Scripture: When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.” So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him. Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
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. 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.” And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 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.” They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies.”
He said to them, “No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.” 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.” But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you. You are spies. By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 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.” And he put them all together in custody for three days.
On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households, and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so. 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.” 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.” They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. Then he turned away from them and wept. And he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them.
Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed. 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. 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?”
When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we have never been spies. We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’ Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way. Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.'”
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. 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.” Then Reuben said to his father, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.” But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”
Genesis 42:1-38 ESV [Click here to read the entire chapter.]
Observation: Recapping Yesterday’s Daily Focus, Pharaoh promoted Joseph (now age thirty) to be second in command of Egypt and directed all his subjects to submit to Joseph’s orders. So Joseph supervised the storage of one-fifth of all grain during the seven years of abundant harvest and its distribution during the seven years of famine. As a side note, Moses tells his audience that Joseph’s wife bore two sons before the famine. Joseph named the first Manasseh (Hebrew means “making to forget”) because God had faded his memories of hardship and his family of origin. Joseph called the second Ephraim (Hebrew means “making fruitful”) because God made him fruitful in the land of his affliction.
Today’s reading covers Joseph’s first encounter with his ten older brothers. With the widespread famine, Jacob directs his sons to travel to Egypt and buy grain but keeps Benjamin by his side for fear of losing him. When they arrive, Joseph recognizes them (recalling his dreams of them) but speaks to them harshly as if they are foreign spies. Not recognizing Joseph, they show him deference and insist they are not spies. Nevertheless, Joseph continues the ruse, so the ten disclose details of their family of origin as evidence, adding that one of their brothers (i.e., Joseph) is deceased and the youngest is with his father. Hearing Benjamin is alive, Joseph furthers the farce, demanding one of them return with the youngest to prove their innocence. Meanwhile, he imprisons all of them for three days.
On the third day, Joseph announces he will instead retain one of them (Simeon) while the others must return to him with their youngest brother to prove their innocence. Then Reuben admonishes his brothers for selling Joseph into slavery, which has brought this day of reckoning upon them (unaware that Joseph understood them). Deeply moved, Joseph turns away and weeps. After composing himself, Joseph orders his servants to fill their sacks with grain and the money they brought and send them on their way. Meanwhile, when they stop for lodging, one opens his sack to feed his donkey and discovers his silver. All are terrified that it is an omen from God.
When the brothers arrive home, they tell Jacob everything that transpired (including the demand to bring the youngest back to prove their innocence). Only then will Simeon find freedom, and they receive permission to trade for grain. But, when they saw the returned money in all the sacks, they feared what this could mean. Overwhelmed, Jacob laments his loss of Joseph and Simeon and questions why he should release Benjamin to them. So, Reuben speaks up and bargains for the lives of his two sons if he fails to return with Benjamin. Still, Jacob refuses, saying that if he were to lose the last of Rachel’s sons, he would die in sorrow.
Takeaway: When the nine discover the returned silver, they immediately see it as a sign of God acting in their lives—surmising that God is punishing them for their past sins. But Moses wants his audience to see that God is orchestrating outcomes amid the exercise of human free will. While this theme permeates the Bible, in these remaining chapters, Moses beats the steady drum of this message to prepare the second generation of Israelites entering the Promised Land to be strong and courageous (Deuteronomy 31:6-7, 23), trusting their Lord will be with them as they, too, will encounter setbacks and losses.
Substitutionary atonement is another fascinating point addressed in this passage (and threads through Scripture). That Reuben would offer his two sons as collateral for the promised return of Jacob’s last treasured son of Rachel points us to the doctrine of substitutionary atonement, where our Father offered his only treasured Son to ensure our safe arrival into his eternal home.
Lastly, this story clues Moses’ audience to what is to come. Learning that the ten are beginning to feel the weight of their sins and fear God points to their repentance that will bring renewed life. Paul addresses this dynamic in his second letter to the Corinthians, telling this young church struggling with blatant sins that godly grief produces repentance, leading to salvation without regret (2 Corinthians 7:10).
Our takeaway? Under the dire circumstances of famine and looming starvation, most of us would struggle to keep our heads up and problem-solve our way forward. Like Jacob and Joseph’s brothers, our Lord uses adversity to guide and strengthen us in our life journeys. Indeed, why should it be any different for us, given that the Son of God repeatedly overcame trials and suffering before completing his mission? For without the crucifixion, there would be no triumph over death, no salvation for his beloved.
Our part? Be strong and courageous and repent when adversity confronts us with our sins. When we do, we will experience a renewal of self that leads to a greater sense of freedom in Christ. Indeed, repentance is our means of salvation, not just from the past penalty of sin but the present power of sin that otherwise weighs us down with guilt and associated feelings of shame.
Prayer: Father God, thank you for sending your Son, who, through his substitutionary sacrifice, rescued us from our spiritual famines. Still, we struggle with the present power of sin that wearies our souls. So, please help us be strong and courageous, trusting that you are working out your purposes in and through us. And please help us to cooperate with your Holy Spirit when he convicts us of our sins and leads us to repentance so that we might press through our seasons of hardship glorifying you. Amen.
Rev. Gordon Green, M.Div., M.A. Counseling
Leave a Reply