DAY FOURTEEN: 

The Brothers Return 

Genesis 43:1-44:34 

Good morning! Yesterday we saw what happened when Joseph's brothers showed up in Egypt to buy grain. They hadn't seen each other for at least twenty years. Joseph's brothers didn't recognize him (he was a boy of 17 when they sold him, and now he's dressed as an Egyptian). But he certainly recognized them! Joseph began a cat-and-mouse game with them, which continues in today's reading.

The famine was still in full force in Canaan and throughout that region. The food that Jacob's sons brought back from Egypt was nearly gone. He asked them to go back and buy some more. From this point on Judah takes the lead. Judah was the one who suggested selling Joseph into slavery rather than killing him (Genesis 37:26-27). He promised to take care of Benjamin and to offer his life as surety for his little brother's. He and his brothers didn't resent Benjamin's favored position as they had with Joseph. They saw the terrible sorrow they had caused their father. It took some doing, but Judah finally convinced Jacob to allow Benjamin to come with them. It was either that or let all of them, including Benjamin, starve. He sent his sons back to Egypt with double the money (to cover the cost of the grain they bought and then found their money in the sacks), along with a few of the fine products of the land, like pistachios, almonds and honey. 

They set out and came before Joseph once more. When he saw Benjamin, who had been a little boy when Joseph last saw him, he ordered his servants to slaughter an animal and prepare a feast for these visitors from Canaan. Joseph treated them harshly the first time and now is throwing a dinner for them? The brothers wondered if this was part of a plan to do them harm. Worried about the money in their sacks, they approached Joseph's chief assistant and explained what had happened. I love the assistant's reply: "Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your money." I wonder if Joseph himself paid for the grain they took back so that the books would balance. Then the assistant went to the prison and brought Simeon to the feast. They were all together, twelve brothers, in one place for the first time in two decades!

Joseph arrived home for the feast. He asked if their (and his) father was well and they answered that he was. He took a close look at Benjamin and asked if this was the youngest brother. His heart melted as he saw his baby brother, now a man in his twenties and all grown up. Joseph was moved to tears, but left the room until he could control his emotions.

The feast began. Joseph sat at a table by himself. Then all of his Egyptian guests were seated together. Finally the eleven brothers were seated by themselves. The Egyptians considered eating with foreigners an abomination. They were seated according to the birth order. How could this man Zaphenath-Panea know this? And when they were all served, Benjamin's plate was heaped high with five times what the others received! They couldn't help but wonder why.

When it came time to leave Joseph played the same trick again. He ordered that their money be put back into their sacks. He also ordered that his prized silver cup, from which he drank at the banquet, be put in Benjamin's sack. The brothers set out for home but didn't get far. The police overtook them just outside the city and brought them back. Joseph accused them of stealing his cup. They denied it and said that if he finds his cup among them that man shall die and we'll become your slaves. Sure enough, when they opened the sacks, there was Joseph's silver cup in Benjamin's sack! The other brothers tore their clothes, a sign of deep grief at the loss of a loved one. They were grieved for their father, who would certainly die when he heard the news of Benjamin's execution and their enslavement. Joseph said that he would show mercy. Benjamin would stay and be his slave and the rest were free to go.

This is where we see a changed heart in Judah. He was the one who came up with the idea of selling Joseph instead of killing him. Now he was the one pleading for Benjamin. He told how this would destroy their father and he offered himself as a substitute for Benjamin. He would stay and be a slave in Egypt where he had sent Joseph to be a slave. Just let Benjamin go!

If Joseph was emotional before, just imagine what he was feeling after Judah's speech. You don't have to imagine- just come back for tomorrow's study and see!

Joseph's brothers are changed men. When they took Joseph's bloody coat to Jacob and saw his grief, they regretted what they had done. They were sorry for the bad consequences, and if they could go back in time and change it they would have. But at that point they were not repentant. They were not sorry for how they had sinned against God as well as Jacob and Joseph. They had lived with their guilt for twenty years. When Joseph put them in jail they knew that they deserved to be punished for what they had done. They were more concerned about their father and Benjamin than about themselves. Judah, who thought so little of Joseph, now offered himself as a substitute for Benjamin.

It's important that we know the difference between regret and repentance. Paul gave the Corinthians a stinging rebuke in his first letter. He wrote this in his second letter: "For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death." (2 Corinthians 7:8-10) Have you felt this godly grief, sorrow for your sins, for offending God first and foremost? This godly grief is God's gift to us. It impels us to repent and to trust in Jesus.

I leave you today with this song from the late Keith Green, based on David's prayer in Psalm 51.