The Brothers, How Are They? (Genesis 42–43)

We have observed that a main aspect of the story of Joseph concerns the fulfilment of the revelation of God’s purpose that was conveyed to Joseph through the two dreams he had which indicated that his family – his brothers, his mother and his father – would bow to him. If we had been reading the story for the first time, we might wonder if that would ever happen. Connected to this aspect of bowing to him would be the reason for them doing so, especially with regard to the brothers. It would need to be voluntary and for the right motives. Previously, the brothers had refused to recognise that Joseph should have the birthright.

 

The brothers bow to Joseph

Events in Canaan made it necessary for the family of Jacob to travel to Egypt for food. Jacob decided that Benjamin, the other son of Rachel, should not go in case harm would come to him. Given that Benjamin was now an adult, the decision could not have been based merely on the possibility that someone could attack them. After all, it was possible that the other sons could also have been killed. So it looks as if it was for another reason that Benjamin was required to stay at home, and that may have been connected to Jacob wanting the firstborn to be the other son of Rachel, since Joseph was presumed to be dead.

 

When the ten brothers arrived in Egypt, they went to get supply of food at the distribution location. Given that it is likely that there were times when Joseph would not be present at that location, we can see immediately the control of detail and precision in the providence of God that ensured that Joseph would be there when the brothers arrived. This could be a reminder that politicians and bosses and managers turn up at the time God decrees as well as the time they choose to appear. Joseph would have chosen his plans for that day, but the plans he freely made were the fulfilment of God’s plan. Joseph would not have expected God to do anything unusual, but that is the way God works. There is never a loose moment independent of God.

 

Joseph saw his brothers bowing down to him. Was this the moment of fulfilment that he waited for during the previous twenty-plus years? A quick count would reveal it was not. The number in front of him was three short – Jacob, Leah and Benjamin were absent. This is a good time to ask ourselves what we would have done. Maybe Joseph should have wondered if the three who were missing had died, and therefore it was no longer possible for God’s prediction to be fulfilled exactly. Would we accept a lesser fulfilment of a divine promise or would be willing to wait further on the Lord to keep his word?

 

We can see what governed Joseph’s response in verse 9: ‘And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them.’ The author does not say that Joseph recalled the sinful way that the brothers had treated him. So his response is not linked to revenge, but to the fulfilment of God’s revelation. We should also remember here as we consider the actions that Joseph takes that he is a man full of wisdom, who knows what to do when a sudden, unexpected situation arises. He had already shown his wisdom when he was called suddenly to solve the dreams that Pharaoh was given in connection to the years of plenty and the years of famine. So I think we need to bear that connection in mind as we read the account. We are watching a man who wants God’s word to be fulfilled and who also possesses the gift of wisdom to oversee events. 

 

Robert Candlish opined that there was more to this than Joseph’s recollection. He asserted that ‘It was the Lord that brought them to his remembrance, and Joseph, I am persuaded, recognised the Lord in this. At once, he perceives that this affair of his brethren coming to him is of the Lord. It is not a common occurrence; it is not mere casual coincidence. The Lord is here – in this place and in this business; and therefore the Lord must regulate the whole, and fix the time and manner of discovery.’

 

The brothers revealed

Joseph suggests to the brothers that they are spies. Probably the possibility of this suggestion had never entered their minds. But it did force them to reveal who they were. Joseph discovered from their answers that his father and younger brother were still alive (v. 12). So there still was the prospect for God’s prediction to be fulfilled. There is also the possibility that they had regarded Joseph as a spy when he was sent by his father to see how or what they were doing. He had reported some of them for their bad behaviour. Maybe their conception of him as discovering their behaviour and reporting it somehow linked in their minds with the fact that they now were being accused of being spies.

 

Joseph also indicates that he wants to test their truthfulness by keeping nine of them in prison and sending the other one to bring Benjamin down to Egypt. He then modified the test and allowed nine to leave and one to stay. We can see that God was working through this because they immediately connected their current difficulty to what they had done to Joseph over twenty years previously. While they misread what was happening to them, and they did not realise that Joseph’s actions were designed for their good, they were realising that sin has consequences. Whatever we wish to make of their response at this stage, it is obvious that they were not the same cruel men they had been. Behind the scenes, and invisible to their senses, God had been at work in them. 

 

Is this not a common experience in people when God begins to reveal his grace to them? Something happens and it causes them to think of their sins. They realise that they have been opposing God’s ways. At this stage, they may not perceive that he can be merciful to them. But they are aware that they have offended him.

 

Joseph’s response to their self-accusations was to weep. He loved his brothers and wanted the best for them. But he knew that more had to take place before God’s revelation to him would be fulfilled. In this response of Joseph, we have a picture of the Lord as he takes those who are not yet his people through the process of conviction of sin. It has to be done, and he is concerned about them, but he will do all that is necessary for them to be restored to his favour.

 

Joseph arranges for Simeon to be one of the brothers who will have to remain. Although the text does not say why he was selected, was he chosen because he was the brother who had put Joseph in the pit? It would have been easy for Simeon to have been taken away without being bound, but the brothers had to watch him being bound. So there was a reason why he was bound in front of them.

 

Joseph wanted to show kindness to his brothers, and he did so by providing food free of charge, with their money individually returned in each sack. Most people would have been pleased to have this provision, but they realised that something far deeper was taking place. They realised that God was in this, and they trembled with failing hearts. What kind of man was this ruler in Egypt who could accuse them of being spies, who could imprison one of them, and who could give them their provision freely? What had seemed a simple and straightforward journey to Egypt had become a road full of surprises.

 

Things did not improve when they returned home. They do not seem to have checked that each of them had received their money back from the Egyptians until they opened their sacks in the presence of Jacob. Yet neither Jacob nor the brothers could make sense of it all. Reuben suspected that they would have to return to Egypt eventually, but Jacob was adamant that Benjamin could not go, even although their future safety depended on him doing so. His conclusion was that everything was against him: ‘All this has come against me’ (42:36). The godly patriarch seemed to be the biggest hindrance to the purpose of God being fulfilled, even although we can see that his concerns were valid ones. Such is the mystery of divine providence.

 

The brothers return

Nevertheless, the brothers had to return to Egypt eventually, despite Jacob’s reluctance. Interestingly, we can see that Judah is becoming prominent and that Reuben is slipping into the background. Reuben had been to the fore in the previous chapter. It was him who had expressed a connection between their predicament before Joseph and their sin in selling him, and it was also Reuben who had offered to guarantee the protection of Benjamin when they next had to go to Egypt. But now it is Judah who comes to the fore.

 

Jacob realised that there was no other option because food was not available elsewhere. He wanted to appease the ruler of Egypt with some little expressions of kindness, and also to take back the money in case there had been a mistake. Jacob was being very careful, and we can sense why. But we know that he does not need to do what he did. Poor Jacob. He does not know if things will go well, or whether they will be disastrous. We can see in him the truth that man’s extremity is God’s opportunity. Jacob realises that everything depends on the mercy of God.

 

When they reached Egypt, Joseph arranged that they should have a meal with him, although they did not know the purpose of being brought to his house. They surmised that they were going to be punished for not returning immediately with the money in their sacks. After all, they had claimed to be honest men. So they wanted to make clear that they still wanted to pay for their food. Did the words of the steward surprise them: ‘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?’ (v. 23). Did the action of the steward in setting Simeon free speak to them? 

 

Once again, the brothers bow to Joseph, yet this time the number is eleven. The first of Joseph’s dreams is fulfilled. As Joseph interacted with them, did they wonder how he could recall their personal details, given the thousands, if not millions of people, that had been helped by this ruler? There were numerous hints being given to them. The steward had spoken to them about their God, about the God of their father, and now the ruler himself speaks to Benjamin and expresses a desire that God would bless him. Maybe they saw the interest and affection the ruler had for their youngest brother, that compelled him to leave the room.

 

The seating arrangements certainly spoke to them. Their surprise that the hosts knew the order of their age and sat them according to it filled them with amazement. And they observed that while he was kind to them all, he was kinder to Benjamin. We can see that the brothers were not jealous of the way that their youngest brother was treated, a response which could indicate that they were changed men, because they had previously been very jealous of Joseph. Indeed, it was their previous jealousy that had been at the root of all their problems.

 

They had a good time, but has far as they were concerned, it was a one-off. On the next day, they would head away to Canaan and they would have the assurance that the ruler was not angry with them. Their troubles seemed to be over. But we know that the second dream of Joseph had not yet been fulfilled. His father had to come to be in his presence.

 

Applications

No doubt, we have many questions to ask of this passage. One is, what should we make of the steward who served Joseph? Had he been influenced by the conduct of his master that he was willing to serve the God that his master served? Clearly, he was devoted to Joseph and was completely reliable, dependable to the extent that he participated in the various ploys that Joseph used to discover the spiritual state of his brothers. Whatever the case of the steward, can we say that we serve our Master with the diligence and delight with which the steward served Joseph?

 

A second application is connected to the fact that Jacob obviously was in the dark about what had happened to Joseph, so we would not expect him to assume that his son was alive. Yet we can see from his comments that he was assuming that everything was against him. We can understand why he thought that, but we know that he did not need to think in that way. Although he had been a believer for a long time, he was still a pupil in God’s school. He had not yet reached the stage where he could see that God was working all things for his good. We are like that often, even when our awareness of what the Bible says about God tells us that we can trust him even when we are in the dark.

 

A third application is that we can never write off those who have sinned badly. It is hard to imagine sins that are worse than those committed by the brothers of Joseph. Would God show mercy to them? Would he work in them to make them into holy servants? The incidents we have thought about tell us that the Lord does work in the hearts of great sinners and that he knows how to bring them to the place of repentance and confession of sin.

 

Fourth, we can deduce from the second visit of the brothers to Egypt that we may be asked in providence to do something that is difficult. They did not know what reception they would get from Joseph, they did not know what had happened with Simeon (they had delayed returning, so the one they only knew as the ruler could have punished Simeon), the necessity of taking Benjamin with them distressed their father, and they may not have known how much food there was in Egypt. Yet if they wanted help in their situation, they would need to take a step into the unknown, trusting in the Lord to help them through the situation and any consequences that came out of it.

 

Fifth, we have seen in these chapters of Genesis further evidence of the amazing reality of the providence of God. No doubt, the details have been recorded for us to see how comforting and challenging this doctrine is. As Griffith Thomas observed, ‘we must not fail to cling closely to our belief in the constant providence of our Father in heaven.’