January 21, 2024
Reading: Genesis 42
Focus: Genesis 42:7-9 – As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy food.”Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”
Father God, Thank You for Your blessings. Please give us insight into the story of Joseph and his brothers. Help us to understand how Joseph was able to be forgiving to his brothers who had wronged him so badly. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Joseph is the second most powerful man in Egypt. There was not much that he could not do. So, when his brothers showed up from the land of Canaan, he was met with a temptation that many would have yielded to. He could have thrown his brothers in to prison and forgotten them, just as callously as they sold him to slavers.
Famine was harsh in Egypt and in countries surrounding Egypt. News about Egypt’s food supplies had travelled all over the area. Jacob and his family were feeling the effects of the famine as well. It is not known just when Jacob sent the brothers to Egypt but it could have been early in the famine. And when Jacob learned of food in Egypt, he told his sons to go get grain. The Bible tells us that the brothers were “. . . just . . . looking at each other.” Three guesses as to why, and the first two don’t count. Just the name of Egypt struck them with dread. They knew that they had sold Joseph to slavers on their way to Egypt. What were the chances that he was still alive? It had been twenty years. They never spoke about it and prayed that their father never learned the truth. Conscience is a terrible thing when you’ve done something wrong and theirs was beating them up. Ten of the brothers went, but Benjamin, the youngest, was not allowed to go.
So, there they are. In front of their brother. AND not one of them recognized him! Which is not surprising. It had been twenty years. They hadn’t seen him since he was seventeen. But Joseph had no trouble recognizing them. The brothers bowed down to him. Their faces to the ground. And Joseph was reminded of his dreams and how his brothers had laughed and ridiculed him about them. Here they were bowing, just as the sheaves and stars had been in his dreams. Here we see another picture of Jesus. Jesus sees who we are long before we know who He is and He still loves us, no matter what we have done.
God brought Joseph’s dreams to mind to remind him that this was the way things were supposed to be played out. He guided Joseph and his actions to bring forgiveness, healing and restoration to his brothers. Joseph’s harshness was not revenge but a way to learn of the status of his family. The harshness was to conceal who he was until the right time. Until the brothers repented of their selling Joseph and telling Jacob that he was dead. Until they faced their sin, admitted that that they had sinned, forgiveness could not be given.
But, oh, the retribution that Joseph could have taken. Revenge would have been sweet for the moment. But Joseph knew that the sweetness would only be temporary and turn bitter with time. He chose not to reveal himself to them. He had no idea if they had changed or if they regretted what they had done to him. He had no idea if his father still lived or if his brother Benjamin was still living. So, he maintained his role as an Egyptian ruler. He demanded where they were from. “From Canaan,” they replied. Explaining that they had come to buy food. But the ruler wasn’t buying their explanation. He accused them of being spies. Coming to see just how well Egypt was faring during the famine.
He interrogated them. They maintained that they were not spies, just men from Canaan coming to buy food. Then they spilled the beans. They told him all about their family, including that one “is no more”. Again, they lied. As far as they knew, Joseph was alive as a slave in Egypt. Saying that he was dead did not make him dead. Maybe they did believe that he was dead. It had been twenty years, after all. A lot can happen in twenty years. They had no way of knowing.
Joseph told them how they could prove that they weren’t spies. He demanded that Benjamin be brought to Egypt. One would go and the rest would stay in prison. Then he threw them all into prison. Mercy! Three days later, he demanded again that one would go and get their brother and the rest would stay in prison. I think they were ready to agree to just about anything Joseph demanded. Not knowing that this ruler could understand them, they talked freely among themselves. Their guilty consciences were beating them up. They felt that they were in this mess because of what they had done to Joseph. There really isn’t a connection between their actions and what they were experiencing but guilt has a funny way of connecting things. It also shows that they had not ever forgotten what they had done. Reuben pointed the finger. He said he had told them not to sell Joseph, but they wouldn’t listen and now they were all paying for it.
Joseph understood all that they were saying and it grieved him. He left them for a few moments and when he returned, he bound Simeon over to the prison. He had him taken away immediately. Then he ordered them to go with their purchased grain and not to return without Benjamin. On top of that he secretly had everyone’s money put into their bags of grain. Then he gave them provisions for the journey and sent them away. That night a surprise awaited them. One opened his sack to feed his donkey and found the money. He told his brothers. Oddly enough, the others did not check their grain sacks. But again, they felt that God was punishing them for what they had done to Joseph.
I don’t know just how much Joseph realized that God was directing his actions but surely, He was. I mean, would you have thought to do the same thing for men who had wronged you? Think about it. Selling them the grain was what they had come for, but Joseph went above and beyond just that sale. He gave them provisions for their journey. I doubt that he had done this for anyone else. And he put the money they had spent for the grain in their sacks. HE RETURNED THE MONEY!!! Who does that? They hadn’t repented nor had they asked for forgiveness. But Joseph loved them and took care of them from beginning to end. Food for the journey and their money. He blessed them when he could have just let them get by on what they purchased. In the same way, Jesus blesses us. Some of the blessings are up front and all can see them. Others are hidden for later, where only we can find those blessings.
What would they do with the money? The test was not from Joseph. It was from God. What would you do? What would it reveal about them? The deceptive heart would hide it. The lying heart would make up a story about it. The proud heart would think it deserved it. The superficial heart would think nothing of it. It scared the pants off each and every one of them. I mean, think about it. You had just been accused of being spies. One of your brothers was bound and thrown in to prison. You were commanded to bring your youngest brother, who goes nowhere ever, to prove to a ruler that you were not spies. Now, you find money in one of the bags of grain you had just purchased. Would they now be accused of being thieves? I imagine that none of them could even sleep that night for fear of Egyptian soldiers coming to arrest them for thievery.
Once they got home, they would have to tell Jacob all that had happened to them. How do we explain this? Simeon is not with us. Money was found in one of the sacks of grain. And Benjamin would have to go back with them, or they would not be able to buy any more grain. The last time they all went to Jacob to tell him something, they lied. They told him Joseph was dead. BUT this time they told the TRUTH! They gave a complete accounting of their journey. All that had happened to them. One small step. THEN, they all discover that they had had their money returned to them.
Jacob was having none of the idea that Benjamin was to go back with them to Egypt. Jacob said that they “. . . had bereaved . . .” him. He was right on. They had when they told him Joseph was dead. Now Simeon was in prison in Egypt. To Jacob, he was as good as dead, even though he was still living. And, no way, was Benjamin going to Egypt. He couldn’t take another loss. Jacob lived to protect himself from loss. Sadly, Jacob was a pessimist. He lived his life believing that all things were against him. There was no happiness and no hope. A sad picture of a man chosen by God to be the ancestor of the Messiah. He was healthy. He was wealthy. He was chosen by God to father a nation. And yet he felt that all things were against him. But, even then, God was working out His plan.
I found the following on the website www.enduringword.com I think it says it all.
· If Joseph’s family wasn’t messed up and weird, his brothers would never have sold him as a slave.
· If Joseph’s brothers never sold him as a slave, then Joseph would never have gone to Egypt.
· If Joseph never went to Egypt, he would never have been sold to Potiphar.
· If Joseph was never sold to Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife would never have falsely accused him of rape.
· If Potiphar’s wife never falsely accused Joseph of rape, then Joseph would never have been put in prison.
· If Joseph was never put in prison, he would have never met the baker and butler of Pharaoh.
· If Joseph never met the baker and butler of Pharaoh, he would have never interpreted their dreams.
· If Joseph never interpreted their dreams, he would have never interpreted Pharaoh’s dream.
· If Joseph never interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, he never would have become prime minister, second in Egypt only to Pharaoh.
· If Joseph never became prime minister, he never would have wisely prepared for the terrible famine to come.
· If Joseph never wisely prepared for the terrible famine, then his family back in Canaan would have died in the famine.
· If Joseph’s family back in Canaan died in the famine, then the Messiah could not have come from a dead family.
· If the Messiah did not come forth, then Jesus never came.
· If Jesus never came, then we are all dead in our sins and without hope in this world.
Father God, Help us to find the blessings You have for us. Help us to see where You are at work in our lives. Give us hope for our future. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Food for Thought
- Why do you think Joseph did not reveal himself to his brothers immediately?
- What do you think the brothers were thinking when Joseph accused them of being spies?
- Do you think that selling Joseph affected the lives of the brothers? How? And why?
- Why do you think they got so upset to find that all their money had been returned?
- What lesson can YOU learn from the brothers in this chapter?
