compassion — Faves of Dave - Bible Study

Gen. 43:1 Now the famine was severe in the land. 2 And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.” 3 But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’” 6 Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” 7 They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” 8 And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. 9 I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. 10 If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.”

Gen. 43:11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. 12 Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. 13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man. 14 May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”

Gen. 43:15 So the men took this present, and they took double the money with them, and Benjamin. They arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

Gen. 43:16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.” 17 The man did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph’s house. 18 And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house, and they said, “It is because of the money, which was replaced in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may assault us and fall upon us to make us servants and seize our donkeys.” 19 So they went up to the steward of Joseph’s house and spoke with him at the door of the house, 20 and said, “Oh, my lord, we came down the first time to buy food. 21 And when we came to the lodging place we opened our sacks, and there was each man’s money in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. So we have brought it again with us, 22 and we have brought other money down with us to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.” 23 He replied, “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.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24 And when the man had brought the men into Joseph’s house and given them water, and they had washed their feet, and when he had given their donkeys fodder, 25 they prepared the present for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.

Gen. 43:26 When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present that they had with them and bowed down to him to the ground. 27 And he inquired about their welfare and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” 28 They said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves. 29 And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!” 30 Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there. 31 Then he washed his face and came out. And controlling himself he said, “Serve the food.” 32 They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. 33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth. And the men looked at one another in amazement. 34 Portions were taken to them from Joseph’s table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him.

To recap from the last episode, the famine that the LORD had revealed to Pharaoh through Joseph was happening and was extensive, even beyond Egypt into the land of Canaan, where Jacob (Israel) and his sons were living. Jacob sent the ten older sons to Egypt to buy grain, but kept Benjamin home. Recall that Benjamin was Rachel’s younger son after Joseph. When they arrived in Egypt, Joseph recognized them, but they did not recognize him. Even though he could easily have exacted revenge on them, I argued that the LORD used Joseph to bring them to repentance and to humble them. We see how he operates with respect to his brothers by first accusing them of being spies, but then sending all but Simeon home with sacks of grain, provisions for the trip, and, unbeknownst to them, the money they had brought to pay for the grain. They found it in their sacks of grain and thought that God put it there as a form of judgment. Meanwhile, Simeon was kept in bondage in Egypt while the brothers were commanded by Joseph to bring their youngest brother to Egypt. Jacob refused to allow that, afraid that he’d also lose Benjamin.

As we pick up the story in chapter 43, Moses reminds us that the famine was severe. This is to set up what happens next. The grain brought from Egypt has almost run out, so Jacob tells his sons to buy more in Egypt. Once again, Judah has something to say. If you recall in Genesis 37, it was Judah who spoke up and suggested they sell Joseph rather than kill him or leave him in the pit to die. In Genesis 38, the story takes a detour to tell us how Judah took for himself a Canaanite wife and then got a wife for his firstborn son, Er. His wife’s name was Tamar. The LORD killed Er because he was evil, and he killed Judah’s second son, Onan, because he would not fulfill the Levirate duty to produce an heir for Er with Tamar. When Judah failed to give his third son to Tamar, Tamar dressed as a prostitute and seduced Judah himself, and she conceived twins. Judah would have had her put to death for immorality until she produced his personal items to reveal that he was the father. He confessed that she was more righteous than he. That was the first recorded instance of Judah confessing his own sin.

Now, Judah is going to man up and do something in the best interest of his whole family. When Jacob tells them to go back to Egypt, Judah reminds him that the man told them not to come back without the youngest son. Then Judah takes full responsibility for Benjamin’s safety. Judah is finally doing something totally selfless, apart from just wanting him and their family to survive the famine. Jacob relented and sent them with gifts, double the money to pay for what they’d received before, and more grain.

When Joseph saw them coming with Benjamin, he instructed a servant to prepare a meal that they, along with Simeon, would enjoy in his house. When they heard this, they were concerned that this meant certain trouble for them and that it was related to the money they’d brought the first time. The irony here is that they had sold Joseph into slavery, but now they were afraid that Joseph was going to make them slaves. They certainly deserve that, and they believe that. But to mitigate that, they approached Joseph’s household manager, told him their story, and explained that they had brought the money back again. The man’s response was not what they deserved or expected. He told them that he had received their money and that their God and the God of their father had put the money in their sacks. What we are witnessing in this story is the grace and mercy of God.

The rest of the chapter describes what happens at that meal and the tender compassion Joseph had upon beholding his brother Benjamin. How difficult it must have been for him, and leaves us to wonder what will happen. How much longer will he keep his identity hidden, and what will happen when he reveals himself to them? Will Joseph get revenge, or does the LORD still have more that he wants to accomplish through Joseph with these sons?

I think the big lesson from this is the LORD’s grace and patience. The LORD had patience with Jacob when he was young. Now, he is patiently humbling these men and bringing them to repentance for the treachery against their brother. He doesn’t just avoid condemning them. He blesses them in the process to show them that he is a merciful God.

Let us trust and give him thanks for his patient mercy to us.