Genesis 42:1-24
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
1 When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2 And he said, “Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.”
3 So Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “Lest some calamity befall him.” 5 And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6 Now Joseph was governor over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth. 7 Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, “Where do you come from?”
And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”
8 So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!”
10 And they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies.”
12 But he said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”
13 And they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.”
14 But Joseph said to them, “It is as I spoke to you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ 15 In this manner you shall be tested: By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies!” 17 So he put them all together in prison three days.
18 Then Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God: 19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you, go and carry grain for the famine of your houses. 20 And bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die.”
And they did so. 21 Then they said to one another, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.”
22 And Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us.” 23 But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter. 24 And he turned himself away from them and wept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
Were Joseph’s brothers spies as accused openly or sinners as they concealed their treachery against their brother? As the family starved in Canaan, Jacob who is Israel heard that there was food available to buy in Egypt and sent the sons to buy enough to keep them alive through the extensive regional famine. He sent ten of them, keeping Rachel’s last son Benjamin the youngest at home since he already lost the other from her, Joseph, and needed him as a reminder of her that he could not afford to lose. When they stood before Joseph to buy grain, he recognized them at once but the Egyptian face paint, clothing, and hair style must have been enough to conceal who he was from them. He also was the governor over the land, so even if the thought briefly crossed their minds, they would have immediately dismissed it as they presume him dead or sold off elsewhere. They could not believe God’s grace to fulfill his dreams (Genesis 37:7-8, 9-10) of the sheaves of them bowing to him or the stars, sun and moon submitting to him. Joseph was angry for them wanting to murder him and then selling him off to endure such hardships, and enacted his vengeance by accusing them of being spies instead of directly exposing their sins against him and the LORD. Do we sometimes make this same mistake to take matters into our own hands which we should put in the hands of God who alone can judge and avenge us? We are called to forgive, to confront sin committed against and by us (Matthew 5:23-24, 18:21, Luke 11:4) and leave vengeance to the Lord (Deuteronomy 32:35, Romans 12:19, Revelation 6:10) who alone is worthy and holy enough to judge us. Joseph was full of vengeance and kept accusing his brothers of spying out the land and dismissing their explanations of coming to buy food alone. Joseph tested their story to draw out their anguish by locking them up in jail as he had been unless they brought their youngest brother back to corroborate their story. He ended up keeping only one of them imprisoned and sent the others back to fetch Benjamin. They spoke to one another in Hebrew, thinking an Egyptian could not understand them (but of course Joseph heard every word). They admitted their sin’s guilt to one another there as Joseph had begged for mercy and they did not relent in their jealousy and vindictiveness when they had sold him off. Only Reuben had dissented at that time and reminded them of his warning not to sin against their brother and how they had let the admonition fall on deaf ears stopped up with jealousy and evil intent. When Joseph heard this admission, he turned and wept so they could not see lest he reveal himself to them because he was still making them pay by hiding himself from them. They left Simeon there and went back to Canaan with anguish of sin’s conviction and the cons to come. Were they false spies or true sinners? That question was clear to them all now once their sin was exposed. The accusation of espionage was still being leveled against them to put fear in them for what they had done to Joseph and the LORD allowed it to stand for awhile until the story played out and His sovereign will to bring Israel to Egypt to save them as promised (Genesis 15:13, Exodus 12:40-41) came to fulfillment to deliver them all from the bondage of sin which held them there until they sinned again and lied when the spied out the promised land (Numbers 13:2, 14:36) offered to them out of fear. Lying and spying seemed to cause much sin with lasting consequences for them, just as it does to us. We have been called to speak truth to one another (Zechariah 8:16, Ephesians 4:25) and love transparently (2 Corinthians 6:11, 7:2-3) and not enact jealous vengeance on one another to please the Lord and do good to one another. Are we accused of being false spies or true sinners who are ready to act openly and confess our sins (James 5:16) to one another?
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