Joseph's Brothers First trip to Egypt
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gen 42
When we last left our story, the famine had hit and it had hit hard.
When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” And he said, “Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.”
Joseph, by reacting to the prophesy God had given Pharaoh had cornered the grain market.
And was in the process of buying up all of Egypt for Pharaoh.
And all the countries were coming to Egypt to buy grain.
When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” And he said, “Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.”
Jacob finds out that there is grain in Egypt.
He looks at his sons and ask, why are you sitting around staring at each other?
Apparently since nothing was growing the sons had plenty of time on their hands.
So Jacob says “There is grain in Egypt, go buy some.”
So Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “Lest some calamity befall him.” And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
ge 42 3
So Joseph’s brothers go down to Egypt to buy grain.
Well, not all of his brothers.
Jacob kept Benjamin back because he was afraid something would happen to him.
Jacob is still playing favorites.
And he apparently doesn’t really trust God and His plan for his sons.
Now Joseph was governor over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth. Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, “Where do you come from?”
And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”
gen 42 6-7
Now Joseph was governor over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth. Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, “Where do you come from?”
And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”
So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.
Can you imagine what went through Joseph’s mind when he saw his brothers?
Can you imagine what went through Joseph’s mind when he saw his brothers?
Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.
And just like in his first dream, his brothers bowed down to him.
(Well, 10 out of 11 did.)
But Joseph didn’t not announce himself to his brothers.
Was he holding a grudge?
Did Joseph want revenge on his brothers?
Was he going to test them?
Instead he was harsh with his brothers.
“Where do you come from?”
ge 42 9-
Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!”
Now Joseph remembers the dreams.
And probably how his brothers reacted to them.
Does Joseph really think they are spies?
I mean, these are the same guys who threw him in a pit and sold him into slavery.
Maybe they are up to no good.
But as we’ll see, Joseph doesn’t treat them like spies.
So is this a test?
Are they blind to who they are speaking with?
Has he changed so much they do not recognize them?
Or has their conscience be so seared that they cannot see what is right in front of them?
Can you think of a time when you wouldn’t let someone off the hook?
When someone was blind to your circumstances?
ge 42
And they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies.”
No! We have just come to buy food.
We are brothers, all the son of one man.
We are honest men, not spies.
Well, honest is questionable.
They did sell their brother and lie to the father about it.
And this has gone on for at least 7-8 years, probably much longer.
ge 42 12
But he said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”
And they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.”
No, you are spies.
You’ve come to case the joint.
See where are defenses are weak so you can plunder the grain we have saved.
After the way they treated Joseph, this is not a totally implausible idea.
The brothers tell Joseph who they are.
Twelve brothers,
Sons of one man in the land of Canaan,
The youngest stayed home and one of them is dead.
But they are not sure he is dead, because they sold him.
They just assume his is dead.
Maybe that is why they didn’t recognize him.
Or is it that they have lied about Joseph’s death for so long they convinced themselves?
Have you ever repeated a lie so often you start to think it’s true?
But Joseph said to them, “It is as I spoke to you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ In this manner you shall be tested: By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies!” So he put them all together in prison three days.
OK, I say you’re spies you say not. Prove it.
Send one of you home and bring your youngest brother here.
Then I’ll believe you.
This seems like a rather odd request, doesn’t it?
Why would an Egyptian lord care about their younger brother?
And really, couldn’t they just bring anyone that looked remotely like their brother and claim it was him?
Would that really prove they aren’t spies?
But since we know this is Joseph, their supposedly dead brother, there is some logic to it.
Joseph wants to see his full brother.
Remember, Joseph and Benjamin are the only children Jacob had by Rachael.
So Joseph had them stew on this idea for three days in prison.
Kind of fair, don’t you think?
They did sell him into slavery which led to him being in prison.
Then Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God: If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you, go and carry grain for the famine of your houses. And bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die.”
And they did so.
8-
OK, tell you what, I fear God, so here is what we’re gonna do.
Pick one of you to stay here.
The rest, go home, bring back some grain to your houses.
Then come back with your youngest brother.
Then I will believe you.
Then they said to one another, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.”
We are busted.
This is all our fault.
We would not listen when our brother pleaded with us.
We saw what we did to our father.
The anguish we put him through.
That is why all of this is happening to us.
Have you ever looked at what is going wrong in your life and assumed it was because of what you had done?
Just like the disciples and the blind man.
jn 9 1-2
Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
And Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us.” But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter.
Ruben pulls the “I told you so” card.
Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy.
But no, you wouldn’t listen.
And now his blood is required of us.
This is all your fault.
But they didn’t recognize Joseph.
They didn’t know the he spoke Hebrew.
That he understood every word they were saying.
And he turned himself away from them and wept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
Joseph had to turn away.
Was it the glimmer of remorse that sparked his tears?
Was it the arguing between them?
Joseph then takes Simeon and binds him.
Then Joseph gave a command to fill their sacks with grain, to restore every man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. Thus he did for them. So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there. But as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack. So he said to his brothers, “My money has been restored, and there it is, in my sack!” Then their hearts failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, “What is this that God has done to us?”
gen 42 25
Joseph gives them grain and provisions.
He even returns their money.
Then sends them on their way home.
On the way, one of the opens his sack and sees his money.
Oh my God, now were thieves!
What is this man from Egypt going to do to us now.
First he thought we were spies, now we are thieves.
What has God done to us.
Notice, they know that this is God working.
Probably to repay their wickedness.
gen 29-34
Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying: “The man who is lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan.’ Then the man, the lord of the country, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for the famine of your households, and be gone. And bring your youngest brother to me; so I shall know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. I will grant your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.’ ”
Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying: “The man who is lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan.’ Then the man, the lord of the country, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for the famine of your households, and be gone. And bring your youngest brother to me; so I shall know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. I will grant your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.’ ”
Then it happened as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly each man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
The brothers go home and tell the story to their dad.
The brothers go home and tell the story to their dad.
And when they open their sacks, all of their money had been returned.
And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me.”
Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.”
ge 42 36-
And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me.”
Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.”
But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.”
How does Jacob react?
How does Jacob react?
You have bereaved me!
Joseph is gone.
Simeon is gone.
But wait, they can get Simeon back.
Why does Jacob say he is gone?
Now you want to take Benjamin?
If the only way to get Simeon back is to send Benjamin to Egypt, Simeon doesn’t stand a chance.
Ruben offers his two sons in exchange for Benjamin.
What type of father would use his own sons for a pledge?
Don’t we swear on our families?
And what consolation to Jacob would it be to kill his own grandsons?
But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.”
No dice, Benjamin is not going.
Jacob believes his grief would be to great should something happen to him.
Jacob is still hanging on.
Acting like he is in control.
Conclusion
Conclusion
What can we learn from this little interchange?
As much as we would like to think otherwise, our sins come back on us.
The sins of the brothers are coming back to haunt them, and they know it.
And God is using the brother they sinned against to do it.
Our sins will hurt others.
Now only how much pain the brother’s sins have brought to Joseph,
But to their father as well.
Our sins often blind us to what is right in front of us.
The brothers could not recognize Joseph.
I wonder how different this encounter would have been if the brothers walked in and said “Joseph? Is that you?”
We should not use the sins of others as an excuse to exact revenge,
But we should be sure their repentance seems real.
Fool me once, shame on me.
Fool me twice, shame on you.
And most important,
God may use your sins for good,
But that does not mean he won’t bring you pain along the way.
And this is just the brother’s first trip to Egypt.
There will be more next time.