Joseph's Brothers Go to Egypt

Story: Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt

Passage: Genesis 42

Characters: Joseph, Simeon, Reuben, Benjamin, the rest of his brothers, Jacob

Summary: Jacob heard there was food in Egypt so he sent all of his sons except Benjamin to get some. They came to Joseph and bowed before him. They didn’t recognize him but he knew who they were. He treated them harshly and accused them of being spies. When they denied it he said they needed to send one man to fetch their youngest brother. He imprisoned them for three days. Then he said only one had to remain in Egypt. The brothers decided they were being punished for killing Joseph. Joseph understood everything they said. Joseph seized Simeon and sent the others on their way. They returned home and found their money was still in their sacks. They told their father what had happened and Jacob was very upset. He said he had lost Joseph and now Simeon and next would be Benjamin. Reuben stepped up and said that he would give up his own two sons if Benjamin was harmed. But Jacob refused to send Benjamin with them.

Notes: The brother’s literally looked at each other questioningly when they were told to go to Egypt. It is apparent they felt considerable guilt when Egypt was mentioned. It had been almost twenty years and they were still living with the guilt of what they had done! We see this also in their reaction to Joseph’s accusations. Jacob was a depressed and pessimistic man. He was unwilling to let Benjamin out of his sight because Joseph had “died” when he left. Now Jacob was overly protective of his favorite remaining son. The brothers bowed down to this Egyptian official. Instantly Joseph remembered his dreams. In trying to keep his dreams from coming true, Joseph’s brothers had actually enabled them to be fulfilled. God used their wickedness to further His own plan. I find it interesting that the brothers said that one was no more. They knew very well Joseph was most likely living a terrible life of slavery, but they had been living with the lie for so long, it might have become real to them. Joseph was not just messing with them. I think he wanted to know if they had changed. He was about to put their character to the test! We actually see throughout this story that Joseph was just a big softie. For example, he quickly changes his terms from imprisoning nine and sending one home to imprisoning one and sending nine home with the food. Joseph told them that he feared God before he named his terms. He wanted them to trust him and prove they were honest. I find it interesting that they automatically assumed that this trouble was the result of an unrelated sin from twenty years earlier. What they did to Joseph was obviously on their minds a lot! Joseph was overcome with emotion at this point and wept. It is obvious he still loved his brothers. I suspect he wanted to reveal himself to them but knew he wasn’t supposed to yet. He took Simeon. I don’t really know why he chose Simeon. Maybe Simeon volunteered? Maybe he was bad at Rock, Papyrus, Knife? I don’t really know. The brothers found the money in their sack and realized that now they looked like spies and thieves! They panicked. I am impressed by Reuben’s offer to give his sons up if Benjamin is harmed. It is obvious that the brothers have grown some. They blamed the money in their sacks on God. The idea of being punished was always on their minds. That must have been a terrible way to live! Jacob wasn’t much better! He said, “All this has come against me”. Jacob’s mindset was that the world was against him. Contrast that with Joseph, who went through some terrible situations, but never lost his focus. Joseph trusted God through the rough times. Jacob on the other hand appears to have lost much of that trust. Jacob also still shows incredible favoritism. The brothers must have been upset that their father would let Simeon rot in an Egyptian prison to keep their youngest brother safe. This inability to move on actually makes me think of Lord of the Rings. The Steward of Gondor could not move on from Boromirs death and let his family and kingdom go to shambles. Jacob was not a great leader, yet God chose his family out of anyone in the world to be His chosen people! This is so encouraging to me! Also in this story, I love the fact that the brothers spoke freely in Hebrew and had no idea that the guy standing with them understood everything they said!

Questions: How did the brothers react to the accusation of being spies? Was Joseph expecting to see his family? Why did Joseph not just reveal himself? Why was Simeon detained? Why was Jacob so stubborn?

Lessons: God can use a bad situation for good. God can just as easily use a messed up person for his will. We need to take comfort in that. Nothing we can do is so bad that God would refuse to want to use us. The more messed up we are, the more evident God is in our lives when we are changed. Another lesson from this passage is the negative results of guilt and grief. Jacob’s sons were messed up emotionally because of the guilt of what they did to their brother. Jacob himself was basically incapacitated because of his grief and his inability to move on. This was twenty years after he lost Joseph! We need to make sure we don’t focus on ourselves in hard times but rather focus on God!