Genesis 42

Genesis 42

Watch

Read

Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt

42 When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2 And he said, “Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.”

3 So Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “Lest some calamity befall him.” 5 And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

6 Now Joseph was governor over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth. 7 Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, “Where do you come from?”

And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”

8 So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!”

10 And they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies.”

12 But he said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

13 And they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.”

14 But Joseph said to them, “It is as I spoke to you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ 15 In this manner you shall be tested: By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies!” 17 So he put them all together in prison three days.

18 Then Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God: 19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you, go and carry grain for the famine of your houses. 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, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.”

22 And Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us.” 23 But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter. 24 And he turned himself away from them and wept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.

The Brothers Return to Canaan

25 Then Joseph gave a command to fill their sacks with grain, to restore every man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. Thus he did for them. 26 So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there. 27 But as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack. 28 So he said to his brothers, “My money has been restored, and there it is, in my sack!” Then their hearts failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, “What is this that God has done to us?”

29 Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying: 30 “The man who is lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. 31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan.’ 33 Then the man, the lord of the country, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for the famine of your households, and be gone. 34 And bring your youngest brother to me; so I shall know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. I will grant your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.’ ”

35 Then it happened as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly each man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. 36 And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me.”

37 Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.”

38 But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.”

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ge 42:1–38.

• Transcript

  We are ready. Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to Coffee and devotions is where every weekday morning you and I are supposed to get together and get into God's word and grown our love for the Lord together. And then 2023 Lord willing, we'll make it from Genesis to Leviticus, believe it or not, we are actually still on schedule. So we are at Genesis chapter 42 this morning. I hope that you have a good lunch break right now and that we're able to get into God's Word together. I'm gonna have some coffee. I don't know. Maybe you haven't lemonade on a nice warm day. And we'll pray and we'll get into God's Word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. It is a blessing to us every morning to get to open Your Word and read it. We pray, Lord, that as we get into your Word this morning, lunchtime, Lord that you would care for us. We need your Spirit to teach us in Jesus's name, Amen. Okay, so we're at Genesis chapter 42. If you'll remember from the last time we were together, Joseph has been elevated to second in command. The famine has come upon the land of Egypt, and Joseph has stored up all the grain. And so now the story continues Genesis 42. When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, when you look at one another, and he said, Indeed, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down to that place and by for us there that we may live and not die. One of the elders in our church, his name is Jim filling. And his dad used to say all the time, right farmers are good at this they come up with these sayings. He would say to his boys don't just stand there with teeth in your mouth. Like do something right well that's what he's Jacob does say those boys your Why do you look at one another? I don't just stand there looking at each other go down to Egypt. I heard there's great down there. I might as well go by something. So Joseph's 10 brothers went down to buy green in Egypt. But Jacob did not send it Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers for he less said less someone sorry, less some calamity befall him. And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed for the famine was in the land of Canaan. So we find out that the famine is not just in Egypt, but it's a regional famine. Now Joseph was governor over the land and it was he who sold all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed down before Him with their faces to the earth. Joseph saw his brothers and recognize them but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them then he said to them, where do you come from? And they said, from the land of Canaan to buy food. So Joseph recognize his brothers, but they did not recognize him. Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them and said to them, you are spies. You have come to see the nakedness of the land. And they said to him, No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. We are all one man sons. We are honest men. Your servants are not spies. But he said to them, no. But you have come to seek the nakedness of the land. And they said, Your servants are 12 Brothers, the son of one man in the land of Canaan, and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more. Now you wonder about the statement. Don't you? And one is no more Joseph knows they're talking about him. Your heard their plot. They were going to kill him. What have they told their dad? Are they still holding on to a falsehood a lie? Or do they assume that when he was sawed off to the Ishmael lights, this lever would be so bad that he would be killed? You can imagine the flood of emotions that are coming back to Joseph. Verse 14, but Joseph said to them, it is i it is as I spoke to you saying, You are spies, in this matter, you shall be tested by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here since one of you and let them bring your brother and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh. Surely you are spies. But he put so he put them all together in prison three days. Then Joseph said to them the third day, do this and live for I fear God. If you are honest, man, let your brothers be confined to your prison house. But you go and carry grain for the famine of your houses and bring your youngest brother to mean so your words will be verified and you shall not die. And they did so. And they said to one another, we are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, we would not hear therefore this distress has come upon us and Reuben answered them saying, Did I not speak to you saying do not sin against the boy and you would not listen Therefore, behold, His blood is now required of us. But they did not know that Joseph understood them for he spoke to them through an interpreter and he turned himself away from them, and wept. Then he returned to them and talked with him, and he took Simeon from them, and bound him before their eyes Josias is standing there as they're arguing with each other in Hebrew. He has been speaking to them through an interpreter and and here's the anguish. They remembered Josef's tears when he was a young man. They remember his pleading is crying his begging them please please don't do this to me. And they said no is bloods on us. Reuben and Rubens I told her not to do this since all yours fault. And Joseph he can't handle this. He turns away and he starts to weep. And he takes Semyon from from them. Bind them up. Then Joseph gave a command to fill their sacks with grain to restore every man's money to his sack and to give them provisions for the journey. Thus he did for them. So they looked so they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there. But as one of them opened his sack to give food, give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money. And there it was in the mouth of a sack and he said to his brothers, my money has been restored. And there it is. In my sack. Then their hearts failed them. And they were afraid of saying to one another, what is this that God has done to us? Why are they so afraid? They're afraid because they've already been accused of being spies. Their brothers Simeon is rotten in a prison in Egypt. And there's their monies back in their sacks. What is the Pharaoh gonna think that somehow it's stolen away this green? So I think that God is still judging them. Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them saying, the man who is Lord of the land spoke roughly to us and took us for spies in the country. But we said to him, we are honest men, we are not spies. We are 12 brothers, sons of our father one is no more and the youngest is with our father in the land of Canaan. Then the man, the Lord of the country said to us, by this I will know that you are honest men, leave one of your brothers here with me and take food for the family and for your households and be gone. And bring your youngest brother to me. So I shall know that you are not spies, but that you are honest man, I will grant your brother to you. And you may trade in the land. Then it happened as they empty their their sacks. That's surprisingly each man's bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. And Jacob their father said to them, you have bereaved me. Joseph is no more. Simeon is no more and you want to take Benjamin all these things are against me. Then Ruben spoke to his father saying, kill my two sons. If I do not bring back to you, bring him back to you. But put him in my hands and I will bring him back to what he said my son shall not go down with you for your brother is dead, and He is not and he is left alone, if any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave. He's everybody's in anguish, everybody's afraid. The lie has been perpetrated, that Joseph is dead, torn apart by a wild animal somewhere. They come back and they retell the stories of their father, Jacob and all their money is in their sacks and that makes them even more afraid. And Rubin whom Jacob doesn't trust. Remember where these two kids came from? He's gone into his own. Concubine his own wife Bilhah. He says, kill my two sons if I don't bring Benjamin back. He says no. Chance. Jacobs dead or Joseph said simians dead. If Benjamin is killed, I might as well die. Jacob can't stand this. And everybody thinks this is God's judgment upon them. You imagine Jacob wandering in his heart God what is going on here? What's this whole story about man we've been going on now for for almost 12 minutes. What's what is this all about? This is Josephs dream coming true. And God being in charge weaving the golden thread of providential redemption through the whole history. Joseph doesn't understand what's going on why all this has happened. His brothers don't understand why the money is back in their sacks. His father is in distress because he's worried that he's going to have now three boys who are dead I'm sure Jacob is wondering god are you gonna keep the promise our family seems like they're gonna die. Am I really gonna be a nation are you really gonna bless me? Are you really going to give me the land of Canaan? And the answer is going to be yes. And God is weaving the tapestry of the story together. And it looks like raw emotions. It looks like messy family dynamics. But God is going to work even through this for the redemption of his people. And this is going to be the entire story of Genesis and Exodus that God is working in and through history. For the redemption of his people in surprising ways, so we can trust him. We can trust him. That if you wrote this story, he also writes our stories. If you wrote this story, he also wrote the story of Christ. And He is the one who is writing our story as well that all things together are all things work together for our good even though we might not be able to see that so do you have faith? Do you have trust? Do you cling to him? Feel free to let me know down in the comments. What do you think is the best verse that ties all this together? Let's pray. God we pray that we would trust in you in the good times and in the bad times. Lord, that when things are difficult in our lives, that we would cling to who you are for you indeed are the one who brought about the fulfillment of the promise made Joseph's dreams come true. And you are the one who indeed is going to bring the end of our lives together for your glory. In Jesus's name, Amen. Well, may the Lord bless you may walk in the peace of Jesus Christ. And I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Transcribed by https://otter.ai