Genesis 43:1-14, Thoughts from Genesis (9)

·       Gen. 42:9: Joseph remembered the dreams.  This is such a key factor in this story.  The dreams are God’s revelation to Joseph, but also to the entire family.

·       Gen. 42:21: “We are truly guilty concerning our brother.”  Guilty is the Hebrew asham, to be guilty, faulty, obliged to offer a guilt-offering (as in Ezra 10:19, where this term is used).

·       Gen. 42:22: “His blood is not required of us.”  Hebrew darash, a reckoning.  The first use of this is in Gen. 9:5, in God’s revelation to Noah that murderers will have to die for killing someone.  So Reuben is correct, in so far as he and the rest assume Joseph is dead by now, because of their actions.

o   Reuben is the oldest son.  But his mother was Leah; and Jacob’s favorites are the sons from Rachel (Joseph and Benjamin).  Reuben is always trying to do things to please his father.  When they were going to kill Joseph, he pleaded with them to throw him in the pit instead, so he could return and save him (37:18-30).  When trying to convince his father to let them return to Egypt with Benjamin, he tells Jacob he can kill his two sons, Jacob’s grandsons, if they don’t return safely with Benjamin (42:37).  As if that would satisfy Jacob!  Judah’s approach to his father is just to take personal responsibility for Benjamin (43:9).  The “Reuben” kind of person, whose first thought in a time of trouble is to shift the blame on others, makes a poor leader.  He is all about fleshly solutions.  In the end, he will not get the privileges of the first-born; these will be split between Joseph and Judah (Gen. 49).

·       Gen. 43:14: The delay in returning is because Jacob is more concerned about Benjamin than Simeon, who is in prison in Egypt.  But in the end, his willingness to entrust one son to Judah resulted in his getting three sons in return: Benjamin, Simeon and Joseph.

·       Gen. 43:32: Egyptians were easily offended, in my view.  It was an abomination to eat with a Hebrew or to acknowledge shepherds (46:34).  In Israel, abomination is reserved for idolatry and various heinous acts.

·       Gen. 44:1-17: Why is Joseph doing all of this?  We would say he is a type of Christ who does this for us.  But some think he is arrogant in putting the brothers through all this.  Actually, it is an act of love and grace to bring his brothers to the place of dealing with the sin they had pushed underneath their conscious thoughts for so many years.  They have all acknowledged their sin; and Judah has done for Benjamin what no one would do for Joseph. 

·       Gen. 44:33: To use the language of Hebrews 7:5, Christ is in the “loins of Judah.”  What is Judah doing here?  He is pleading with his brother that he might be the vicarious provision.  In other words, he is a type of Christ.