914 Biblical Characters - Joseph Challenges His Brothers (Gen.42.1-45.28)
Exploring Biblical Characters • Sermon • Submitted
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- The Lord of the Rings was one of the best trilogy films put together in the 21st century
- Before that, we had the Star Wars trilogy of the late 20th Century
- Novels, plays, dramas & movies all have one thing in common
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- It might come as a shock, but people get to live out – if only in their imagination & for good or for ill – the things that take place in these productions
- We get to go on a ride & experience the situation being lived out in that play or drama
- There is an art to putting a play together & Shakespeare is said to have been a master of it
- Predominantly, they come with a message, even if it is veiled or hidden
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- C. S. Lewis debated with J. R. Tolkien in the 1930’s about how overt the Christian message should come across in their novels
- Lewis wrote the Narnia Chronicles & Tolkien wrote what we know as Lord of the Rings
- Lewis believed that the Christian message should be apparent whereas Tolkien believed that Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles were too overtly Christian & too forceful upon the reader
- Tolkien, rather went for a lighter, more obscure, Christian message
- Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings has themes of dying & saving written into the plot, but in a much more obscure way in which most people, I’d say, would have trouble picking the Christian message out of it
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- As we come to the Joseph story today, it almost reads as a wonderful novel – it deserves to be an epic movie!
- But what I find different here, is that the Scriptures present this story as fact
Q. How do we decipher whether this is a piece of, say, literary art, or a factual account of what really happened?
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- Well firstly, we need to know something of what is going on here in this reading
- I would like to know what motivated Joseph to play these “games” with his brothers where they get falsely accused of things such as being spies; of stealing back the money to that was paid for the grain; of stealing Joseph’s cup that could be used for “divination”?
Q. Was Joseph out for revenge? Was he wanting to punish his brothers for what they did to him? Was he wanting to teach them a lesson?
- Maybe some or all of these are present, but if we allow ourselves to see this from the perspective of God’s providence, what comes out will blow our minds
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- Now, it’s always a good question to ask: Why is this here?
Q. What is it telling us, what is its point?
Q. Is it just a story of one man’s vengeance where he gets the opportunity to get pay-back on those who treated him harshly?
Q. Is it just a feel-good story of a man’s suffering & final vindication?
- There’s no doubt that this is amazing story, well crafted & could be said to be a number one piece of work as a literary play, pageant or even made into a movie
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- I want to suggest to you, however, that this is a continuation of that promise God gave to Abraham – don’t get caught up with the trees that you miss the forest!
- That Abraham would become a great nation & be a blessing & that all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him
- We see that partially fulfilled here, don’t we?
- Has not an Abrahamic descendant become a blessing to nations?
- God has raised up Joseph to be a “saviour” as such to deliver many nations from starvation – that is a blessing
57 The people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the earth.
- But also, the promise to Abraham included making him into a great nation – so Joseph says to his brothers – fellow Israelites…
7 “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.
- This is the point of this story
1. The Brothers Meet Joseph
1. The Brothers Meet Joseph
- When the drought had finally settled in & food shortage was the norm, Jacob who was now in the region of Israel, as it is known today, sends his sons to Egypt to buy food because he has heard that they have a good supply
- It must have become desperate because he mentions that without it, they may die
- The famine was all over the known world at that time
- However, Jacob would not send Benjamin with them
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- Benjamin is the last son Jacob fathered & with his most beloved wife Rachel
- She had 2 sons: Joseph & Benjamin
- Joseph is now about 30 something yrs. old & Benjamin would be quite young as he is spoken of as being a lad
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- But when they come before Joseph, their brother, he recognises them, but they don’t recognise him
- Egyptian rulers used eye mascara & other facial & head dresses that would have made it sufficiently hard enough for them to not detect that it was Joseph – besides, it would not have even entered their minds that their brother Joseph, whom they sold as a slave could end up being ruler over all Egypt
- This moment, the Scripture says, caused him to remember his dreams – of his brothers bowing down to him
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Q. What was going on in Joseph’s mind?
Q. Would you be ropable & angry with them? I think I would be
- As they approach Joseph, he greets them with hostility, he accuses them of being spies who want to look for the weaknesses in the land so the country that sent them could come & attack them & take their supplies for themselves
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- Some very big barbs are driven here into the situation
- Firstly, they claim that they are honest men
- 5 times in chapter 42 the words “honest men” are used
- It could easily be translated, “righteous” men, “just” men – men who are true/honourable
- That could hardly be more ironic to Joseph since his brothers treated him in anything but a righteous, just or honourable way
18 Now 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, carry grain for the famine of your households, 20 and bring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be verified, and you will not die.” And they did so.
- Ouch, bring your youngest brother here!
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- Secondly, the guilt of their past, in what they did to Joseph, is coming back to haunt them
21 Then they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.” 22 Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not tell you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Now comes the reckoning for his blood.”
- Joseph then imprisoned Simeon - why Simeon?
- Simeon is the 2nd born with what we could say was next in line as far as authority was concerned
- The first-born Reuben was not part of what they did in selling Joseph to slave traders, although, he did agree with putting him in the well
- Perhaps, this is why Simeon is imprisoned
- If they want Simeon free, they better come back with Benjamin
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- Then, after they leave, one of them find that his money had mysteriously ended up back in his sack – obviously by design by Joseph
- This causes them additional stress & shaking in their boots they say, “what is this that God has done to us”
- They are sensing that God is punishing them for their sin against Joseph
- If this seems troubling for them, the worst is still yet to come
2. Joseph Meets Benjamin
2. Joseph Meets Benjamin
- The brothers have travelled back to Jacob in Israel – may be a week’s journey
- They tell their father that they must go back with Benjamin for Simeon is in prison until they come & prove to Joseph that they have a brother & are not spies
- But Jacob won’t let them take him – too bad for Simeon – he can rot in prison!
- Then Jacob chides them for telling Joseph about Benjamin – why did you tell him all these details???
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- It seems that these band of brothers are certainly getting a taste of what goes around comes around & they are again very troubled to realise that after they unpacked their sacks that, not just one, but each of them has their money back in their sack – and Jacob saw it too
- This only reinforced to Jacob to not let Benjamin go down to Egypt
- However, eventually they run out of grain & would begin to starve unless they travel again to Egypt to buy food from Joseph
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- Ok off you go says Jacob, go get more grain – but the brothers are saying, no way Jose, we ain’t going without Benjamin because he threatened us that we are not to see his face again unless we bring Benjamin
- Thinking on this, Joseph was taking some risks here
- He put a level of distress upon his father in having to let Benjamin go with all the other risks involved
- His judgement was correct in the end, they came back with Benjamin
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- I think we must immerse ourselves in the events here to really appreciate the depth of despair, pain & sadness that Joseph must have experienced
- We know the end which is clouding us seeing the real human drama involved here for Joseph & the family
- We get an inkling here of Joseph’s pain
50 Now before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him. 51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” 52 He named the second Ephraim, “For,” he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
- Joseph had so much pain in his heart & this was expressed in the names of his two sons
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- But now, at this point in the story, we really see what’s in Joseph’s heart
- The brothers come in with Benjamin & Joseph is overwhelmed with intense feeling
30 Joseph hurried out for he was deeply stirred over his brother, and he sought a place to weep; and he entered his chamber and wept there.
- This is so intense & emotional – we are seeing the heart of Joseph here
- Benjamin is his only full blood brother – just the two of them were born to Jacob & Rachel (Rachel, the love of Jacob’s life)
- They are special to Jacob because he loved Rachel so dearly that when he served Laban 7 yrs for her hand in marriage, those years seemed to him like a few days
3. The Brothers Are Tested
3. The Brothers Are Tested
- Joseph comes back after a very teary session in a private setting & they have dinner together
- No doubt, Joseph would have had his mascara & the like fixed up or it would look too obvious that he had been weeping
- But what was obvious to the brothers at the dinner table is that Benjamin got the Lion’s share of the meal – 5 times more than his brothers
- Plus, they had been assembled by age – how did Joseph know this
- But the penny still hadn’t dropped
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- Simeon, having been released, their sacks full of grain, everyone is happy & they begin their journey back to Israel
- In one sense, the brothers are starting to experience Joseph’s ups & downs
- How he was in slavery/prison & then elevated
- Going from despair to euphoria, then from euphoria to despair
- His brothers are on a similar ride – accused of being spies, Simeon imprisoned & now on top of the world – so it seems
- But they may have to go on another downer & Joseph makes sure of that
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- Secretly, he gets his servants to place his silver cup into Benjamin’s sack
- Now the silver cup could be used for divination – not that Joseph used it as such
- If in this cup, oil was poured into water or water into oil, you would get swirls of images which were interpreted as omens of many possible things coming – such as war/peace; health/sickness; barrenness/children; success/failure etc.
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- Now, when eating the Egyptians separated themselves from the Hebrews
- It says that Hebrews were an abomination to Egyptians – racist bunch – but divination was idolatry & an abomination to Hebrews
- When they left & then stopped, the brothers were confident that none of them had stolen such a cup
- To the point of saying that if it is found in one of their sacks that that person be killed & the rest will become Joseph’s slaves
- Wow, that is a turnaround – they sent Joseph into slavery & they now say that they will go into slavery
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- On their way out of the city, bright & excited, they are run down by Joseph’s guards & accused of stealing his prized cup
- Of course, they deny it & are happy for them to be searched
- Their high was certainly short-lived – like how we feel in entering another lockdown
- They found the cup, of all people, in Benjamin’s sack – Jacob’s most precious son; the youngest & only one left as far as they know of Rachel’s sons
- Now remember that Judah went surety for Benjamin so it is Judah who now pleads their case
16 So Judah said, “What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? And how can we justify ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both we and the one in whose possession the cup has been found.”
- Judah is certainly not talking about the silly goblet that God has found out, but something much deeper & troubling
- Judah reflects that as they withheld mercy from Joseph when he pleaded with them, God is now withholding mercy from them
- In essence, they are being punished for their sin
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- But Joseph was smart &, in one sense, set up the same scenario that they put their father through those many years ago
- No, he says, only Benjamin will stay & be a slave for him – the rest may go up in peace to their father
Q. Could you possibly imagine what it would be like for them to return to Jacob, their father, without Benjamin?
Q. Could they ever face him again if this be the case?
4. Joseph Reveals Himself
4. Joseph Reveals Himself
- The brothers are brought very low & they see the hand of God in this
- Judah shows great remorse and instead of the deceitful, selfish attitude 14 yrs ago or so, where they gave their father Jacob the impression – the multicoloured robe, torn & with blood all over it - that Joseph was killed by a wild animal, Judah is willing to sacrifice himself rather than inflict, if Benjamin is not returned, more pain on their father Jacob
- But this is one of the crescendos & I cannot do it justice without reading some of Judah’s response to you
19 “My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’ 20 “We said to my lord, ‘We have an old father and a little child of his old age. Now his brother is dead, so he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.’ 21 “Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me that I may set my eyes on him.’ 22 “But we said to my lord, ‘The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ 23 “You said to your servants, however, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’
27 “Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons; 28 and the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn in pieces,” and I have not seen him since. 29 ‘If you take this one also from me, and harm befalls him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.’
30 “Now, therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, since his life is bound up in the lad’s life, 31 when he sees that the lad is not with us, he will die. Thus your servants will bring the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow. 32 “For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then let me bear the blame before my father forever.’ 33 “Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. 34 “For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me—for fear that I see the evil that would overtake my father?”
Q. Wow, do you sense the submission, repentance, remorse & contrition from the heart of Judah?
- These very attributes & attitudes the heart of God desires
- David says of God…
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
- A contrite heart in the Hebrew means a crushed heart, not proud, nor elevated, but humble & broken – such a position touches God
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- It certainly touched Joseph for it says he couldn’t contain himself any longer
1 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried, “Have everyone go out from me.” So there was no man with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 He wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard of it.
- His brothers have changed – they are now caring for their father rather than lying to him & hanging him out to dry in overwhelming grief
- Judah was ready to sacrifice himself rather than see his father suffer more grief again
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- Again, we are at disadvantage here because we know the end of the story – but imagine the brothers who have no idea that this ruler of Egypt is their brother Joseph
- These brothers, who are totally fearful for their lives, now see the man in place of the Pharaoh himself lose it completely
- If it was me watching that, I would have thought that any minute now, he will command my execution on the spot
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- It says he wept so loudly, that he couldn’t hide it – to the point that word got out to Pharaoh himself
- You see when we read this story, we know the ending, but Joseph didn’t
- He had to go through all the highs & lows of life with nothing but a faith & hope in God
- He did not know – only after Pharaoh made him lord of all Egypt did he remember those dreams
- Joseph lived with incredible heartache, pain – he felt betrayal, he felt abandoned, he knew real sorrow – yet, he kept faith, because he saw that in the end, God will vindicate & restore him - he kept trusting
- In other words, God is no man’s debtor – He will always remember our faith & love directed towards Him
- That is what Joseph lived by, in spite of all the burdens & hurt he was carrying
- We see that here in his great weeping
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- But Joseph then tells his brothers that it is he, Joseph & is my father still alive!
- Wwwww what, da da da da da who?
- They were, however, dismayed – which means to be out of one’s senses, horrified!
- We see no revengeful spirit here in Joseph nor a desire to get back at his brothers for what they had done to him
- In fact, he has taught them a valuable lesson, but the greatest lesson is about to come
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- Here we come to another crescendo which takes us even higher
- In the typical Joseph style, which is characterised by a theocentric approach to life, he says to them not to blame themselves for what they did
– What!!! Humanly speaking, we would be pretty upset with the brothers
- But Joseph says, “for it was God who sent him into Egypt”
- In His sovereignty, God was working out His plan & promise to Abraham
- Preserving a remnant; using Israel’s representative in Joseph himself to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth
7 “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
- Well, the real joy was not over – they are stacked to the ceiling with goods & wagons from Joseph & told to go & bring their father Jacob down to Egypt
- To not bring any goods back with them for they will have an abundance in Egypt & will live in the best of the land
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- Whereas the brothers were “out of their senses & horrified” by the revelation that the ruler of Egypt was their brother Joseph, when Jacob his father finds out, the word used to describe his response is a different word used for that of the brothers
26 They told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” But he was stunned, for he did not believe them.
- The word “stunned” here means “to be cold or to grow numb” - to be or become in a state of mental numbness, especially as resulting from shock
- No doubt – Jacob had lived through extreme grief & most likely depression but after some 14 yrs, he finds out that Joseph is alive and is ruling all Egypt
27 When they told him all the words of Joseph that he had spoken to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 Then Israel said, “It is enough; my son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
- Jacob’s response can remind us of the response of the disciples of Jesus when He appeared to them alive – He is not dead, but He has risen - & their sadness & grief turns to inexpressible joy - they realise that the Lord Jesus Christ is truly their salvation
- Life is indeed full of ups & downs & we do not know at any time what it will throw up at us – but our path is a simple one but a demanding one – the path of faith & love
- But we don’t need to fear because the Lord is, indeed, our Salvation
- Before we go to our groups, we will close the Service with a song & prayer, then those who wish to go into the breakout groups can do so - but to start you thinking...
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Questions for today
Discuss the points in the Joseph story today that has encouraged you!