Genesis 43:1-34

Brothers Make a Second Journey to Egypt to See Joseph

 

43:1 Now the famine was still severe in the land.

 

2 So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Go back and buy us a little more food."

 

3 But Judah said to him, "The man warned us solemnly, 'You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.'

 

4 If you will send our brother along with us, we will go down and buy food for you.

 

5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down, because the man said to us, 'You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.' "

 

6 Israel asked, "Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother?"

 

7 They replied, "The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. 'Is your father still living?' he asked us. 'Do you have another brother?' We simply answered his questions. How were we to know he would say, 'Bring your brother down here'?"

 

8 Then Judah said to Israel his father, "Send the boy along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our children may live and not die.

 

9 I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life.

 

10 As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice."

 

11 Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds.

 

12 Take double the amount of silver with you, for you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake.

 

13 Take your brother also and go back to the man at once.

 

14 And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved."

 

15 So the men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph.

 

16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare dinner; they are to eat with me at noon."

 

17 The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph's house.

 

18 Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They thought, "We were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time.

 

He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys."

 

19 So they went up to Joseph's steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house.

 

20 "Please, sir," they said, "we came down here the first time to buy food.

 

21 But at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver—the exact weight—in the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us.

 

22 We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don't know who put our silver in our sacks."

 

23 "It's all right," he said. "Don't be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver." Then he brought Simeon out to them.

 

24 The steward took the men into Joseph's house, gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys.

 

25 They prepared their gifts for Joseph's arrival at noon, because they had heard that they were to eat there.

 

26 When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground.

 

27 He asked them how they were, and then he said, "How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still living?"

 

28 They replied, "Your servant our father is still alive and well." And they bowed low to pay him honor.

 

29 As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother's son, he asked, "Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?" And he said, "God be gracious to you, my son."

 

30 Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there.

 

31 After he had washed his face, he came out and, controlling himself, said, "Serve the food."

 

32 They served him by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for that is detestable to Egyptians.

 

33 The men had been seated before him in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest; and they looked at each other in astonishment.

 

34 When portions were served to them from Joseph's table, Benjamin's portion was five times as much as anyone else's. So they feasted and drank freely with him.

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This is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to change the way that we think, and the way that we live.

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Commentary by Bob Pardue

The Second Trip to Egypt

The famine raged on as Jacob and his sons' supplies of food were running low. The sons knew that they could not return to Egypt without their brother Benjamin so had to convince their father to allow him to go back with them.

But, the intriguing part of this passage is in verse 1 and concerns the famine.

You see, Jacob ( Israel ) and his family had been praying hard for God to release them from the grip of hunger that swept the land but to no avail.

Even though Jacob was a man of God his prayers went seemingly unanswered.

Are Our Prayers Heard?

Have you ever prayed for a solution to a bad situation in your life that seemed to go unheard and unanswered? When this happens, after awhile, we might fell that God is not listening or maybe He has abandoned us. I believe most of us have been to that point in our lives

A "Just in Time" God

But remember, God works on His terms, in His will and not ours so He may not be answering our prayer the way we feel it should be handled. Is God wrong? Not at all.

Praying for Snakes

I don't remember the exact verse and Book, but it basically says that if one of our children asks for a snake, would we give it to them? Even though we are not always aware, we could be praying for snakes in our lives. God may be refusing this certain prayer in order to lead us to a much greater answer along with more treasure than we could ever imagine.

Don't give up on prayer. It absolutely works but let God decide what He wants for the outcome. His way is always better than ours when all is said and done.

Love in Christ

- Bob

Genesis 40:1-23 - The Cupbearer and the Baker