Genesis 42
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
3 Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.
4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him. 5 So Israel’s sons were among those who went to buy grain, for there was famine in the land of Canaan also.
6 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. 7 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. 9 Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”
10 “No, my lord,” they answered. “Your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”
12 “No!” he said to them. “You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”
13 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.”
14 Joseph said to them, “It is just as I told you: You are spies! 15 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. 16 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!” 17 And he put them all in custody for three days.
18 On the third day, Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19 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. 20 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.
21 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.”
22 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.” 23 They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter.
24 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.
25 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, 26 they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.
27 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. 28 “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?”
29 When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them. They said, 30 “The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land. 31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. 32 We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.’
33 “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. 34 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.’”
35 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. 36 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!”
37 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.”
38 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.”
Genesis 42 (NIV)
After years of being away from his home land, Joseph who is now governor of Egypt has an encounter with his brothers. The same people who hated him so much that they wanted to kill him, the people who sold him to be a slave are now bowing before him asking for food.
Lessons from Genesis 42
- Good reports spread fast: The events outlined in Genesis 42 took place thousands and thousands of years ago, when people had no phones, TVs, radios etc to quickly communicate with each other. However Jacob all the way in Bethel heard about the abundance in Egypt. Surely the news was brought by people who had been in Egypt and seen how the Egyptians were thriving. The news was so amazing that it just had to be spread.
Nowadays with the evolution of technology, news travels even faster. Therefore if you want to be talked about or you want your business or achievements to be talked about, do something different and outstanding. Let everyone you meet or interact with (at work, school, in your neighborhood, at the store, etc) have something good to say about you.
- Knowledge doesn’t serve you anything unless you put it to use: In verses 1 and 2 of Genesis 42, Jacob is seen asking his sons to take action by going to Egypt to get food for them. They had knowledge that there was abundance in Egypt but up until that point they had not done anything with that knowledge.
It’s great to know what to do and how to do it but it’s even better to actually go do what you need to do, that’s the only way you can produce results.
- Celebrate and encourage others instead of being jealous and envious: If Joseph’s brothers had not shut him down and sold him off (Genesis 37), the Canaanites might have been the ones benefiting from Joseph’s prophetic anointing. Canaan would surely have been the land that people came to in order to buy food in the times of famine. Instead, because of their jealousy and lack of regard, now Joseph was in Egypt being a blessing and the Canaanites had to go there to buy food.
- Don’t forget the dreams God put in your heart: In verse 6 of Genesis 42, we see the manifestation of one of the dreams Joseph had years ago when he was a teenager (Genesis 37), his brothers had gathered around and bowed down to him. This dream they had shunned him was coming to pass. Don’t forget the dreams put in your heart, no matter how ridiculous or far-fetched they seem.
- Be kind to everyone: Someone you mistreat today could end up being a person who can change the course of your life sometime in the future. Joseph’s brothers had not been kind to him, they’d hated and mistreated him to the point of wanting to kill him when he was younger and now here they were several years later in need of something that only he could provide. Fortunately for them, Joseph was kind-hearted enough to help them out but you may not always receive the same kind of grace from people you mistreated. Just be kind to everyone.
- Resist the urge to enact vengeance: When Joseph met his brothers again, it was an emotional time for him. It is apparent from Genesis 42 verse 7 to 21 that Joseph considered giving his brothers a taste of their own medicine (making them face the fear of death for being spies and having them imprisoned in a foreign land). However, as he listened to them talk among themselves in Hebrew he decided to give them food and silver, and let them go. He did however make Simeon stay to ensure that the others came back.
It is hard at times to not take revenge when the opportunity arises but it is such a blessing to resist the urge to be vengeful.
- Guilt is a heavy weight to carry: Genesis 42 verses 21 and 22 – Joseph’s brothers are clearly still burdened by the weight of their actions towards their brother all those years ago. Their guilt made them feel like they deserved to be punished by God and mistreated by the Governor of Egypt.
- If you do right and live at peace with everyone, you will never have to carry the weight of guilt.
- Confession and true repentance can alleviate the burden of guilt.
Reflection
- What are you doing with the knowledge you have? Are you putting it to work or just telling people stories to sound smart?
- What would you have done in Joseph’s shoes?
- Are you kind to people who have mistreated you in the past?
Further reading
- Romans 12:19 [Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. ]
- Matthew 6:14 [For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ]
Prayer
Father, thank you for forgiving me when I sin. Help me forgive those who’ve hurt me and give me courage to seek forgiveness from those I’ve hurt. Let your love be perfected in my life in Jesus’ name, amen.
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