Read: Genesis 42
This
chapter begins not with Joseph but with his father Jacob. The famine was severe
and word got out that there was grain for sale in Egypt (v. 2). Jacob sent ten of his sons to go and buy this
grain, but he kept Benjamin at home (v. 4).
The journey to Egypt was a long one and probably took about three weeks
(one way). Jacob had already lost the
first son of Rachel and he didn’t want to risk anything happening to Joseph’s
brother Benjamin. What these brothers
did not know was that their brother Joseph, who they had sold into slavery, was
governor over the land and he was the one who sold grain to the people. Joseph was a powerful man who had
authority. Joseph’s brothers came to him
and bowed down before him (v. 6) which was a fulfillment of the prophetic dreams
that Joseph had as a young teenager! What God
says will ultimately come to pass and whatever God says in His Word, you can
trust it. How would Joseph respond? He would have had over 20 years to prepare
for this moment and here it was. The
greatest test of Joseph’s life occurred not when he was in prison and suffering
injustice but when he was given unlimited power over his wicked brothers. Would he use this power to seek revenge? Or
would he use his power to save his family from the famine?
Joseph
recognized his brothers but did not reveal his identity to them. Rather, he treated them harshly and
questioned them (v. 7-8) but not out of a heart of revenge or
bitterness. Joseph remembered the dreams
that he had dreamed of them and accused them of being spies (v. 9-11). His brothers were cruel men and couldn’t be
trusted. They had murdered innocent
people in Shechem and they had sold him into slavery. Joseph needed time to figure out what was
going on and how to deal with these wicked men.
Had they changed? Where was his
youngest brother Benjamin – had they killed him too? Was his father Jacob still alive? So, he puts them all in prison for three days
(v. 17) to give himself some time to figure out what to do. It is important to note that Joseph’s purpose in speaking harshly and accusing
them of spying was not motivated by bitterness at all, but by a desire to
covertly discover information regarding the health and well-being of his
father, Jacob, and his younger brother, Benjamin. Joseph was working towards
the goal of reconciliation, but he first needed to know if his brothers were
repentant.
Joseph’s
brothers had probably never thought about what it was like to be held captive
until Joseph put them in prison. As they
waited there for three days they had much time to think about how Joseph must
have felt when they threw him into the pit and sold them as slaves. Would slavery be their fate too? It seems as though while they were locked up
they began a spiritual transformation.
Joseph was not being cruel, but was rather awakening the conscience of
his brothers to see their own wickedness.
At first Joseph’s plan was to keep nine of them in prison and send one
back home to fetch Benjamin (v. 15-16) but it seems that he changed his mind
and decided to hold only one captive and let the other nine go free (v. 19);
what mercy and forgiveness! The brothers
realized that this distress had come upon them because of the way they had
treated Joseph so many years ago (v. 21).
They were feeling guilty for what they had done to him – twenty years
had gone by but this past sin was still haunting them. Reuben used this opportunity to remind them
that he had not wanted to sell Joseph into slavery (v. 22) – was this why
Joseph kept Simeon behind, the second oldest?
While they were talking among themselves in Hebrew they had no idea that
Joseph could actually understand them (v. 23).
Their regret for wronging him caused Joseph to turn away, and weep (v.
24). Simeon was left behind and the rest
were sent back to get Benjamin with their sacks full of grain and with their
money returned (v. 25). While on their
journey home one brother found that his money had been returned and was shaken
by what was going on (v. 27-28). They
saw this as God remembering their sin because they figured that when they
returned for more grain they would be accused of stealing this money. The thought of this being an act of kindness
by the Governor (Joseph) never crossed their minds.
Once
the brothers returned home they were honest with their father and told the
truth about what happened to them in Egypt (v. 29-34). As they emptied their sacks every man’s
bundle of money was in his sack (v. 35).
They explained to their father that in order to get Simeon back they
would need to bring Benjamin to Egypt.
This overwhelmed Jacob. Reuben
foolishly offered his own sons if he went to Egypt and returned without Simeon
and Benjamin (v. 37). Jacob refused his
offer and puts the whole family in jeopardy for the sake of Benjamin (v.
38). Jacob was responding out of fear
based on his favoritism of Rachel’s children; in this case, Benjamin. He also responded with pessimism, “all these things are against me”. From a human standpoint it looked bad, but
from God’s viewpoint everything was working for Jacob’s good and not harm.
Prayer and Journaling
1. In
this passage we can see Jacob’s partiality toward Rachel’s sons. This favoritism had taken Joseph away from
him and he was not going to let this happen to Benjamin! The Bible is clear; showing partiality of one
person over another is sinful (James 2:4).
Ask the Lord to show you any areas where you favour one person over
another. Maybe you favour the rich over
the poor or the kind over the unkind.
Maybe you favor one ethnicity over another…Ask the Lord to reveal to you
any impartiality that is in your heart.
Repent of it and ask for God’s forgiveness.
2. The
dream that God had given Joseph when he was a teenager had finally come
true. As his brothers bowed before him,
Joseph remembered this dream. I wonder
how many times Joseph thought about this dream when he was a slave and a
prisoner. God had given Joseph a
prophetic promise years ago, that one day he would be a leader, he would be
respected and his brothers would bow to him.
Now it happened! Thank God for
being true to His Word! His Word is 100%
accurate and all His prophecies will come true! This is amazing, thank Him for it!
3. Joseph’s
actions towards his brothers were merciful and loving. God was using Joseph to create an opportunity
for a spiritual awakening in his brothers.
They had hidden their sin for years and now they were convicted of
it. Sometimes we bury things deep into
our consciences. We try to forget the
people we were cruel to as children. We
try to forget the people we used for our own advantage. We try to hide the lies we have told
people. We try to forget the people in
need that we ignored. We try to forget
the things we did in secret that we knew were wrong. But we can’t forget because these things eat
away at our hearts and our joy. We
cannot escape from our past sins unless we repent of them before the Lord. We need our sin exposed so we can deal with
it and keep it from haunting us. Ask the
Lord to show you attitudes, behaviours, and actions from your past, maybe even
your childhood, that you need to confess before Him today. Then repent of these things and ask Him to
how you any restitution that you need to make. Then thank Him for His
forgiveness.
