Turn in your bibles to Genesis 42. We are continuing to make our way through the book of Genesis, now focusing on the life of Joseph. Our plan is to wrap this series up by the end of May. So we will be taking roughly a chapter a week (except for Easter Sunday). Last week, we saw Joseph finally rise to a position of authority. After having spent thirteen years in slavery and prison, he was released and placed second in command under Pharaoh. He receives a wife, they have a child he names Manasseh “making to forget.” Joseph says “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house” (Gen. 41:51). In our passage this morning we will see that he is not able to forget for very long.
Before we read this passage let us look to the Lord in prayer for his help in understanding it.
Genesis 42
1 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. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him. 5 Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6 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. And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.” 10 They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies.”
12 He said to them, “No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.” 13 And they said, “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.” 14 But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you. You are spies. 15 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.
18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19 if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households, 20 and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so. 21 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. And he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. 25 And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them.
26 Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed. 27 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?”
29 When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, 30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. 31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we have never been spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’ 33 Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way. 34 Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’ ”
35 As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. 36 And Jacob their father said to them, “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.” 37 Then Reuben said to his father, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.” 38 But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”
This is the Word of the LORD.
Moses shifts his focus in this chapter away from Joseph. He places the spotlight on the brothers who had betrayed him. This is a lengthy transition that serves to explain how God is beginning to bring about the restoration of the family of Israel. We see him refer to the brothers several times as the “sons of Israel” which sets the reader up to see these brothers as the fathers of the nation. Their dysfunction and division cannot last forever, because history has shown that they are united.
In the first section, we see Jacob sending Joseph’s brothers to Egypt (1-5). Upon their arrival they seem to immediately run into Joseph where he accused them of being spies (6-17). This is followed by Joseph testing them to see if they truly are “honest men” (18-25). Finally, we see their return to Canaan as they face their father (26-38). Once again, they find themselves with extra money and one less brother.
This morning I want to discuss a theology of true repentance. These brothers reveal that our guilty conscience remains no matter how much we suppress it. The main idea I want you to see this morning is: The suppression of a guilty conscience leads to condemnation, but those who truly repent find restoration.
First, we will look at The Reminder of Guilt (1-5). Second, we’ll see The Distress of Guilt (6-26). And third, we will note The Assumption of Guilt (27-38).
The Reminder of Guilt (1-5)
At the very least, Jacob’s expression in verse 1 indicates the ongoing dysfunction in this family. The brothers are sitting around looking at one another, waiting for someone else to come up with a plan. Presumably, they all knew about the grain that was available in Egypt. So Jacob gets them moving, by sending his sons to Egypt, except for Benjamin. It would appear that Jacob does not trust his sons with Benjamin. This decision to keep back his youngest son reveals something of the ongoing tension that exists in the home sense Joseph was sold twenty years ago. Jacob has not forgotten Joseph, and he appears to be protective of Benjamin facing any possible danger. How the brothers treat Benjamin will signal whether they have experienced any spiritual change. Jacob’s withholding of Benjamin would have served as a strong reminder to the brothers of what happened with Joseph. Ultimately, what we see in this chapter, is that God uses a famine to bring restoration to the family (5).
We must not minimize or take away from the pain and ravage caused by a famine. Canaan, the land of promise, had become a land of famine to Abraham (Gen. 12:10), Isaac (Gen. 26:1), and now to Jacob (Gen. 42:2). We read about famines a lot in the Old Testament. Famines appear so frequently that we can read about it without giving it a second thought. It might as well say a storm was passing through the land. But, our emotions are not properly engaged if we do not consider the seriousness of their predicament.
There is great anguish and bitterness in a land that has been devastated by a famine. Lamentations 4:9-10 says it well:
Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of hunger, who wasted away, pierced by lack of the fruits of the field. The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Can it get much worse than that? Eating your own child because of starvation is almost unthinkable. But that is what a famine can and did do to people of God. Famines could turn compassionate women into cannibals.
Do you know that cannibalism as the result of famine was not only found in ancient history? In the twentieth century alone, we know of famines resulting in cannibalism in Ukraine, Germany, and China. Many more examples could be given, but the point is to say that famines and the ugliness that results from them has been experienced across cultures and throughout history.
This particular famine, which covers a vast region, serves to bring this divided family together again. It is severe mercies that bring healing to this fractured family. The famine is actually a form of God’s mercy. God uses the famine to draw these brothers back to himself with the cords of discipline. He reveals his ultimate concern for souls by allowing bodies to starve. That bears repeating even if it is difficult to accept. God reveals his ultimate concern for souls by allowing bodies to starve.
Isn’t that often the case? It is often while facing a physical low-point in our lives that we are brought to consider the state of our spiritual condition. It is in a time of crisis and tragedy that we begin to deal with the sins of our past. That is what these brothers are beginning to experience as they set off on their journey.
The reminder of their guilt probably rested upon over the course of the next five days. While they are in Egypt, the reminder of guilt will turn into…
The Distress of Guilt (6-26)
In this longer section we see that the killers of the dream become the fulfillers of it (6). Joseph recognized his brothers but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them (7). Why doesn’t he immediately reveal himself? We know this is not revenge because he wept (24). He was tenderhearted toward them. His tactics reveal a desire to see Benjamin and a desire to know if his brothers had repented. Calvin argues that Joseph was able to forcibly repress his tears by speaking harshly to them.
Joseph remembered his dream (8). During the seven years of plenty, with the birth of his children, Joseph had forgotten the hardship of his past. Now, in probably the first year of the famine, he sees his brothers, and all his old feelings bubble back up to the surface. Twice we are told they didn’t recognize him: 1) Age 17, now 37. 2) Position. 3) Language. 4) Clothing. 5) He speaks harshly to them.
Joseph accuses them of being spies, but they deny it claiming to be honest men. He accuses them of the same thing they accused him of – being a spy back in chapter 37. He’s giving them a taste of their own medicine. Joseph is probing their hearts. More specifically, the Lord is using Joseph to bring them to the point where they might deal with their sin. He is in the process of bringing them to true repentance.
When Joseph begins to test them, the brothers sense their predicament is punishment from God. They understood that God was beginning to deal with them. The brothers experience the same “distress” Joseph felt when they threw him into the pit. Their recognition and admission of their guilt is the beginning of true repentance.
Joseph is hearing of Reuben’s reaction for the first time (22). You can imagine Joseph crying out “Help! Save me! Don’t leave me!” as they are sitting down to eat. That is the guilt they lived with for twenty years, because they never acknowledged nor admitted it. Twenty years of suppression! Twenty years of trying to bury the past.
Martin Luther’s first thesis: “When our Lord Jesus Christ said ‘Repent!’ he meant that the whole of the Christian life is repentance.”
Sinclair Ferguson,
“Seeing repentance as an isolated, completed act, at the beginning of the Christian life, has been a staple principle of much of modern evangelicalism. It is sad that evangelicals have often despised the theology of the confessing churches. It has spawned a generation who look back upon a single act, abstracted from its consequences, as determinative of salvation. The ‘alter call’ has replaced the sacrament of penance. Thus repentance has been divorced from genuine regeneration, and sanctification severed from justification.”
WSC What is repentance unto life? A. Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin and apprehension of the mercy of God, doth with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it to God with full purpose of and endeavor after new obedience.
Many of us are trying to bury the past. We want to forget everything. This is true of each of these main characters in the story. Joseph wanted to forget the pain of the past, while his brothers wanted to forget their sin. They have been lying and hiding for twenty years! Everything that is hidden will be brought to light. The way to deal with the past is by bringing it to the light. We can never escape the sense of guilt. Eventually, it will catch up to us (if God is merciful). It has been twenty years, but God eventually brought them to a place of confronting their sin.
Until we experience true repentance we will wax and wane with a conflicting conscience. The hatred these brothers showed to Joseph was, at one time, our state as “enemies” of God. We had no interest in him. We did not recognize him. We did not know he understood us. Jesus says, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” When we come to Christ acknowledging our personal guilt, His grace is sufficient. Only the blood of Jesus can clean us from the guilt of all our sin. However, we cannot expect to be forgiven when true repentance is lacking.
We may experience a reminder of guilt. And we may know the distress of guilt. If so, we will also be familiar with…
The Assumption of Guilt (27-38)
The brothers assume all of their affliction is punishment (28). I could imagine how often they faced hardship and immediately thought about their sin. Their guilt would not depart from them.
All Jacob’s bitterness and sorrow comes welling up to the surface when his brothers return without Simeon and suggesting they must take Benjamin with them. Jacob’s speech begins and ends with self-pity (36). This is the picture of a believer who has lost his way. He is deeply pessimistic and overly possessive of Benjamin. He behaves as if God has betrayed him. He has forgotten the promises he received (Gen. 28:15). He says, “All this has come against me”? But this is never true for the Christian. “If God is for me, who can be against me?” Jacob goes to to say of Benjamin, “He is the only one left” (38). Really Jacob? He obviously has not learned a lesson from the favoritism he showed to Joseph.
This is not ultimately about Jacob or Joseph, but God is preserving his covenant promises. We see a picture of the life of faith from these characters.
- In Joseph, we see the hardship he has gone through eventually bringing him to a place of being used for great good.
- In the brothers, we see the beginning stages of true repentance. They wrestle with their guilty conscience but eventually they are forced to admit their guilt.
- Jacob has a hard time seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. His experiences have hardened him. His hope has faded. What does he picture for us? The promise that when we are faithless, He remains faithful!
The picture of the Christian life is not always pleasant. It is full of trials. But the growing Christian, will look back upon his trials and recognize the merciful hand of providence that was guarding their soul throughout it all.
You may relate to the brothers at the end of this chapter. You are feeling like the weight of your sin is crashing down upon you and the hand of God is heavy against you. If that is true, I want to exhort you to repent! Don’t wait another moment. Your sense of guilt means you are human, but it does not make you a Christian. Everyone experiences guilt, but not everyone responds to that guilt appropriately.
On the other hand, you may relate to Jacob who is unable to see God’s grace in the midst of constant hardship. You don’t feel like your sin is necessarily the cause of your circumstances, but you are struggling to find hope right now. If that is true, I want to exhort you to repent! Repentance is a way of life. Ask the Lord to soften you and give you eyes to see his mercy.
Conclusion
The suppression of a guilty conscience leads to condemnation, but those who truly repent find restoration. We need a Father who will forgive us, a Brother who will accept us, and a Comforter who will change us. We have a Savior who is not reluctant to forgive and restore us. When your guilt leads to repentance rather than suppression, you will find a God eager to forgive rather than condemn. Suppression of guilt leads to condemnation. Repentance of sin leads to restoration.