Genesis (2011) 42A. The Old Testament prophets tell an intriguing story about Israel. They told of a day when Israel would behold their Messiah

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1 Genesis (2011) 42A The Old Testament prphets tell an intriguing stry abut Israel They tld f a day when Israel wuld behld their Messiah But the peple fr whm He was sent wuld reject Him They wuld persecute Him They wuld betray Him And they wuld put Him t death Then fr a time Israel wuld be judged by being set aside in Gd s prgram f salvatin And during this time f hardening, the Messiah s ffer f the Kingdm wuld g ut t Gentile peples And Messiah wuld rule ver their hearts, bringing blessing t a freign peple And this blessing fr Gentiles wuld because cause fr prvking jealusy amng thse hardened Jews But the stry desn t end there, fr the Lrd is faithful even when His peple are faithless And s ne day t cme, the Lrd will bring great trial and stress upn the wrld And in the midst f the trial and tribulatin, the peple f Israel will be stirred t call upn the very Messiah their fathers rejected And that Messiah they assume t be dead and gne will return fr them, bringing relief frm the tribulatin This is the stry the Bible teaches abut Israel and their Messiah, Jesus Christ It s a stry that has yet t play ut entirely The first act f this drama has cme and gne The secnd act us currently running its curse, as we experience the Lrd wrking with the Gentile church But the wrld is still waiting fr that third act t begin 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

2 Genesis 42A 2 f 11 Did yu knw this stryline f Christ and Israel is pictured by the stry f Jseph and His brthers? Jseph has been persecuted and rejected by his brthers, wh are the sns f Israel He was sld int slavery and assumed t be dead (lk at v.13) Meanwhile, Jseph has risen t a psitin f pwer and blessing ver a Gentile peple He has a Gentile bride and a Gentile fllwing that call him lrd He is dispensing bread f life t all wh call upn his name And the peple f the natins are streaming t Egypt t see this Jseph S like ur wrld tday, the stry f Jseph has cmpleted the secnd act And nw we re ready t study the third act in chapter 42 The stress and trial f the wrldwide famine is severe that even prsperus Jacb will be frced t seek supprt frm Egypt And in the prcess the Lrd will be wrking in Jseph s brthers t bring abut the gd He has purpsed Gen. 42:1 Nw Jacb saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacb said t his sns, Why are yu staring at ne anther? Gen. 42:2 He said, Behld, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; g dwn there and buy sme fr us frm that place, s that we may live and nt die. Gen. 42:3 Then ten brthers f Jseph went dwn t buy grain frm Egypt. Gen. 42:4 But Jacb did nt send Jseph s brther Benjamin with his brthers, fr he said, I am afraid that harm may befall him. Gen. 42:5 S the sns f Israel came t buy grain amng thse wh were cming, fr the famine was in the land f Canaan als. As the land withered and the crps died, Jacb and his family fund themselves searching fr ptins Apparently, the brthers had becme idle because the famine had left the grund unwrkable and unprfitable 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

3 Genesis 42A 3 f 11 Father Jacb finally chastises his sns fr sitting n their hands while the family starved He asks why d yu sit arund staring at ne anther ding nthing? Sunds like smething a father wuld say I wnder why the brthers haven t prpsed this slutin themselves? Culd it be that they had n desire t walk Jseph s ftsteps? Were they wrried f hw they wuld feel entering the cuntry where they sent their brther s many years earlier? Was their guilt playing n their judgment? Since the sns have n plan f their wn, he gives them a plan He says he s heard that there is grain fr sale in Egypt In fact, Jacb says that if they dn t g t Egypt, the family is at risk f dying f starvatin The trial f the famine will be enugh t put an end t Israel As I said in the intrductin, the famine in ur stry is a picture f the cming stress the Lrd will bring upn the whle wrld fr the sake f Israel This cming future time f stress is called by varius names, but the mst cmmn name in the New Testament is Tribulatin Tribulatin will be a perid f unprecedented wrldwide calamity And the Lrd has designed it t be s terrible fr a gd reasn It causes Israel t seek fr a savir, smene wh will bring them relief frm persecutin, war and trial Jesus described this perid t His disciples 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

4 Genesis 42A 4 f 11 Matt. 24:21 Fr then there will be a great tribulatin, such as has nt ccurred since the beginning f the wrld until nw, nr ever will. Matt. 24:22 Unless thse days had been cut shrt, n life wuld have been saved; but fr the sake f the elect thse days will be cut shrt. The natin f Israel are the elect, as Jesus calls them And the times will be s stressful that had the Lrd nt prvided a surce f relief, even Israel wuld have been wiped ut And s it wuld be fr Jacb and his sns were it nt fr Egypt and Jseph As Jacb sends his sns t buy grain in Egypt but he hlds ne back Benjamin isn t allwed t travel with his brthers Jacb s reasn is simple and revealing Having lst Jseph, Jacb isn t abut t lse the nly ther sn f Rachel, his belved wife Jacb s decisin shws us that he still hasn t vercme his tendency t shw favritism within his family And that tendency is prbably still creating sme animsity within the sns Jacb s decisin t withhld Benjamin adds tw imprtant details t ur picture f Israel in Tribulatin First, remving Benjamin reduced the number f the brthers t ten And ten is an interesting number in scripture It carries a meaning f testimny r witness S the ten brthers will travel as a witness r testimny f Gd s wrk amng His peple The mvement f these men and their eventual encunter with Jseph is a testimny t the Lrd s might and wisdm and svereignty ver the lives f His peple 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

5 Genesis 42A 5 f 11 Secndly, the remval f Benjamin frm the family will literally make it impssible fr the ther brthers t be recnciled t Jseph Withut all the sns f Israel present at the same time, Jseph cannt recncile with his family But the absence f Benjamin will als becme the tl Jseph s uses t create the recnciliatin And all f this will build int a stunning and perfect picture f the last days f tribulatin...t be seen in chapters S the brthers jin in the crwds flcking t Egypt t buy grain Gen. 42:6 Nw Jseph was the ruler ver the land; he was the ne wh sld t all the peple f the land. And Jseph s brthers came and bwed dwn t him with their faces t the grund. Gen. 42:7 When Jseph saw his brthers he recgnized them, but he disguised himself t them and spke t them harshly. And he said t them, Where have yu cme frm? And they said, Frm the land f Canaan, t buy fd. Gen. 42:8 But Jseph had recgnized his brthers, althugh they did nt recgnize him. Nw we entered int easily ne f the mst remarkable stries in all human histry I believe it is s remarkable because it freshadws literally the mst imprtant and intriguing stry that will ever ccur in this age The tables have been turned Jseph is nw in the psitin f ruling ver his brthers, just as he dreamed And as Jseph stands ver his brthers, can we even imagine what thughts must have flded thrugh his mind? Which ne f us wuldn t have been tempted t bring revenge upn these brthers in that mment? Or perhaps the mre generus amng us might have simply revealed urselves t the men withut seeking even the least evidence f repentance Why dn t Jseph s brthers recgnize their brthers? 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

6 Genesis 42A 6 f 11 After all, Jseph recgnizes them, s shuldn t they recgnize him? Well first, Jseph was much yunger when they last saw ne anther Jseph was nly 16 while his brthers were lder and wuldn t have changed as much in the intervening 20 years Secndly, and mre imprtantly, Jseph s appearance wuld have been highly altered by his psitin in Egypt He wuld have been shaved bald And he wuld have been wearing the traditinal face and eye makeup f the ruling class f Egypt And Jseph s brthers wuldn t have spent much time studying Jseph s features, since they were required t bw befre him Thirdly, Jseph wuld have been called by his title r his Egyptian name N ne wuld have called him Jseph Finally, in v.23 we learn that Jseph spke thrugh an interpreter Obviusly, this bscured him even mre t his brthers S Jseph has the upper hand ver his brthers, but he desn t reveal himself in the mment Jseph wisely restrained himself and played his cards carefully We can safely assume that Jseph wuld have liked t recncile with his family But what des recnciliatin lk like under these circumstances? If Jseph revealed himself as he std befre them, ruler ver Egypt, what kind f reactin culd he have expected? 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

7 Genesis 42A 7 f 11 We knw his brthers wuld have expressed srrw and wuld have bwed befre Jseph But they had t d that, regardless f whether they truly felt any repentance r nt And if they hadn t truly repented f their past hatred and rejectin f Jseph, than any relatinship they might have had ging frward wuld have been meaningless True lving relatinship culd nly be pssible if the sns demnstrated they were truly srry fr their past hatred and had changed their perspective n Jseph S the nly way Jseph can ever truly knw his brthers true feelings is t cnceal his identity while devising sme way t search their hearts cncerning their shared past S Jseph will remain veiled and unrecgnized And in the meantime, he will bring increasing pressure against the brthers until they cnfess their past sin And what better way t frce that utcme than t place anther favred sn f Jacb in the crsshairs Jseph ntices that Benjamin is missing, and he must have quickly determined that Benjamin s absence was due t Jacb s favritism fr Rachel s children This gives Jseph the pprtunity he needed t test his brthers Gen. 42:9 Jseph remembered the dreams which he had abut them, and said t them, Yu are spies; yu have cme t lk at the undefended parts f ur land. Gen. 42:10 Then they said t him, N, my lrd, but yur servants have cme t buy fd. Gen. 42:11 We are all sns f ne man; we are hnest men, yur servants are nt spies. Gen. 42:12 Yet he said t them, N, but yu have cme t lk at the undefended parts f ur land! Gen. 42:13 But they said, Yur servants are twelve brthers in all, the sns f ne man in the land f Canaan; and behld, the yungest is with ur father tday, and ne is n lnger alive. Gen. 42:14 Jseph said t them, It is as I said t yu, yu are spies; Gen. 42:15 by this yu will be tested: by the life f Pharah, yu shall nt g frm this place unless yur yungest brther cmes here! 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

8 Genesis 42A 8 f 11 Gen. 42:16 Send ne f yu that he may get yur brther, while yu remain cnfined, that yur wrds may be tested, whether there is truth in yu. But if nt, by the life f Pharah, surely yu are spies. Gen. 42:17 S he put them all tgether in prisn fr three days. Having remembered the Lrd s visin cncerning ruling ver the family What a great example f Gd s svereignty The brthers decisin t place Jseph in Egypt was intended t stp him frm ruling ver the family as patriarch And by that decisin, the brthers made pssible the fulfillment f the dream We might ask what wuld have happened had the brthers never taken that step, but asking that questin misses the very pint The pint is that n matter what the brthers did, Gd s will was ging t be served One way r anther, the Lrd get s His way, and even when His enemies strive against Him, they nly succeed in cnfirming Gd s plan Just as when Satan indwelled Judas in an attempt t stp Jesus frm ruling, yet by his actins Satan assured that Jesus wuld cnquer him in the end S nw Jseph sees Gd s purpse in this meeting as he remembers the dream Jseph understd that the dream was a sign frm Gd that Jseph wuld have the birthright in the family This tld Jseph he wuld be the patriarch and leader ver the family f Israel Jseph never frgt that dream, but perhaps he hadn t given it much thught lately, what with running Egypt and all... Nw the memry f the dream returns t hit him in the face, and he sees the truth f it all ver again Jseph is ging t be recnciled with his brthers 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

9 Genesis 42A 9 f 11 He is ging t rule ver them, nt as the prime minister f Egypt, but as their brther and patriarch S Jseph begins t enact a plan t bring abut the repentance f his brthers thrugh a testing f their hearts S Jseph accuses the men f being spies, intent n learning abut Egypt s weaknesses This was a plausible claim The Egyptians and Canaanites fught numerus battles, with each cnquering the ther at varius times in histry During this perid, the Egyptians were the strnger, having cnquered Canaan But each side feared the ther S when Jseph hears the his brthers identify themselves as Canaanites, it gives him an pprtunity t make his accusatin Jseph s accusatin immediately causes fear amng the brthers, because they knw such an accusatin is punishable by death They defend themselves by claiming t be a separate tribe They are nt Canaanites but instead they are a single family living in the land They tell Jseph the have a father and anther brther But ne brther has died, referring t Jseph They are still lying cncerning Jseph, bth t Jseph and prbably t themselves That desn t lk like true repentance S the plan mves frward Jseph repeats his accusatin and then tells the brthers that will test their claims by demanding t see the yunger brther If they can prduce a yunger brther, than they will have validated their claims 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

10 Genesis 42A 10 f 11 Jseph tells them that ne must return t retrieve the remaining brther r else the charge f spying will stand And then t ramp up the pressure even mre, Jseph puts all the men in prisn fr three days I wnder if Jseph wanted his brthers t experience a little f what he experienced because f their sin Mre likely, Jseph is simply just increasing the fear f him amng his brthers in pursuit f repentance S while the brthers sit in prisn, they have n idea when r even if they will be released Their wn imaginatins prduced a far wrse punishment than anything Jseph culd have said Fr three days they languished Is Jseph being cruel? Sme in the wrld tday might cnsider Jseph s harsh treatment f his brthers as unfair and unkind But that mindset is simply evidence f a culture that has lst an understanding f discipline and cnsequences fr sin It s a gd thing when the Lrd visits ur sins back upn us as a means f prducing repentance and a reslve t stp sinning The questin is will will accept the Lrd s chastisement and learn frm it, r will we take steps t reduce the pain and buffer the trial? Our culture wrks very hard t remve ay pain r incnvenience assciated with sin There s always a pill r excuse r exceptin r special case fr everyne and every circumstances where sin has caused a prblem Therefre, where is there a place fr repentance and spiritual grwth? Christ will d the same with thse He is intent n bringing t repentance 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

11 Genesis 42A 11 f 11 They say there are n atheist in fxhles, and regardless f whether that is true r nt, the sense is crrect Gd ften brings repentance in the midst f trials and difficulties, because when we reach the end f urselves, we are better prepared t hear frm the Spirit Rm. 2:4 Or d yu think lightly f the riches f His kindness and tlerance and patience, nt knwing that the kindness f Gd leads yu t repentance? This is Jseph s desire with his brthers Next week we watch Jseph advance his plan further, leading his brthers t a eventual recnciliatin under the right cnditins 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.