Joseph's Brothers Return to Egypt

Story:  Joseph’s Brothers Return to Egypt

Passage: Genesis 43

Characters:  Jacob, Judah, Jacob’s sons, Joseph

Summary:  Jacob and Co. ran out of grain.  Jacob tried to send his sons back to Egypt to get more but Judah informed him that the man in Egypt made it clear that they must bring Benjamin.  Jacob did not want to but Judah offered himself in security for Benjamin.  Jacob consented and sent some of the firstfruits of the land with them.  When Joseph saw Benjamin he had the brothers sent to his house.  The brothers stated their case and the steward told them the money they found in their sacks was from God.  Simeon was restored to them and they prepared to eat.  Joseph came home and asked about Jacob.  Then he saw Benjamin and left the room and wept.  The food was served.  Benjamin got five times as much as everyone else even though they were seated in birth order. 

Notes:  Jacob apparently had tried to let the food outlast the famine so his sons would not have to return to Egypt.  He obviously cared far more about Benjamin than he cared about Simeon.  Judah was displaying his first signs of Godliness when he decided to take full responsibility for Benjamin’s safety.  I get the idea that Satan was not aware that Jesus was coming from the line of Judah.  God however knew all along and is obviously still very present in Judah’s life even though he made some mistakes earlier in the story.  The brothers took some of the best fruits of the land.  This is significant since there was a massive famine going on.  They also took double the money with them.  This is very significant.  The word for money and silver are the same.  Since they originally took enough money for ten brothers, they now took enough for twenty men.  Joseph was originally sold by the brothers for twenty pieces of silver.  Now they are bringing him twenty pieces of money.  The brothers probably thought they were going to the man’s house to be killed.  They were freaked out to be sure.  The steward tried to calm their fears by letting them know he had received their money and the money they found came from God.  I find it interesting that the steward calls God the God of their father.  He acknowledges the Hebrew God.  He also tells the truth.  He had received their money, but then he gave it back.  They expected to be treated as criminals, and Joseph had every right to do so, but instead he served them and washed their feet and served them water.  This must have confused the brothers very much!  When Joseph saw Benjamin, he lost his composure.  Benjamin was his only full brother and he had not seen him for over twenty years.  Joseph was a very emotional man from what I can tell, and this encounter was too much for him to handle.  The Egyptians were one of the most racist cultures in history.  They believed they came from the gods and everyone else was inferior.  We see this here when the Egyptians ate separately from the Hebrews and from Joseph.  Joseph, as an Egyptian official, could not eat with his brothers.  However, even with all of his power, he couldn’t eat with the Egyptians either!  God was going to bring Israel to a place where they could live in total isolation from the native inhabitants!  God’s plan was perfect!  The brothers were amazed when they were seated in birth order.  I don’t know how they weren’t suspicious.  For Joseph to get it totally right is almost statistically impossible!  He then served Benjamin more than anyone else.  There are two possible reasons for this.  One is that Joseph was showing favoritism to his only full brother.  The other option is he was testing his brothers.  How would they react to their youngest brother being privileged?  Would they react like they treated Joseph or had they grown?  Joseph was testing them this whole time.  He wanted to know their character before he revealed himself to them. 

Questions:  Was Joseph’s servant a follower of God?  Did any of the brothers start suspecting that this man was Joseph?  Did the fact that he knew their birth order and didn’t sit with the Egyptians not tip them off?  Did Jacob expect to ever see Benjamin again?  Did he care if he saw Simeon?

Lessons:  God was giving the brothers a second chance.  They had mistreated Joseph and He had given them time to grow.  Now Joseph was observing how they would treat Benjamin in a similar circumstance.  Sometimes, God tests us,  lets us grow and then tests us again.  Are we striving to always grow and learn how to walk with the Spirit?  Do we expect to be able to perform better by our own strength?