Genesis 42

There are some meetings you never expect to have—a person from your past that you haven’t seen for years, an old friend with whom you lost touch, a partner whose relationship with you ended poorly, a person who hurt you, and the hurt still lingers. Today’s passage shows how God orchestrates a surprise meeting behind the scenes. Let’s consider Genesis 42.

The seven years of plenty and seven years of famine happened just as God had revealed through Joseph. Elevated to second in command, Joseph led well through the years of plenty and now provided the people of Egypt and surrounding countries with grain to survive the food shortage.

Genesis 42:1-3
When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” ² And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.” ³ So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.

The point of Jacob’s question, “Why do you look at one another?” is that his sons should have been doing something to provide food for their families. We see in these verses that Jacob was still the family’s patriarch, making the decisions. At their father’s instruction, the ten brothers headed to Egypt.

The trip from Hebron to Egypt was around 250 miles and would have taken two or three weeks to complete. Jacob did not send Benjamin, “for he feared that harm might happen to him” (Gen. 42:4). We are not told what Jacob was thinking. Did he fear the brothers might turn on Benjamin along the way? Or was he concerned about the dangers of the long journey? No doubt, Jacob was thinking about his loss of Joseph. Joseph had been Jacob’s favorite son; now, Benjamin is. We know that Benjamin was his son by Rachel, the wife he loved. She had died giving birth to Benjamin, and Jacob was not going to risk losing him too.

Jacob’s sons were not the only ones traveling to Egypt to acquire grain. People were coming from all over the area. And everyone who came to buy food had a personal meeting with Egypt’s governor, who oversaw the food supply.

Genesis 42:6-9
Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. ⁷ Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” ⁸ And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. ⁹ And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them.

Joseph’s brothers were not impressed when Joseph, as a teenager, had shared about the sheaves and constellations bowing before him (Gen. 37). In fact, his brothers were angered when Joseph shared the dreams, but now, God was fulfilling these dreams. His brothers were bowing before him. Some twenty years had passed since their last time together, so they did not recognize Joseph, who was shaven and dressed like an Egyptian. Besides, they had sold him into slavery. They would have never expected him to be the governor of Egypt!

Notice in Genesis 42:7 that Joseph “treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them.” He berated them for being spies who had come to discover the weaknesses of Egypt. The brothers vehemently denied the accusations. They explained, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more” (Gen. 42:13). But Joseph would not retract his allegation.

Genesis 42:15-17
“By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶ Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” ¹⁷ And he put them all together in custody for three days.

Joseph accused his brothers of being spies four times (Gen. 42:9, 12, 14, 16). He treated them roughly (Gen. 42:7, 30), and put them in prison as they had thrown him into a cistern. But underneath his actions is an affection, as we will see later, and a purpose. Seeing his brothers in Egypt revealed the truth of his dreams. He needed his entire family to move to Egypt to save them from the famine. However, he had to determine if the brothers were trustworthy. He knew they had turned on him. Now, he had to be sure they wouldn’t turn on each other.

After three days, Joseph released his brothers and altered the plan. He assured them that he feared God (Gen. 42:18), one thing he and his brothers had in common. The new plan involved leaving one brother in prison while the others went to bring their youngest brother back. Joseph wanted to make sure Benjamin was alive and well. The notes in The NET Bible say that Joseph told them he feared God to awaken their consciences.^[1] At this point, they realized they were suffering the consequences of their past sins.

Genesis 42:21-24
Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” ²² And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” ²³ They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. ²⁴ Then he turned away from them and wept.

Joseph became emotional several times as he met with his family (Gen. 43:30; 45:2, 14; 50:1, 17). He had missed out on so many years with them. Furthermore, his previous encounter with his brothers would have left him scarred by traumatic memories.

Joseph bound Simeon and sent the other brothers back to Canaan. In another move to put the fear of God in them, Joseph took the silver with which they had purchased their grain and put it back into their bags. When the silver was discovered, the brothers feared that they would be accused of stealing the grain.

Genesis 42:27-28
And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. ²⁸ He said to his brothers, “My money has been put back; here it is in the mouth of my sack!” At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”

The brothers returned to Canaan and told their father all that had happened. Jacob responded, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me” (Gen. 42:36). He was adamant that Benjamin not go to Egypt.

We’ll pick up there next time.

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read Genesis 42. Don’t miss how God has worked to raise Joseph to be governor and how he is working behind the scenes to bring Jacob and his family to Egypt.

Talking to God
Thank God for working behind the scenes in your life today. I know you can’t see it, but he is always working.

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^[1] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Gen. 42:18.