COME AS A CHILD LESSON 97 TEN BROTHERS FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR SINS

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt and he sent his sons to buy some, since they had no crops that survived the famine where they lived.

Jacob decided to keep Benjamin at home with him while the other ten brothers went to Egypt.  He had already lost Joseph under their care, and he did not want to take a chance that harm could come to Benjamin. 

When the ten brothers of Joseph arrived in Egypt they were among throngs of other people wanting to buy grain.  Famine was everywhere.  No one had escaped it except for Egypt, and they only had escaped it because of Joseph’s wise management.  Now Joseph was widely known as the Governor of the land.  He was the one in charge of selling the grain. 

As Joseph sat approving purchases his brothers approached in the line of millions.  They did not recognize him.  The last time they saw him he had only been a young boy, now he was a mature man and he had changed a lot in appearance.  Joseph, however, recognized them right away.  He pretended to be harsh so they would not know who he was until he decided how to react to them. 

“Where do you come from?”  Joseph asked. 

“From the land of Canaan” they replied, “to buy food.”

As they were standing there Joseph remembered his dreams about the brothers bowing down to him and he said to them:  “You are spies!  You have come to see where our land is unprotected!”

“No my Lord,” they answered, “Your servants have come to buy food.  We are all the sons of one man.  Your servants are honest men, not spies.”

“No!” Joseph said to them.  “You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”

Then they kept defending themselves.  “Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan.  The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”

Joseph was beginning to enjoy the game a bit.  He kept prodding them.  “It is just as I told you:  You are spies!  And this is how you will be tested:  As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.  Send one of your number to get your brother, the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth.  If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”  And he put them all in custody for three days.

Do you think Joseph might have been reminding them how bad it is on one’s reputation when they lie about things?  They had all lied to their father about Joseph and what had happened?  Now they probably thought they were being punished for it.  The fact that they must bring Benjamin to a hostile environment to prove their innocence must have felt so frustrating.  In order to escape the trouble they had brought upon themselves, they would need to hurt their father once again, and possibly bring MORE trouble upon themselves.

How sad, but isn’t that what our Heavenly Father goes through every time we plot and scheme and lie ourselves?  

We are just like Joseph’s wayward brothers, blind to our own stupidity and our own lack of gratefulness for how God has blessed us over and over.  We tend to hurt the Father that we love all the time.  

We should be able to easily identify with the feelings of these brothers.  And they must have thought about this sad situation the whole three days that they were in prison.  

It is interesting that they had to be held three days in order to prove their innocence.  The same amount of time that Jesus Christ was confined to death in a tomb.  But the third day was coming, and Joseph’s brothers must have been very anxious to find out what would happen next.

On the third day, Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God:  If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households.  But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.”

Here again we see symbols of the crucifixion of Christ.  One man was held as ransom for all.  A hopeless family was blessed with provision.  God also provided all we needed for salvation.  It was asked that they bring back their younger brother when they returned.  It is asked of all of us who have committed our lives to Christ to bring our brothers with us back into the Kingdom of God.  So much symbolism can be seen in this story.

The brothers set out quickly to obey Joseph.  As they were standing in front of Joseph they spoke among themselves, thinking that Joseph did not understand the Hebrew language, because Joseph had used an interpreter to deal with them:  “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.”  Ruben 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.”  Once again, interesting that he used words that portray an accounting for blood.  It what the blood of Jesus that saved us. It was His death on a cross that brought us closer to God.  Ruben is referring to the plotted death of Joseph that they gave to their father in a story.  Thank God the story of Jesus was not plotted, but real in every way.

All the while they did not realize that Joseph could understand every word that they said. Hearing their words of confession and remorse affected him to grief.  He turned away from them and began to weep.  

Can you see Jesus standing on the mountain weeping for Jerusalem?  I can't help but think of it.

Later, when Joseph was in control of His emotions, he came back to them.  He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.  Then he gave orders for their bags to be filled with grain.  He also instructed for each man’s silver to be put back inside their sack, and to give them provisions for their journey.  After this was done for them, they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.

They walked a long way before nightfall.  When the evening came they stopped and one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey.  He saw his silver in the top of the sack!  “My silver has been returned!” he said to his brothers.  “Here it is in my sack!”

They all begin to tremble and their hearts sank.  They knew now more than ever that they were facing the consequences of their long ago sin of selling Joseph into slavery.  They said to one another; “What is this that God has done to us?”

When they reached home they told Jacob/Israel all that had happened to them.  They said, “The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land.  But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies.  We were twelve brothers, sons of one father.  One is no more and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.’  Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest men:  Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and go.  But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men.  Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’ 

They showed the grain they had brought to Jacob/Israel and as each man emptied their sack, there was his pouch of silver!  When they and Jacob/Israel saw the money pouches they were very frightened!  Israel turned to his sons and said to them:  “You have deprived me of my children.  Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin.  Everything is against me!”

Ruben had always felt bad about Joseph.  He now felt terrible about this situation.  He 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.”

But Jacob was still unsure of the situation and he said “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left.  If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.”