Genesis Chapter 42-43 – John Karmelich

1. There is a cute riddle that goes as follows: What is the definition of “minor” surgery?

a) The answer is surgery on someone other than yourself. J

b) When you’re set to have a routine operation, there is no such thing as a “routine operation” or “minor surgery”. When it is you about to go under the knife, it is difficult, scary and important, no matter what anyone else tells you.

c) The surgery is usually needed. It may be the best thing for you. But it doesn’t stop you from worrying about it. Further, there is often pain prior to the surgery, which is why you need it in the first place. There is often pain right afterwards, as your body recovers.

d) In a lot of ways, life is like that surgery. Visualize God as a surgeon saying:

i) “Yes, this is going to hurt. I’m going to do this to you to make you better. It may hurt for awhile afterwards, but it is the best thing for you. Yes are going to have pain prior to the surgery itself, but my job is to make you better.

2. I open with this riddle because this section of Genesis is about testing and trials.

a) This is not about surgery, but we are going to deal with pain. That pain is due the affects of worrying about the situation at hand. God is working in the background of this section “making people better”.

i) Joseph for all intents and purposes, is through with his suffering.

ii) He is now the #2 man in Egypt.

b) These two chapters’ focus on Joseph’s brothers. It is their turn. The brothers don’t have to go through all the years of slavery and prison, but they don’t get off for free either.

c) The word “prison” usually refers to a physical location. The word slave is a literal state for many humans. In today’s world, we often use “prison” and “slave” to describe a mental state of mind. When you are trapped with hurts, worries, etc., it is often described as being in “prison” or a “slave” to some action.

i) These two chapters are about being set free. Joseph was through his trials. His brothers would not have to experience Joseph’s level of slavery and jail, but they still had the “mental jail” and “mental” slavery. They still had the guilt of what they did to Joseph many years ago. These two chapters focus on the brothers being mentally “set free”. It is about their mental maturity.

ii) The personal application of this chapter is not just to read the story of Joseph and his brothers, but it is see how God is working in our lives. God is working in the background trying to set you free of your own imprisonment and slavery. It is about realizing your past sins and mistakes, confessing them and “getting on” with your life in a better relationship with God.

iii) That is what we are going to read about with Joseph’s brothers in Chapters 42-43.

iv) It has been about 13 years since they first sold Joseph into slavery.

v) They have been carrying that guilt around all this time, as it will be evident in these chapters. Joseph may have been set free from prison, but mentally, the brothers are still in prison. Joseph was called to set them free.

3. What I want you to see through these chapters is the method and tests that Joseph’s brothers, and their father Jacob go through.

a) Let’s face it, Joseph was the #2 man in Egypt. He could have simply sent an army to go find his family, reveal who he was and they all live happily ever after in Egypt.

b) Joseph’s brothers don’t know who Joseph is, until that fact is revealed in Chapter 44.

c) In these two chapters, we are going to read of the trials and suffering Joseph’s brother and their father go through.

d) Which leads back to my favorite question about Genesis, which is the “why” question.

i) Why go to all of this trouble?

ii) Why does Joseph accuse his brothers of being spies and put them in prison? Why did God allow a large famine to occur just to get Joseph’s brothers to see Joseph?

iii) The “big-picture” idea is that God tests us. What is difficult for us to see is that all the events of our lives are “God-filtered”. Living day by day makes it difficult for us to see the big picture. All of the “coincidences”, trials and tests we read about are all for the purpose of testing the faith of Joseph’s brothers.

iv) If Joseph had simply revealed who he was to his brothers on “Day 1”, his brothers never would have matured in their faith toward God. Joseph would never know if they had changed, or they were “the same old brothers”.

a) So why did Joseph test his brothers? Revenge?

(1) If that were true, Joseph could have just thrown them in prison and say, “I’ll see in a few years like I had to suffer”.

(2) The text does not say why Joseph wanted to test them.

(3) Maybe he just wanted to see if they had changed. Maybe he just wanted to see if they felt any remorse for their crimes.

v) This is a question I’m going to come back to at the end of this lesson. I believe the answer is, “If God wants us to have a relationship with him, at has to be on God’s terms”. If Joseph, who is the second most powerful man alive (representing Jesus in this word-picture), wants us as Christians to be “a family again”, then their first has to come testing and confession, to free us of our sins. That way we can have that peaceful relationship that God desires that we have with him.

a) What you do see through the next two chapters is the softening of Joseph as he realized his brothers had truly repented of their sins.

b) I take the view that once Joseph realized they not only felt guilt for their past sins, but actually repented (a desire to change for the better), Joseph forgave them of their sins the same way God forgives us when we simply ask for forgiveness and at the same time, truly desire to change for the better and act upon that.

4. Before I jump into the text, the other “big-picture” idea to get is some of the prophetic (“word-picture” ideas tied to Jesus. We’ll tackle some of those as we go.

a) Joseph’s brothers and their father, collectively represent the nation of Israel as all of the brothers form the “12 tribes” of Israel.

b) It is an interesting word-picture that the “first time” they saw Joseph, they didn’t recognize him. On the “second time”, they still didn’t recognize Joseph, and Joseph revealed who he was to them. What does that mean prophetically?

c) Many Evangelical Christians see this as a prophecy between Jesus and the Nation of Israel. On Jesus’ “first trip” the nation of Israel collectively didn’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus knew he was going to be rejected, but still reached out and ministered to the same people who would reject him. (Compare this to the word picture of Joseph “feeding for free” his family in this chapter, despite the fact they didn’t recognize him!

d) When you read Stephen’s speech in Acts Chapter 7, Stephen picks up on this fact as a word-picture of Israel’s failure to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. (Acts 7:13)

e) I personally take the view that when Jesus comes back, the nation of Israel, corporately will realize their error and see Jesus as the Messiah. In that sense, Joseph is a “word-picture” of Jesus who will reveal himself to the Nation of Israel on his Second Coming.

a) They (Israel) will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. (Zechariah 12:10b NIV)

5. Genesis 42, Verse 1: When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you just keep looking at each other?" ² He continued, "I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die."

a) To summarize these verses: Jacob and his sons needed food. They knew that Egypt had food to sell. Jacob is telling his sons to stop moping around and go to Egypt to buy food.

b) To understand these first 2 verses, we need to back up to the last 2 verses of Chapter 41:

i) When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt. And all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the world. (Genesis 41:56-57, NIV)

ii) Visualize Joseph being in charge of selling grain. I picture foreign dignitaries coming to him with money and livestock in hand. Joseph had to be on his guard against spies and thieves. When your country has lots of “stuff” and others don’t, there is always the fear of being attacked.

iii) You had to wonder if Joseph thought, “I wonder what ever happened to my brothers and my father? I wonder if they will ever show up in this line one day?

c) With all of that in mind, Jacob is telling his 11 sons (Jacob is in Egypt), “Hey, why are all of you sitting there moping around? We’re out of food. There is food in the neighboring country of Egypt. We’re going to starve if we don’t get some. Get moving”.

i) The text specifically says, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?”

a) Jacob wanted his sons (they were in their 30’s) to go to Egypt.

b) The brothers are thinking, “We can’t go to Egypt. We sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt. We might see him there. We can’t handle the guilt”.

(1) Guilt is something you want to bury. That is what the brothers were facing here. Just being in Egypt would surface that guilt.

c) How do I know the brothers were thinking this? The answer is to read this chapter. When Joseph accuses the brothers of being spies, their first instinctive answer is “It is because of what we did to Joseph”. (Verse 21).

ii) God wants us to have a relationship with him. Guilt blocks that relationship. God is putting the brothers through this trial to deal with that guilt. My point is to be aware of the trials and tests we go through have a purpose.

6. Verse 3: Then ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴ But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him. ⁵ So Israel's sons were among those who went to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.

a) Notice that Jacob is called “Jacob” in Verse 4, and Jacob is called “Israel” in Verse 5.

i) In this chapter, we get back to Joseph’s father Jacob.

ii) We haven’t read about Jacob in seven chapters.

iii) Remember that God renamed Jacob “Israel”. Yet the Book of Genesis seems to go “back and forth” between calling him Jacob and calling him “Israel”.

a) Most commentators believe there is a clue to the story based on which name Jacob or Israel is being used at that moment.

b) Jacob means (among other things), “conniver”. The concept is that when Jacob is not doing God’s will, but trying to survive on his own wits, the bible uses the name “Jacob”. The name Israel means, “struggle with God”. When that title is used, Jacob is usually attempting to do God’s will.

c) In summary, be aware of when “Jacob” and “Israel” are being used in the chapters after God renames him. It is usually a clue to whether or not Jacob/Israel is currently doing God’s will.

b) In Verse 4, “Jacob” tells 10 of his sons that “I’m keeping my youngest son Benjamin back here, because I don’t trust you. In Verse 5, “Israel’s sons go to buy grain.

i) I’m going to argue, by that fact alone, it was God’s intention that all of the sons go to Egypt to buy grain.

ii) Jacob’s name implies “I’ll do it my way and not God’s way”. It was not God’s will for Benjamin to stay home.

iii) It was God’s will for all the sons to go. Thus we read of “Israel’s sons” going to buy grain. God’s intention was to get the family down to Egypt for about 400 years and start the whole “Exodus” process.

iv) Which leads back to the question of “How do we know something is God’s will or not? A good clue is whether or not a project is successful or a failure. If we “try something”, and it is a dismal failure, God wants us to learn from that process and try something else. The brothers’ first trip to Egypt for all intents and purposes, was a dismal failure. It was on the “second trip” that the family was blessed beyond comprehension.

7. Verse 6: Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the one who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph's brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. ⁷ As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. "Where do you come from?" he asked. "From the land of Canaan," they replied, "to buy food."

a) Here was Joseph watching over those who bought and sold grain.

i) I visualize more than one location for grain sales. The grain was probably stored in different places throughout Egypt. Joseph was in charge of the guys who sold the food. I’m guessing that Joseph “happened” to be at the right location at the right time when his brothers showed up.

b) When Joseph first saw his brothers, his first reaction was harsh.

i) I’m speculating that years of pent up anger came out of Joseph at his brothers.

ii) Joseph at this point in his life, had “some” realization that God was behind his promotion, but still saw his brothers as at fault.

iii) Remember that Joseph will eventually forgive his brothers. The “climax” verse to this whole section on Joseph will come in the last chapter of Genesis when Joseph says, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20 NIV).

iv) In the meantime, Joseph is still harboring some anger at this point. Let’s face it, these are the guys who sold Joseph into slavery and started his years of hardship. It would be “natural” for Joseph not to trust them to simply buy food.

v) The important thing to note is that God uses that anger to test Joseph’s brothers.

vi) Remember that the main theme of this section of Genesis is about testing.

a) God is working on Joseph to test him and build his faith in God.

b) God wants Joseph to comprehend that He was behind all of this.

c) At the same time, God is also testing Joseph’s brothers, to see if they have matured in their faith and their character.

d) These two chapters will show that the brothers have changed their ways. Joseph puts them through a number of tests to show that to be true.

8. Verse 8: Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. ⁹ Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, "You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected."

a) These two verses are the ones I wrested with more than any other. Notice the text does not say, “Joseph remembered how his brothers sold him into slavery and then accused them of being spies.”

b) My question is “Why does the text say Joseph remembered the dream about all of his brothers bowing down to him and then Joseph accused them of being spies?

c) I believe the answer is Joseph just got “God-focused” at this one moment. Joseph realized that dream he had as a child was from God and just came true.

d) Joseph calling his brothers spies was the first step in a series of tests for his brothers.

e) I believe God put that accusation into Joseph’s brain at that moment so as to test them.

f) Joseph remembered his brothers as being non-trustworthy. The kind of people who would sell their own brother into slavery can’t be trusted. Thus in Joseph’s mind, it may have been a fair accusation.

9. Verse 10: "No, my lord," they answered. "Your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹ We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies."

a) Notice the phrase, “We are honest men”.

i) These are the guys who sold Joseph into slavery and lied about it to their father!

ii) I suspect Joseph rolled his eyes when he heard that one!

iii) This would also explain Joseph’s response in the next verse:

10. Verse 12: "No!" he said to them. "You have come to see where our land is unprotected." ¹³ But they replied, "Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more."

a) Remember that the brothers did not recognize Joseph.

i) It has been roughly 20 years since they last seen him.

a) Joseph is wearing Egyptian “garb” and possibly Egyptian makeup.

b) The last thing the brothers could ever imagine is that this was Joseph.

b) Notice the brothers said at the end of Verse 13: “One is no more”.

i) They figured Joseph was dead. To them, Joseph no longer existed.

ii) I stated in my introduction that you can compare this whole story to Jesus and his relation to the Nation of Israel.

a) In Genesis the brothers made two trips to see Joseph.

b) On the first trip, Joseph “recognized them”, but not the other way around.

c) It is a picture of how Jesus is the Messiah, but is not recognized by the Jewish nation.

d) Notice the word picture of “Joseph is Dead”. In that sense, Joseph was “resurrected” in the next chapter because he became alive to them on their “second visit”. In the same way, I believe the Jewish nation will see Jesus alive again when he comes the second time.

11. Joseph said to them, "It is just as I told you: You are spies! ¹⁵ And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶ Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!" ¹⁷ And he put them all in custody for three days.

a) Notice Joseph says, “This is how you will be tested”.

i) The brothers said, “We have one more brother at home with dad, and we’ve come to buy food for the group.” Joseph is responding with, “If your story is true, nine of the ten brothers can go to prison, while one of you goes and gets your younger brother. That way, I’ll know you are not lying”.

ii) Whether or not Joseph realized it or not, this was all part of God’s plan to get the whole family to Egypt.

b) Remember that the youngest brother is from the same mother Rachel, as Joseph.

i) Joseph has not seen Benjamin, since Benjamin was an infant.

ii) Joseph may have thought of this idea just to see his younger brother.

c) OK, time to take a time out and let all of this sink in.

i) What we have a dialogue between Joseph and his brothers.

ii) All of this makes a nice story, but what does any of it have to do with my life?

a) First of all, it is a reminder of how God works in our life. Remember that Genesis does not record any direct revelations from God to Joseph. There is no “And God said to Joseph” anywhere in the bible. God mainly works through the circumstances of our lives. We may not realize moment by moment that God is working in the background but he is.

b) Second, this story reminds us, “No one in life gets away with anything”.

(1) God did want Joseph in Egypt, and God allowed Joseph to be sold into slavery. That doesn’t excuse the brother’s actions. You can’t excuse your sin just because it worked out for a greater purpose.

c) Third, notice how God works in our lives to reveal our sins.

(1) I seriously doubt that either Joseph or his brothers understood that this whole story benefited their individual relationships with God.

(2) With Joseph, he will understand how God is in control of the whole situation. With the brothers, God is working on getting them to confess their sins as to have a better relationship with Him. God’s “tests” have a purpose in our lives, although we often can only see them in hindsight.

12. Verse 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 stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. ²⁰ 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.

a) In Verse 18, Joseph reveals that he worships God. That would be the God we know. J

i) In Verses 15-16, Joseph “swears by the name of Pharaoh” to his brothers, but that is it. “Swearing by Pharaoh” was Joseph doing his job as food administrator.

ii) In Verse 18 Joseph will let all but one brother get out of prison, and at that point, Joseph mentions how he “fears God.”

iii) As Joseph “lightens” the punishment on his brothers, it may be (speculation) that Joseph is getting more “God-focused” than “Pharaoh-focused”.

b) From the Christian perspective, you can have a field day with the word picture of Joseph setting the brothers free on the “third day”. Well, ‘nuff said. J

c) Notice the brothers don’t stop and ponder, “How does this guy know our God anyway?”

13. Verse 21: 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 upon us."

a) Notice the first thing Joseph’s brothers due is to blame themselves for Joseph’s “death”.

i) Maybe it was subconscious. Let’s face it, the #2 man in Egypt “resembled” the Joseph they knew and maybe that struck a nerve.

b) The point is the brothers were carrying around that guilt for many years.

i) I’ve heard stories of fugitives who have been on the run for years be grateful that they were finally caught. It alleviates the guilt they have been carried for years.

ii) Think about all the crimes committed where the criminal then turns around and kills themselves because they can’t bear the thought of living with the guilt.

iii) I’m convinced one of man’s greatest needs is to know they are forgiven of a sin.

a) Much of the bible is designed to teach us how we are forgiven if we are simply willing to confess that sin and be willing to change our lifestyle.

b) “Testing” by God is often a process of bringing sin “up to the surface” so we can confess it out of our system. That is the story we have here.

14. Verse 22: 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." ²³ They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter.

a) In Verse 22 Reuben is scolding his brothers. Back in Chapter 37, Reuben discouraged his brothers from trying to kill Joseph. The text also implies (Genesis 37:39) that Reuben was not around at the moment Joseph was sold into slavery.

b) Remember Reuben is the oldest and feels responsible. Here we are at least 13 years after Joseph was sold into slavery and they still feel guilty about it .

i) Guilt from a sin does not die with old age. It gets buried at times, but it comes out when you least expect it. Here were the brothers suffering in Egypt. Their first thought was, “this has something to do with the Joseph incident from 13 years ago.” The guilty conscious was coming out.

c) In Verse 23, Joseph overheard all of this, but didn’t let on that he heard.

i) Remember that Joseph is testing them. Joseph wanted to see if they have changed. Just because they felt guilt about the past, doesn’t mean they’ve changed.

15. Verse 24: He turned away from them and began to weep, but then turned back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.

a) Verse 24 mentions Joseph crying.

i) Was it because he missed them, despite all they did to him?

ii) Was it because Joseph saw they still felt guilty about what they did?

iii) My personal view is that Joseph knew this test was necessary. It was all part of God’s plan to get the whole family to Egypt. Joseph’s tears may have been “tears of joy” as Joseph saw his brothers realizing their guilt about what they did to him.

b) There are times when God mourns for us, but doesn’t intervene. Don’t assume that just because God is not interfering in your life, He doesn’t care. Testing is necessary, and testing requires the “tester” to step back and see the results, despite the pain.

c) Most parents are aware of this. Sometimes you have to let your children suffer a little just to understand what they are going through. There are limits of what a parent should allow. In order to let a child mature, you give them responsibility and let them grow, and “see what happens”. This is the case here with Joseph and his brothers.

d) Remember that all the brothers are in jail. On “Day 3”, they all get let go, but Simeon is kept behind. A natural question is, why Simeon?

i) The text does not say. His name is not listed in the chapter where Joseph is sold into slavery. I suspect it was because Simeon was the second oldest. Reuben, the oldest was not around when Joseph was sold into slavery. Therefore, Simeon had to bear responsibility since he was the second oldest.

ii) Besides, if Reuben is the oldest, he needs to be the leader to go explain the whole situation to dad.

16. 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, ²⁶ they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.

a) Joseph let all the brothers go home except Simeon. Joseph secretly put the brother’s money back in the sack for the return trip.

b) Again, this is about testing. Joseph knew the famine was going to last seven years and they would return. Therefore, he was testing them to see if they would return the money. <