Genesis 42:1

Joseph is in Egypt, having been raised up by the Lord as the second-most powerful person next to Pharaoh himself. In Genesis chapter forty-two, we are going to see that the Lord put Joseph into that position to preserve the nation of Israel during the crisis of a famine. There had been a great famine which was spread throughout the whole region. However, the one place that had an abundance of food was Egypt. The Bible says in Genesis 42:1-4, “Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.”

Because of the famine, it became necessary for Jacob to send his sons to Egypt to get food for the family. But notice that Jacob did not allow his youngest son, Benjamin, to go with the rest of the brothers. Jacob said, “Lest peradventure mischief befall him.” Of course, during all of the years that had passed, Jacob had suffered as a result of losing Joseph, when Joseph was sold into slavery and Joseph was taken to Egypt. Jacob was probably more protective of Benjamin because of losing Joseph. It is also possible that Jacob even suspected that the other sons had been lying to him about what really happened to Joseph, and therefore Jacob did not want to send Benjamin to Egypt with his brothers. Whatever Jacob’s motive of keeping Benjamin at home, we see in this passage that Jacob was enduring the pain that only a parent knows when something terrible has happened to one of their children. But the truth to learn from this loss of a loved one is that God is always in control. In Jacob’s case God allowed what happened to Joseph for a good purpose. Jacob himself had not yet seen the good purpose, but that is the difference between man and God. Man cannot see the future. Jesus holds the future in His hands, and He has made great promises to His believers concerning the future. For example, it says in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God; to them who are the called according to His purpose.”

The Bible says in Genesis 42:5-21, “And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan. And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth. And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies. And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not. And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies: Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies. And he put them all together into ward three days. And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God: If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses: But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so. And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.”

Joseph’s desire to see his younger brother, Benjamin, was used by the Lord to bring the rest of the family of Israel to Egypt. Did you ever wonder why God brought the children of Israel to Egypt for 400 years? One reason was to allow the heathen people of Canaan a chance to repent before the land of Canaan was totally taken over by the people of Israel. God always gives people a chance to repent. The Bible says in Second Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” God told Abraham years before that Abraham’s seed would come into Egypt, and would stay there until the iniquity of the Amorites was “full.” The Bible says in Genesis 15:13-16, “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”

The work of God is to save people, not to destroy them. Jesus said in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” God said in Ezekiel 18:32, “For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.” Before God judges anyone, He will offer salvation. Jesus said in Luke 9:56, “For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”

One thing that is interesting to notice about the ten brothers of Joseph when they came to Egypt for the first time is how much their conscience still bothered them after all those years. Perhaps it was because they came to Egypt and were therefore reminded of how their brother, Joseph, had been sold into slavery. The Bible says in Genesis 42:21, “And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.” A guilty conscience is a terrible thing to have to carry around as a burden. Gaining a clear conscience is one of the reasons that it is important to get saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone is a sinner, and therefore everyone needs to obtain the forgiveness of sins. It is wonderful to know that you have God’s forgiveness.

Even after a person gets saved, it is important to retain a clear conscience. You cannot live by faith unless you have a clear conscience. Paul warned Timothy in First Timothy 1:19, “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck.” Something terrible happens to people who do not deal properly with their conscience. It says in First Timothy 4:1-2, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” That is why it is so important to repent whenever it comes to your mind that you have sinned. That is your conscience speaking to you. Make sure that you listen to your conscience and that you repent immediately and ask for forgiveness from Jesus. One of the terrible characteristics of the last days is that many people will have their “conscience seared with a hot iron.” If something is seared with a hot iron, it is rendered ineffective. It has lost all feeling. Those who have their “conscience seared with a hot iron” will live as though they do not have a conscience. Jesus said about the last days in Matthew 24:12, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”

The word “conscience” means literally “the knowledge of one’s self.” Your conscience is the knowledge of yourself in relation to your knowledge of a standard of right and wrong. Of course, this means that your conscience is only as good as the standard that you have learned. That is one of the reasons that reading the Word of God and thinking about the Word of God is so important. It says in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Your mind will be renewed with the proper thoughts as you learn to replace your own thoughts about something with what the Word of God has to say about it. Your conscience will convict you when your own actions are revealed to be in violation of the Word of God. Of course, how you respond to your conscience is very important. You must respond the right way with repentance and confession to Jesus in order to walk in fellowship with Him and in order to grow spiritually. Respond to your conscience properly and immediately. Do not be unwise and go long periods of time before getting some sin right with the Lord.

The sons of Joseph went years with a bad conscience. How much needless pain and grief they caused themselves and others. The wise thing is to turn to the Lord Jesus quickly and often, especially when you need to confess your sins. You can be sure that the Lord will be merciful to you. “His mercy endures to all generations.” The Bible says in Hebrews 4:13-16, “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Even though God sees and knows all of the great sins that we commit, He still offers us His mercy.

When Joseph’s brothers returned to their father in the land of Canaan, Joseph made sure that they would eventually return to Egypt by keeping Simeon in Egypt and not allowing him to return. But before this happens Reuben speaks against the other brothers regarding the time when they sold Joseph into slavery. The Bible says in Genesis 42:22-38, “And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required. And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter. And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes. Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them. And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence. And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack's mouth. And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us? And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying, The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies: We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone: And bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffick in the land. And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me. And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.”

Jacob wanted to keep his sons from returning to Egypt with Benjamin, but God had other ideas. God is at work. It is always best to find out which way God is going, and to go with Him. God has good reasons for what He wants and what He does. He knows what we do not know, and He wants what is best for us.

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