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 remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households, 20 and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so. 21 Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” 22 And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” -Genesis 42:18-22
Genesis 41 concluded with the simple statement that “…all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was so severe over all the earth.” Within these words there is a healthy dose of foreshadowing of what is to come in the following chapters. As readers we are not surprised that the narrative then transitions back to the land of Canaan and the household of Jacob where they find themselves in a desperate situation and needing to go to Egypt to purchase food.
Upon arriving in Egypt, Jacob’s sons appeared before their brother Joseph, bowing down to him just as he had dreamed so many years before that they would. We can imagine the emotions that Joseph would have experienced in a moment like this where those with whom he had been raised, but who had later betrayed him, presented themselves before him. With the power he possessed, he could literally have done to them anything that he desired.
Because he was a righteous man, Joseph did not exact revenge upon them, but neither did he immediately reveal himself and extend to them forgiveness. This decision helps to humanize Joseph who certainly harbored justifiable feelings of anger and resentment towards his own flesh and blood who had treated his life so carelessly.
Joseph then accused them of being spies and demanded that they return to Canaan and bring back his brother Benjamin with them. In his rough treatment of them, they recognized that they were receiving the consequences of their own sinful treatment of Joseph (Gen. 42:21-22). This is perhaps the first time that the brothers come to recognize that the God who sees all and knows all does not excuse or forget about sin. Agreeing, they returned to Canaan and consulted with their father who openly lamented all that had occurred.
When the grain again ran out, Jacob agreed to send Benjamin with them so that they might purchase more. When they returned, Joseph prepared a feast for them. He then determined to test, by gauging their reaction to having to leave his brother Benjamin, whether they had concern for their father or if they remained as hardened towards him as they had been when they dealt carelessly with Joseph’s life many years before. Rather than plotting how to once again deceive their father, the brothers, led this time by Judah, protested against Joseph’s demands. Judah in particular offered himself to Joseph in place of Benjamin in order that Jacob might be spared the grief of losing yet another son.
In this portion of the narrative we learn several things. First, God’s sovereign hand was behind all of the previous events and that in all these things He had neither abandoned Joseph nor his family back in Canaan. Second, we see growth within Jacob’s other sons who openly admit their sin and recognize God’s judgment upon them. Along with this, we see in Judah a willingness to substitute himself in the place of Benjamin who was accused of stealing from Joseph. The imagery of substitution and sacrifice in the actions of Judah tell us something about the growth that had occurred in his life following the events of Genesis 38, but also prefigures the actions of Christ, the future descendant of Judah.
Join us this Sunday as we look into God’s Word in order to be conformed into the image of His Son, the one to whom all of the Scriptures point.
Soli Deo Gloria.
-Thomas