Brothers United (Genesis 43-44)

We have seen that God has worked in his providence to bring about the situation in which the brothers of Joseph have bowed down to him and are in a situation in which they are dependent on him if they want to survive through the coming years of famine. The dilemma that a first-time reader would have is how will the brothers come to know that the brother they despised is now their deliverer and provider. And what will be the outcome once they do discover who the second most important person in Egypt is?

 

The wisdom of Joseph

Joseph was a busy man. Yet he had his priorities, and no doubt those priorities at any given time would depend on the current circumstances. He would have to fulfil the responsibilities connected to his role in Egypt as its prime minister. He would have responsibilities in his home and in his family. And at the particular time detailed in this biblical passage, he had priorities in connection with his brothers who did not yet realise who he was. 

 

What would be the priority of Joseph for his brothers? He would want them to have what was needed for life in this world and it was easy for him to identify those needs and to supply them. Indeed, he could supply them liberally as we can see from his words in Genesis 45:11: ‘There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ But Joseph also wanted something much higher for his brothers. He wanted them to have spiritual blessings, to possess within their hearts the hope that had been given to his great grandfather, grandfather, and father by the God of heaven, that through them the nations of the world would be blessed. Joseph would have wanted them to live uprightly in the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And he had known in the past that they had not done so.

 

One dilemma, therefore, that Joseph still had is that he did not know if the words of his brothers were real or just expressions of politeness to him as a political leader whose authority they recognised, or only mere expressions of regret that their past was catching up with them. He had to find out if they had indeed changed in their outlook, so he arranged for them to go through a test. We can read about the test in Genesis 44:1-13. 

 

Basically, the test is how will the ten brothers react to the arrest of the remaining son of Rachel? Previously, they had shown what they thought of Joseph, the other son of Rachel, when they sold him as a slave out of spite and jealousy. When Benjamin was arrested for the arranged crime of stealing Joseph’s cup, what would they do? We should note that the fate for Benjamin was that he would be a slave (44:10), which was what they had done with Joseph. So how would the brothers react?

 

First, they did not abandon Benjamin. It would have been easy for them to say that he would have to accept any punishment that Joseph would decide. But they did not. Instead they tore their clothes, which was a sign of distress. Moreover, instead of fleeing from the place of punishment they all returned with Benjamin to face whatever would happen.

 

It must have been unusual for Joseph to see his brothers standing before him in torn clothes. Did his mind go back to when they tore his coat of him many years previously? There, they were again bowing down to him, confessing their sins against God. Surely, this confession is a bit out of place before one whom they regarded as a stranger to their God. 

 

The change in Judah

For some reason, Judah is now their spokesman. We might have expected Reuben as the oldest son to do this, but then he was not known for his courage. Someone had to speak to Joseph, and Judah rose to the occasion. So far, Judah is an enigma for readers of the Book of Genesis. The previous details given about him were not encouraging. We can think about them, and as we do, we can ask ourselves, ‘Is this a man that God would use?’ And then ask yourself, ‘Why not?’

 

First, when the path initially became very bad for Joseph, Judah was the brother who had suggested that he should be sold rather than killed by them (Gen. 37:26). Yet his suggestion did not come from love, but from a desire to profit financially.

 

Second, we are told in Genesis 38 about how Judah married a Canaanite woman, which raises the question, is he imitating his Uncle Esau, who did the same thing, rather than his father Jacob? The first two sons he had to the Canaanite woman were very sinful and we are told that the Lord slew them both. So Judah was not a man who influenced his sons in the things of God. 

 

Third, there was his involvement with Tamar, his daughter-in-law, and how she led him to fulfil his responsibilities towards her, which he had refused to do (she should have married his third son, but he was reluctant to allow it). Yet, at the time of that incident, in which Tamar trapped him into fulfilling that role himself, Judah was a self-righteous, immoral sinner who was going to put her to death for immorality. But then he had to admit that Tamar was in the right. Maybe to our surprise, we find that she became an ancestor of Jesus through one of the sons she bore to Judah, her father-in-law. God was doing much more at that time than the eye could see. 

 

So the man with a past rises to speak in the present to Joseph. Was there ever such an example of two opposites meeting – Joseph the man with no flaws and Judah the man with many flaws? Yet Judah is not the same man as he was. How do we know this? Because of what he says to Joseph. There are five details in his words that we can highlight. 

 

First, Judah acknowledges God (44:16), which is always a good sign. Judah traces his current predicament to the hand of God. 

 

Second, he confesses that he and his brothers have sinned against God. Probably, he is thinking about what they had done to Joseph, but maybe he is also acknowledging that he and they have a catalogue full of sins from throughout their lives. He is led by God to connect the danger they face to their lives of sin, that the Lord is bringing deserved punishment on them. 

 

Third, he speaks humbly about himself, his brothers and his father and confesses that all of them are the servants of Joseph (a statement in line with Joseph’s dream that they would bow down to him). 

 

Fourth, he speaks the truth and relates the interaction between him and his father before heading off to Egypt for his second visit. 

 

Fifth, he is willing to endure substitutionary suffering if Benjamin goes free and his father is spared distress. 

 

Judah is indeed a new man. Joseph could see and hear the answer to his test. What a difference the grace of God can make in a person! God had been dealing with Judah during the years that he had been dealing with Joseph, and neither Judah nor Joseph were aware of what was happening to one another. 

 

Samuel Rutherford said on one occasion, ‘Many go to heaven with you, and you hear not the sound of their feet in their journey.’ But we can imagine how Joseph and Judah, and the others, would speak about things in later days as they discussed the ways that the Lord led them to himself.

 

The kindness of Joseph

As we can see in the chapter, Joseph could bear it no longer and with great sobbing he told his brothers who he was. We are not surprised that they were shocked at his revealing words. Of course, they were more than shocked because they now suspected that he would take revenge on them for their actions against him. So what did Joseph do?

 

The first action of Joseph was to send the servants and officials away from the room. Why did he do this? Maybe he wanted to hide the sinful actions of his brothers from the knowledge of others. More likely, he wanted their reunion to be one that was for themselves alone.

 

The second action of Joseph was to weep. We know that we can weep when we are happy and when we are sad, and at many stages in between. The best of men weep. After all, Jesus wept on more than once occasion. Paul too speaks about the times when he wept. Here Joseph, who no doubt had wept many times out of sadness because of his circumstances, now weeps for joy. So too do the brothers when they come to terms with the news they have been given. The point is this: the ability to be emotional is part of the reality of our humanity. God did not make us to become stoics, devoid of tears.

 

Then Joseph speaks to his brothers, probably in Hebrew, and says, ‘I am Joseph.’ Before then he had addressed them through an interpreter and the brothers, if they did know it, would have thought his only name was the one given to him by Pharaoh. It is amazing the effect that can be produced by a few words, how they can change completely a situation. Yet in themselves, this self-revelation was not enough because his brothers would not know what he was going to do with them. They needed to hear more from his lips.

 

Joseph does more than speak. After all, one can speak across a room, remaining distant. In addition, Joseph the ruler invites his brothers to come close to him physically. This request would have been unimaginable to the brothers beforehand. Of everything, they could have possibly anticipated that day, this invitation would have been the last. Yet here they were, invited by the one they had sinned against, and invited to come as close to him as possible. On the previous day, they had sat at different tables in the same room. Now they are standing together. They must have wondered what he was going to say.

 

Joseph’s initial words, by themselves, did not sound promising: ‘I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt’ (45:4). Is he going to punish them for that action?  No, because his next words are full of comfort. Joseph speaks to them about God and his providence. He could have rebuked them, but he had heard in the words of Judah that the Lord was doing that already. Now Joseph wanted to console them in their distress. What other form of comfort could he have given to them? The events of the last two decades could only be observed through the providence of God. Other ways of considering them would be flawed.

 

Moreover, Joseph made great promises to them and his father. Yet his promises were connected to obedience to his instructions about what they should say to his father. His concern for his father is very striking. George Lawson observed that Joseph ‘was not forgetful that he was Jacob’s son, although he was become a father to Pharaoh.’ He wanted Jacob to know that his son, although now at the apex of things in Egypt, still saw life through the lens of his faith in God. What he had been told by Jacob years ago was still the framework through which Joseph understood his life. All that had happened to him was by the hand of God.

 

The wonder of restoration

Moses describes the effects of restoration between Joseph and his brothers. In addition to affecting them, it affected the world – the court of Pharaoh; it affected the amount of provisions that they returned home with; and it brought great blessing to Jacob in ways that he could never have imagined.

 

Think about the immediate effect on the brothers. Benjamin would have returned to the house of Joseph in great trepidation. He had been informed by the steward that the punishment for stealing the cup would be a lifetime of servitude. What would have gone through the mind of Benjamin has he listened to the speech of Judah pleading for the freedom of his youngest brother? And what would he have thought as he and Joseph wept on one another’s neck? The outcome for Benjamin was that of liberation, delivered from the fear of his future enslavement.

 

The other brothers were delivered from the chains of the past. We can see that were held by them, but Joseph’s forgiveness set them free. They had observed the beauty of the grace of God in Judah as he made his speech expressing his love for his father and his brother. They had observed the beauty of divine grace in the weeping eyes and comforting voice of Joseph, the one they sold as a slave and who had delivered Benjamin from a similar fate. 

 

They were also experiencing the benefits of Joseph acting as the family heir. While he no longer wore the special coat given to him by their father to indicate his role, they now could see how great his abilities were to provide for them. They had a choice to make – live in the benefits that he could provide or go back to Canaan and starve. Usually, it was the elder brother’s role to provide for the other family members. Here is Joseph, the one that had so mistreated, ensuring that they would be blessed. God had marvellously overturned the situation and made it into one of astonishing blessing. 

 

Because of the good that Joseph had brought to Egypt, it is not surprising that Pharaoh invited the family to come to Egypt. Probably, Pharaoh when he heard about the brothers asked Joseph what he would wish to happen to them. That is why Pharaoh’s decision is so similar to Joseph’s promise to his brothers about what they would receive from him. Still, we should see the hand of divine providence here because even the decisions of favourable kings are part of God’s overall control, that he can turn their hearts at will.

 

So they set off back to their father laden with plenty. Despite their repentance, Joseph knew that they were sinners. Therefore, he warned them about the danger of quarrelling (Gen. 45:24). What would they quarrel about? Who can say, but a few suggestions can be made. Would they quarrel about how much to tell their father about the lies they had told him years ago? Would they disagree about which of them should tell the details to their father? Would they argue about the amount that was given to Benjamin? Like most quarrels, such disagreements would have been ridiculous. 

 

Then there is the effect that the revelation of Joseph had on his father Jacob. It is likely that he would have spent the time wondering if Benjamin would come home safely. His fears were more than dealt with because not only was Benjamin safe, but Joseph also was alive and in a place of great authority. The news was too much for him initially, but the evidences were so strong that he was compelled to accept the truth. It is interesting that he is described by his new name in verse 28: ‘And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”’

 

Application

First, we can reflect on the paths of recovery that God creates for his people. We are used to people making roads between places. The roads of General Wade are known for being very straight. They go direct from A to B. What kind of roads does God build? We can ask David, and he could describe one road when he was restored from his fall. We can ask Peter and he could describe another road when he returned after denying Jesus. We can ask Joseph and he had a long and winding road, with many turns in it, to where he now was. We can ask the brothers and they too had their road of recovery along which God led them, but which they could not understand initially. All the roads were different, but they all reached the destination. This is one way in which God show his wisdom.

 

Second, there is the power of forgiveness. Joseph could have punished his brothers, but that would not have been an expression of love. He even could have left them in their state of ignorance about him, but that would not only have hindered them, it would also have hindered him as well as the plans of God revealed so long ago in the dreams. How would he have seen his father again if he had left the brothers where they were. But when he forgave them, doors opened wide with blessing. The experience of Joseph and his brothers reveals to us something of the reasons why Jesus commended forgiveness to be the norm among his people when he told Peter that he should forgive seventy times seven.

 

Third, we can see in what happened in this story how diverse divine providence is. What a day it was for the brothers! Facing a journey home in the morning to see their father, facing a disaster and potential loss of Benjamin in the afternoon, and facing a recovered long-lost brother in the evening. What a day it was Jacob, even although he did not know any of the details and was sitting at home, probably wondering if Benjamin was fine, not knowing that he was in the best place of security he had yet been. What a day it was for Joseph! He discovered for the first time the renewed spiritual state of his brothers, he discovered once again how much he was valued by Pharaoh, and he discovered that in his exaltation he could do much for both the world and the kingdom of God.

 

Fourth, there is in Joseph here a remarkable picture of Jesus. Like Joseph, Jesus does not deal with us in the way our sins deserve. Like Joseph, Jesus mentions our sin, but not to condemn us (Joseph said, ‘I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt’ [45:4]; Jesus said to Saul of Tarsus, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting’ [Acts 9:5]). Like Joseph, Jesus reveals himself to us and reminds us that providences are under his control, and that he can work all things together for our good. Like Joseph out of his storehouses, Jesus from his storehouse of grace provides us with more than enough for our journeys through this world. Like Joseph, who did not charge his brothers for what they received from him, Jesus gives us the best freely. Like Joseph, Jesus takes on the responsibility of providing for the needs of those depending on him. Like Joseph, Jesus loves family togetherness.