20240211 Genesis 42: Common Flaws, Common Situations, Uncommon Faith
Genesis: Looking Back in Order to Move Ahead Spiritually • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Call to Worship: Psalm 112
1 Praise Yah! How blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, Who greatly delights in His commandments. 2 His seed will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, And his righteousness stands forever. 4 Light arises in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious and compassionate and righteous. 5 It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; Who sustains his works with justice. 6 For he will never be shaken; The righteous will be remembered forever. 7 He will not fear an evil report; His heart is set, trusting in Yahweh. 8 His heart is upheld, he will not fear, Until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. 9 He has given freely to the needy, His righteousness stands forever; His horn will be raised in glory. 10 The wicked will see it and be vexed, He will gnash his teeth and melt away; The desire of the wicked will perish.
When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll,
Whatever my lot though hast taught me to say, it is well, it well, with my soul
Scripture Reading: Genesis 42
1 Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” 2 Then he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from there, so that we may live and not die.” 3 So ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “Lest any harm befall him.” 5 So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also. 6 Now Joseph was the one in power over the land; he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. 7 And Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and spoke to them harshly. And he said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” 8 But Joseph recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about them and said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the nakedness of the land.” 10 Then they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. 11 “We are all sons of one man; we are honest men; your servants are not spies.” 12 And he said to them, “No, but you have come to look at the nakedness of our land!” 13 So they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.” 14 And Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you, you are spies; 15 by this you will be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here! 16 “Send one of you that he may get your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” 17 Then he put them all together in prison for three days. 18 And Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God: 19 if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, bring grain for the famine of your households, 20 and bring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be proven true, and you will not die.” And they did so. 21 Then they said to one another, “Surely we are guilty concerning our brother because we saw the distress of his soul when he begged us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.” 22 And Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not tell you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; yet you would not listen? So also his blood, behold, it is required of us.” 23 Now they did not know that Joseph was listening, for there was an interpreter between them. 24 And he turned away from them and wept. Then he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. 25 Then Joseph gave a command to fill their bags with grain and to restore every man’s money in his sack and to give them provisions for the journey. And thus it was done for them. 26 So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and went from there. 27 Then one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place. And he saw his money; and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. 28 So he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned, and behold, it is even in my sack.” And their hearts sank, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?” 29 Then they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying, 30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly with us and took us for spies of the country. 31 “So we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. 32 ‘We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’ 33 “Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the famine of your households, and go. 34 ‘But bring your youngest brother to me that I may know that you are not spies, but honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.’” 35 Now it happened that they were emptying their sacks, and behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and they and their father saw their bundles of money, and they feared. 36 And their father Jacob said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.” 37 Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hand, and I will return him to you.” 38 But Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone remains. If harm should befall him on the journey on which you are going, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
The last chapters of Genesis focus on Joseph and his brothers. In chapter 41 we are introduced to Mannaseh and Ephraim. And so the names of the twelve tribes are now part of the story of Genesis. You are the nation of Israel. You have left Egypt. Moses is giving the first book of the Law, which for us will become the first five books of the Bible. The Israelites who have left Egypt for a new land are reminded of Adam, the first man, and Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jospeh, the four patriarchs.
They see the tragedy of Joseph - sold into slavery, enslaved and imprisoned for 13 years. And now he is the vizier of pharaoh. But how does God bring the fathers of the twelve tribes back together. And what is the lesson the Holy Spirit through Moses wants them, and us, to learn?
(1) The lifelong battle of flaws and faith
To understand this principle we need to look at Abraham, Jacob, and Faith
2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only one, whom you love, Isaac, and go forth to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”
8 And Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.
12 And He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the boy, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only one, from Me.”
4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “Lest any harm befall him.”
38 But Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone remains. If harm should befall him on the journey on which you are going, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
Living by faith and not by sight
The genealogy of favoritism
From sons of Jacob to brothers of Joseph
The word accident in 42, 42, 44
(2) The lifelong work of transformation
5-6 Joseph is ruler of Egypt and dispenser of grain - his two dreams, the stars bowing and the sheaves bowing before his sheaf
Joseph will now try to discern if he can trust his brothers. Have they changed? Can I trust them? Did they kill my brother Benjamin or maybe even my father? How do they respond when spoken harshly to, just like they spoke to me so many years ago?
Were they pretending to get grain in order to attack pharaoh (as in chapter 34, Dinah avenged.
They were all brothers from one man, something spies would not likely be.
Reunited with his toddler brother, letting his brothers experience only 3 days of what he had experienced for years
Joseph feared God 18-20, so only one brother must stay
21 Then they said to one another, “Surely we are guilty concerning our brother because we saw the distress of his soul when he begged us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.” 22 And Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not tell you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; yet you would not listen? So also his blood, behold, it is required of us.”
28 So he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned, and behold, it is even in my sack.” And their hearts sank, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”
23 Now they did not know that Joseph was listening, for there was an interpreter between them.
(3) What does forgiveness look like?
True repentance and conviction
Trust restored
A generous and gracious spirit by the one sinned against
”You know you have truly forgiven someone when you hope that they are blessed”
25 Then Joseph gave a command to fill their bags with grain and to restore every man’s money in his sack and to give them provisions for the journey. And thus it was done for them.
A biblical illustration of God’s grace - we try to give what we owe but the Lord gives beyond what we are capable of
The end of the chapter
The fear of God 28
The selfishness of Jacob
28 So he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned, and behold, it is even in my sack.” And their hearts sank, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”
37 Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hand, and I will return him to you.”
We are now back to one who would sacrifice his sons in order to bring reconciliation and to restore that which was lost.
And this points to triune God who in eternity past determined that the Father would give his Son as the substitute for sin
Common flaws, common circumstances, uncommon faith
Common grace
Let’s pray
Now the Father who chose you, the Son that bought you, the Spirit who dwells in you, go before you in your darkness, stand beside you in your fears, hold you up in your sorrows, until Jesus comes. Amen.