Genesis 42.25-28-Joseph's Brothers Return To Canaan
Sunday February 4, 2007
Genesis: Genesis 42:25-28-Joseph’s Brothers Return to Canaan
Lesson # 275
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 42:1.
This morning we will continue with our study of Genesis 42, which presents to us the account of Joseph’s brothers with the exception of Benjamin making their first journey to Egypt to buy grain.
In Genesis 42:1-5, we read where Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy grain in order to deal with the problem of the famine in Canaan.
On Tuesday evening we studied Genesis 42:6, which records the fulfillment of the prophecy recorded in Genesis 37:5-11 that was revealed in Joseph’s dream that he would rule over his entire family.
On Wednesday evening we studied Genesis 42:7-17, which records for us Joseph’s brothers’ first audience with him in Egypt.
On Thursday evening we noted Genesis 42:18-24, which gives us the record of Joseph’s brothers’ second audience with him in Egypt.
This morning we will note Genesis 42:25-28, which records Joseph’s brothers leaving him and returning to Canaan with food.
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?’”
Genesis 42:2, “He said, ‘Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die.’”
Genesis 42:3, “Then ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt.”
Genesis 42:4, “But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, ‘I am afraid that harm may befall him.’”
Genesis 42:5, “So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.”
Genesis 42:6, “Now Joseph was the ruler 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.”
Genesis 42:7, “When Joseph saw his brothers he 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.’”
Genesis 42:8, “But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him.”
Genesis 42:9, “Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about them, and said to them, ‘You are spies; you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land.’”
Genesis 42:10, “Then they said to him, ‘No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.’”
Genesis 42:11, “We are all sons of one man; we are honest men, your servants are not spies.”
Genesis 42:12, “Yet he said to them, ‘No, but you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land!’”
Genesis 42:13, “But 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 longer alive.’”
Genesis 42:14-15, “Joseph said to them, ‘It is as I said to you, you are spies, by this you will be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here!’”
Genesis 42:16, “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."
Genesis 42:17, “So he put them all together in prison for three days.”
Genesis 42:18-20, “Now Joseph said to them on the third day, ‘Do this and live, for I fear God: 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, and bring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be verified, and you will not die.’ And they did so.”
Genesis 42:21, “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.’”
Genesis 42:22, “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.”
Genesis 42:23, “They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them.”
Genesis 42:24, “He turned away from them and wept. But when he returned to them and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.”
The fact that Joseph does “not” detain Reuben who is the oldest but rather detains Simeon reveals that Joseph was fully aware that Reuben attempted to save him and that Simeon was the mastermind behind the plot to murder Joseph.
Simeon was the master mind behind the plot to murder Joseph since he and Levi were the master minds of the massacre at Shechem and had a reputation for cruelty (See Genesis 34; 49:5-7).
Further indicating that Simeon was behind the plot to murder Joseph is that he had a motive since he was one of the sons of Leah, who was resentful towards Joseph since Jacob favored Joseph’s mother Rachel over Leah.
Joseph undoubtedly realized that Reuben was trying to save him and that Simeon wanted him murdered and so he released Reuben although he is the oldest and detained Simeon, the next oldest of the sons of Leah (See Genesis 42:24).
The fact that Simeon was imprisoned would have got the attention of the other nine brothers since they were all well aware that Simeon was the ring leader in the attempt to assassinate Joseph.
The nine brothers recognized that this was no coincidence that the prime minister of Egypt would imprison the very one who had been the master mind in the plot to kill Joseph but rather that it was God’s overruling justice.
The imprisonment of Simeon would have further convicted the brothers as to their cruel treatment of Joseph over twenty years before.
Genesis 42:25, “Then Joseph gave orders 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.”
“Grain” is the noun bar (rB^) (bawr), which according to its root means, “pure” thus emphasizing the pure, clean grain after the chaff has been removed or in other words, after it has been winnowed.
“Bags” is the noun keli (yl!K+) (kel-ee), which denotes a “container” or an “earthenware receptacle” that would preserve grain by keeping it dry.
Undoubtedly, Joseph’s brothers had several of these earthenware containers or receptacles since they had sixty-seven people to feed according to Genesis 46:27.
“Money” is the noun keseph ([s#K#) (keh-sef), which means, “silver” which in the Near East in the days of the patriarchs was used as a measure of value and was also a mark of wealth.
“Sack” is the noun saq (qc^) (sak), which denotes a thick coarse cloth, usually dark in color and made mostly from goat’s hair, although camel’s hair was sometimes used and refers to the personal sackcloth bags of the brothers and were distinct from the earthenware containers.
Each of the brothers had brought his own silver to buy grain for his own family as indicated by the statement “Then Joseph gave orders…to restore every man's money in his sack.”
“Restore” is the verb shuv (bWv) (shoov), which means, “to return,” thus Joseph “returned” the silver to his brothers that they used to buy grain from him.
Therefore, Joseph not only commanded his servants to fill his brothers’ earthenware containers with grain but also without his brothers’ knowledge he returned their silver that they used to pay for the grain, placing it in their personal bags.
Furthermore, Joseph gave his brothers provisions in the form of food for the journey itself so that they would not have to use up the food that was for the family, which to the brothers would appear as a very gracious gesture and put them at ease.
These provisions would not only provide for the needs of the brothers on the journey home but also ensure that they would not discover the money until it was too late to turn back.
More than likely, smaller, separate sacks were provided with food for the men and perhaps their animals, so that the grain sacks with the money would not be opened until they arrived home.
Joseph returned the silver to his brothers without their knowledge since they find out that he had done this only after they were well on their way back home to Canaan.
The Scriptures do “not” tell us why Joseph returned the silver but through inference we can see that there were at least four reasons.
First of all, he wanted to be generous with his brothers but without giving them an explanation, which could reveal his true identity.
Undoubtedly, Joseph, out of his own pocket, paid for the grain that he gave to his brothers so as to compensate Pharaoh.
That Joseph returned the silver to his brothers and paid for the grain out of his own pocket reveals that Joseph’s intention was not revenge when he spoke harshly to his brothers and imprisoned them for three days but rather his desire was for a reconciliation with them.
But certain changes had to take place before he could reunite with them in that their self interest and cruelty which had caused them to sell him into slavery must be dealt with.
Secondly, Joseph returned the silver to his brothers in order to awaken the conscience of each of them to the extent that they saw God’s hand in dealing with their cruel treatment of Joseph.
While in prison they acknowledged their guilt but Joseph did not hear them acknowledge God’s hand in their imprisonment.
Therefore, he continues to attempt to arouse the conscience of each of his brothers so that they acknowledge God’s providential hand and the means in which he does this was to return the silver to each of them since the silver would remind them that they sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver.
This leads us to the third reason, which was to test the brothers as to whether they valued money more than the life of their brother Simeon since in the case of Joseph they demonstrated they valued money more than the life of Joseph by selling him to the Midianites for twenty shekels of silver.
The fact that the brothers did not return immediately to Egypt to return the silver does not imply that they didn’t value Simeon’s life since it was their father who prevented them from returning to Egypt since he feared that he would lose Benjamin if he sent them with the rest of his brothers (See Genesis 42:29-38).
The fourth and final reason was to give the brothers an opportunity to demonstrate that they were indeed what they claimed to be, honest men.
Genesis 42:26, “So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there.”
“They” refers to Joseph’s servants.
The phrase “their grain” refers to the grain that the brothers purchased with silver from Joseph and indicates to the reader that the silver later discovered by the brothers in each of their personal sackcloth bags was not stolen by them.
The journey back home covered a distance of approximately 250-300 miles since Jacob was living in Hebron and Joseph’s headquarters would have been near the city of Memphis, which is about 10 miles south of the present city of Cairo.
Thus, the journey back home would have taken approximately 3 weeks.
Genesis 42:27, “As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money; and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack.”
The expression “one of them” indicates only one of the brothers during the journey home opened his personal sackcloth bag and found his silver while the rest learned when they got home that their silver had also been returned according to Genesis 42:35.
Genesis 43:21 records the brothers informing Joseph’s steward that each of them found their silver in the personal bags while on the journey home.
Whereas Genesis 42:27 records that only one brother found his silver in his bag during the journey home and Genesis 42:35 records that the rest of their brothers discovered the same when they arrived home.
Therefore, on the surface it appears that the brothers lied to Joseph’s steward but this apparent contradiction is reconciled in that the brothers were not concerned about precision in their accounts when speaking to Joseph but simply conveying the fact that their silver was returned to them without their knowledge.
Genesis 42:28, “Then 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?’”
The expression “their hearts sank” means that the brothers all nearly died of heart failure when they saw the silver in the sack.
The statement “they turned trembling to one another” refers to the trembling of the body as a result of emotional distress.
Therefore, it refers to a sudden panic attack experienced by each of the brothers due to fear upon learning that the silver was returned.
The reason for this reaction on the part of the brothers was that they looked like thieves (See Genesis 42:35-36).
Their response to this misfortune was to acknowledge God’s justice and providential hand as indicated by the rhetorical question, “What is this that God has done to us?”
This statement is an admission of guilt before God that they were wrong in their cruel treatment of Joseph.
This is the first time that Joseph’s brothers mentioned God indicating that the conscience of each has been so aroused that they finally acknowledge God’s providential hand behind the punishment for their crime against Joseph.
The fact that the brothers were not happy but rather frightened by the sight of the silver in their bags was a good sign since it indicated that they were no longer insensitive to God and that they no longer had a seared conscience.
Their distress was a manifestation that they have reaped what they have sowed in that they were reaping distress in their own souls because they sowed distress in the soul of Joseph.
Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”
The harm and pain that they brought on Joseph was now being visited on them and this caused them to consider how Joseph must have felt.
The presence of the silver in their bags reminded them of the distress they caused Joseph over twenty years earlier and has softened their calloused hearts.
Now, if we could we have our deacons pass out the communion elements and let us take a few minutes to meditate upon the Lord and prepare ourselves for the Lord’s Supper.
1 Corinthians 11:23-24, “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’”
1 Corinthians 11:25, “In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’”
1 Corinthians 11:26, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.”
