Joseph's brothers repent [Gen 42-44]

Joseph's brothers repent [Genesis 42-44]

Genesis 42-44
Key verse: Genesis 44:33

The book of Genesis ends with Jacob, his children, the entire nation of Egypt, and its surrounding nations being saved. This is very meaningful because it was saving of God’s people — the people with whom He had made a covenant of salvation. It testifies powerfully and forcefully that God saves His people and keeps His promises. Here, two people played the most important role—the role of saving the lives of God’s chosen, Israel. One was Joseph and the other was Judah. These two people meet in today’s passage. Through this meeting, God speaks the profound truth regarding His righteousness and holiness. God upheld His righteousness by keeping His promise, despite the sin and unworthiness of Jacob and his children. He preserved His holiness by demanding and bringing about repentance in His chosen people.

I.              Effects of sin among Jacob’s children

In the beginning, Joseph was the youngest among 11 brothers.

He had three distinct aspects to his family life.

1.    Joseph reported his half-brothers’ wickedness his father. He had a keen sense of right and wrong. Further, he had an eager desire to rectify the wrongs being done by the family. As we know from Scripture, two wrong acts were recorded—Judah’s life among pagans, and two brothers—Simeon and Levi, attacking and killing the unsuspecting all of the Shechemite men and looting their city, like savages. They were like any ordinary family that lived a wild life, each according to their own passionate sinfulness. Sin was rife among his brothers; Joseph was the only one among the 12 that led a pure life. It was like one against ten.

2.    Joseph’s father loved him more than any of his other children. This love went beyond ordinary favoritism. Jacob had special care and affection for his son Joseph, who was uncorrupted, pure, sincere, and God-fearing, unlike any of the other children in his family.  Jacob made an ornamental coat for Joseph only and treated him like a prince among many brothers.  

3.    Joseph had two dreams. We know the content of these dreams, and their significance resides in two things—they contained the same content and were of God,  not of man. A young boy might dream of his own aspirations and hopes, but no one can make up a dream with clear characters and the same clear message twice. These dreams were of God and His will, sent as a message to Joseph, as well as to his brothers and his parents. This is seen because they were all characters in Joseph’s dreams. This becomes much clearer later on as we come to hear the dreams of Pharaoh and two of his officials. Joseph’s dreams predicted that he would become a leader or authority and his brothers would be his subjects or subordinates. Humanly speaking, this was very humiliating to be under their younger brother and to be his subjects. Why did God want to give Joseph authority over his brothers? God vested His plan on Joseph’s unique character—his clear sense of right and wrong and his compassion for his family. Joseph clearly possessed godliness, while it was difficult to find such a trait in the rest of his brothers.

What about his brothers? They hated Joseph for two reasons: because of their father’s favoritism and because Joseph’s bad report against them. Favoritism brews jealousy, dissension, hate, and alienation; because of Joseph’s bad report against his brothers.

This hate and dislike might have been just ordinary competition among brothers. But this ordinary hate went beyond ordinary when they heard about his two dreams.

“Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more” (Genesis 37:5).

When the brothers saw Joseph in the distance, coming to see them, they said:

“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams” (Genesis 37:19-20).

With one word, Joseph’s two dreams tipped their mind from hate to hostility.

As I mentioned before, these two dreams indicated God’s will. Joseph’s brothers hated God’s choice of Joseph, and rejected God’s authority on this matter. They not only rejected Joseph and his purity, but also they rejected God. It was in their way of life.

Their sin evolved into a murder attempt. However, Joseph was eventually sold to a Median merchant and taken to Egypt.

About 22 years later, there was a severe famine across the entire land and the brothers made their first journey to Egypt, where Joseph had stored up large quantities of grain.

As soon as Joseph saw his brothers bowing down before him, he remembered the dream he had had about them. He charged them with being spies and put them in prison for three days. He released them all, except Simeon, whom he took as a hostage. They were to prove their honesty by bringing Benjamin with them on their next journey. Until that time, Simeon would be under Joseph’s custody. What were their feelings during this imprisonment?

“They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come upon us”…They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter. He turned away from them and began to weep, but then turned back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes” (Genesis 42:21, 23-24).

Why did Joseph weep at that time? Why did he weep the other two times?

“As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” And he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there… And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it” (Genesis 43:29-30; 45:2).

Was it because he remembered his suffering? It could be!

(“Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household” (Genesis 41:51).

God healed his sorrow and bitter suffering, if there were any left after so many years. His memory of himself had been forgiven long ago because of the success that God gave him in Egypt.)

It is far more likely that it was because of the effects of their sin (it had severed and destroyed the relationship between him and his brothers, and had caused so much pain and grief in their lives, as well as in Joseph’s and his father, Jacob’s.)

But Joseph’s memory of his brothers remained fresh. He remembered exactly what had happened - how they had arrested him by force, kicked him to the ground, bound him, and discussed how to kill him; he heard all the curses, anger, ridicule, and jokes heaped on him. He remembered being lowered into a dry well, and finally being sold to a Midianite merchant. He could not believe how evil and wicked they were. He could not believe that his own brothers would and could do such things. Most of all, he could not believe that God had chosen his brothers to inherit His blessing.

These memories came alive as if they had happened yesterday. His suffering had come from the flagrant and unrestrained discharge of their evil hearts. As soon as they bowed down before him, Joseph vividly remembered their vile actions. The dreams they had hated and feared so much that they had even attempted to kill their own brother, more than 20 years ago, had come true, but they were still the brothers who had sold him into slavery.

So Joseph wept and could not withhold such emotions because of the gravity of their sin and wickedness. The sin was so egregious that it not only caused them much pain and sorrow, but also to Joseph. How would God accept such men of sin and wickedness? They were Joseph’s own brothers whom he cared for and loved. , but their sin stood between them and Joseph. These 20 years of separation from his brothers and his father was created by his brothers’ sins. This sin needed to be resolved, so Joseph suddenly accused them of being spies.

If we do not deal with our sin, we cannot have anything to do with God’s work. If we want to deal with our sin, we must accept God and His holiness that never overlooks sin. If we do not know His holiness and righteousness, we can never truly understand what sin is, resulting in our work being based on human goodness and our life’s foundation being built on humanism. However, the more we know God and his Holiness, the more pain and sorrow we will feel over the sins of men. Joseph had such pain over the sins of his brothers and proceeded to show his love for them in three ways:

1.    Joseph accused his brothers of being spies and demanded that they prove their honesty and innocence. He did not drop this charge until Judah confessed and repented of their sins. The theme was:

“They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, “Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?” (Genesis 44:4).

2.    Joseph heaped his love upon them — he released them from prison, gave them abundant grain and provisions for their families, and even gave back the silver they had brought as payment, saying that he had already received it (Genesis 43:23).
Finally, he paid them great honor by serving them a private dinner in his own house. He personally served them and gave them freedom, comfort, and joy in fellowship.

“When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare dinner; they are to eat with me at noon” (Genesis 43:16).

3.    Joseph believed in and acted out his godly insight. At the private dinner he held for his brothers, he seated them in the order of their ages.

“The men had been seated before him in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest; and they looked at each other in astonishment” (Genesis 43:33).

They were astonished at this revelation. Here Joseph clearly implied that he had godly insight and a firm connection with God.

“Isn’t this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination?...“Joseph said to them, “What is this you have done? Don’t you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?” (Genesis 44:5, 15).

What is godly insight? When we know God and His holiness, we recognize the sharp distinction between His good will and the sinfulness of men. The Spirit that resides in us tells us what is weak, evil, unholy, or ungodly because God chose us to be His servants and wants to use us for this purpose. This God-given conviction and faith about what is truth and untruth, what is evil or what is good, is based on the God’s Word and on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Why did Joseph intentionally put his sliver cup into Benjamin’s sack and charge him with evildoing? It was only out of his conviction that both he and his brothers were under God and His holiness and that they needed to realize this holiness that would never overlook the sins they had committed.

Love, truth in God’s holiness, and godly insight  - all these  must go together…we cannot have just one or two. 

Even today, these three things are important for bringing repentance among sinners, whoever they may be — coworkers, brothers, sisters, children, followers,  or leaders, but this is difficult to put into practice. Joseph could do these because of his close relationship with God, as seen through his dreams and their interpretations, his obedience, and God’s grace. He did not doubt what he believed about God.

I like to high-light one other thing: the truth of God’s holiness. It is very difficult to see in the present ages. Post-Christian culture and pervading humanism are mixed together and bear a much distorted view of God’s holiness. In Joseph’s life, God’s holiness was revealed untainted. He passed the test — to be holy or to adapt to situational ethics. Potiphar’s wife pursued a sexual favor from Joseph day after day. He fended off such temptation, and finally risked his own honor and life as well. Why? He lived before God’s holiness of God:

“No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”” (Genesis 39:9).  

Joseph lived before the God of holiness, so he knew Him and His holiness well. However, he also knew that God would not accept his brothers as they were. Therefore, he insisted on seeing repentance in his brothers. God had proven Himself to be holy, throughout Joseph’s life and up to the present; to Him, sin was still sin and must be punished with eternal destruction, unless otherwise resolved through repentance. Adultery, deception, malice, envy, and all kinds of jealousy shall all be punished with eternal damnation. These things are common place in our society. As we live in the flood of such sins, we have acquired a great immunity to them, but God is still the same God.

It is very interesting that 70% of Americans believe in heaven, and 40% believe in hell. Among those 40%, only 4% think that they will go to hell. God’s grace is never  grace unless His righteous judgment is upheld; where there is no righteous judgment, there will be no grace.

In this second part, I would like to discuss Jacob’s brothers.

“Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man’s silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. After this was done for them” (Genesis 42:25).

Once we were on Judah’s side and now we are more like Joseph. If these two men’s actions were necessary to bring salvation to the people, we must do both — Judah and Joseph. We are about to have a summer conference, during which we want to bring salvation to many students. Whatever happened between Judah and Joseph must happen in and among us, so I would like to understand whatever happened, according to God’s perspective.

Joseph’s weeping — the acme of God’s joy and His yearning heart for sinners. Why did he withhold from revealing himself for so long? This was God’s love. If we do not understand Joseph’s compassion and love, than we do not know God and His compassion for sinners. If we do not empathize with Joseph and are alienated from the reason forhis weeping and emotion, than how can we say that we know Joseph and his love?

His brothers were as bad as any other people, but Joseph’s grace — visiting his brothers, putting sliver in their sacks — led him to give them a personal and intimate dinner, and to test them by asking “Why did you pay evil for good?” (Genesis 44:4).

·         “When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare dinner; they are to eat with me at noon.” (Genesis 43:16).

·         “It’s all right,” he said. “Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver.” (Genesis 43:23).

II.            Brothers’ repentance

The brothers’ remorse appears five times:

First, it appears soon after they were put in prison during their first journey to Egypt:

“They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come upon us.” Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood.” (Genesis 42:21-22).

They recognized their wrongs and showed their regret and remorse. In this way, their sin was uttered for the first time. They came to sense that they must pay the cost of their sin.

Secondly, it appears when Joseph put the silver back into each of their sacks before they returned from their first journey. As they found the silver in each of their sacks, they reacted in fear and remorse:

“My silver has been returned,” he said to his brothers. “Here it is in my sack.” Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, “What is this that God has done to us?” (Genesis 42:28).

These brothers sensed that this whole event was God’s judgment for what they had done to Joseph; fear and trembling overwhelmed their hearts. God’s judgment is serious; no can escape it, because it may demand their lives. Has anyone come to taste God’s judgment? No one knows what they did to Joseph, but God knew and, if He decided to demand recompense for their attempted murder, they would have no choice but to pay, even if it required their own lives. Once we realize how awful God’s judgment is, we will begin to understand the true seriousness of sin.

Thirdly, their repentance appears when they were invited to eat at Joseph’s house:

“When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare dinner; they are to eat with me at noon.”… Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They thought, “We were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys.” (Genesis 43:16, 18).

Joseph was showing his love for his brothers. How could a band of shepherds — a detestable job in the eyes of the Egyptians - have a private dinner with the most powerful prime minister in Egypt? However, the minds of Joseph’s brothers were so sensitized to sin and judgment, that even this favor was viewed as such stemming from his wrath.

Fourthly, their repentance appears when Joseph brought the charge against them of stealing his silver cup.

We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.” (Genesis 44:8-9).

What were his brothers saying? We are absolutely clean and pure. They insisted on their innocence and defended their goodness and righteousness. They were innocent and did not steal or lie, as far as this incident was concerned. What they said was true if they were talking to only a man about this particular incident, but this event was of God and consisted of the retribution that He was bringing upon them. The more we harbor our sin, the more we try to prove our innocence. It is hard to make any reconciliation or render forgiveness to these brothers. Though they came to recognize their wrongs in attempting to murder Joseph, their self-righteousness was still a major current in their spirits.

Fifthly, their repentance appeared when Joseph’s cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

“Then the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.  At this, they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city” (Genesis 44:12-13).

They were found guilty according to their own words, so Joseph decided to hold them as his own slaves. The rest of the brothers must go back without Benjamin.

The oldest brother, Reuben, was silent and the rest did not know what to do. Judah made his plead to Joseph:

“Your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father. I said, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!’ “Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father.” (Genesis 44:32-34).

How was Judah’s plea unique?

1.    Judah was ready to pay the cost for their sin. We can acknowledge our sins as many times as we like, we can have remorse and regret, and we might even lament over what we did. But unless we are ready to pay the cost of that sin, it still looms in our lives. Unless we pay off the debt of our sin, it will constantly and continually occupy our spirit, our emotions, our integrity, and our intellect. Our guilt drains our resources and our lives. Whether it is sins I’ve committed or sins of other believers, unless we are ready to pay for it, it looms in and around me or congregation. Whatever it might take, Judah had the courage to pay for it. This was a truly courageous man, a man of God who cared for those entrusted to him.

2.    Judah was not only ready to repent, but also ready to pay with his own life. When the brothers were about to make their second trip to Egypt, Reuben urged his father to send Benjamin along with them. In his plea, he made this statement:

“Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back” (Genesis 42:37).

Death as means of retribution is not what God had in His mind. Furthermore, Reuben did not want to pay the penalty himself, but rather declared that his sons would pay the cost of their sins. Jacob was not moved by Reuben’s plea.
But Judah’s was different:

I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life”” (Genesis 43:9).

Under sin’s power, we all wait and let others pay for our sins. We are scared to pay for sin—whether it is mine or others. A true man of God pays for all sins by his own sweat, pain, possessions, and life. Jesus made himself vulnerable to all kinds of judgment. Eventually, he himself suffered on the cross. Judah was the least to be blamed, but in his repentance, he took upon himself the sins that he and his brother had committed. This brought about a great change in the minds of his brothers as well. This is seen in their words following the death of their father Jacob:

‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said” (Genesis 50:17-18).

A great work of salvation happened through these Joseph and Judah> God was with each of them, even though both of them struggled with sin. Sin is the barrier between the world and God. If we do not deal with sin, there will be no work of God and no salvation. God’s primary goal in bringing Jacob to Israel was to multiply him into a great nation — God’s people. He has also chosen us to be His children and servants. His primary goal remains the same — to multiply His people through us. It starts with our attitude towards sin — either in me,  in our coworkers, or in our followers. We can deal with sin either like Judah or like Joseph. In either way, God’s righteousness and holiness shall be upheld, and this work will be accomplished by His love. Joseph started this with his tears, as he wept aloud; his weeping was so loud that the whole palace heard it. When we truly understand Joseph’s tears, God can work powerfully in and among us. Furthermore, when we have Judah’s courage and commitment to God’s grace, and when we are ready to pay the cost of sin, God will surely send us many sheep for His kingdom.