Exposing Joseph’s Brothers
Genesis 42:1-38
March 15, 2015
Well this morning our saga turns a page just a bit.
We’ve been here the last three weeks following God’s providential work to get Joseph into position to save his family.
• We’ve seen Joseph sold
• We’ve seen Joseph falsely accused
• We’ve seen Joseph imprisoned
• We’ve seen Joseph forgotten
• And we’ve seen Joseph exalted
And while the temptation is to take that story and pull it out of its context
And see it as some sort of heartwarming story of hardship and victory;
That is not at all the point.
In fact that saga with Joseph isn’t even close to the whole story;
That was just the first leg.
The whole story is about the salvation of Judah
And the preservation of the Messianic line.
That saga involving Joseph’s struggles
Was about getting Joseph into position to be able to save his family.
And last week we saw that finally happen.
In fact, we learned that it happened rather quickly.
In just 13 years Joseph went from being a 17 year old youth in Canaan to the second most powerful man in Egypt and the most sought after person on the face of the planet.
God providentially placed Joseph right were he needed to be,
So that he could save his family.
And this morning we shift our focus to the actual saving of that family.
What we have here is a DIVINE APPOINTMENT
This is not a chance encounter.
• It is like the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch; God put them together so
that Philip could share the gospel with him.
• It is like the story of Cornelius and how God brought Peter along to share the
gospel with him.
Joseph (after 13 years of moving)
Is about to be reacquainted with his brothers.
And through Joseph, God is about to
Begin the process of saving Joseph’s brothers, specifically Judah.
And the first step in this plan is very simply
To get Joseph’s brothers lost.
Now I know that sounds strange.
But even in our society it seems that real struggle
Is not getting people saved so much as it is getting people lost.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
I mean before a person will turn from their sin and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, they first have to realize that they are lost and desperately need Him.
And proving to people they are lost can be quite a frustrating endeavor.
AND YET IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.
In fact, we see Jesus do this continually.
John 5:38 “You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent.”
John 5:42 “but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.”
John 6:63-64 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. “But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.”
John 7:34 “You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.”
John 8:21 “Then He said again to them, “I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.”
John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
I read you several instances because I wanted you to know that
Challenging a person’s salvation is NOT “Un-Christ-like”
Jesus did it all the time.
Getting a person to see they are lost
Is a crucial step to eventually getting them saved.
Well, that first step is the one we are about to undertake this morning.
For lack of a better term, God is about to nail Joseph’s brothers to a wall.
There are some other tidbits of information we will note as we work through the chapter,
But the main point is clear, and that is the exposing of Joseph’s brothers.
4 points about Joseph’s brothers this morning.
#1 THEIR DELINQUINCY
Genesis 42:1-5
After several chapters of Joseph,
We now turn our attention back to Joseph’s brothers.
Moses takes these few verses to reintroduce you to them
And to show you where they are now.
If you will remember, Moses has pulled no punches
Regarding them at any point in the story.
He has routinely reminded us that they are scoundrels.
• They murder villages
• They defile their father’s bed
• They betray their own brother
• They lie to their father
• They sleep with prostitutes
It is not hard to see what Moses wants you to think of these boys,
And just in case you have forgotten
He uses these first 5 verses to sort of set the mood again.
Now we have already seen that these boys are in trouble.
They are facing a famine that will literally destroy them.
Even Jacob says “go down there and by some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die.”
This is a serious issue Israel faces.
And Moses reveals that the brothers are not the solution
They are failing as farmers and they are failing as sons.
“Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”
The implication is that the boys don’t know what to do.
• No one has risen to the challenge.
• No one has assumed the role of leadership.
They are all just sort of standing around
Waiting for someone else to fix the problem.
And Jacob has to tell them.
No one has arisen to obtain that role as patriarchal leader
It is still Jacob.
The brothers (for lack of a better term) are “duds”
THEY ARE ALSO FAILING AS SONS.
(3-5) “Then ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm may befall him.” So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.”
I want you to analyze the situation for a second.
• They are out of food and they are going to buy food.
• Benjamin represents another sack and another donkey,
• Yet Jacob will not send him.
Do you know why?
He doesn’t trust his other sons.
Jacob may not know what they did to Joseph,
But he seems to know they can’t be trusted.
And without any other specifics
Moses has reestablished those boys in our minds.
They are delinquents
They have fallen short of all that they should be.
Their Delinquency
#2 THEIR DISCERNMENT
Genesis 42:6-13
Now I want to start there with a bit of a “side point”.
You have to have recognized the fulfillment of Joseph’s dream
Now coming to fruition.
(6) “And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.”
God said it would happen, and it did.
You also need to see that this is Joseph’s “Aha” moment.
(9) “Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about them…”
We all know that in a few chapters Joseph is going to tell his brothers
How God sent him there to preserve life for them.
This is the moment when Joseph finally put that last puzzle piece in.
• He finally understands why God allowed him to be sold.
• He finally understands why God allowed him to be imprisoned.
• He finally understands why God allowed him to be forgotten.
• He finally understands why God allowed him to be exalted.
All of that was for a purpose,
And Joseph can now see that purpose standing right in front of him.
And Joseph seems to understand that
The purpose is more than just feeding his family.
Joseph seems to understand that the purpose is redeeming them as well,
And so Joseph goes way farther than simply giving them grain.
Joseph is going to test the genuineness of their faith.
And he needs to, because it is obvious that these boys never have.
We are talking about their discernment here, but you should have probably picked up on the reality that they don’t have any.
And now, I’m not picking on them for not recognizing Joseph.
Verse 7 says that Joseph “disguised himself”.
What I’m talking about is the brother’s clear inability
To rightly discern themselves.
Joseph knows what type of men they are.
He knows they can’t be trusted
And he instantly confronts them to that effect.
But notice their answer:
(10-11) Then they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. “We are all sons of one man; we are honest men, your servants are not spies.”
Don’t you love that!
“we are honest men”
• Unless of course you’re talking about lying to our father about selling his son into slavery.
• Unless you’re talking about promising our daughter-in-law that we will give her my youngest son in marriage.
• Unless of course you’re talking about a promise to form a marriage covenant with the Shechemites only to turn and slaughter them
But you know, other than those minor incidents, “we are honest men”
It echoes of the types of statements we hear today.
• “I’m a good person”
• “I’m better than most”
• “I’m going to heaven when I die”
Our world is saturated with a severe lack of genuine self-examination.
Joseph continually calls his brother’s spies,
And each time they vehemently deny it.
“No way! We might murder a whole village, sleep with our father’s wife, sell our brother into slavery, and sleep with our daughter-in-law, but we’d never be spies.”
Can you hear the lack of discernment?
Can you see their obvious blindness?
That is why Joseph continues to push them so hard.
Joseph is not speaking to them harshly because he doesn’t like them,
He is doing so because he knows they need to see what they really are.
We already saw Joseph name his son Manasseh
And speak of the forgiveness had had for his family.
Here Joseph is merely seeking to expose
The deceit that exists in his brothers.
THEY HAVE TO SEE HOW SINFUL THEY REALLY ARE.
And in order to begin to show them,
Joseph is going to issue a couple of tests for his brothers
Their Delinquency, Their Discernment
#3 THEIR DEVOTION
Genesis 42:14-20
And again instead of seeing great devoted brothers
We actually are shown their extreme lack of devotion.
They insist they are honest men, whereas Joseph knows otherwise,
So Joseph devises a test.
(14-17) “Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you, you are spies; by this you will be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here! “Send one of you that he may get your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” So he put them all together in prison for three days.”
Do you see the test?
(It’s actually quite clever)
• Alright, you maintain that you are honest and upstanding boys…
• You assure me that I can trust you and you’ll never disappoint me…
• You tell me that your word is your bond…
Well, before I trust you, I want to see if you even trust each other.
So here’s what we’ll do.
I’ll put all of you in prison, and you can select one of you
(presumably the most trustworthy)
To go back and return with your younger brother, and when he returns I’ll know you are what you say and we can go on about business.
I want you to pick one brother of the 10,
And I want the rest of you to put your life in his hands.
So who among you is trustworthy enough to handle the challenge?
AND THE ANSWER?
No one
And they stayed in prison for “three days” without being able to decide.
There wasn’t a single man of the 10 that the other 9 would trust with their life. See, they may have maintained that they were all honest men, but when pushed, they knew it wasn’t true.
Joseph just forced them to see that about themselves
But Joseph isn’t finished, he gives them another chance
And actually changes the test.
(18-20) “Now Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God: if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry grain for the famine of your households, and bring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be verified, and you will not die.” And they did so.”
Now Joseph is looking for a volunteer
Who will sacrifice himself for the good of his brothers.
Now, they do agree to this deal, but notice that no one volunteers.
What you learn here is that
Not only do these boys not trust one another,
There is also not one among them who truly loves his brother.
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
1 John 3:10 “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.”
1 John 3:13-16 “Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
1 John 4:20-21 “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”
1 John 5:1 “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.”
And what a parallel these brothers make to so many in our world today.
• Ask them if they are a “good person”?
• Ask them if they are an “honest” person?
• Ask them if they are a “loving” person?
And they answer yes I am.
But push them a little further
And you’d have a tough time getting them to prove it.
Furthermore ask one of their close associates if they are all those things,
And they have a tough time seeing it as well.
It is people who are not good, are not honest, are not loving,
Are not saved, yet they have succeeded
In convincing themselves that they are.
And this is SO dangerous.
That is why Paul says:
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test?”
They never examine themselves.
At least they never examine themselves by the proper standard.
2 Corinthians 10:12 “For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.”
So long as they can find a handful of people they are better than,
Then they think they’re ok.
But we are not compared to other sinners, we are compared to holy God!
Isaiah 28:17 “I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place.”
We are measured by Jesus, and if you don’t measure up to Him,
Then you are not good enough.
And of course THE ONLY WAY to be “good enough” is to place your faith in Christ and have His acceptable righteousness credited to you.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
But people who don’t realize how sinful they are,
Don’t ever run to Jesus for His gift of righteousness
Because they don’t see how badly they need it.
That is why you have to get people lost before you can get them saved.
And that is what Joseph is doing with his brothers.
He is trying to prove to them that they are not
As honest and loving and noble as they think they are.
And you’ll see that he actually starts to get through to them.
Their Delinquency, Their Discernment, Their Devotion
#4 THEIR DISMAY
Genesis 42:21-38
Moses actually gives us some insight into
How they are taking this “look in the mirror” Joseph has given them.
He forced them to come face to face with their lack of integrity,
And we instantly see that these boys don’t like what they see.
(21-22) “Then they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.” Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not tell you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Now comes the reckoning for his blood.”
They realize they are in a pickle
They realize they are in “distress”
One them has to stay behind and put his life in the hands of the other 9.
There is not one among them that would volunteer for that job.
It is a pickle to say the least, and the brothers finally admit
That maybe it is because they haven’t been as “upright” as they claim.
• They admit that they were wrong to sell Joseph while he was begging with them.
• Of course Reuben takes the high road with the “I told you so” statement.
WE ARE GUILTY
Joseph has forced them to see it.
Now, do please notice the insight that Moses includes about Joseph:
(23-25) “They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them. He turned away from them and wept. But when he returned to them and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain and to restore every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. And thus it was done for them.”
These verses are included so that you will realize that
This is not Joseph holding a grudge.
He is giving the money back and this isn’t even some sort of test.
Later when they return the Joseph’s servant will inform the boys that
This was an incident of favor for them.
This is just Moses’ way of reminding you that
Joseph does not hold ill will toward his brothers.
He is not looking to get even, he is not looking to make them suffer.
Joseph now sees what God is doing and is merely pushing for their repentance, but he is not trying to capitalize off of their pain.
So Joseph selects Simeon, returns their money, and lets them leave.
But you will notice that the brothers still have some conviction to endure.
(26-28) “So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there. As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money; and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. Then he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned, and behold, it is even in my sack.” And their hearts sank, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”
They don’t know why the money is in the one brother’s sack,
They just know it shouldn’t be there.
“What is this that God has done to us?”
WE ARE GUILTY & GOD IS ANGRY
Do you see how God is now using Joseph
To show these boys how much trouble they are in?
They have been forced to look in the mirror
And they are not liking what they are seeing.
And then they get home and discover more bad news.
(29-38) “When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, “The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly with us, and took us for spies of the country. “But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. ‘We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’ “The man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the famine of your households, and go. ‘But bring your youngest brother to me that I may know that you are not spies, but honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.'” Now it came about as they were emptying their sacks, that behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were dismayed. Their father Jacob said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.” Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my care, and I will return him to you.” But Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If harm should befall him on the journey you are taking, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
Here they get home and realize it wasn’t just one brother who had his money returned, but all of them had their money returned.
Verse 35 says, “they were dismayed”
And the brothers are shaken up enough that they seem to be willing
To return to Egypt with Benjamin and free Simeon.
There is only one problem.
Jacob will not let them have him.
“You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.”
Now they face the reality that their father does not trust them
And there is nothing more they can do.
They are now facing famine…
They are now facing death…
They are now facing judgment…
Now you do notice at the end of the chapter
That Reuben tries to re-assert his role as the next patriarch.
(Remember, he lost it for sleeping with his father’s concubine)
Reuben offers to be held accountable for Benjamin, but Jacob rejects him.
Reuben will not be the next family head.
This whole family is in trouble.
And now these boys are stuck realizing they are guilty, God is angry, and JUDGMENT IS COMING.
God forced them to see what they were.
And this is the first step of salvation.
And it is a vitally important step at all times.
Self examination is one of the most important things we can do.
No, we don’t examine ourselves by other people.
We examine ourselves by Christ and His word.
It is critical that we get honest about our own spiritual condition.
It is so critical in fact that Paul instituted it into the Lord’s Supper.
1 Corinthians 11:27-32 “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.”
When we gather as a church to partake of the Lord’s Supper,
It is first a time to remember Christ,
But it is also a time for self examination.
We are required to examine our lives and look for evidence of Christ.
And while there are numerous passages I could have you turn to
This morning I’ll just limit it to the ones exposed in Joseph’s brothers.
They thought they were saved and yet
They had a lack of INTEGRITY and a lack of SELF-SACRIFICING LOVE.
And those are two really good places to start as you examine yourself.
• Are you a person of integrity?
• Do you sacrifice yourself for your brother?
Now imagine if your brother was asked those things about you,
What would they would say?
This morning we will have a time of self-examination
And then we will partake of the table of the Lord.
LORD’S SUPPER
• Deacons come forward
Colossians 1:15-18 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”
• Give bread to deacons
• Deacon prayer
• Deacons pass out bread
1 Corinthians 11:23-24 “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
• Take bread
Colossians 1:19-20 “For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”
• Give juice to deacons
• Deacon prayer
• Deacon’s pass out juice
1 Corinthians 11:25-26 “In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
• Deacon prayer
• Parting chorus
