GENESIS 42:1-20 TEXT: v3 JOSEPH’S TEN BRETHREN WENT DOWN
And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.
Every word of God is given by inspiration from on high
God did not content Himself with merely conveying His word in a general
sense with the overall meaning taking precedence over the actual
words
Rather, He chose His words very carefully indeed so that even the
smallest differences in how a thing is worded may convey fresh truth
Such it is here in our text
We may have said: “Jacob’s ten sons went down to Egypt etc.,
Context would certainly support it - It is all Jacob in vs1-2
But the Holy Spirit moves Moses to tell us that it is Joseph’s brethren
I was greatly struck with that when reading it recently
Opened up a few thoughts which will be for your encouragement
The context: Joseph was sold by his brethren as a slave into Egypt
They fooled Jacob/thinking that he was dead – eaten by a wild beast
Joseph, by a very winding road, makes it to be prime minister/Egypt and
through prophetic dreams enables Egypt/prepare for the coming famine
This famine affected all countries (41:57)
It affected Jacob and his sons (v1) and so he sends them down into Egypt to buy corn so that they will not starve to death (v2)
Obedience to their father meant that they saddled their asses and went down out of Canaan into Egypt
But, as said, not as Jacob’s son (although true) but as Joseph’s brother
This is where the emphasis is laid by the Divine Author
It conveys 4 main thoughts to us:
1) THE RELEVANCE OF THESE MEN IN THIS PASSAGE IS DUE SOLELY TO THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH JOSEPH:
A/ The Book/Genesis is set largely around the lives of several key men
[i] Adam [ii] Abel [iii] Noah [iv] Abraham [v] Isaac [vi] Jacob [vii] Joseph
In this part/Book, it is Joseph who is the main attention
True: Jacob is brought back into the picture later on because he is the father of the 12 tribes who later dominate the Book
But here, Joseph must have his day
He is arguably the most powerful man in the world at this time
While Pharaoh was greater than him – yet it was Joseph who saved
Pharaoh and his very vulnerable Empire from dying a lingering death
The plan was not so much to keep Pharoah alive, but Joseph and through
Joseph, his brethren and from them (Judah) the Saviour’s family
line
B/ Please remember that there were millions of starving people at this
time within the world and these men (in worldly eyes) were nobodies
To the world, they possessed a strange religion
Anyone looking on, would conclude that their precepts/practices were
poles apart and that the piety of the family seemed to be more/fore in
the old man rather than the sons (possible exception of young Benjamin)
So they were nothing in themselves
Had they been linked to Jacob, we might have been able to have made some comment on that – but they weren’t
They were linked here with Joseph and that is even better
Joseph here is a type/picture of Jesus Christ
So much likeness to Christ in Joseph’s life (AWP: over 100)
He was the one rejected by His own etc.,
C/ What are we today? Ans;- We are Christians (Christ’s ones)
Ok we might take (purposes of clarity) other titles as well:
Free Presbyterians/Reformed/Calvinistic/Separatists etc.,
These titles mean a lot to us, but we gladly sacrifice them all if
required so that we can keep the only one that will get us into Heaven:
Christian
Our gathering together today is unto Him (Genesis 49:10)
Where the 2/3 gather together in His name – He is in the midst
D/ Outside of Christ – we are nothing
Suppose we were a strong group of people with great power in world affairs - we had the wherewithal to influence decisions
Spiritually, we would be nobodies and our decisions just a little speck
But in Christ, we reign as kings and are more than conquerors
Our day perhaps has not yet come – but it will and we are happy/wait
We say to people: Come thou with us and we will do thee good
First step is to come as a sinner to Jesus and seek His mercy/pardon
When you do – then you will sit one day in judgement over this world
Not because of what you are in yourself – but because of what you are in Jesus Christ – We will reign with Him
E/ The Christian ought to cultivate His relationship with Christ
Let it not be a causal matter– something lingering on from the past
These men are ample warnings of what happens when there is a less than committed view of the things of God
They were hardly the spiritual giants that their brother came to be
And so they are spoken of here to suggest that they were in his shadow
And yet for all this…
2) JOSEPH WAS NOT ASHAMED TO CALL THEM BRETHREN:
A/ OK…it was not Joseph who wrote this Book and certainly it was not written at the time of the events taking place
At this particular time, these men had done a lot to be ashamed of
[i] Reuben had gone up and defiled his father’s bed and stained his soul
Through this, he lost the birthright and would later be exposed by his father as one unstable as water who would not excel
[ii] Simeon and Levi became cold blooded assassins when (under a cloak
of religion) they took out the whole city of the man who
violated/sister
Listen to Jacob: Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty
are in their habitations. O my
soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine
honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in
their selfwill they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it
was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in
Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. (Genesis 49:7)
[iii] Consider too, their awful, collective treatment of Joseph in whose name they are now presented to us
These 10 men had hated him for his inspired dreams – could not
peaceably to him – envied him – threw him into a pit to let
him starve to death, but changed their minds, only to sell him into
slavery
They then returned and managed between them (no mean feat) to let their
father be continually heartbroken, thinking that a wild beast had
devoured his favourite son on the basis of their cruel hoax
What a wretched crew they are
Old Jacob certainly felt ashamed of them
He watched their proud and jealous ways and almost despaired
B/ And yet, they are described here as Joseph’s brethren
Later he would gladly embrace them and present them/Pharaoh as such:
This phrase: Not ashamed to call them brethren is direct from NT
It concerns the relationship which Christ has with us:
For both he that sanctifieth and they
who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to
call them brethren, (Hebrews 2:11)
Again: Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 10:32)
He will stand in that Great Day and proudly say:
I and the children which God hast given me (Hebrews 2:13)
C/ But something brought them into place whereby Joseph was not so
ashamed (and by extension: whereby Christ will not be ashamed of us)
It is this: They repented of their sins
All the events that followed was designed to bring these men to the
place where they confessed/regretted their wicked dealings/Joseph
Only when this happened, that he made himself known unto them and brought them into his banqueting house etc.,
Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren…(Genesis 47:1)
He was not ashamed of them for he had forgiven them for their deeds
3) THEY WERE ALL ACCOUNTED FOR IN THEIR GOING INTO EGYPT:
Joseph’s ten brethren went down...
A/ Again…no word is there just to fill out column inches in the Bible
Joseph had 11 brethren, but young Benjamin was left behind
NB: Don’t be thinking that Benjamin was just a teenager (46:21)
However, they are being very carefully counted here
B/ When it comes to the number of the Redeemed, all we have:
A great multitude that no man could number (Revelation 7:9)
Yet we are told that each individual Believer is personally known, personally cherished and personally cared for by God
The very hairs of his head are all numbered (Matthew 10:30)
He has the angels of God attending to him as ministers
All things work together for his good – or for the best (Geneva)
C/ Ten of Joseph’s brethren went out, although nine came home initially as Simeon was held as a hostage (42:24)
Anyone not knowing the story would conclude that Simeon was lost to the
family, especially seeing Jacob delayed their return (43:10)
But this was not so as the full story makes out in the end
Simeon (like his brethren) was living a lie with the attendant guilty
conscience – an experience which stunted his spiritual growth
There were yet dark days ahead for Joseph’s brethren for there
was much done that had to be undone ere spiritual progress could be made
Later on, Benjamin (to his Father’s horror) would have to make
the journey too – it was a time of testing in the hands of the
Divine Potter
D/ But they were counted going out by the Spirit and ultimately when
all ten (plus Benjamin) came back together, they came back in a better
spiritual state than when they went out and came back with great joy
4) THEIR GOING INTO EGYPT LED TO THEIR RECONCILIATION WITH THEIR BROTHER AND THE SAVING OF THEIR LIVES:
A/ The story is well known – ultimately these ten came face
to face with Joseph – the one they sold into slavery and who had
risen to power
They were carefully brought to the place of repentance and there they
found one who had been wronged who was ready to forgive them freely
As pointed out, it is in his light that they are noticed in this passage
Left to themselves, they were carnal scoundrels who had every privilege
going for them (when others had none) and they wasted them
What soul searching went on as they are forced to relive their past
(This is the kind of thing Hollywood directors thrive on – but
God has got in first – the Bible is the most intriguing Book ever
written)
But they do and they find it better to make their peace with Joseph
B/ Note: It was Joseph (a picture/Christ) who made all the first moves
Even though he was the wronged one – yet his heart reached out to
the offenders and successfully brought them back into fellowship
This is a wonderful picture of grace
If we had been left to ourselves – we would have perished
The famine of our sins would have swallowed us up and left us for dead
But the One against whom we sinned brought us back to Himself
Let’s reflect upon these things/Give undying praise/service to Christ
THE END