Judah’s solution, delivered the boy’s life, and later we will see the truth of Judah’s nature, if he is worthy of attributing such to his character even in the guilt of his poorest of acts.
CHAPTERS 43 & 44 COMMENTARY
The 9 brothers return to Canaan. By Natural rights, and if these brothers had not all been in ca-hoots with one another, co-conspirators on different levels in the demise of the teenaged Joseph, Reuben, should have stayed, he was the oldest, he should have volunteered. So they return home to Jacob, and now They are all blamed for the loss of Simeon, but Reuben is held in higher contempt, and we see Jacob tells Reuben he would absolutely not entrust the care of Benjamin to his eldest of brothers.
In verse one, we see they stay in Canaan until all the corn is gone.
They are all scared to go back to Egypt anyway because they stand accused of being spies, and to top that off, when they opened their sacks of corn in Canaan, the money they paid for the corn fell out of the sacks, now they are afraid they will be accused of being thieves as well. They know full well they stole nothing, that money came from somewhere, they feel either God is judging them, or they are being framed or both, and when the corn runs out, they gotta go get more, but They go get more, but they refuse, absolutely refuse to go back without Benjamin, for fear of their very lives, they would let Simeon sit and rot in jail the rest of his life first and go hungry in Canaan.
Then we see Jacob reluctantly agrees after Judah promises the safe return of Benjamin, and in Verse ten we see enough time for them to have walked all the way to Egypt a 2nd time had passed before they ever even left to make the 2nd trip. Meanwhile Simeon is rotting in jail, oh, he must have been in despair. He most likely led, and was certainly amongst the ring leaders of those who conspired against
their brother, now, when he could no longer intimidate with his
presence, when the iron and stone jails of Egypt were stronger than
all his boastful testosterone driven rants, surely he though without
even a second thought his brothers would no trouble selling him out.
How long the days pass when one is jailed? I have been in jail, I know.
Surely, he counted the days journey back to Canaan to tell Jacob, and the time to get back to Egypt to free him, oh when that 1st day of the end of his calculation passed, he must have certainly thought hopefully, “They will be here tomorrow…” and when tomorrow came and went uneventful, surely he thought…”They must have had to stop to raise supplies…they’ll be here tomorrow…” surely he must have consoled himself…”Maybe Father is coming with them to plea with the ruler of the land….they’ll be here tomorrow…”and as the day wore on, as his “tomorrow’s stopped ending with joyful self assuring exclamation points, when they ended with comma’s and open ended sighs, when unbeknownst to him as his brothers made their way in the timeframe that would cover the day passed for yet a 3rd journey and Simeon’s thoughts of “tomorrow” had long faded into obscurity, surely he felt abandoned, his sins had come to roost. His brethren had betrayed him, forgotten him, in his heart they were worthless traitors, and well they learned their lessons, and surely the paradox of knowing he was there taskmaster, the mentor in the acts of betraying a brother, surely he knew his own hand had place him there, oh he must have been angry with himself in those moments when he wasn’t overtaken with sorrow. Not much joy in prison, negative acts of negative driven emotions, often built on negative memories can place a man there, and such negative tones fill the very air one breathes. Yep, Simeon, was right he belonged.
We see Jacob preparing his sons for their journey, he gives them double the money they paid for the corn last time, and tells them to give back the money found in their sacks, so they go with 3 times as much money, and all manner of gifts to appease Zaph’nath-pa-a-ne-ah’,
Ruler of the land in Egypt, not knowing Zaph’nath-pa-a-ne-ah’ is his beloved Joseph. HE prays for the God to bless them with Mercy in the heart of the one he is unaware of being Joseph, and well he should have, for while Reuben may have placed some room of understanding to purchase a shimmer of forgiveness, the acts of this treacherous lot, must certainly have still weighed heavy on Joseph in those moment he found himself caught by the cares of daily life, before reminding himself of his visions, his dreams, the one sending the same, his God, the God of his fathers.
In 43:16 we see Joseph calls for a feast, and there is going to be some meat as he gives the command to slay, you don’t slay apples.
And his brothers now in Egypt are brought into his house and to be the guest of honor at this feast. And they have brought Benjamin with them, and they are not put in jail this time, and at some point surely by the feast, Simeon is released, but we see here, as they waiting on the feast in verse 18:
GEN 43:18 KJV 1611
Genesis 43:18 AND the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph’s house;
and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time
are we brought in that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon
us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses.”
So these guys are getting the royal treatment, and they are scared to death because they are brought into Josephs house, and they’d feel more comfortable if they were thrown in jail and waited for him there, and they are afraid they are going to be taken as slaves with all they got, and they are scared they are being set up because of the money that they found returned in their sacks but subconsciously they haven’t forgotten the last trip and they know this is a judgment from God for their actions towards their brother, 9 of them know it is because they sold him into slavery, and you just gotta appreciate the humor of the situation and irony, as one guy speaks up and says…
”MAN WE ARE FIXING TO LOSE OUR ASSES AND BE MADE INTO SLAVES!!!”
Betcha didn’t see that in the Bible before did ya? Feel free to quote me on that, better yet, quote the Bible to your friends, maybe you’ll learn ‘em something.
Then Joseph comes in and tells them when told about the money, to keep it, that God has given it to him, and by now he understands his dream, but he is teaching his brothers a lesson first. And the get treated like royalty, and given water, and servants come and wash their feet.
We see this in vs 24
GEN 43:24 KJV 1611
Genesis 43:24 AND the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water,
and they washed their feet and he gave their asses provender.
Underline that word provender, and in your margin, write “GRASS BASED ANIMAL FOOD.”
So, these guys just thought they were in a world of hurt, just minutes ago, they thought their asses were in trouble, now, they are being waited on by servants, given water in a time of famine, they get a pedicure, there are servants busy carrying food on trays from the kitchen to the banquet hall, the smell of meat freshly slain smokes off the grill and fills the air, and these guys are amazed and to top it all off, he gave their asses some grass….oh yeah, these guys are
thinkin’…”PAR-R-R-T-T-A-HY!!!....
WOW, THESE EGYPTIANS SURE KNOW HOW TO
LIVE IT UP!!!”
All humor aside, certainly they must have, though perplexed, been relieved. While they are enjoying the luxuries of Egypt, and their water and pedicures, and free grass, and all the smells of the banquet being prepared, Joseph leaves and goes off to work. And when he returns home, he see inquires of his father and for the first time lays eyes on Benjamin. And he knows his mother has died, and he can’t contain himself, and he begins to weep and he goes off to regain his composure.
Then we see the feast and he gives Benjamin 5 times as much food as his brothers, so now, they got all the reason in the world to be jealous of this Spoiled brat, but are they? I don’t think so, I think they learned their lesson.
(CONTD NEXT POST)
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