Genesis 43.31-34-Joseph Has Lunch With His Brothers
Thursday February 15, 2007
Genesis: Genesis 43:31-34-Joseph Has Lunch With His Brothers
Lesson # 282
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 43:1.
This evening we will complete our study of Genesis 43, which contains the record of the second journey of Joseph’s brothers to Egypt.
Genesis 43 is divided into three sections: (1) Jacob’s family holds negotiations to return to Egypt (Genesis 43:1-14) (2) Joseph’s brothers arrive in Egypt and have conversation with Joseph’s steward about the silver in their bags (Genesis 43:15-25) (3) Joseph has lunch with his brothers in his home (Genesis 43:26-34).
In Genesis 43:1-10, we read where Judah negotiated with his father for a return to Egypt with Benjamin in order to secure the release of Simeon who was still imprisoned at the time in Egypt as well as to buy grain to for their starving family.
This was followed by our study of Genesis 43:11-14 where we saw Israel operating in faith and agreeing to send Benjamin back to Egypt along with his other sons.
In Genesis 43:15-25, we read where Joseph’s brothers arrive in Egypt with Benjamin and have a conversation with Joseph’s house steward regarding the silver that was returned to them without their knowledge.
On Tuesday we studied Genesis 43:26-28, which records the fulfillment of the second stage of Joseph’s two prophetic dreams, which are recorded in Genesis 37:5-11.
Last evening we studied Genesis 43:29-30, which records Joseph being overcome with emotion upon seeing his full brother Benjamin for the first time in over twenty years.
This evening we will note Genesis 43:31-34 where we will read of Joseph having lunch with his brothers.
Genesis 43:1, “Now the famine was severe in the land.”
Genesis 43:2, “So it came about when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt that their father said to them, ‘Go back, buy us a little food.’”
Genesis 43:3, “Judah spoke to him, however, saying, ‘The man solemnly warned us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”
Genesis 43:4, “If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food.”
Genesis 43:5, “But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”
Genesis 43:6, “Then Israel said, ‘Why did you treat me so badly by telling the man whether you still had another brother?’”
Genesis 43:7, “But they said, ‘The man questioned particularly about us and our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we answered his questions. Could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down'?’”
Genesis 43:8, “Judah said to his father Israel, ‘Send the lad with me and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones.’”
Genesis 43:9, “I myself will be surety for him; you may hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame before you forever.”
Genesis 43:10, “For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice.”
Genesis 43:11, “Then their father Israel said to them, ‘If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and carry down to the man as a present, a little balm and a little honey, aromatic gum and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.’”
Genesis 43:11, “Then their father Israel said to them, ‘If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and carry down to the man as a present, a little balm and a little honey, aromatic gum and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.’”
Genesis 43:12, “Take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake.”
Genesis 43:13-14, “Take your brother also, and arise, return to the man and may God Almighty grant you compassion in the sight of the man, so that he will release to you your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.’”
Genesis 43:15, “So the men took this present, and they took double the money in their hand, and Benjamin; then they arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.”
Genesis 43:16, “When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his house steward, ‘Bring the men into the house, and slay an animal and make ready; for the men are to dine with me at noon.’”
Genesis 43:17, “So the man did as Joseph said, and brought the men to Joseph's house.”
Genesis 43:18, “Now the men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph's house; and they said, ‘It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, that he may seek occasion against us and fall upon us, and take us for slaves with our donkeys.’”
Genesis 43:19-21, “So they came near to Joseph's house steward, and spoke to him at the entrance of the house, and said, ‘Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food, and it came about when we came to the lodging place, that we opened our sacks, and behold, each man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full. So we have brought it back in our hand.’”
Genesis 43:22, “We have also brought down other money in our hand to buy food; we do not know who put our money in our sacks.”
Genesis 43:23, “He said, ‘Be at ease, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money.’ Then he brought Simeon out to them.”
Genesis 43:24, “Then the man brought the men into Joseph's house and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys fodder.”
Genesis 43:25, “So they prepared the present for Joseph's coming at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat a meal there.”
Genesis 43:26, “When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present which was in their hand and bowed to the ground before him.”
Genesis 43:27, “Then he asked them about their welfare, and said, ‘Is your old father well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?’”
Genesis 43:28, “They said, ‘Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.’ They bowed down in homage.”
Genesis 43:29, “As he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, he said, ‘Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?’ And he said, ‘May God be gracious to you, my son.’”
Genesis 43:30, “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.”
Genesis 43:31, “Then he washed his face and came out; and he controlled himself and said, ‘Serve the meal.’”
After washing his face and composing himself, Joseph gives his servants orders to serve the meal.
The last time Joseph’s brothers eat together was after they had thrown Joseph into a pit (See Genesis 37:24-25).
Genesis 43:32, “So they served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is loathsome to the Egyptians.”
In accordance with the Egyptian culture and to further conceal his identity, Joseph ate at one table, his Egyptian servants at another, and his brothers at still another table, somewhat separate, yet in front of him.
Egyptians never eat at the same table with Hebrews since they were prejudiced towards them and in fact, the historians Diodorus, Herodotus and Strabo all attest to the fact that the Egyptians held all foreigners in contempt.
Of course, the Egyptians knew that Joseph was a Hebrew and that he worshipped the Hebrews’ God, which was clearly expressed by Joseph when he first met Pharaoh and was appointed prime minister.
However, as far as social customs were concerned, Joseph was “Egyptianized” meaning he possessed Egyptian citizenship and was Egyptian aristocracy by virtue of his Egyptian name and wife (See Genesis 41:41-45).
“Hebrew” is the proper noun ‘ivri (yr!b+u!) (iv-ree), which first appears in Genesis 14:13 to describe Abraham as a legitimate and well-known descendant of Shem through Eber and was therefore, in the Messianic line, or the Promised Seed of Genesis 3:15.
The term “Hebrew” denotes the nationality of Joseph’s brothers and of course himself in contrast with the Egyptians and expresses the “xenophobia” of the Egyptians, which is an “unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers.”
This racial bigotry that the Egyptians had towards the Israelites is illustrated in Genesis 43:32, which records that the Egyptians did not eat with the Hebrews since that was repulsive to them.
The Egyptians were racially prejudiced towards the Hebrews since they considered themselves culturally and ethnically superior to the Hebrews.
The Egyptians looked upon the profession of shepherding as repulsive and Israel’s form of worship as detestable (See Genesis 46:34; Exodus 8:26).
Joseph was served by himself because of his position as the prime minister of Egypt, second in authority to only Pharaoh.
Notice that Joseph overlooks their prejudice and does not offend them by seating his brothers apart from them.
Although the racial bigotry of the Egyptians was evil, God was able to use it to preserve the purity of the Israelite race and protect it from the corrupting Canaanite influence.
In Genesis 38, the story of Judah and Tamar emphasizes the need for God to temporarily relocate Jacob’s family to Egypt since spiritual purity was essential for the purposes of God to be realized.
Judah, the son through whom the Messiah would be born (Genesis 49:8 12), was so cosmic and immoral that he was willing to marry a Canaanite woman, to have a Canaanite as his best friend and to become involved with prostitutes, leading to idolatry.
The Lord had to do some¬thing drastic and the exile in Egypt was God’s remedy since the Egyptians detested Hebrew shepherds (See Genesis 43:32; 46:34), even if the Hebrews were to become involved with these people, the Egyptians would not even consider such a thing.
The racial bigotry of the Egyptians towards Hebrew shepherds would serve to maintain the Israelites as a separate people.
Even though the Israelites exile in Egypt was in many respects a bitter experience for them, it was a gracious act on the part of God.
Therefore, the divine rationale for the Lord for permitting Joseph to be sold into slavery in Egypt was to relocate his family so as to protect them from the corrupting Canaanite influence.
Unlike the Canaanites, the Egyptians would be unwilling to integrate with the Israelites and absorb them into their culture since they considered their worship of God repulsive as well as the profession of shepherding.
The segregated culture of the Egyptians guaranteed that the embryonic nation of Israel could develop into a great nation within the Egyptian borders.
Genesis 43:33, “Now they were seated before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.”
Genesis 43:33 describes for us that Joseph seated his brothers by order of seniority, from the firstborn, who was Reuben to the youngest, who was Benjamin.
The order in which Israel/Jacob’s twelve boys were born, is as follows: (1) Reuben (2) Simeon (3) Levi (4) Judah (5) Dan (6) Naphtali (7) Gad (8) Asher (9) Issachar (10) Zebulun (11) Joseph (12) Benjamin.
Genesis 29:31-35 records that Jacob and Leah had Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah.
Genesis 30:1-8 records Jacob and Rachel’s maid, Bilhah, then had Dan followed by Naphtali.
Genesis 30:9-13 records that Jacob and Leah’s maid, Zilpah then had Gad followed by Asher.
Genesis 30:14-21 records that Jacob and Leah then had Issachar, Zebulun and Jacob’s only daughter Dinah.
Genesis 30:22-24 records Jacob and Rachel having their first child together, Joseph and Genesis 35:16-20 records bearing Jacob a second son, Benjamin.
That Joseph seated his brothers in order of seniority caused his brothers to look at one another in amazement since they could not understand how a stranger as the lord of Egypt could know the order in which they were born.
Of course, they did not know that the lord of Egypt was in fact Joseph.
Henry M. Morris writes, “If this were a mere coincidence, it was indeed marvelous. One can easily show (merely by multiplying together all the numbers from one through eleven) that there are no less than 39,917,000 different orders in which eleven individuals could have been seated! Thus, for the servants to select the one correct order by chance was almost impossible. The odds were 40 million to one against it” (The Genesis Record, page 610, Baker Book House).
Undoubtedly, the brothers saw the providence of God when Joseph seated them in this manner and it caused them great joy as manifested in that they ate and drank the rest of the evening with Joseph who they knew as only the lord of Egypt.
Genesis 43:34, “He took portions to them from his own table, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they feasted and drank freely with him.”
Joseph tests his half-brothers once again to see whether this obvious preferential treatment would arouse their envy or expose any bitter feelings that they might harbor against the one who is now their father’s favorite.
Jealousy is a mental attitude sin directed toward another, which is resentful, intolerant and suspicious of another’s success, possessions or relationships and is vigilant in maintaining or guarding something.
Jealousy originated in eternity past with Satan since he was resentful and intolerant suspicious of the preincarnate Christ’s relationship with the angels and was vigilant in maintaining or guarding his influence over the angels, therefore, jealousy is demonic since it is Satanic viewpoint.
If you recall, in Genesis 37, we saw that Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him because their father showed preferential treatment to Joseph by giving him a long-sleeved multicolored coat.
Bruce K. Waltke writes, “To be invited to a meal with a high official assumes a close relationship with him, but it is fraught with the potential for promotion or rejection. Proverbs 23:1-3 instructs the wise son not to be distracted by the official’s food; the guest’s character is either intentionally or unwittingly under surveillance by the higher official” (Genesis, A Commentary, page 557, Zondervan).
Proverbs 23:1-3, “When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are a man of great appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, for it is deceptive food.”
The statement “they feasted and drank freely” in the original Hebrew text literally reads, “they drank and they became drunk” with him.
“They feasted” is the verb shathah (htv) (shaw-thaw), which means, “to drink alcoholic beverages.”
“Drank freely” is the verb shakhar (rk^v*) (shaw-kar), which means, “to drink enough to be satisfied” or as we say in the 21st century, “to put a buzz on.”
Therefore, we can see from the original Hebrew text that Joseph did “not” get drunk with his brothers but rather they drank enough so as to be content and satisfied or in other words, they drank enough alcoholic beverages to put a buzz on.
The brothers would never get drunk at the table of the lord of Egypt who had given them so much trouble up to this point and questioned their integrity.
A number of passages warn against the dangers of drunkenness since it causes people to stagger (Ps. 107:27; Prov. 23:34), it makes them sick (Is. 28:8; Jer. 25:27), it makes the eyes red (Prov. 23:29), it puts a person into a stupor (Jer. 51:39, 57), it makes a person poor (Prov. 23:21), it interferes with a leader’s work (Prov. 31:4f).
The foolishness of drunkenness is shown by the examples of Noah (Gen. 9:21), Lot (Gen. 19:31-38), Nabal (1 Sam. 25:36-39), David (2 Sam. 11:13), Absalom (2 Sam. 13:28) and Belshazzar (Dan. 5:2).
The Bible does “not” prohibit drinking alcohol but it “does” prohibit drunkenness.
Ephesians 5:18, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.”
Believers are not to associate with believers who are drunks (1 Cor. 5:9-11).
Drunkenness is a manifestation of the old Adamic sin nature (Gal. 5:19-21).
The fact that the brothers partied with each other and with Joseph demonstrated that the brothers were not jealous of Benjamin for receiving preferential treatment from the lord of Egypt since they would not have been able to enjoy the banquet.
Therefore, Joseph enjoyed the banquet with his brothers since he could see there was no longer a spirit of jealousy among his half-brothers and they could enjoy the banquet because they were cleared of all espionage charges.