Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt. Apparently, his sons were not smart enough to realize that going to Egypt would be a good idea. He asked them, “Why do you sit around here and look at one another?” Jacob had to tell them to go to the place in Egypt and buy grain so that they can continue to live. So Joseph’s ten brothers went to Egypt. Jacob didn’t allow Benjamin, Joseph’s youngest brother, to go. He was afraid that some calamity could happen to him. Remember, Benjamin is Rachel’s second son during which time she died while giving birth. Rachel was also the love of Jacob’s life. So Israel’s (Jacob) sons went among the others going to Egypt to buy grain because the famine was also in the land of Canaan.

Joseph was the governor over Egypt. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him. This is the manifestation of Joseph’s dream where his brothers’ sheaves bowed down before his sheaf (Genesis 37). Joseph recognized his brothers right away, but they didn’t recognize him. God’s word says, “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm” (1 Chronicles 16:22 and Psalm 105:15). Obviously, Joseph’s brothers didn’t realize that Joseph was one of God’s anointed ones when they put him in the pit and then subsequently sold him. They didn’t know who Joseph was in more than one sense of the word. Are you one of God’s anointed ones? This does not just pertain to preachers in the pulpit. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are one of His anointed ones. Do people know who you are? Do they know “Who’s your Daddy”? Do they know that your Father is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and that makes you Royalty? So, Joseph pretended like he didn’t know them and spoke harshly to them. He asked where they were from and they told him that they were from the land of Canaan and came to buy food. Joseph remembered his dreams and accused them of being spies who came to see the weak spots in the land. They declared that they were only there to buy food. They said that they were the sons of one man and that they were honest men. It’s ironic that they claimed to be honest men, yet they were bowing before their brother whom they led their father to believe was dead, killed by a wild animal. Is there someone in your life who may think they exemplify the highest of standards, but you know the “real” them? Joseph again accuses them of being spies. Once again the brothers state that they are the sons of one man and now they mention that the youngest one is with their father and they had another brother who doesn’t exist anymore. Joseph now knows that his father and Benjamin are still alive. Joseph adamantly says that they are spies. He says that he will test them by swearing on Pharaoh’s life (a common practice in those days according to one Google source) saying that they will not leave Egypt unless Benjamin comes there. Joseph then decides to let one of them go get the youngest brother and bring him back to Egypt to see if they are telling the truth or else as sure as Pharaoh lives, they must be spies. He puts them all in prison for three days. On the third day, because he feared God, Joseph says one brother would be confined to prison and the others were to carry grain back to Canaan since the famine was so fierce. However, they must bring the youngest brother back to Egypt as a verification of their truthfulness. The brothers started feeling remorseful about what they did to Joseph and thought this is why they are in the predicament they were in now. Reuben basically said, “I told you so” when he said, “Do not sin against the boy” and they wouldn’t listen. Now, Joseph’s blood is now required of them. While they were speaking to one another, they did not realize that Joseph understood them, because he used an interpreter when he spoke to them. Joseph was playing this to the hilt! Joseph was overcome with emotion and turned away from his brothers and wept. He returned to his brothers and in speaking to them, he took Simeon from them and bound him right in front of them.

Joseph gave the command to fill their sacks with grain and to put their money back in each of their sacks. He also gave them provisions for their journey. So the brothers loaded up their donkeys and departed. One of the brothers opened his sack to feed his donkey and discovered that his money was back in his sack. He alerted his brothers to this and they all were very afraid. In fact they said, “What is this that God has done to us?” Have you ever falsely accused God of anything? When they returned home, they told Jacob all that had happened. They told him how the lord over the land spoke harshly to them, accusing them of being spies. They explained that they told him that they were not spies, but the sons of one man and that they had a younger brother back home. They were also still sticking to that “honest men” story too. They also told their father that the lord over the land is testing their honesty by allowing them to return home, but they must take Benjamin back to Egypt. He kept Simeon as collateral. Upon their return, he would release Simeon and allow them to trade in the land. It so happened that they all emptied their sacks and their money was returned to each of them. This really frightened Jacob and his sons. Jacob stated that they bereaved him, saying, “Joseph is no more, Simeon was no more, and you want to take Benjamin.” Jacob also stated that all of these things were against him. Seeing the anguish that Jacob had, especially regarding Joseph, none of these “honest men” ever told their father the truth in all of these (approximately twenty) years. Reuben spoke up and told his father that he could kill his two sons if he didn’t return Benjamin back to him. He promised to definitely take care of Benjamin. Jacob said that Benjamin was not going with him, because his brother was dead and he is left alone. Jacob may have said this because Joseph and Benjamin had the same mother, Rachel. If something happened to Benjamin as they returned to Egypt, it would pretty much kill Jacob and he would go to the grave gray-headed with sorrow.

Off we go to Genesis 43 next week.

To God Be The Glory!