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Genesis 42:

Reading #149  The reunion

Despite Satan’s destructive plans, the Son of God was able to ensure the survival of the Egyptians as we have seen.  Now He worked to protect His own people as well.

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Genesis 42:

1 Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look one upon another [and do nothing]?”  2 And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down there, and buy for us from there; that we may live, and not die.” [Under Satan’s influence, the harvest had failed that year.]

3 And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. 4 But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, “Lest peradventure [maybe] mischief befall him.” [He was the youngest in the family, about 36 years old by this time]  5 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those [others] that came: for the famine was in the [whole] land of Canaan.

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Satan’s attack extended to many lands around Egypt and was severely felt in that part of the country where Jacob dwelt. At length he heard of the wonderful provisions which the king of Egypt had made, and that he had been instructed by God in a dream seven years before the famine to lay up large supplies for the years which were to follow, and that all the countries now went to Egypt to buy corn.  Many others would have been surprised that God worked so hard to save rejecters of His grace but Jacob accepted it as normal because he knew his God’s character.

Following his advice ten of his sons journeyed there to purchase grain. On their arrival they were directed to the king's deputy, and with applicants from other lands they came to present themselves before the ruler of Egypt.

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Genesis 42:

6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that  [personally] sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth. 7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange to them [acted as a stranger], and spoke roughly to them; and he said to them, “From where come you?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”

8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said to them, “You are spies [if you come from that troublesome land]; to see the nakedness [defences] of the land you are come.” 10 And they said to him, “Nay, my lord, but to buy food are your servants come. 11 We are all one man's sons; we are true men, your servants are no spies.”

12 And he said to them, “Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land you are come.” [This was a reasonable assertion under the conditions of the time.]

13 And [under his questioning] they said, “Your servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.” 14 And Joseph said to them, “That is it that I spoke to you, saying, You are spies. 15 Hereby you shall be proved: by the life of Pharaoh [an Egyptian oath] you shall not go forth from here, except your youngest brother come here. 16 Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and [the rest of] you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.” 17 And he put them all together into ward three days. 

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Joseph knew his brothers, but they didn’t know him. His Hebrew name had been changed by the king, and there was little resemblance between the prime minister of Egypt and the stripling whom they had sold to the Ishmaelites so long before.  As Joseph saw his brothers bowing, his dreams came to his mind, and the scenes of the past rose vividly before him. His keen eye, surveying the group, discovered that Benjamin was not among them. Had he also fallen a victim to the treacherous cruelty of those savage men? He determined to learn the truth, therefore, under instruction from the Spirit, he accused them of being spies. 

He wished to learn if they possessed the same haughty spirit as when he was with them, and also to draw from them some information in regard to their home; yet he well knew how deceptive their statements might be. Pretending to doubt the truthfulness of their story, and to still look upon them as spies, the governor declared that he would prove them by requiring them to remain in Egypt while one of their number should go and bring their youngest brother down.

But to such an arrangement the sons of Jacob couldn’t agree, since the time required for carrying it out would cause their families to suffer for food.  And who among them would undertake the journey alone, leaving his brothers in prison? How could he meet his father under such circumstances?  They had seen his distress at the supposed death of Joseph, and knew how he would feel if he was deprived of any more of his sons.  As they conversed with one another in this manner, Joseph listened carefully. 

They reasoned, “It may be we shall lose our lives, or be made slaves. However, if one does go back to our father for Benjamin, and bring him here, he may be made a slave also, and our father will surely die.”  They decided to all remain, and suffer together, rather than to bring greater sorrow upon their father by the loss of his much-loved Benjamin. They felt humbled in their troubles, and showed grief, rather than anger, at the suspicions of Joseph.

 They were accordingly cast into prison, where they remained three days, which was as long as Joseph could endure! 

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Genesis 42:

18 And Joseph said to them the third day, “This do, and live; for I fear God [and listen to His advice]. 19  If you be true men, let [only] one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go [the rest of] you, carry corn for the famine of your houses: 20 but bring your youngest brother to me; so shall your words be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so [they talked it out among themselves in their own language]. 

21 And they said one to another, “We are verily [truly] guilty concerning our brother [Joseph], in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.” 22 And Reuben answered them, saying, “Spoke I not to you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and you would not hear?  Therefore, behold, also his blood is required [to be avenged].” 

23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spoke to them [in Egyptian] by an interpreter [they needed the interpreter]. 24 And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.

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During the years since Joseph had been separated from his brothers, all these sons of Jacob had changed in character under the influence of the Spirit of God, as we have seen in the typical case of Judah.  However, even after twenty-two years, they were still blaming themselves for their sin against Joseph and expecting punishment!  Envious, turbulent, deceptive, cruel, and revengeful they had all been; but now, when tested by adversity, they were shown to be unselfish, true to one another, devoted to their father, and, themselves middle-aged men, very much subject to his authority.  Joseph wept as he heard them talking for he was not seeking revenge, but only a clear understanding of their characters under the guidance of the Spirit.

The three days in the Egyptian prison were days of bitter sorrow as the brothers thought upon their past sins.  They had sold Joseph as a slave, and they were fearful that God designed to punish them by allowing them to become slaves.  Unless Benjamin could be produced their conviction as spies appeared certain, and they had little hope of gaining their father's consent to Benjamin's absence.  Then, if they didn’t come back, the life of the one left behind would be forfeited. So they were between a rock and a hard place.

On the third day, however, Joseph caused the brothers to be brought before him. He dared not detain them longer. Already his father and the families with him might be suffering for food.

When he said, “I fear God” they did not know that he meant their God, but thought he was referring to one of Egypt’s.  Then he commanded that Simeon, the second eldest, should be bound before them and again committed to prison. In their cruel treatment of him so long before, Simeon had been the instigator and chief actor, and it was for this reason that the choice fell upon him.  It was he who had also led Levi into attacking the people of Shechem and his (unregenerate) character was well known to Joseph.  See Genesis 34.  Maybe the brothers would abandon him once they left Egypt?  Joseph did not know.

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Genesis 42:

25 Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he to them. 26 And they loaded their asses with the corn, and departed there. 27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he spied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack's mouth [near the top].

28 And he said to his brethren, “My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack”: and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, “What is this that God has done to us?” [Poor God, He gets such a lot of blame!] 

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On the way one of the company (we are not told which one of the nine), while opening his sack to feed his donkey was surprised to find his bag of silver. On his making known the fact to the others, they were alarmed and perplexed, and said, “What is this that God has done to us?” Should they regard it as a token of good from the LORD, or had He allowed it to punish them in some way for their sins and plunge them still deeper in affliction?  (Their money was further down in their sacks so they had not seen it.) 

They ended up by accepting that God was now punishing them for their sins.  How wrong they were!

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Genesis 42:

29 And they came to Jacob their father to the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell to them; saying, 30 “The man, who is the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. 31 And we said to him, We are true men; we are no spies: 32 we be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. 33 And the man, the lord of the country, said to us, ‘Hereby shall I know that you are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone: 34 and bring your youngest brother to me: then shall I know that you are no spies, but that you are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and you shall traffic in the land’.”

35 And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.

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Jacob was anxiously awaiting the return of his sons, and on their arrival the whole encampment gathered eagerly around them as they related to their father all that had occurred. Alarm and apprehension filled every heart as they listened. The conduct of the Egyptian governor seemed to imply some evil design, and their fears were confirmed, when, as they emptied the sacks, the owner's money was found in each.

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Genesis 42:

36 And Jacob their father said to them, “Me have you bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and you will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.” 

37 And Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to you: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to you again.”

38 And he [Jacob] said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which you go, then shall you bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.” 

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This rash speech did not relieve the mind of Jacob. His answer was, “You will cause my death if any harm comes to him.” Reuben’s offer of his two sons meant that his future in Israel would be lost and his family line would cease, so it was a serious one, but still not satisfactory to God or Jacob.  (It was accepted in an altogether different way later, as we shall see.) 

But we cannot offer our life, or that of another, as payment for our transgressions because only the Son of God can be a sacrifice for sin.

The failure of the crops continued, and in the second year the supply of grain that had been brought from Egypt was nearly exhausted. The sons of Jacob well knew that it would be in vain to return to Egypt without Benjamin. They had little hope of changing their father's resolution, and so they awaited the issue in silence. Deeper and deeper grew the shadow of approaching famine; in the anxious faces of all in the camp the old man read their need; at last he said, “Go again, buy us a little food.”  

We can see next week what happened.

RonP

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