not large enough to account for biblical narratives like the one studied this week, nor can it account for sins like David’s with Bathsheba that quickly developed into murder and hypocritical behavior. How, in such a short time span, could a man after God’s heart go so fast in so deeply into sin, as if his conscience had no effect on his deeds? According to a later confession, David struggled with a guilty conscience and suffered even physically for his crime and duplicity; nevertheless, he continued in sin until Nathan woke him up. Augustine’s formulation of man’s sinfulness was adopted by and large by the Western Church, even though it was always challenged by alternative views.
Before the fall man was able both to sin and not to sin; after the fall man is unable to avoid sin (Eph. 2:1-3). After being born again man is able not to sin, but he still remains able to sin. This view of man after the fall was called depravity: man’s nature is affected by sin in its entirety. There is no isle of righteousness within him. While, due to God’s restraining intervention, evil is kept in check and doesn’t develop to its fullness, man is perfectly capable of doing any kind of horrible sin—as Hitler and his regime did—if he has the opportunity and God doesn’t prevent him. It doesn't matter if he's under conviction of his guilt, as David was; apart from God's special grace, man acts as if he has no conscience. If God wills, he can show to the fallen man the ugly face of sin that lies dormant in him (Romans 7:8,9) . Very often, after and not before conversion, due to the struggle between the Holy Spirit and the flesh (Galatians 5:17), the consciousness of how deep lies the corruption within strikes like a terrible and unexpected discovery, leading to the desperate cry “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24)
What happens in the situation of Joseph's brothers is God's work of preparing them for grace. He lets them be free to act according to their nature in order that sin may show its ugly face. Later, when Joseph tested them, they humbly recognized the just condemnation they deserved for their sins against Joseph and their father (Genesis 42:21,22). Through magnifying sin and guilt, God drew them toward the point where they were ready to receive His grace, partly through Joseph’s hands, and they were led to repentance. In God’s economy, where sin increases, grace increases much more (Romans 5:20) Where unconverted people look at the lives of God's children and see in a great degree the same moral failures they see in society by and large, they conclude that this is a picture that justifies their wicked deeds. When God looks at the same picture, he sees the future grace He prepares His children to receive. He sees repentance; He sees on this earth a theater to magnify His grace. The good news of the gospel cannot be understood apart from the bad news about sin. Those who taste the bitter depths of their own wickedness will find in God's grace the sweetest thing in the world.
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised April 20, 2011. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
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