MORNING MESSAGE: John Cline
Genesis 42-43
Reader: John Renfree
According to dictionaries, the word “comeuppance” refers to “a punishment or fate that someone deserves”. A lot can happen in 20 years. In 20 years, you can get married and start a family, start a career, become wealthy or lose almost everything. In 20 years, you can start a new life. But there’s 1 thing you can’t do in 20 years: erase a guilty conscience. You know, a lot of water can flow under a bridge. Some things can be forgotten and never mentioned again while other things are never mentioned but they are never forgotten, either. Where we left off in last Sunday’s sermon with Joseph and his family, it had been 20 years since Joseph had told his 10 older brothers and his father Jacob that God had shown him in 2 dreams that they would bow down before him and he would be their ruler. In a jealous rage, his brothers pummelled him, threw him into a well, and then sold him into slavery in Egypt. But their day of comeuppance was coming. Remember, the word “comeuppance” refers to “a punishment or fate that someone deserves”. 20 years have gone by, and Joseph’s brothers – who had hoped that dispensing with Joseph would bring them peace – had instead lived with guilty consciences. 20 years later, however you say it, “what goes ‘round comes ‘round”, “sooner or later the chickens come home to roost”, “eventually the skeletons will come out of the closet”, “the hammer is about to fall”, or “it’s time to face the music”, the day of “comeuppance” for the 10 brothers had arrived.
When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?” He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.” Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him. So, Israel’s sons were among those who went to buy grain, for there was famine in the land of Canaan also. (Genesis 42:1-5)
Jacob – or Israel as he had been renamed by God was the father of 12 sons and grandfather to numerous grandchildren so with a family totalling 70 people – realized that his family would starve to death without help. The only nation in the Ancient Near East that had food was Egypt, and that was because of Joseph, Jacob’s 11th son had risen to the position of second-in-command in Egypt, and had implemented God’s plan of storing away grain during the 7 years of bumper crops that came to the land, in order that there would be available food during the next 7 years of famine. In Canada, in the 1930’s, people were poor. We whose families lived through that, know about being “dirt poor”, because either we, or our parents, or our grandparents lived through drought in the “dirty ‘30’s”. My wife’s father moved 34 times in the first 18 years of his life, his parents continually seeking a cheaper place to live and finding that they didn’t have enough to pay the rent on even those very cheap places. My own family was incredibly poor for the first 9 years of my life. Family photos show the poverty we in which we lived in the tattered clothes we wore. The wealth Canadians enjoy now does not reflect that we grew up poor and thus understanding full well the plight facing Jacob and his family in drought-stricken Canaan.
Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the person who sold grain to all its people. So, when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy food.” 8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. (Genesis 42:6-8)
The brothers’ failure to recognize Joseph is easily understood in that the last time they saw him he was a pimply faced 17-year-old. But people mature and age over a period of 20 years. Joseph was now an Egyptian adult, dressing like an Egyptian, wearing Egyptian makeup, speaking Egyptian. He was unrecognizable to the brothers. Besides which, Joseph was the last person they expected to see at that spot. You know how that is, when you see someone who is in the wrong place from our experience of them. It takes a while to recognize them. As well, Joseph’s 10 brothers probably assumed he had died during his years of being a slave. What was Joseph to do when he recognized them? So, should Joseph have taken off his Egyptian clothes, opened his arms and cried, “Brothers, I am Joseph!” No! He had to find out if they wanted to be reunited with him or still had vengeful, murderous feelings about him. Besides, God was in the details of Joseph’s life and so I believe we can say that God prevented Joseph from acting impulsively. God knew that this moment was one of “comeuppance” for Joseph’s brothers. They were about to pay for their sins.
Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.” “No, my lord,” they answered. “Your servants have come to buy food. We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.” “No!” he said to them. “You have come to see where our land is unprotected.” But they replied, “Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.” (Genesis 42:9-13)
Joseph would’ve been moved by hearing that he was still counted as a brother to those 10 men, but upon learning that his full brother Benjamin was still alive – all the other brothers were half-brothers – a plan formed in Joseph’s mind to get Benjamin to Egypt.
Joseph said to them, “It is just as I told you: You are spies! And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” And he put them all in custody for three days. (Genesis 42:14-17)
Joseph’s initial plan was for only one of the 10 brothers to go back to Canaan to collect Benjamin and bring him to Egypt, while the other 9 stayed in a prison in Egypt. But, over the course of the three days they were all imprisoned, Joseph decided on a better course of action.
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 stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.” This they proceeded to do. (Genesis 42:18-20)
Did you notice that Joseph said that he “feared God”? He didn’t say that he feared any of the false Egyptian gods. Joseph’s words about fearing God should have hit home with the brothers, but they were so caught up in the details of Joseph’s plan for them that his words did not penetrate their thinking. It is important for us to recognize that everything in this story rests on this one reality: the brothers had no idea that Joseph was still alive. Probably, they thought he’d been dead for several years. But, suffering from guilt, they then remembered him.
They said to one another, “Surely, we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come on us.” Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood.” They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter. He turned away from them and began to weep but then came back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes. (Genesis 42:21-24)
The Bible says, “You may be sure that your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32:23) and “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A person reaps what they have sown.” (Galatians 6:7) The 10 brothers were experiencing that reality! Now, why did Joseph pick out Simeon to be the one to be put in prison? Maybe because Reuben, the first-born, had admitted their guilt in mistreating Joseph, this being the first time Joseph learned that Reuben had not been in on his mistreatment, while the next oldest brother, the second-born, Simeon, stood there in silence, maybe looking at his feet. At that moment, Joseph realized that it would have Simeon who was the ringleader in the brothers’ mistreatment of him. Joseph knew that Simeon had vengefully slaughtered the men of Shechem. Simeon was a bully, and his day of “comeuppance” had arrived. So, Simeon was thrown into prison while Joseph sent the others to Canaan to get Benjamin.
Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man’s silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. After this was done for them, they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left. At the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack. “My silver has been returned,” he said to his brothers. “Here it is in my sack.” Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, “What is this that God has done to us?” (Genesis 42:25-28)
Blaming God is so common for humans, isn’t it? There is rarely any thought given that maybe God is using a moment to do something good in the long run. Nothing within the brothers, at this point, caused them to suspect God’s grace when they found the returned silver in their sacks. “Surely, God is doing bad to us” was how they thought, a common reaction of fearful, guilt-ridden people.
When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them. They said, “The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land. But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.’ “Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me and take food for your starving households and go. But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’” As they were emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his pouch of silver! When they and their father saw the money pouches, they were frightened. Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!” (Genesis 42:29-36)
Joseph’s plan was set in motion and now all he could do was wait and see. Finding the silver in their sacks alarmed the brothers. “Maybe Egyptian soldiers are coming for us!” they may have thought. Meanwhile, Simeon was in an Egyptian prison, a place in which he would languish for quite a while. Father Jacob was filled with despair with the realization that two of his sons had been taken from him and now the other sons were pressuring him to allow his now-favourite son, his baby, Benjamin, be taken, as well. Reuben, the oldest, the one Jacob pinned the blame on for the loss of Joseph, attempted to redeem himself.
Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back.” But Jacob said, “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.” (42:37,38)
Jacob’s favourite sons were Joseph and Benjamin, the two born to his beloved wife Rachel. There was no way he would entrust Benjamin to Reuben, the first-born who had not protected Joseph in his hour of need. Jacob was fine, it seems, with allowing his second-oldest son, Simeon, to languish in prison but we need to recall that Reuben, Simeon, and Levi – Jacob’s first 3 sons – had all sinned against him.
Now the famine was still severe in the land. So, when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.” But Judah said to him, “The man warned us solemnly, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ If you will send our brother along with us, we will go down and buy food for you. But if you will not send him, we will not go down, because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’” Israel asked, “Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother?” They replied, “The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. ‘Is your father still living?’ he asked us. ‘Do you have another brother?’ We simply answered his questions. How were we to know he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?” Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our children may live and not die. I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice.” (Genesis 43:1-10)
When the three oldest sons sinned against Jacob, in his mind, the one who would from then on lead the family would be his fourth son, Judah and so when Judah pledged to look after Benjamin, Jacob relented, though he played the victim card hard.
Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds. Take double the amount of silver with you, for you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. Take your brother also and go back to the man at once. And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.” So, the men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph. (Genesis 43:11-15)
Jacob sent some “little”, almost laughable, gifts to the second-richest man in Egypt, hoping it would assuage his anger with his sons. As well, though, Jacob does pray to God Almighty although he is resigned to a bad result. Meanwhile, none of the brothers realize that the man in charge in Egypt is their brother Joseph. So back to Egypt with Benjamin and gifts in tow they went, fearful of what they will face.
When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare a meal; they are to eat with me at noon.” (Genesis 43:16)
The returning brothers were about to receive an underserved feast, all because of Benjamin’s presence. First, though, the brothers had to do something about all that extra silver that had been put in their bags.
The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph’s house. Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They thought, “We were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys.” So, they went up to Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. “We beg your pardon, our lord,” they said, “we came down here the first time to buy food. But at the place where we stopped for the night, we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver—the exact weight—in the mouth of his sack. So, we have brought it back with us. We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don’t know who put our silver in our sacks.” (Genesis 43:17-22)
Why they didn’t return the first night they found silver, no one knows.
“It’s all right,” he said. “Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. The steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys. They prepared their gifts for Joseph’s arrival at noon, because they had heard that they were to eat there. (Genesis 43:23-25)
I am sure that Simeon had wondered if his brothers were ever coming back! But God was using this moment of comeuppance to bless Joseph’s family. They really didn’t understand it, but because their family was the one blessed with God’s covenant and charged with keeping it, God was going to protect them, no matter what. Now, in fulfillment of the prophecy God had given to Joseph 20 years earlier that his brothers would bow down before him as their ruler, we hear…
When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground. He asked them how they were, and then he said, “How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still living?” They replied, “Your servant our father is still alive and well.” And they bowed down, prostrating themselves before him. As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” And he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there. (Genesis 43:26-30)
For 20 years, Joseph had wondered if his 10 older brothers had mistreated his younger brother Benjamin in the same manner which they had mistreated him. He hadn’t known if Benjamin was even alive, as well as his elderly father Jacob. These revelations were too much for Joseph to handle and so he left the banquet hall to go and weep.
After he had washed his face, he came out and, controlling himself, said, “Serve the food.” They served him by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for that is detestable to Egyptians. The men had been seated before him in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest; and they looked at each other in astonishment. When portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as anyone else’s. So, they feasted and drank freely with him. (Genesis 43:31-34)
Joseph and God had allowed the brothers to go through a period of comeuppance for their past sinful deeds. Now, a time of great and surprising blessing was just beginning. Well, we will leave the story at this point but will pick it up next Sunday, so “stay tuned”! Surprises are on the way!
In closing, I want to ask if we have learned that times of comeuppance are not pleasant in anyone’s life, so, please, simply don’t live in a manner that will guarantee your comeuppance. I wish we could see that having to deal with past sins is so painful that we will simply decide it best to simply not sin. Talk to Jesus about the things you are doing. Pray to God to see if there is some “wicked way” in you, as Scripture says. Serve Jesus well, treat others with respect and in love, and then honour God with your life. Let’s pray…
