Turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 42. You will remember that in our study of Genesis, we reached the point where Joseph had been delivered from prison in Egypt, where he had been a slave, and promoted to the second highest position under Pharaoh. You might say that he was the prime minister of Egypt. We all know that to be true, but I wonder if we truly appreciate how incredible it was for an incarcerated slave to be made the prime minister of the largest empire in the world in a single day.
And of course, God arranged for that promotion of Joseph in order to provide for His people during a severe famine. Joseph had interpreted Pharoah’s dreams which foretold of a coming famine of such severity that it would affect all the known world for seven years. And because of Joseph’s insight, they were able to put aside grain in storage during the seven plentiful years which would provide for the seven years of famine.
In fact, let’s read from the last two verses of chapter 41; “When the famine was [spread] over all the face of the earth, then Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. [The people of] all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the earth.”
About 30 years ago, long before I moved to the beach and began this church, I was an antique dealer living in Belair Maryland. I was fairly successful in that business and had reached a certain plateau of recognition in my field and was doing very well. I built a house that was a Williamsburg style reproduction on a large tract of land. And it seemed I regularly found what I used to call a national treasure, or hitting a home run. I thought that God blessed me in that business, and that He was prospering me because I was a Christian.
But then I encountered a series of circumstances in my life starting with illnesses that completely debilitated me. These events had a snowball effect that within about three years had practically caused me to lose my health, to go bankrupt, lose my home and all the things that accompany a train wreck of one’s life.
Of course, like most people who go through a great crisis, I tried to find answers in the Bible. I prayed for deliverance and restoration. I didn’t know if God was causing it all or allowing it to happen, or why. I got my heart right with God as much as I knew how. I prayed constantly and read my Bible constantly and sought wisdom from the Lord.
Somehow, through seeking the Lord, I became hopeful and then convinced that I was going through a crisis similar to that presented here in the life of Joseph and that if I could just hang on for 7 years, then God would overturn the spiritual, physical and financial famine in my life and I would then see restoration, that God would bring me up out of “prison,” restore my finances and health. I saw a correlation in my life between the 7 years of famine and what I was going through, and that if I could just get through that 7 years, God would restore me.
I say all of that to illustrate that as Christians we can easily be guilty of poor exegesis of scripture, and convinced of things that the Bible does not promise because we have taken scripture out of context or misinterpreted it altogether. We can incorrectly apply the word of God, even though we might be as sincere as we can be, as dedicated to the Lord as we can be. I had taken some elements of this story of Joseph out of context and wrongly applied them to my situation. I had conjured up promises in scripture which were not there. I thought if I applied faith to those promises that God was obligated to answer them according to my desire.
And consequently, not only did I go through seven years of the worst circumstances that I could imagine, but at the end of that time, I almost lost faith in God altogether because He did not do what I though He had promised. He did not restore me to the former prosperity and health that I had thought that He would. In fact, my situation continued on for several years more after that seven year period before I began to slowly climb out of all those circumstances, and in fact I am still dealing with some of the ramifications of it today. However God did use that long period of testing and trials to work a spiritual change in me, and actually get me to the point where I was willing to serve Him as a preacher of the gospel.
So I tell you all of that to caution you that we must be careful what we extrapolate from scripture. We must accurately divide the word of God, and guard against interpretation in light of our agenda and our priorities, rather than submission to God’s purposes and plan.
But there are principles in this story though that we can safely apply to our lives today. And one of those principles is that God uses trials and difficulties in our lives as a means of sanctification. God uses fiery trials to purify us, to burn off the dross in our lives.
And there is another principle we see here, that God may combine His blessing and fiery trials which seem to run concurrently. Joseph was suffering as a slave, and suffered by being incarcerated, yet at the same time, God was with Joseph and caused blessing and favor to be given to him both in slavery and in prison. Another principle is that God did not eliminate the trial or shorten the trial because of Joseph’s faith or faithfulness. God had a plan, and He sustained Joseph through the trial. Joseph was 17 when he was sold into slavery, and he was 30 years old when Pharaoh exalted him to the position of prime minister.
And another principle is revealed in the passage we are looking at today, which is the process of Joseph recognizing his brothers and causing them to go through a period of testing in which God awakened their consciences and convicted them of their sin concerning the betrayal of their brother. God uses conviction to bring them to repentance, which must come before He will bring them to reconciliation.
So we read in chapter 42 vs 1, “Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, "Why are you staring at one another?" He said, "Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy [some] for us from that place, so that we may live and not die." Then ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, "I am afraid that harm may befall him." So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, for the famine was in the land of Canaan [also.]
We might surmise that at the mention of Egypt, Jospeh’s brothers felt a pang of guilt. I’m sure it wasn’t the first time in these 20 some years that they had thought of the evil that they did to their brother, and perhaps wondered what had happened to him, whether he was even still alive or not. But as Jacob noted, they were staring at one another when he had mentioned going to Egypt, because they all felt the same pang of their conscience, knowing that it was to Egypt that Joseph had been sold into slavery. The whole world was going there to buy grain during the famine, and yet they had no desire to set foot there, lest their guilty consciences remind them of the great evil that they had done.
But nevertheless, the patriarch demanded they go, and so they did, although Jacob was wise enough not to let Benjamin, the other son of Rachel, go with them. Perhaps he suspected all along that something had gone amiss with Joseph because of his other sons. And there was no way he would trust them again with the second son of Rachel.
Vs 6 Now Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed down to him with [their] faces to the ground. When Joseph saw his brothers he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and spoke to them harshly. And he said to them, "Where have you come from?" And they said, "From the land of Canaan, to buy food." But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him. Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about them, and said to them, "You are spies; you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land." Then they said to him, "No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. "We are all sons of one man; we are honest men, your servants are not spies."
Its really ironic that they claim they are honest men. They were guilty of dishonesty and treachery of the lowest level. But it’s typical of man that when he thinks of himself, he really doesn’t see himself as being an evil person. We tend to gloss over our sin while putting other’s sins under a microscope. But repentance cannot begin without first a conviction of your sin, and a confession of it.
Yet Joseph said to them, "No, but you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land!" But they said, "Your servants are twelve brothers [in all,] the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no longer alive." Joseph said to them, "It is as I said to you, you are spies; by this you will be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here! "Send one of you that he may get your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies." So he put them all together in prison for three days.
Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger: He spoke through an interpreter (he did not yet want to reveal that he spoke Hebrew), and did not reveal his identity to his brothers, but treated them roughly instead. Joseph did this guided by the Holy Spirit. This wasn’t taking revenge or twisting the knife. The Bible says that one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of our sin. And so God planned it this way not only to save them from famine but to bring them under conviction, leading to repentance, that He might bring reconciliation with God and with Joseph.
And in this, we see Joseph as another picture of Jesus. Jesus sees who we are long before we see who He is. He recognizes you for who you really are, not who you pretend to be, He sees you as one who has sinned against God — and yet He still loves you and works to bring you to reconciliation to Him.
Notice also that Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them. Joseph wasn’t just playing games with his bothers. It’s quite possible that if it were up to Joseph, he would have revealed himself to his brothers right then and there. But God recalled the dreams to his mind and guided him to be an instrument for the conviction and restoration of his brothers.
It’s interesting also that Joseph puts them in prison for three days. Joseph had suffered in prison for years through no fault of his own. But God uses three days in an Egyptian prison to humble them, and get them willing to submit to what He wanted them to do.
Vs 21 Then they said to one another, "Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us." Reuben answered them, saying, "Did I not tell you, 'Do not sin against the boy'; and you would not listen? Now comes the reckoning for his blood." They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them. He turned away from them and wept. But when he returned to them and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
Their guilty conscience told them this complicated mess was because of the way they treated Joseph before. The quickness with which they associated these events with their sin against Joseph meant they often remembered that sin. In fact, I think Reuben’s response about how this was a reckoning for his blood might indicate that they thought that surely Joseph had died as a slave in Egypt. They didn’t expect him to survive for 25 years. But God was quickening their conscience, that He might bring them under conviction. There wasn’t really a logical connection between their current situation and their previous treatment of Joseph, but a guilty conscience sees every trouble as the penalty for your sin.
Joseph was overcome with emotion as he saw and understood this work of God in the conscience of his brothers. God had to do a deep work in the hearts of these brothers for the relationship to be reconciled. There could be no quick and easy, “We are sorry, Joseph!” in this situation. Simply being sorry for the consequences of your sin is not repentance. God guided events so the brothers saw their sin clearly and repented completely before Joseph’s true identity was revealed and their relationship was restored.
Vs 25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain and to restore every man's money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. And thus it was done for them. So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there. As one [of them] opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money; and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. Then he said to his brothers, "My money has been returned, and behold, it is even in my sack." And their hearts sank, and they [turned] trembling to one another, saying, "What is this that God has done to us?”
Whether he was aware of it or not, God guided Joseph to do some strange things that would bring about true repentance and reconciliation with the brothers. God was working His plan through Joseph. This wasn’t just as if Joseph was playing practical jokes on his brothers or just trying to make life difficult. We don’t know how much he may have sensed it, but this was all guided by God.
So we see that Joseph gave them provisions and even gave them their money back before they were reconciled to him. They had yet to repent or ask forgiveness — yet He loved them and provided for them. He was gracious to them and they didn’t even know it! In the same way, Jesus provides for us while we were yet sinners, and gives us undeserved grace. Some of His providence we can see immediately, some we may not understand until later — but He gives to us even before we were reconciled to Him.
But the goodness of Joseph, much like the goodness of God, only increased the guilt of their conscience. Notice they say, "What is this that God has done to us?” They seem to be starting to recognize that God must be working through these events, though they don’t understand it.
Vs 29 When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, "The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly with us, and took us for spies of the country. But we said to him, 'We are honest men; we are not spies. We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.' The man, the lord of the land, said to us, 'By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me and take [grain for] the famine of your households, and go. But bring your youngest brother to me that I may know that you are not spies, but honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.’"
Vs 35 Now it came about as they were emptying their sacks, that behold, every man's bundle of money [was] in his sack; and when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were dismayed. Their father Jacob said to them, "You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me." Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, "You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him [back] to you; put him in my care, and I will return him to you." But Jacob said, "My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If harm should befall him on the journey you are taking, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
The fact was, that Jacob believed a lie. He had believed the lie of the brothers concerning Joseph. He believes that Simeon is no more, though we know that wasn’t true, and God would restore Simeon as well as Joseph to him. But what that illustrates is that if we believe what isn’t true, whether it be a lie of the devil or a lie of man, then believing a lie can deprive us of the blessing of what is true.
The truth of the gospel tells us that God provides forgiveness, and life. But the lie of the devil says that our sin is too great, that God will not forgive us. The lie of the devil says that the life that God gives is bondage, that we will lose our freedom, while in fact our sin is bondage. But if we believe the lie, then in effect we make it true. We must believe the truth, and the truth will set you free.
At the very moment Jacob was saying “all these things are against me,” God was working out His plan. There was a plan in all this, even when Jacob couldn’t see it or feel it.The plan was not only good for Jacob and his family but would impact all history. God was working all things together for good (Romans 8:28).
The motto of too many Christians is all these things are against me. We see our trails as just needless suffering. We even think God must be against us. We see the present circumstances as a dead end that blocks our way, that we cannot circumvent. Instead, our motto should be Romans 8:28: And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. God isn’t saying that every individual circumstance is good in of itself, but that God can and will work everything, even what seems evil, together for good to those who love God, who the people who are called according to His purpose.
Jacob, however, is still learning to trust God. Jacob had wrestled with God his whole life, always trying to maintain his independence, trying to direct the outcome of his life to his advantage. God wanted what was best for Jacob, though Jacob doesn’t seem to want to trust God completely. But through these twisted, circuitous ways, God will bring about reconciliation for Jacob and his sons, and provide for them a way of escape from the famine, and make them into a great nation according to the promise given to Abraham.
God’s promises to Abraham would be fulfilled, and His plan for the Savior of the world of whom Joseph was a type, His plan would be fulfilled through the lives of these unfaithful, unworthy men. God had spoken to Abraham so many years before back in Genesis 15:13-14 [God] said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.
God has a plan that He is working through the ages, to bring many sons into His kingdom, to give us a future and an eternal inheritance. He brings us to glory through many sufferings and trials, but He has determined that we would be made into the sons and daughters of God by His grace and mercy and by His provision. We must simply trust God and submit to Him as Lord, and He will work everything together for good.
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