Focus: Beware Of False Evidence!

Text: Gen.37:33

"And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces."

Joseph's brothers brought an evil report about the killing of their brother by a wild beast, and they presented evidence to that effect, but it was a false one. Sadly, Jacob fell for it. With the evidence in front of him, Jacob drew his own conclusions and accepted the evidence presented as true. In that very moment Jacob died a million times. Moses reported that "they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no" (Gen.37:31-32).

 The heart of man is truly "deceitful and desperately wicked," according to Jeremiah the prophet. They didn't care how their father would feel, and they couldn't care less even if he died as a result of their lies. Let us see the effect the bad news and the false evidence had on their father. Moses wrote, "And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him" (Gen.37:34-35). With the evidence in front of him, he broke down and mourned beyond control.

False evidence kills. Jacob experienced a season of sorrow born out of a false evidence. There are false evidences and experiences all about us; they maim and kill us daily. Someone once described fear by way of an acronym as False Experiences Appearing Real. 

Indeed false experiences often appear so real and believable. Appearances are very deceptive. They steal our hopes and kill our joys. They deceive and damage our hearts, our relationships and our public image.

For the sake of false evidences or appearances marriages are falling apart, innocent people are ending up in jail, family squabbles are on the rise, false convictions and conclusions are being reached. Justice is being perverted in our courts around the world through the intentional presentation of false evidences.

We live in the era of photoshopping and artificial intelligence. People are made to believe in lies that appear believable. Satan is having a field day. Paul says concerning the Antichrist, "Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish… And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie" (2Thes.2:9-11). Satan goes everywhere presenting false evidences intended to deceive.

Let us see what happened when the real evidence was presented to Jacob after years had passed. Moses wrote, "Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not." Finally the fact that Joseph was still alive could no longer be hidden. The truth has finally come out of hiding. Apart from being alive, Joseph was now the next to Pharaoh in the whole of Egypt. God ruled in Joseph's life and overruled all things in his favor. God took him from Potiphar's house and from the jailhouse to the palace in Egypt. He became the sole administrator of Egypt's economy.

His own brothers who were previously instrumental to his disappearance had now returned from Egypt with the news that he was still alive. Moses wrote, "And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob revived: And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die" (Gen.45:25-28). Jacob now has before him a new and real evidence that his son Joseph was still alive. Jacob heard the words of Joseph and saw the brand new vehicles sent by him to convey him to Egypt.

The news that Joseph was still alive was too good to be true. Jacob couldn't believe it, but then the evidence was extremely compelling and convincing. We are informed by the Scripture that Jacob's spirit revived, which means that he had been like a living corpse since he had received the sad news of Joseph's fake demise. Now life just returned to him. He exclaimed that his son was still alive.

False evidence kills; true evidence restores to life. 

Truth is the highest form of reality. All other realities are subject to change. Truth is final; it is never outdated. It is forever relevant.

No one ever achieves congruence in life until he sees the centrality of truth and hinges his life on it. Life falls apart without truth at the center. Life's meaning is lost when and where truth is sidelined or brushed aside.

The same brothers who presented the false evidence have now presented the true one. God who helped Jacob survive the false evidence that nearly claimed his life, also helped him celebrate the good news of his son's preservation and promotion in Egypt.

Jacob experienced a kind of resurrection. The truth is that Joseph did not die; his brothers only cooked up lies to cover up their evil machinations. Evil produces its own evidence, and it often appears believable.

I pray God to help you overcome false evidences and appearances. May the Lord find ways to revive your spirit and restore your hope! I pray for you to experience divine wagons of revival. May you be delivered and vindicated by God from all the cooked up lies and charges against you from the pit of hell! May you live again and move from the end of the tether to the top of the ladder! All these I have prayed in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen! Let's beware of false report and false evidence!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter