Genesis – Joseph and His Brothers

Genesis 42

• brothers recoil at mention of Egypt to whom Joseph was sold

[6] Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. [7] Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” [8] And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.

Joseph has absolutely no reason to trust them, but he loves them; they are, after all, family

[9] And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.” [10] They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. [11] We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies.” [12] He said to them, “No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.”

God reminded Joseph of the dreams He’d given him

• adversity is a gift of we can see it as such
• Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word (Psalm 119:67).

Joseph no doubt remembered their animosity towards him

If he’d revealed himself now need never be sure of their response

[13] And they said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.” [14] But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you. You are spies.

They are still in denial – “one is no more”

Perhaps they’ve come to believe it themselves

Still, their response is suspect esp. to their victim

[15] By this you shall 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, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” [17] And he put them all together in custody for three days.

Joseph’s intent “…that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you.”

Joseph wants to know – needs to know – they’ve changed and can be trusted

[21] Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” [22] And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” [23] They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. [24] Then he turned away from them and wept.

Interesting: they unwittingly associate their situation with their sin

• unrepentant sin often leaves the sinner seeing every adversity as a result of his transgression

We begin to see a true sense of remorse

• their consciences are at work big time

QUESTION: Were their consciences inactive for 20 yrs, or did they just ignore them?

Reuben – finally shows some 1st born responsibility, but too late

Joseph is moved by seeing God at work in his brothers — finally

• begins to feel compassion for their years of agony

Joseph keeps Simeon (not sure why he is chosen)

Joseph gives orders for their sacks to be filled with grain AND their money to be returned

• out of compassion, as a gift, to test their integrity??
• We must not lose sight of the fact that the “intrigue” was GOD’s doing!!
  • God is working in all of the characters, including Joseph

[26] Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed. [27] And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. [28] He said to his brothers, “My money has been put back; here it is in the mouth of my sack!” At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”

Brothers realize how the money might look to Joseph

God (not Joseph) is testing their honesty and integrity

Interesting realization: “What is this that God has done to us?”

• at least there is some sense that God works in men’s lives

Joseph as a foreshadowing of Christ:

“Joseph did this for his brothers before they were reconciled to him. They had yet to repent or ask forgiveness – yet He loved them and cared for them. He gave to them and they didn’t even know it! In the same way, Jesus gives us unexpected, undeserved blessings. Some are obvious and up front, and some are hidden to be discovered later – but He gives to us even before we were reconciled to Him.” David Guzik

Brothers return home and recount their experiences.

[35] As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. [36] And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me.”

Notice Jacob’s first thought: “YOU have bereaved me of my children…”

• some speculate Jacob instinctively knew

Jacob thinks: the money will ‘look stolen’

• consequently, not only is Joseph ‘no more’ but Simeon is just as dead

Reuben makes a grandiose, but unthinkable gesture.

Jacob refuses the offer for fear of losing Benjamin, too.

“All these things are against me.”

• Sadly, Jacob still has not embraced the degree of faith God offered!
  • Great wealth, full quiver, health, blessings untold – still cannot see God working

QUESTION: How does Joseph’s faith different from Jacob’s?

QUESTION: Why do you think this is?

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Genesis 43

Opens like chapter 41 but…

• the famine was still severe (or had become more severe)
• All Jacob’s grain was used up
• the brothers have to go back to Egypt – gulp!

Notice how Jacob implies that the brothers should have lied to the pharaoh’s lieutenant

⁶ Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” ⁷ They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ Genesis 43:6-7

• for Jacob, lying was a means of personal defense
• for the brothers, lying was a means of self-preservation

Judah steps up.

• Perhaps he was duly humbled by Tamar
• God has been working on him over the years

“Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. ⁹ I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. ¹⁰ If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.” Genesis 43:8-10

• ironically, unlike Reuben who is willing to sacrifice his sons, Judah is willing to sacrifice himself

The brothers are fearful, being invited to Joseph’s house

• the truth comes out
  • they confess everything to Joseph’s steward
    • interesting response: ³ He replied, “Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. Genesis 43:23
    • Egyptians wouldn’t recognize foreign gods
      • Your God and the God of your father
  • Simeon is immediately released = they have been exonerated “as spies”

Joseph comes home and sees Benjamin

• his emotions are right on the edge now
  • all but his father (and Dinah) are present

The whole incident leaves the brothers speechless and perplexed.

Who is this man??

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Genesis 44

Despite their efforts to fulfill Joseph’s demands he still tests them

• We must believe this was at God’s direction
  • Joseph is not a vindictive individual

When confronted by Joseph’s servant…

• the brothers didn’t jump to conclusions about one another
  • healthy sign of trust
  • confident that no one took Joseph’s cup they allowed search

The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack

• if the brothers hated Benjamin, like they once did Joseph they’d have freely given him up to his fate
  • they tore their clothes = sign of grief as if one has died
  • Remember: with Joseph “dead”, Benjamin is Jacob’s favorite
    • they no longer are jealous

The brothers all return to Joseph

• bowed down before him
  • sign of deep humility
  • fulfillment of Joseph’s 3^rd dream
  • the brothers were desperate to appease the “Egyptian” and not lose Benjamin for their father’s sake
    • Perhaps Jacob’s mourning over Joseph ate away at their consciences these 20 years

“Then Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; here we are, my lord’s slaves, both we and he also with whom the cup was found.”

• Judah reveals what all the brothers have been feeling for the past 2 decades
  • surely they didn’t take the cup, but recognize this is God’s hand in their lives
  • Judah commits all of them to slavery rather than abandon Benjamin

Judah makes a private appeal to Joseph

• straightforward, without ulterior motives, genuine
  • demonstrates Judah’s ‘new’ leadership of the family
  • demonstrates authentic Godly compassion
  • notice that never once does Judah claim that Joseph is “dead”, rather his father, Jacob, believes him dead
    • no hidden truths, no lies, no obscuring the facts
  • Judah demonstrates real concern for his father’s well-being
    • something he didn’t do 22 years earlier!

“Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father?” vss 33-34

• Judah steps up and becomes the “substitutionary sacrifice”
  • foreshadowing of Christ becoming our guarantee of redemption

ASSIGNMENT: Go back through this one chapter and note all the ways in which the brothers have changed for the better.

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Genesis 45

Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Make everyone go out from me!” So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph; does my father still live?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. Vss 1-3

• Without a doubt, one of the most poignant and moving human interactions in all of scripture
  • Joseph is so stirred he can no longer contain himself
    • Judah’s plea on behalf of Benjamin (and his father)
    • his brothers change of heart and attitude
• the brothers are stupefied
  • they’d given up hope of ever seeing Joseph again
  • they couldn’t believe Joseph was Pharaoh’s #2
  • couldn’t believe Joseph didn’t hate them, as they once hated him

The Hebrew word for ‘dismayed’ is bahal which also has the connotation of frightened or even terrified

• perhaps they were stunned that Joseph was alive and at the same time imagined the ax is about to fall

Their dismay was a preview, a prophecy of what will happen when the Jewish people again see Jesus and see Him for who He is:

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10). Guzik, David. Genesis . Enduring Word

Joseph’s Divine Appointment

And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Vss 4-8

• such a remarkable testimony of Joseph’s faith
  • THINK about all Joseph had been through and how easily it would have been for him to denounce God and forever think that he made his own “luck”; perhaps to dream about one day getting revenge
    • instead… “So now it was not you who sent me here, but GOD…”
      • we should be so fortunate to have that depth of faith!

Free Will and God’s Predestining of a Man’s Life

“How wonderfully those two things meet in practical harmony – the free will of man and the predestination of God! Man acts just as freely and just as guiltily as if there were no predestination whatever; and God ordains, arranges, supervises, and over-rules, just as accurately as if there were no free will in the universe.”

(Charles Spurgeon)

NOTE: many people have a personal issue with the concept of God predetermining how things work out in humans’ lives, ever-willing to cry “What about free will?!”, but Spurgeon’s statement is one of the clearest testimonies of how it “works”.

Q: Did the brothers send Joseph to Egypt, or did God?

The answer is: yes.

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Genesis 46

So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” And he said, “Here I am.” So He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.” vss 1-4

• So, Jacob (Israel) is being reunited with the precious son he thought he’d lost
• God speaks to Israel and makes the promise to fulfill the Promise He’d made to Abraham 220 years before
  • Israel and his entire household (70+ persons) move to Egypt
    • God blesses them and they flourish

The nation of Israel, which started from humble beginnings, is firmly established in Egypt over the next 400 years.

Eventually, the pharaoh that knew Joseph dies, leaving Israel in the hands of someone who barely understands why they are there and becomes paranoid over their increasing numbers and influence.

Why is the nation of Israel in Egypt?

Because God is about to show Himself to the known world in undeniable ways (though men will continue to deny Him). Besides, God is on a quest to send the Messiah and there’s a lot to do before that happens.

TASK: Outline God’s redemptive plan from Abraham to the end of Genesis.

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FINAL NOTE:

The rest of the “old testament” is all about God’s love for His people, and how Israel, the nation, could never live up to God’s standards. In point of fact, it is really about how none of us can live up to God’s standards.

Yet, God continually pursues us and redeems us from our terribly misspent lives because He loves us and loves us so much He’d already predestined His Son, our Savior, to come and sacrifice Himself for us so we could live in Eternity with Him.

It’s up to us to be His messengers of Hope and Redemption, just as He’d called the nation of Israel to show His love to the world. Sadly, they failed to do that (or, did they?); let us not fail in our responsibility to share God’s love and Christ’s sacrifice.

In His divine and precious love, Allan.