The Second Journey to Egypt

Genesis 42: 18-35 (2 of 3)

So, we pick up the text in this narrative of a sort of interrogation back and forth between Joseph and his brothers. I’ve characterized it as a bit of a boxing match of 5 rounds, and we have reached round 5

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)

So, it’s simple he is going to prove their honesty. Now remember he knows they’re telling the truth at this point. But he says alright, what I’m going to do is I am going to keep one of you here in Egypt and all the others can go back to Canaan and you can take the grain back with you. But in order to prove that you’re telling me the truth. I want you to bring Benjamin back.  What do you think his motive is? Let’s keep going and we shall find out

 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. 

(Genesis 42: 21-23)

So, it has finally really hit them, they are feeling guilty. They’ve been carrying this guilt around for 20 years or more. They have finally been confronted with the situation of selling the brother into slavery and the possibility that he might be dead and even that they may lose their lives now, and they finally confess and admit to each other and themselves what a terrible thing they have done.  They believe all of this has come upon us because of what they did to Joseph, and of course in a sense they are right

At the age of 15, a Florida man named Robert Goff hit an elderly man in the head to steal money because he wanted to buy some trainers that he couldn’t afford to buy. He didn’t intend to kill him, but the blow proved to be fatal. The police had no clues and Robert knew it was very unlikely he would be caught, because there were no witnesses or links between him and the man he mugged. But he was miserable, and finally, after 15 years of mental anguish and guilt he confessed to the police he was given a relatively light prison sentence and sent to prison and in there he trusted the Lord and was saved. Some people said his sentence was too lenient, and here’s what he said. I’ve been imprisoned in a cell for six months of my 15-year sentence but I’ve been incarcerated in my mind, for 15 years and there is no complete comparison. The way I felt on the outside was far worse than any punishment I accept I must face now.

That’s where these brothers are, they have been in this anguish for 20 years, in fact, and now they finally just said, you know, we deserve what we get because of what we’ve done. Rubin then steps up and says I told you so. I knew we shouldn’t have done this.  Now they’re having this conversation, in front of Joseph but they did not know that Joseph would have understood everything they said, for he had spoken to them through an interpreter so they wouldn’t recognize him. 

What a scene, they are talking about, their guilt of what they did to Joseph all those years ago, not knowing they’re in the presence of Joseph. He spoke through an interpreter, and he was probably dressed in Egyptian garb, so they had no way of knowing who he really was. What happens next, I think is a significant part of the story. Verse 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.

(Genesis 42: 24)

So, underneath this show he remains very tender hearted towards his brothers in spite of all they did 20 years ago. He goes to one side and has a cry and then he returned to them again, then he takes Simeon from them and ties him up in front of them. 

Alright, let me pause here for just a second and ask, what’s going on? What is his motive? What is he doing? Well, let me suggest that none of this is being done out of revenge, he’s not retaliating, in fact, he is letting nine of the ten go back with food. He just wants to arrange things so that he can see Benjamin again and of course he ultimately wants to see his father again. He wants to be reconciled to them all, so it’s not revenge. What is motivating him is reconciliation. However, the thing that really struck me as I studied this message is the fact that he wept, he has a tender heart towards them. There’s a verse in, Ephesians that says.

“Let all wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice, and be tenderhearted forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven you.

(Ephesians 4: 31-32)

I think this is one of most significant verses on the spiritual life in all of the New Testament, it reminds us to remain tender hearted towards other people, especially those that have wronged us. Think about what has happened to him, he got lied against by Potiphar’s wife, he got forgotten by the cup bearer despite delivering the good news of his impending release and of course he got sold into slavery by his brothers. Through it all, he did not, apparently get bitter or resentful and he kept a tender heart towards his brothers. But also notice at the same time he's testing them to see if they have a repentant attitude towards what they had previously done. That’s an interesting turn of events, so let me suggest that on the one hand, he forgave them and on the other hand, he clearly says I’m calling you to account. So, you can you forgive somebody and then turn around and test them and call them to account? I believe, yes you can. I think you should always try and remain well disposed toward people and forgive people, but when somebody is done a gross injustice to you like what they had done to him, you don’t necessarily trust them again without testing if they have really changed their attitude to what they have done. 

They can be forgiven but sometimes people need to demonstrate they have changed to earn trust again. So, in certain situations, forgiveness is not the issue, that should always be offered but the issue may be that you still need to test someone to see if they’ve learned from what they have done. To say the same thing another way, God will sometimes let people suffer the consequences of their own sin and stupidity. Which also means, God will sometimes let us suffer the consequences of their own sin and stupidity. A simple straightforward example is, if you get drunk and fall over and break your leg, God will forgive you if you turn to him in repentance, but he doesn’t he doesn’t heal the leg instantaneously. He’s going to let you hobble around with a cast like everyone else for six weeks. I think something like that is going on here.

You should forgive, those who trespass against you, no question, but keep a tender heart. Absolutely, but at the same time, it is reasonable, maybe even wise sometimes to test the relationship. Joseph is not retaliating he’s testing the genuineness of their repentance. He is going to send them back, but he wants them to return with Benjamin because he wants to be reconciled with all of his brothers. Let’s pick up the story in verse 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, they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.

(Genesis 42: 25-26)

Did you see that, he planted the money back in their satchels of grain and they didn’t know it…. Verse 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.

(Genesis 42: 27)

One commentator I read said that they were 250 miles up the road, and it would have taken them three weeks to make that journey. How he knew that is beyond me, but I just thought it was fascinating. But experts in the original language do say the words chosen in the text suggest these events regarding the discovery of the money didn’t happen on the first night. At any rate, they were well out of town when one of them discovered the money. 

 “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: 28)

They are thinking now they’re going to accuse us of stealing back the money we have had, and they say, what is God doing to us? Why is he allowing this to happen, and it also not surprisingly says they were afraid?

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.’

(Genesis 42: 29-32)

Now look very carefully and see if you can pick out any obvious differences to the story.

 “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.’”

(Genesis 42: 33-34)

Did they cover everything? No, they did not. They left out a few details. They didn’t say anything wrong, everything they said was correct. It was accurate, except they sought to soften the whole account of things. They didn’t tell the bit about being thrown in prison for three days. They didn’t go into detail about the money because they were scared Jacob wouldn’t allow them to go back. So they shaved a little detail off the story.

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.

(Genesis 42: 35)

They then discover that each man bundle of money was back in their sacks, it wasn't just one, all ten had the money in their sack and when they and their father saw the bundles of money they were afraid. The word afraid was used in verse 28, but this is a different word. By this time, they’re just near panic stricken. What are they going to do?