MORNING MESSAGE: John Cline
Genesis 43:29-45:11
Reader: Chinyere Dzivenu
Last Sunday, we looked at “comeuppance”, a word the dictionary defines as, “a punishment or fate that someone deserves”, i.e. a “just reward”, a “paying for one’s sins”. “Comeuppance” is what Joseph’s 10 older brothers were experiencing, “paying for their sins”, receiving their “just rewards” for having violently mistreated and sold their brother Joseph into slavery, plus then lying about it to their grieving father Jacob. When they sinned against Joseph back in Canaan, he was a pimply-face 17-year-old teenager. But now 20 years later in Egypt, the brothers came begging for food only to not recognize the man they were begging to, Joseph, now a fully-grown, almost middle-aged man, a powerful Egyptian ruler wearing royal robes plus that heavy Egyptian makeup we all can picture so well, and speaking in a language the brothers didn’t understand, Egyptian. The brothers may not have recognized him, but Joseph immediately knew who they were. Through an interpreter, he asked if they had other family members. They mentioned that their youngest brother, Benjamin, was still back in Canaan. Joseph ordered them to return home, collect Benjamin, and bring him to Egypt. And, just to make sure that they did it, he would hold in prison Simeon, the second oldest of the brothers, a sinful, violent, and murderous man whom Joseph had just realized had been the ringleader when the brothers mistreated him 20 years earlier. Simeon’s day of comeuppance had arrived, and he would be set free only if his brothers, including Benjamin, returned to Egypt.
Joseph’s desire to see Benjamin in the flesh was because he was Joseph’s only full-blooded brother, both having been the only two sons born to Jacob and the love of his life, Rachel. But the last time Joseph had seen Benjamin was when he was a young boy so Joseph had spent 20 years wondering if his older brother’s hatred and mistreatment of him had also been visited upon his beloved brother Benjamin. When Joseph’s 9 older brothers returned to Canaan with the news that the ruler of Egypt demanded they go back there with Benjamin their father Jacob would not agree to such a thing for he feared losing Benjamin, just as he had earlier lost Joseph when his older brothers were supposed to be looking after him. But, Judah, the fourth oldest of the brothers, eventually convinced him. Judah was a righteous man and Jacob viewed him as the leader of his sons after his three oldest sons, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, had all sinned grievously against him. Judah guaranteed to Jacob the safe return of Benjamin. Before the brothers left on that second journey to Egypt, though, Jacob said to them, “May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you.”
Let’s understand that the Hebrew word for “mercy”, “rachamin”, depicts having a deep love and compassion for someone. Jacob asked God to extend His rachamin; His mercy, love, and compassion to his sons. Later, that same word, rachamin, was used to describe Joseph’s response when he first saw Benjamin; a compassionate, merciful love he had for his brother whom he had not seen for 20 years.
Let’s also understand that the Hebrew word “shalom” is also found in this chapter, three times. We normally think of shalom as being either a greeting or a word meaning “peace” but its’ fuller meaning concerns having “well-being” that results in “in good health”, “completeness”, “wholeness”, and “prosperity”. So, when Joseph’s steward says to the brothers, “Shalom to you; do not be afraid,” he was conveying a sense of security and completeness amidst their fear. And, when Joseph inquires about his father Jacob, he asks, “Is your father well?”, he used the word, “shalom” (“in good health”)? The brothers responded, “Your servant our father is still alive, he is well”, meaning he was in good health, and at peace. Rachamin and shalom thus involved a person wishing upon another, mercy, compassion, love, good health, completeness, and peace. That is what the brothers needed, and Jacob prayed it for them. Joseph would help them experience such.
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. 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 43:29-34)
The brothers must have thought they had it made, but Joseph had one more test of character for them, because he still didn’t know if they were honourable people or repentant of their sins against him. The next day dawned and the brothers started out on their journey home.
Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house: “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry and put each man’s silver in the mouth of his sack. Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” And he did as Joseph said. As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys. They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, “Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil? Isn’t this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done.’” (Gen 44:1-5)
The silver cup was Joseph’s drinking cup, and the brothers would have
seen him using it at the previous night’s banquet. They were being set up to make it look like they had stolen it. On a side note, divination was common in ancient Middle Eastern cultures, especially among its leaders, and so the brothers would have been familiar with it and its alleged power. However, no reputable scholar believes that, as a follower of YHWH God, Joseph would have used the cup for divination. Joseph only instructed his servant to say that his cup was used for divination as a fear tactic. The steward set out to carry out the sting.
When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them. But they said to him, “Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that! We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.” (Genesis 44:6-9)
The brothers were so sure of their innocence that they made outlandish promises of death for the person who had stolen the cup, and slavery in Egypt for the rest. The steward must have chuckled.
“Very well, then,” he said, “let it be as you say. Whoever is found to have it will become my slave; the rest of you will be free from blame.” Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. Then the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. At this, they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city. (Genesis 44:10-13)
When the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack, the brothers were shocked and “tore their clothes”, a sign of intense mourning. They had failed their father in not protecting Benjamin. Fearing death for him and slavery for themselves, they did the only thing they could do – beg for mercy, mercy ironically being the one thing Jacob had earlier prayed for them.
Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him. Joseph said to them, “What is this you have done? Don’t you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?” (Gen 44:14,15)
Remember, 20 years before, God had shown Joseph in 2 dreams that his brothers would bow before him for he would be their ruler. Joseph used the threat of supernatural revelation to scare the already quaking brothers but remember that God had already given Joseph such a gifting. He didn’t need to practice divination to know the will of God.
“What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants’ guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves—we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup.” But Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace.” (Genesis 44:16,17)
Joseph was putting the screws to them. He knew that Benjamin being made his slave would never fly with the other brothers. Judah begged and pleaded their case. In saying that he was going to keep Benjamin in Egypt, Joseph was giving his 10 older brothers the opportunity to betray and abandon Benjamin in a like manner to how they had betrayed and abandoned him. They could walk away, leaving Benjamin as a slave in Egypt, returning to their father and saying that they tried their best and there was nothing different that they could have done.
Then Judah went up to him and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, let me speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ And we answered, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’ Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.’ And we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.’ But you told your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’ When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said. Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy a little more food.’ But we said, ‘We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ “Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. One of them went away from me, and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.” And I have not seen him since. If you take this one from me too & harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.’ (44:18-29)
Joseph, no doubt, was moved at the mention of Jacob. Judah again…
“So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father, and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life, sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow. Your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father. I said, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!’ Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father.” (Genesis 44:30-34)
Judah’s willingness to sacrifice himself for Benjamin moved Joseph greatly. Judah was willing to pay the price for his brother Benjamin’s alleged sin. This reminds us of Jesus willingly paying the price for our sins. Jesus insisted that he should be condemned instead of us, so God met His justice by punishing His son Jesus in our place as our substitute. God did this so that we could be reconciled to Him. We need to recognize that Jesus’ sacrifice wasn’t justice, it was grace. Judah offered to do a similar thing for Benjamin – and Joseph was moved. The time had come for the family reconciliation.
Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So, there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise, you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’” (Genesis 45:1-11)
Three times, Joseph told his brothers that God had sent him ahead of them to Egypt to save them. My favourite professor while in seminary, Dr. Bruce Waltke, commented, “This fact serves as the theological heart of the account of Jacob’s line. God directed the maze of human guilt to achieve His good and set purposes.” We will look at this more next week, but in closing, I want to reiterate that God wishes nothing but rachamin and shalom for all of us; that His mercy, love, wholeness, compassion, and perfect health be experienced by all.
Can we imagine Joseph not having called out each of their names when he hugged them and wept over them? No! Joseph would have cried out, ‘Come here, Benjamin. Come, Judah, don’t be afraid; come. Come to me, Reuben. Even you, Simeon, come here.’ God calls us to come to Him in a like manner, one by one, name by name. Do you hear him calling? He is not calling your neighbour. He is not calling the person seated next to you. When God calls to you to come to Him for His love, mercy, goodwill, and salvation to be experienced, He is speaking directly to you. God is not a vengeful father but a forgiving one. The fact that Joseph rejoiced over his brothers and held a great banquet in their honor typifies God the Father’s attitude towards anyone who has been out of fellowship with Him but confesses their sins and repents of them. If that describes you this morning, allow the Spirit of God to open your eyes to the goodness of God and come to Him! Dwell on His calling to you this week. Amen.
