Joe Turner

September 9, 2004

Reading through the Bible in one Year: 2 Timothy 3-4; John 16-19

Weekly Memory Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

Daily Reminder, pray for the "Forty days of purpose" that is coming up on September 25th at 9pm each evening.  I am looking forward to the weekly meetings at Starbucks with many of you, be sure to email me and let me know if you plan to participate.  I haven't decided if I should re-focus the study during that time to focus on the "Forty days" material, or to treat it as a side study, continuing our daily Bible study.  Let me know what you want on this.  I realized this morning that I put Genesis 41 for the reading yesterday, Ooops.  I added the proper passage today, thanks.  Since I am on a soapbox, if you are interested in the upcoming Promise Keepers conference, write me.

Genesis 42:1-38 (NASB95)
¹ Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” 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.” ³ Then 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, “I am afraid that harm may 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 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. 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.” ⁸ But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him. 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.” 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 Yet he said to them, “No, but you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land!” 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.” ¹⁴ 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 So he put them all together in prison for three days. 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. 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.” ²³ They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them. 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. 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. ²⁶ So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there. 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. 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?” ²⁹ When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they 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 “But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. ³² ‘We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’ ³³ “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 came about as they were emptying their sacks, that behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were dismayed. ³⁶ 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 care, 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 is left. If harm should befall him on the journey you are taking, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”^[1]

First let's consider the ages of the men involved.  Joseph was around thirty-seven years old at the time.  Most of his brothers were older than he was, so when you consider the ages of the men who were going to Egypt, they were family men, not young kids.  This is indicated in the latter part of the chapter where Reuben spoke of having two sons (v.37).  I think that we often get confused by the idea that ten brothers went to Egypt, they were ten brothers, and they were around the ages of 37 to 47 plus.  Unless I am wrong, Joseph was number 11 in the family lineage, and Benjamin followed as number 12.  That means that all of the ten brothers that were sent were older than Joseph, making them over 37 with the exception of Benjamin.

One other question that nags at the back of my mind is why didn't Israel's family see the famine coming?  We know the obvious answer to it, God had revealed it to Pharaoh, and Joseph was strategically placed to prepare for the famine.  I wonder though, what happened to the spiritual lives of the brothers of Joseph?  From the text today there is clear evidence that they were haunted by the fact that they had sent their brother into slavery, (vs. 21-22).  Wouldn't it be hard to walk with God knowing that you had committed such a deed and successfully covered it up?  God used the misfortune of the murderous hatred of Joseph's brothers for the good of the world.  I can't help but wonder what would have happened if they had all walked with God from the start. 

The famine in the land was severe enough that it demanded something to be done.  Jacob saw that they were starving to death, so he commissioned them to go to Egypt to buy grain.  Notice though, he kept Benjamin back with him so that he would not have trouble come against him.  Consider the message that this sent to the other brothers, Benjamin and Joseph were treated special because they were the only reminders that Jacob had of Rachel.  As far as he was concerned, the other ten brothers could fend for themselves, he was going to protect Rachel's sons.

Genesis 37:7-8 (NASB95)
⁷ for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.” ⁸ Then his brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. ^[2]

Joseph's first dream was concerning sheaves of grain.  The fulfillment of this dream had to do with grain, you can be sure that Joseph was aware of the way that the dream was being fulfilled right before his eyes.  The first dream had to do with food, and the brothers being under his authority in regard to provisions for the land.  Notice that it is only the brothers who are involved in purchasing the grain, his father does not come along.  The second dream had to do with power, but that comes later.

The harsh manner that Joseph treated his brothers can be expected in light of the way that they had treated him in the past.  They even admitted that they thought that he was dead.  The three days in prison was mild compared to the thirteen years that Joseph had spent in a foreign land, three years of which were spent in prison.  It is estimate that Joseph spent about nine years in Potiphar's house, three years in prison, then another seven years during the years of plenty which brings him to nineteen years in Egypt total.  Knowing that God had placed him there probably made it easier to accept, however, the irritation of being betrayed on such a permanent manner had to bear heavily on his mind. 

Considering Simeon being held hostage, I puzzled over why Joseph chose him to stay in prison, the only reason I could come up with was that Simeon and Levi headed up the slaughter Shechem and the inhabitants of the city when Dinah was raped and kidnapped (Genesis 34).  It could also have been a joint decision between the brothers. 

Notice the tenderness that Joseph displays toward his brothers.  He feels it is necessary to test them, and apparently wishes to see his brother Benjamin, all the other brothers are step brothers.  Joseph tests them in several ways, first he places them in a defensive position, treating them as spies.  Then he puts them in jail, treating them like criminals.  Then he holds Simeon hostage and sends the brothers on their way, returning the money back into their bags that they paid for the grain.  That was probably one of the biggest tests, to see what they would do with the money.  If they had returned it, they ran the risk of being accused of stealing the money.  They opted to return it on the return.  The greatest test was whether or not they would return for Simeon or leave him like they did Joseph.

Another thought that nags at my mind is where Joseph says that he fears God in v. 18.  Joseph had not mentioned God up to this point in the dialog.  It is interesting that he refers to God in a uniquely Hebrew way by referring to Him as "Elohim", or the one true God.  Even with this statement, Joseph's brothers did not pick up on the way that Joseph spoke.  They did start thinking about the judgment that God had placed on their lives as a result of what they had done to Joseph.  Consider also that Joseph, standing as a ruler of Egypt demonstrated compassion on them and on their families by allowing the brothers to return to their land with the grain.  This is compared to the brothers throwing Joseph in a pit with the decision to allow him to starve to death.  Joseph didn't just give them the grain that they paid for, he also gave them provisions for the journey that was ahead of them.  He went overboard in showing compassion to his brothers, who he accused of being spies.

One last observation, Reuben took responsibility for Benjamin by promising to protect his life at the expense of his own two sons.  Jacob was not concerned with the life of Simeon, he allowed him to remain in prison and refused to send Benjamin with them.  The story will change in the next chapter.  It shows where Jacob's heart was at though, he was not concerned about any son except Rachel's sons.  He was willing for another son to die in prison rather than chance losing Benjamin.

“Thus nearly all the actors are trapped by their past. The brothers cannot escape the power of their past guilt by being honest now either to Joseph or to their father. They live in fear of provoking a new uncontrolled outburst of paternal sorrow if they take Benjamin and fail to return him. Jacob himself is even more paranoic, suspecting his sons of selling Simeon to raise cash, and above all determined not to let his beloved Benjamin out of his sight. Only Joseph appears to be in control of the situation, but even he is overtaken by emotion as he hears the first contrite comments by his brothers for the way they treated him. And he cannot be sure whether the device of holding Simeon will suffice to bring all his brothers, including Benjamin, back to Egypt. Will his dreams be fulfilled or not?”^[3]

In closing, I would encourage each of you to access the website and read through the comments from last year on this chapter.  There were some good observations.  Also, if you wish to add to the study, be sure to write in, I will post all comments.

Questions for thought:

Do you feel that Joseph was working from revenge in dealing harshly with his brothers, or by divine guidance?

Why didn’t Jacob allow Benjamin to go with the brothers to redeem Simeon?

Father, as we consider Your word, and ponder its meaning, show each of us how to apply Your word to our lives.

In Him,

Joe Turner.