Genesis 42:1-38

“Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? 2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt:  get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. 3 And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. 4 But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him. 5 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came:  for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 6 And Joseph was governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land:  and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the earth. 7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye?  And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. 8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. 10 And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. 11 We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies. 12 And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. 13 And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not. 14 And Joseph said unto them, That is that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies. 15 Hereby ye shall be proved:  By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. 16 Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you:  or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies. 17 And he put them all together into ward three days. 18 And Joseph said unto them in the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God: 19 If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison:  go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses: 20 but bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die.  And they did so. 21 And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. 22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required. 23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter. 24 And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes. 25 Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way:  and thus did he unto them. 26 And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence. 27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack’s mouth. 28 And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack:  and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us? 29 And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them, saying, 30 The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. 31 And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies. 32 We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. 33 And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone: 34 and bring your youngest brother unto me:  then shall I know that ye are true men:  so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffic in the land. 35 And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack:  and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. 36 And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children:  Joseph is not, and ye will take Benjamin away:  all these things are against me. 37 And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee:  deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. 38 And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone:  if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.”

Introduction

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED542]

“We have followed Joseph, sold by his brethren down into Egypt, Potiphar’s house, to prison, to Pharaoh’s dreams, to be raised up as Grand Vizier over the nation of Egypt, being second only to Pharaoh.  In fact I saw a, this week looking through some of the things I have, I actually saw an engraving on one of the walls in the pyramids of a Grand Vizier being installed, with Pharaoh on his throne, putting the white gown on him, putting the gold collar around his neck, it happened during a dynasty after this, but it was the same thing that we see being described here, and then being given the second chariot, and all of the land, Joseph is the most powerful man in the world next to Pharaoh.  And Pharaoh has yielded to Joseph’s interpretation of the dream, because Pharaoh is supposed to be the incarnation of Ra, one of the greatest deities of Egypt, but Joseph when he interprets the dream says ‘God hath done this, and God is revealing dreams to you.’  And he placed his deity, the LORD, superior to Pharaoh himself, and Pharaoh yields to this.  Joseph in regards to his character and his uprightness is someone even Pharaoh looks at him, and yields to.  Joseph now has a new name, Zaphnath-paaneah, he has a new wife, whose Asenath, he’s had two sons, Manasseh, which means forgetting, Ephraim that means fruitful, and the seven good years have taken place, the dream he interpreted, and we’re two years into the famine.  And the Egyptians would call this “the Niles,” the Nile river was more to them than just a river, it was life-sustaining, and they had seven “Niles” unlike any they had ever seen.  Again, the Blue Nile coming from Ethiopia, and that would be the one that would carry all of the silt and all of the rich soil, and then the White Nile coming from the area they called Livingston’s Lake today, but God sending rains 4,000 miles south of there, for seven years the silt was so rich that they were taking 20 percent instead of 10 percent [in grain taxes] and no one even noticed.  It was one of the most remarkable seven years no doubt in the history of Egypt.  And all of a sudden God, 4,000 miles away, pulls the plug, the rains stop and the Nile drops, just like Joseph had told Pharaoh.  Over a year into that they come to Pharaoh and say ‘There’s no bread,’ he said ‘Go talk to Joseph.’  And that’s where we left off.  It says in verse 57 of chapter 41, “And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.”  It even tells us down in verse 5 that it was like that in Canaan.  So, God’s people not immune.  Jacob and his sons, the Chosen People, the object of God’s love and design for Salvation and Redemption, they are in the Promised Land, and everything has dried up in the Promised Land.  That’s inconsistent to us sometimes.  But God’s people not immune at all to difficulties, and here all of the world is coming, the Mediterranean world coming to Joseph in Egypt, and the famine is also sore up in Canaan.  And then Jacob and his sons looking at each other, ‘What do we do now?’ no doubt they were facing starvation.

Jacob Sends Joseph’s Ten Brothers Down To Egypt To Buy Grain—One Of Joseph’s Dreams Is Fulfilled

So chapter 42 begins by telling us “Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt,” somehow he gets word, “Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?” (verse 1) and again, that’s what I call hungry, you know, I always get a picture in my mind of one of those cartoons where these two guys are on a desert island, and one guy’s looking at the other guy and he turns into a drumstick, and he turns into a hotdog, and he says ‘I know you’re hungry, but why are you guys staring and looking at each other like that?’  Of course you got one brother called Reuben, so that doesn’t help this situation at all [laughter].  But he has them sticking around looking at each other, “And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt:  get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.” (verses 2-3)  God is practical also, and you notice he doesn’t say ‘Let’s sit around and pray until it falls out of the sky’ he says ‘There’s bread in Egypt, you guys get you down there.’  Now, ancient Egyptian history tells us, it was an insult to send a servant.  Remember last week we read the story of that Yemenite princess who sent her servants to Joseph, and he didn’t respond [and that’s why she died of starvation, had she shown up in person, Joseph undoubtedly would have had mercy on her, even perhaps telling her to stay in Egypt until the famine passed].  Here, Jacob understands some of this, and sends his sons.  He’s going to send ten of them, and keep Benjamin.  Verse 4, “But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.”  Now Benjamin is the one blood-brother of Joseph.  Benjamin was Rachel’s last son, Rachel died on the side of the road when Benjamin was born.  And Joseph probably hasn’t seen Benjamin since he’s been two or three years old.  That was the last time they saw each other.  So Benjamin in this scene is between 20 and 25, Joseph has been in Egypt at least 20 years.  He’s there about six, seven years in Potiphar’s house, seven years in prison, then seven good years of flourishing, that brings us to about 20, now we’re about 2 years into the famine, so he’s been there about 22 years, he’s somewhere around 39 at this point in time.  He was 30 when he ascended to the throne, he went 7 good years, 2 bad years, around 39 years old now.  And Jacob keeps Benjamin there with him.  “And the sons of Israel” Jacob “came to buy corn among those that came:  for the famine was in the land of Canaan.  And Joseph was governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land:” anybody who wanted grain had to come to Jospeh, “and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the earth.  And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye?  And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.” (verses 5-7)  Now, Joseph recognizes them, they do not recognize him.  They haven’t seen him in 20 years, he was around 17 when they threw him in the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites as a slave, 20 pieces of silver, each of them, the ten brothers, got two pieces of silver apiece for selling their brother.  Joseph has no doubt become fluent in Egyptian, Joseph is decked with gold and linen, possibly his head shaved, no doubt he has the eye makeup on, there’s no way they’re going to recognize him, but he recognizes them.  And it says they come and bow down in front of him, that’s the same Hebrew word when he had his dream, ‘that I saw your shocks of grain come and bow down before me,’ Joseph now must be staggered as he stands there, seeing his brethren bow down before him, which is the dream that had kept him, the dream that God had given him 20 years before that.  It says ‘his word,’ Psalm 105, Joseph’s word, ‘kept him until God’s word came,’ until the reality.  So imagine what this day must be like for Joseph.  Here’s ten of his brothers, and they’re all between 40 and 60 now, they had all been between 20 and 40 when they sold him 20 years before this.  These are grown men now, they’re all between 40 and 60 years old.  And here they are all bowed down in front of him.  It says ‘he spoke roughly to them,’ now look over in verse 23, “And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.” the Hebrew says an interpreter stood between them.  So they come down, they want to buy grain.  Joseph sees them, “and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye?  And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.” (verse 7) now he’s doing this through an interpreter.  These ten guys come, they bow down, and he’s saying ‘babble, babble, babble,’ and the interpreter, who evidently knows Hebrew, we’re going to find out this interpreter is close to Joseph, no doubt Joseph has met him through the LORD, we’re going to see that, and taught him Hebrew.  So the interpreter says to these Hebrews, ‘Why are you here?  He wants to know where you came from.’  And they said ‘We’re from the land of Canaan, we come to buy food.’  And the interpreter says to Joseph ‘babble, babble, babble.’  “And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.  And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them,” ‘badabing, badaboom,’ “Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.” (verses 8-9)  And that was reasonable, ‘there’s ten of you, you’ve come to spy out the land because there’s no food in other places, that’s why you’re here.’  “And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.  We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.” (verses 10-11)  Now Joseph is no doubt wondering, ‘Is Dad still alive?  Is Benjamin still alive?  What’s happening at home?  Are they still as mean as the day they sold me?  Did they kill Benjamin too?  Are they still lying to my father, what did they tell him happened to me anyway?’   “We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.” (verse 11) ‘you can trust us’ [Pastor Joe laughs]  Joseph’s thinking ‘Ya, I know.’  “thy servants are no spies.  And he said unto them,” through the interpreter, “Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.” (verse 12) and they watched Joseph going back and forth with this interpreter.  And Joseph is giving now an evil report, ‘You’ve come here to spy out the land.’  They had accused him of that years before when his father sent him to see what they were doing with the flocks, ‘You’ve come to spy.’  So Joseph’s saying now ‘You guys have come to spy out the land, that’s why you’re here, that’s why you’ve come.’  “And they said,” ‘No,’ Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.” (verse 13)  ‘Twelve?’ one’s there in front of them. “and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.” I mean this is a remarkable irony, “one is not.” and Joseph’s thinking ‘You could say that, I guess.’  “And Joseph said unto them, That is that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies.” (verse 14)  he says this one more time through the interpreter, ‘Zaphnath-paaneah says, you are spies.’ he tells them again.  “Hereby ye shall be proved:  By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.” (verse 15)  Now no doubt Joseph is right at this instance, ‘Oh LORD, how do I handle this?  What do I do?  Oh LORD give me wisdom, how do I steer this, all of your Word has come true, what do I do from here?’  The first thing he says is ‘None of you are leaving unless your younger brother comes down here, then I’ll know the story you’re telling me is the truth.’  Then he says in verse 16, “Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you:  or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.”  ‘If it doesn’t come out this way, you’re just proving that I’m right.’  “And he put them all together into ward” into the prison “three days.” (verse 17) and it’s stirring old memories of their wondering how Joseph felt when he was thrown into the pit.  “And Joseph said unto them in the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:” (verse 18) and I wonder what they’re thinking, ‘We sure didn’t.’  “If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison:  go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:  but bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die.  And they did so.” (verses 19-20)

Guilt Is A Powerful Thing, It Can Last For Years

“And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.” (verse 21)  20 to 22 years before this, and their consciences are re-awakened and still guilty.  How do you get rid of that, you sold your brother?  You don’t.  20 to 22 years later they’re still filled with guilt, and they said ‘remember, we didn’t hear his plea when he was calling out to us, that’s why this is happening to us.’  “And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.” (verse 22) ‘I told you so,’ now you hate somebody whose telling you that 20 years later, and all of a sudden somebody like that in our family, ‘I told you, I told you, this happened 30 years ago,’ ‘We know you told us, would you please stop.’  ‘You didn’t tell us you slept with one of dad’s wives for awhile, why don’t you tell us about that.’  Reuben said “Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child, and you would not hear?  Therefore, behold, also his blood is required.” (verse 22)  Again, guilt being such a powerful thing.  Now, as we go through this, and I’m not going to take the time to do it, but there are remarkable pictures of Christ all through this, and how difficult it is sometimes for us to understand the One whose in front of us, and that he seems to be speaking another language sometimes, yet he has our wellbeing and interest, and he’s trying to genuinely bring us to the point of conviction, that we would do the right thing in his presence, that he might reveal himself to us.  There are very remarkable pictures here, and sometimes we wrestle with guilt like that.  And again, I always think of my cousin, committed murder-1 when he was 17, and 30 years later where he had killed his best friend, went and asphyxiated himself in his car, in and out of prison, still guilty, 30 years later, powerful force, powerful force.  When we’re guilty, Satan would love to take that and condemn us and defeat us.  The Holy Spirit wants to take that and convict us.  The way you tell the difference between conviction and condemnation, because they both feel lousy, the way you tell the difference is condemnation drives you away from Jesus, and conviction drives you to Jesus.  Satan would drive you away from Jesus, condemning you, and most of the times what he’s saying is true.  He doesn’t need to make stuff up about us, does he.  We give him all the goods.  Conviction by the Holy Spirit would draw us to Jesus, saying ‘If you confess your sins, he’s faithful and just to forgive you, to cleanse you from all unrighteousness, if you’ll be genuine, go to him, cast yourself upon him, he loves you.’  And then this great struggle of guilt, and he says ‘Now his blood is being required of us.’  “And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.  And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.” (verses 23-24)  So he turns away, weeping.  He saw his brothers were there, what incredible emotion there must  be.  And he hears them saying ‘his blood is being required of us, we should never have done this to our brother,’ and he’s listening, he’s hearing things that he’d longed to hear.  But he still wants to know their attitude toward Benjamin, he still wants to know what’s going on with his father, have they lied to him.  It says “he turned himself about from them, and wept” the Holy Spirit takes note, “and returned to them again, and communed with them,” through the interpreter, “and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.”  Now Simeon was the cruelest one, he had slaughtered all of those at Shechem.  He takes Simeon, and bound him before their eyes, twisting the knife, as they watch, Simeon is bound right in their presence.  “Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way:  and thus did he unto them.” (verse 25)  And he knew they were going to be back, because there’s five more years of famine, so he knows by how much they’re taking, ‘I’m going to see these guys again.’  “And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.” (verse 26)  It’s about a 250 mile journey from this area, which was around Memphis in Egypt, to Hebron, about a 250 mile journey.  “And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack’s mouth.  And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack:  and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us?” (verses 27-28)  ‘God is getting us!’  They had sold him for 20 pieces of silver, they’re learning to hate money instead of love money right now.  Some very interesting things are taking place in their lives, God dealing with them, not to destroy them or ruin them, but to preserve life.  They had done something so terrible, and yet God is not destroying them, he’s going to preserve their lives.  I’m not telling you to sell your brother, it’s ok, don’t worry about it, it’s not my point here, that’s not what God is communicating here.  Can you imagine on the way ‘What are we going to tell Dad?’  ‘You tell him,’ ‘No, you tell him,’ ‘I’m not going to tell him, I told you not to hurt the kid in the first place, he’s mad at me anyway, we’ve got to tell him about Simeon,’ ‘He won’t care about Simeon, he’s not going to let Benjamin come down here, Simion can rot is what he’s going to say to us.’  Just imagine their conversation on the way back  “And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them, saying, The man,” for you and I, for a few chapters now, Joseph is “the man,” ok, so when you hear “the man,” that’s Joseph “who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.  And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies.  We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.  And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone:  and bring your youngest brother unto me:  then shall I know that ye are true men:  so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffic in the land.  And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack:  and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.” (verses 29-35)  I can tell you this, the first time this crew ever saw bundles of money and were afraid.  These guys were connivers just like their dad up until this point in time.  “And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children:  Joseph is not, and ye will take Benjamin away:  all these things are against me.” (verse 36)  Now I’m not sure if he’s suspicious of them after all of these years, but it’s interesting the way he’s saying this.  Jacob is saying “all these things are against me.”  Now here’s one of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, one of the great men of faith in the Bible, ‘everything’s against me, nothing’s working out,’ he’s Eor right now ‘I don’t know what to dooo, I’m not gonna send Benjamin with you guuuys, God is against meee.’   Oh good, we think we want to get saved, listen to how happy he is.  We all get in that mood, look, it’s all ganged up on him, it’s all ganged up on him.  And the problem isn’t, you know, here are our sons, no doubt grandchildren watching Jacob falter and fail, maybe thinking ‘Where’s the God he’s told us about all of these years?’  He doesn’t need to get a new god, he just needs to trust more deeply the One that he has, who is the only True God.  He’s still wrestling with him in some ways.  God had revealed himself at the “stairway” [the Stairway to Heaven] and told him that he would bless him, all of his days.  He wrestled with him, and Jacob yielded, and he [God] said you’re going to be governed by God from now on.  But here he is, still wrestling with God, and I don’t think any of us could blame him at this point in time [this is a lifetime experience for many believers, it must be a Bible theme, is my guess].  “And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee:  deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.” (verse 37) and I wonder what Reuben’s boys are thinking?  ‘Thanks dad, I hope Grandpa don’t listen to you.’  ‘Trust me, Dad, if not, kill my two boys, here they are.’  “And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone:  if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.” (verse 38)  ‘Now Simeon can rot, there’s ten of you, but I’ve only got one son left, whatever you guys are.’  Just think what he’s saying to them, “My son shall not with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone” ‘I only have one son left,’ ‘Well thanks, Dad.’  “if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.”  And he puts his foot down, like any good father does, ‘No!’ 

Genesis 43:1-34

“And the famine was sore in the land. 2 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, and buy us a little food. 3 And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. 4 If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food: 5 but if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down:  for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. 6 And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? 7 And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words:  could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down? 8 And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. 9 I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him:  if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever: 10 for except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time. 11 And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds: 12 and take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks; peradventure it was an oversight: 13 take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: 14 and God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin.  If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. 15 And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. 16 And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, and slay, and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon. 17 And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house. 18 And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses. 19 And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house, 20 and said, O sir, we came indeed down at first time to buy food: 21 and it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight:  and we have brought it again in our hand. 22 And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food:  we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks. 23 And he said, Peace be to you, fear not:  your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks:  I had your money.  And he brought Simeon out unto them. 24 And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender. 25 And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon:  for they heard that they should eat bread there. 26 And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth. 27 And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake?  Is he yet alive? 28 And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive.  And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance. 29 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me?  And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. 30 And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother:  and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there. 31 And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. 32 And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves:  because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians. 33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth:  and the men marvelled one at another. 34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him:  but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs.  And they drank, and were merry with him.” 

Introduction

“Now chapter 43, the Holy Spirit records a family argument for us.  And I love it, it’s just the humanness of these men.  And again, God stoops down, it isn’t just written on the page, but the fact behind the inspiration of the record, is that Almighty God would stoop to us and give us a picture of Jacob and the leaders of the 12 tribes, fighting with each other.  Because sometimes we think in our household because there’s an argument or something goes on, God could never use us.  Now these are the guys he uses to plant the whole nation and bring the Messiah into the world, and you should listen to this argument, it will just remind you of familiar territory, I don’t know.

A Family Argument

“And the famine was sore in the land.  And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, and buy us a little food.” (verses 1-2)  Now Simeon is down there rotting, he thought they were going to come right back, they didn’t come back until all the food’s gone.  They don’t know it’s going to be seven more years, you know, Joseph knows that.  He said ‘Why are you standing around looking at each other again?’ no he didn’t say that.  “their father said unto them, Go again, and buy us a little food.  And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.” (verse 2b-3)  ‘We tried to tell you this, Dad, you’re not listening to us, he said we can’t come unless we bring Benjamin.’  “If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:  but if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down:  for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.” (verses 4-5)  You can hear this argument.  “And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?” (verse 6)  ‘Why didn’t you lie, It’s in your genes, it’s in the family, it’s a family trait, we’re deceivers and connivers, why did you tell the guy you had a brother, you knuckleheads!?’  “And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words:  could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?” (verse 7)  ‘You know, the way he sounded, he sounded interested, we told him according to the tenor of his words.’  “could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?” ‘you think we knew that, we’re just scared to death, bowed down in front of this guy, tried to talk to him.’  “And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones.” (verse 8)  ‘If you don’t send us back we’re all gonna die anyway.  So we have to go.’  “I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him:  if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:” (verse 9)  Now look how Judah is different from Reuben.  Reuben says ‘If I don’t bring him back, kill my two sons,’ Judah says ‘If I don’t bring him back, let the blame be on me, and let it be on me forever.’  Judah has changed since chapter 38, when he had deceived Tamar, and gone into her thinking she was a prostitute.  And the twins that were born had touched his life, and some interesting things have transpired, and over a period of 20 years, as often happens, this man has matured, he’s grown.  No doubt he has many times asked forgiveness for his own foolishness, and he displays something wonderful here, he says ‘Let it come on me, let it come on me forever, if I don’t bring Benjamin back.’  “for except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.” (verse 10) ‘If we hadn’t stood around arguing about this for days we could have already been down there and back,’ he says.  “And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now,” ok, he gets the old Esau plan into effect, “do this; take of the best fruits in the land” which must have been dried fruits in the middle of a famine, when you got nothing to eat “in your vessels,” which probably weren’t very impressive in Egypt, “and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts,” besides you guys, “and almonds:” Jacob’s still scheming, “and take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks; peradventure it was an oversight:” so take double the money you paid last time, plus the money you brought back, that’s three times the money, and take down some raisins, some figs no doubt, some honey, balms and spices and so forth, and maybe this guy’s heart will soften, “take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man:  and God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin.  If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” (verses 11-14) Kay Sera, Sera, such is life.  This is the man of faith that we read about in Hebrews chapter 11.  “And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.” (verse 15)  leaving Jacob alone in Canaan, wrestling as it were, in his heart. 

Jacob’s Sons Second Encounter With Joseph

“And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them,” now he hasn’t seen him since he was about 2 years old, imagine, brothers, I think of my sons, “he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, and slay, and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon.  And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house.” (verses 16-17)  And Joseph’s heart must be pounding, his brothers are back, and Benjamin is there.  “And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses.” (verse 18)  Now they’re brought in, guilt is still bothering them, Shakespear said that a suspicion haunts the guilty mind.  And these guys are guilty, and when you’re guilty, every angle looks suspicious because of where you live, it’s your grid.  Perception is reality to a man or a woman, and often times the way we perceive things, even though it’s wrong, it’s reality to us.  And they’re afraid, these are shepherds, these are kind of rough guys, and they’re brought into Joseph’s house.  Now nobody on the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous had anything over Joseph.  You can imagine what his house looked like, of marble, of gold and of collections of things from around the world, and of servants standing around fanning people, fishponds, just how opulent.  And they’re very out of place there, they’re brought into this guy’s house, and the only thing they can summon it up to because of their guilt is that they’re afraid.  ‘This guy’s brought us here to accuse us of something so that he can make us his slaves.’  “And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,” now this is probably the one they had been using as an interpreter, “and said, O sir, we came indeed down at first time to buy food:” they’re pleading their innocence, “and it came to pass, when we came to the inn,” on the way home, “that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight:  and we have brought it again in our hand.”  ‘We’re not thieves, we’re not bad guys, we brought our money back, “And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food:  we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.” (verses 19-22)  So they’re pleading their innocence with this guy, this guy understands Hebrew, he’s communing with them, they’re talking, and they’re saying ‘We don’t know why Joseph, Zaphnath-paaneah brought us here, but we didn’t cause any trouble, all we did was come to buy food, and we’re on the way back, and our money was in our sacks,’  you can imagine.  Look what he says in verse 23, “And he said, Peace be to you, fear not:  your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks:  I had your money.  And he brought Simeon out unto them.”  and those of you who can read Hebrew can go right to the Hebrew text, he said “Shalom,” he looks at them and says “Shalom, Shalom, fear not:  your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks:”  ‘Trust your God and the God of your fathers,’ this Egyptian is witnessing to them, about their lack of faith.  ‘He has given you treasure in your sacks,’ he says then ‘I had your money, and he brought Simeon out unto them,’ he said ‘I’m the one, I had your money, I put it back in your sacks.’  They bring out Simeon, Simeon looks at them and says ‘Where in the world have you guys been!?  I was afraid the famine ended and I was here for the rest of my life.’  “And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender.  And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon:  for they heard that they should eat bread there.  And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house,” and notice “and bowed themselves to him to the earth.” (verses 24-26) they fall down on their faces to the ground.  And Joseph’s thinking, ‘I wonder if bringing Benjamin down here killed Dad,’  “And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake?  Is he yet alive?” (verse 27)  It must really be bothering him thinking this must be a burden on Dad, to send Benjamin down here.  “the old man of whom ye spake?” and the interpreter babbling on, “Is he yet alive?”  “And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive.  And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.” (verse 28) so he’s trying to talk to them, they keep looking up, putting their faces back down in the ground again.  “And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me?  And he said,” now to Benjamin, “God be gracious unto thee, my son.” (verse 29)  Can you imagine, he hasn’t spoken to him in 20 years, same mom, “God be gracious unto thee, my son.”  “And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother:  and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.” (verse 30)  Notice, God takes note again, when we enter into our chamber, and we weep there, God takes notice.  Psalm 56 says ‘Thou tellest my wanderings, have you not written down all of my tears, they’re kept in thy bottle,’ every tear we’ve ever shed is recorded, and there are many of us, all of us at times, that feel that we’re crying alone and God has forgotten us, and he’s not watching, and he doesn’t care, and our hearts are broken, and our tears are flowing, but the Bible tells us something vastly different, that every tear is written down, when we stand in heaven, every tear will have been recorded, he takes note.  The Holy Spirit tells us here that he found a place to weep.  And he must be thinking ‘Benjamin’s here, Dad’s alive, LORD, you’re so faithful, you’re so gracious.’  Verse 31 says, “And he washed his face,” because no doubt his mascara had been running, as he had to get himself back together again, “and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.” ‘put out the spread here, let’s eat,’ “And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves:  because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.” (verses 31-32) Now the Egyptians might not eat with the Haburi, as we get the word “Hebrew” from “Haburi,” Haburi was a shepherd or a nomad, the Egyptians planted their crops, they were right there, there were no shepherds, nomads amongst the Egyptians.  And the Egyptians at this point in time, the sophistication of their learning, their abilities are still beyond our understanding.  You know, you hear all of these things, how did they build the great pyramid of Giza? how did they get light in there? there’s no carbon on the ceilings from torches, they tried to reproduce it with mirrors to reflect the light down.  What they have found in the museum in Cairo, they found these little pods with carbon rods, there are some that think they had some kind of batteries.  In the museum in Cairo there’s a cat carved out of cobalt, it’s part of a meteor, that we can hardly carve today, and it’s this black cat cut out of cobalt.  They have found granite from the Sinai Peninsula, and the cut on it is so smooth, the only thing we can reproduce it with today is a laser.  They don’t know how they did it.  In the great hall, in the pyramid of Giza there’s a 275 foot run, in the great hall, that runs on an angle, and from one end to the other it’s only a quarter of an inch off, we would have tremendous problems reproducing that today.  The great pyramid of Giza, 13 acres at the base, the largest building in the world, 200, I forget, million stones, the corner set in sockets, the side of the pyramid is more true north than the Paris Observatory.  The tolerance between the stones less than that on the tiles on the Space Shuttle.  It’s filled with mysteries, they found in the hieroglyphics a record of a pill, because there’s a deadly ameba that will cause a dysentery in the Nile area, that when people get it today they still die.  The Egyptians had a single pill, you took it and you were cured.  So, you know, very sophisticated, very advanced, no doubt God takes the children of Israel there for several hundred years to learn many of the things that would become part of their nation, and to preserve them, and to build them into a nation.  [Comment:  Also Egypt was the womb in which God was giving birth to a whole nation, allowing in relative peace and freedom for the first several hundred years, those 75 individuals that came down with Jacob to reproduce into an estimated 2.5 million individuals, composing the twelve tribes of Israel, descended from Jacobs 12 sons.  In a very real sense, Egypt was the mother of Israel, and in prophecy we see Egypt has a special place in God’s Millennial Kingdom.]  But here it says  Joseph keeps the whole charade going, he won’t even sit with them, because Egyptians wouldn’t eat with the Hebrews, the Haburi.  So none of this surprises them, they’re watching the whole scene, then this happens.  Oh man [he must have looked at his watch].  They seat the brothers now.  “And they sat before him, the firstborn” which is Reuben, “according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth:  and the men marvelled one at another.” (verse 33)  So they sit the brothers in the order that they were born in, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin.  And I wonder if they leave an empty seat in there for Joseph, I don’t know.  Now the chances, with eleven brothers is 40,000,000 to 1.  And I don’t want to exaggerate, but it’s really 39,917,000 to 1 that you could get the eleven in their birth order at the first try.  And he seats them around the table in the order they were born in, “and the men marvelled one at another.”  I bet they did.  They sat there with their mouths hanging open looking around.  “And he took and sent messes unto them from before him:” each of them is getting this big platter of food, “but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs.  And they drank, and were merry with him.” (verse 34)  this doesn’t sound good to us, but you know what a mess hall in the military is, messes are big platters of food is what it is.  He gave Benjamin 5 times more than the rest of them.  Now it was symbolic, ah, we know from history that among the Spartans, if someone was royalty or a prince, they would give him double at the table.  Among the Cretans they would give them 4 times as much at the table, and amongst the ancient Egyptians you would bestow 5 times as much on someone who was royalty.  So Joseph’s doing this on purpose, to see ‘Are they still envious?  Will they hate him if he’s favoured? because that’s what they did to me.’ So he seats them all, gives them all I’m sure an incredible meal, and he sets 5 times as much in front of Benjamin.  “And they drank, and were merry with him.” (verse 34c) not a big explanation there.  It literally says “they drank well.”  And that would have been beer in Egypt and not wine, that was, again, it was warm, but they drank.  Here are these 11 brothers, sitting with Joseph, they probably started laughing, they loosen up a little, they start laughing and talking, and they’re communing.  Just imagine, we’re not given any record of the conversations that took place.  [And they still don’t know it’s Joseph before them.]    

Genesis 44:1-34

“And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth. 2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. 3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses. 4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? 5 Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing. 6 And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words. 7 And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words?  God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing: 8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan:  how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold? 9 With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen. 10 And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words:  he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless. 11 Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack. 12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest:  and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city. 14 And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he was yet there:  and they fell before him on the ground. 15 And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine? 16 And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves?  God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants:  behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found. 17 And he said, God forbid that I should do so:  but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father. 18 Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh. 19 My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother? 20 And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him. 21 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him. 22 And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father:  for if he should leave his father, his father would die. 23 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more. 24 And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. 25 And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food. 26 And we said, We cannot go down:  if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down:  for we may not see the man’s face, except our youngest brother be with us. 27 And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons: 28 and the one went out from me, and I said, surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since: 29 and if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. 30 Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life; 31 it shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die:  and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave. 32 For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever. 33 Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren. 34 For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.”

Joseph Set A Trap For His Brothers

“And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth.  And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and his corn money.  As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.” (verses 1-3)  They’re thinking ‘Oh this is great, we’ve got Benjamin, we’ve got Simeon, Dad’s gonna be happy,’ they’re on their burros, they’re outa there.  “And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?  Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.” (verses 4-5)  ‘You go, and you turn up the silver cup.’  Now look, Joseph never practiced this, because he was a believer, but in Egypt they believed, the magicians, they would take a big silver cup, sometimes they would throw gold over silver or jewels into it, they’d set it in the sunlight, like reading tea leaves, they’d look at the way the reflections appeared, and they’d divine the future, supposedly they could tell what would take place.  [God tells his sons and daughters, whom he refers to as prophets, that he will not hide from them what is to come, the future.  He uses Bible prophecy to do that, through his prophets, Amos 3:7 says.]  Now they already think Joseph’s pretty special because he sat them down in the right birth order at the table, and now they catch up to them, and say ‘What’s the big idea, stealing my master’s cup, the one he uses to divine, it’s like a crystal ball that he uses to guide him?’  “And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words.  And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words?  God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing:  Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan:  how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold?” (verses 6-8)  ‘If we were thieves, why would we have brought the money back in the first place?  Why would we be stealing now?  We brought the money back.’  “With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen.” (verse 9)  ‘If you find this silver cup with any of us, kill the one whose got it, and the rest of us will be your slaves for the rest of our lives.’  “And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words:  he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.  Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.  And he searched, and began at the eldest,” that would be Reuben, “and left at the youngest:” and he’s not making any mention of the money this time, and they’re finding all three bundles of money in their sacks of grain, “and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.” (verses 10-12)  Now Joseph wants to know what they are going to say, is it ‘Take him and kill him, see ya’?  do they have the same attitude towards his younger brother as they did toward him?  The answer comes quickly, “Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.” (verse 13)  Every one of them refused to leave Benjamin alone, Joseph wanted to see that.  “And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he was yet there:  and they fell before him on the ground.  And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?  And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves?  God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants:  behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found.” (verses 14-16)  Judah’s confessing before Joseph ‘We’ve killed our brother, we sold him.’  “And he said, God forbid that I should do so:  but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.” (verse 17)  ‘Go on, don’t worry about it, you’re not guilty,’ “Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh.” (verse 18)  and the interpreter goes ‘babbly, babbly, bub,’ to Joseph.  “My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?  And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.” (verses 19-20)  And Joseph’s heart must be broken.  “And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.  And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father:  for if he should leave his father, his father would die.” (verses 21-22)  ‘This is going to kill my father.’  “And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.  And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.  And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food.  And we said, We cannot go down:  if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down:  for we may not see the man’s face, except our youngest brother be with us.  And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons:” how’s Joseph listening to this? “and the one went out from me, and I said, surely he is torn in pieces;” now this is the first time Joseph is hearing what Jacob thinks what’s happened to him, this is the first time in over 20 years that Joseph is now hearing ‘My father thinks that I was torn in shreds by wild animals,’ he had never heard what had been told his father, and I saw him not since:” Joseph’s heart must be broken, “and if ye take this also from me,” this is what Jacob said, “and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.” (verses 23-29) ‘If you take this one also, I will die, I won’t be able to handle the pressure.’  “Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life;” as is often the case, the heart of a father bound up in the son of his old age, “it shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die:” he’s saying to this Zaphnath-paaneah, ‘I can’t do this to my father’ “and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave.  For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.  Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.” (verses 30-33)  Judah’s saying ‘Make me your slave, set him free,’ the tribe of Judah, Christ being reflected in a wonderful way.  What could Joseph say?  ‘Let me be your slave that the other one might go free.’  “For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.” (verse 34)  Now Joseph is convinced at this point, we’ll do the first three verses, and you’ll have to come back, there’s no good place for a commercial break here.  I hate it when the television does this, so ok now, here we are…”    

Genesis 45:1-5

“Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me.  And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. 2 And he wept aloud:  and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live?  And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence. 4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you.  And they came near.  And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. 5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither:  for God did send me before you to preserve life.”

Joseph Reveals Himself To His Brothers

“Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me.” this is with authority now, he cries out, and he cries out in Egyptian, so they don’t know what he’s saying, they’re thinking ‘OK, our name is mud now,’  They’re just watching, he’s screaming in Egyptian, they don’t know what he’s saying, everybody clears out, and they’re standing alone with him, “And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.  And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.” (verses 1-2) he’s weeping so loud that all of his servants and those in the house of Pharaoh hear Joseph carrying on, so broken.  “And Joseph said unto his brethren,” ‘Ami Josef’ “I am Joseph; doth my father yet live?  And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.” (verse 3)  ‘Ami Josef’ in Hebrew.  “for they were troubled,” the word is “terrified.”  They’re like ‘Aaah,’ just imagine this, ‘Hey, I’m Joseph,’ in Hebrew, ‘Is father yet alive?’ “And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you.  And they came near.  And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither:  for God did send me before you to preserve life.” (verses 4-5)  ‘Be not angry with yourselves.’  You know, when somebody does something to you that destroys 13 years of your life, rips you away from the people you love the most, from your father or your mother, or your brother [or how about your grandchildren], what has to happen for you, when you finally confront the ones that have treated you so terribly, to say to them ‘Don’t be angry at yourselves, don’t be burdened with guilt’?  I don’t know the answer to that.  When somebody hurts me, somebody slanders me [and I know Pastor Joe has had that happen, I have as well] somebody deliberately takes something, I don’t hear Joseph, I hear Pop-Eye, ‘That’s all I can stand, I can’t stands no more!’ you know, my pipe starts to spin around, you know, ‘where’s my spinach!?’  I mean, what has to happen in our lives, and he’s got no New Testament…he doesn’t know Jesus the way we do, he’s not fellowshipping in a Wednesday night Bible study, imagine the work of grace that’s taken place in his life, this man Joseph.  You know, we’re going to have to pick up here, not next Wednesday, we’re taking next Wednesday off, it’s a holiday, the Wednesday after that.  You’re going to read ahead, right?  You’re going to start at chapter 45.  This had been a 20 year trial.  Those are three words I never want to see together, 20, year, trial.  I don’t like 2-day trials, let alone adding zeros in there.  And sometimes in those long periods of time where God is sovereignly arranging sometimes even nations, and you and I feel like we get caught in the mix, there’s terrorism or there is plague or there or bird flu [or Corona virus, which occurred 14 years after this sermon was given] or all of the land has to go somewhere because there’s no food, we think of the dust bowls in the United States years ago, or the famine that was here.  God hasn’t fallen off the throne, and it’s easy for us to say that tonight, but he would hold something in front of us, even in the most difficult of times, he’s orchestrating, he’s steering everything to his own end.  In the process, as we’re injured, as we’re hurt, as someone backbites us, lies, sells us down the river as it were, with all of the advantages we have over Joseph, can we through the power of God’s Spirit say “I forgive you, I don’t want you to feel guilty about this”?  Look, here’s the key to that, Joseph came to the place where he said ‘LORD, you let this happen.’  Because we tend to be angry on the horizontal.  And somewhere along the way if we lose a child, if the most difficult of things happens, somewhere in the process our anger and our frustration has to turn from the horizontal to the vertical, and we have to ask the big question, ‘Lord, if you love me, why did you let this happen?’  And Joseph had done his business there, with the LORD.  And God had opened his eyes, and allowed him to see things that he thought he’d never be able to see.  He’s going to tell his brothers here “God hath made me a father to Pharaoh.”  He’s going to say that in these verses here, ‘God hath made me a father to Pharaoh, Pharaoh depends on me, I take care of him.  I might be driving chariot #2, but he’s my kid.  And God hath brought the entire world to me to be sustained, Zaphnath-paaneah, the sustainer of life, the saviour of the world,’ the idea is behind his name.  God had done a great work, he had called his first son Manasseh, “forgetting,” and was able to put some of that behind him.  Second son, Ephraim, “fruitful, doubly fruitful,” ‘More fruitful LORD than I ever thought.’  What a great challenge to us, read ahead, the next three, four chapters, just a remarkable sequence of events.  Pray that somebody makes a movie, I’d like to see, you know, I wonder when we get to heaven [at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, before we come back down to rule during the Millennium], will there be reruns?  It says ‘We’ll know fully, even as we’ve been fully known,’ when we get there will we be able to see this whole saga, and will we be able to see all the angels who were working behind the scenes, and all of the stuff that no cinematographer could ever put on a screen?  What will it be like to have seen everything at work here, the marvel of God’s tapestry, the weaving, his wisdom, his power, his love, his grace?  ‘Ami Josef, I am Joseph, your brother.’ What a point in time.  There will be another one who will reveal himself to his brethren, one day, Zechariah says it this way, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all nations that come against Jerusalem, and I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplications, that they shall look upon me whom they have pierced.” (Zechariah 12:9-10a)  This is the LORD of hosts speaking, Israel “they shall look upon me whom they have pierced” and he’ll look at his people who are in total shock and say ‘I am the Messiah, I am the Messiah, don’t let the guilt burden you any longer, I bore it all.  God has sent me before you to preserve life.’  Let’s have the musicians come, let’s stand, let’s pray, sing a last song.  You know, if you’re here tonight and you don’t know Christ, and maybe you’ve been so injured in your life and you think ‘oh this is a great story, but I could never forgive,’ or maybe you’re thinking ‘God could never forgive me,’ but we’d love to talk to you after the study if you’d make your way up here, we’d love to pray with you, give you a Bible, some literature to read, but let’s bow our hearts…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Genesis 42:1-38, Genesis 43:1-34, Genesis 44:1-34 and Genesis 45:1-5, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA  19116]

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Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED542