COME AS A CHILD LESSON 98 TRAVELING BACK TO EGYPT

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

For a long time Israel/Jacob was very stubborn about letting the brothers of Joseph take Benjamin back to the land of Egypt.  He did not want them to take him away! 

But the grain they brought was beginning to dwindle down, and they soon would be hungry again.   One day Jacob told them to go back to Egypt and buy more food.  Judah reminded their father that they had been warned that they would not be allowed to buy any more food unless they brought Benjamin with them.  They could not go without him.

Jacob in all of his sorrow asked the logical question:  “Why did you tell the man you had a younger brother in the first place?”

They replied:  “The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family.  “Is your father still living?  Do you have another brother?”  We simply answered his questions.  How were we to know he would say, “Bring your brother down here?”

Then Judah said to his father, Israel (Jacob) “Send the boy along with us and we will go at once so that we all can live and not die.  I will guarantee the safety of Benjamin.  You can hold me personally responsible for him.  If I do not bring him back to you I will bear the blame before you all of the rest of my life.  By now we could have already made the journey and returned twice.  It is not good to wait any longer."  

Finally Israel agreed.  He really had no choice. 

He told the brothers to put some of the finest products of the land into their sacks to give to the man.  They took balm and honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.  They took double the amount of silver, one amount to pay for new food and one amount to repay what had been returned to them, and they took Benjamin. 

Israel stayed behind and mourned.  He prayed for God to have mercy on all of them. 

The brothers hurried to Egypt and presented themselves before Joseph.  When Joseph saw them and that they had Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his household:  “Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare a meal, they are to eat with me at noon.”

The servant did exactly as he was told.  The brothers were very frightened when they were taken to Joseph’s house.  They thought, ‘we were brought here because of the silver that was put into our sacks the first time.  He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys.’  

They went up to Joseph’s steward and said “We beg your pardon, our lord; we came down here the first time to buy food.  But at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver – the exact weight – in the mouth of his sack.  So we have brought it back with us.  We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food.  We don’t know who put our silver in our sacks.”

“It is alright” the servant said.  “Do not be afraid.  Your God, the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks.  I received your silver.

Then the servant of Joseph brought Simeon out to them.  After they gladly and warmly greeted Simeon the servant took them into Joseph’s house and gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys.  They prepared their gifts for Joseph’s arrival at noon, because they had heard they were to eat with him. 

When Joseph arrived and greeted them, they presented their gifts and they bowed down to the ground before him.  He asked them how they were doing and he inquired about the health of their aged father.  He asked if the father was still living.

Once again, they bowed and answered Joseph that the father was alive and well. 

Joseph walked over to Benjamin and asked if he was the youngest brother.  They nodded and Joseph said “God be gracious to you, my son.” 

Joseph was so deeply moved at seeing his brother Benjamin, the only other son of his own mother, that he had to hurry out of the room and look for a place to weep.  He went into his own private room and wept.  He finally composed himself again, came back out and said “Serve the food.”

Egyptians do not eat with Hebrews.  That is detestable to Egyptians.  So they served Joseph by himself in one area of the room, the other Egyptians that were there in another section of the room, and the brothers of Joseph were separated into the section of the room with Joseph.   Joseph’s brothers were then seated before him in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest.  This astonished them, and they looked silently at each other in wonder  

When the food came, from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portions were five times as much as anyone else’s.  They did not know what to make of all this, they simply feasted and drank freely with him.  

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 89 - A SON IS BORN AND A BELOVED WIFE AND FATHER PASS AWAY

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

I’m sorry if you looked for this lesson last Thursday!  I was away at The Feast of Tabernacles enjoying a joyous feast before The Lord, and I hope you were busy doing the same with your own family! 

We left Jacob back in Bethel, worshiping God at a holy altar and giving thanks for God’s deliverance and provision for his family and descendants.  After a very holy time, the people of Jacob settled down and made Bethel home for a little while.  It was like a refuge for them, a place to stay until their troubles in the land blew over and were forgotten by the other inhabitants. 

The day came when Jacob, now called Israel, felt it was safe to move on.  They walked toward the area of Ephrath (Bethlehem) slowly because Rachel was heavy with child, and it was close to time for her to deliver. 

The birth pains came in the middle of their journey and she was having great difficulty giving birth to this child.  The midwife was with her and trying to help her.  She said to Rachel “Don’t despair, for you have another son.”

It would be a son she would give her life for.  Rachael also knew she was dying.  In her last few breaths she named her son Ben-Oni. 

In Hebrew the word “Ben” means “son.”  The root of the Hebrew word for “son” implies a building being built.  When Sarah could not have children and she told Abraham to go into her maid and have a son by her she said “Perhaps I shall be BUILT UP by her.”  The implication was “to build up.” 

This use of the words brings to mind the statement made by Jesus at a much later date; “for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.” (Matthew 3:9), and the implication of “raise up” is the same meaning as “build up;”  which makes the use of this word from the lips of Rachel seem so much more profound.  Some scholars have noted that the Hebrew for stone (‘eben) is also related to the verb for “son” (bana) meaning “to build.” 

Jesus also said “You will be sons of the Most High (Luke 6:35) and Peter later writes “You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house.” (1 Peter 2:5)  The word “house” is frequently used to denote someone’s family but it is also used to denote any other clearly defined group, such as a guild, a castle order, or such similar organizations of people groups, such as when one speaks of “the sons of the prophets”  or “the sons of the troops,” or “the sons of exile.”

So yes, the word “ben” means son, but it also means a group of sons and a building block.  This seems to imply the building up of a nation!

The whole name given by Rachel in labor and pain to her son was Ben-Oni which many translators have traditionally translated to mean “Son of my Sorrow.”  Today many disagree with this interpretation.  Remember that until Joseph was born Rachel was childless for a very long time.   It seems highly unlikely that she would name her second son in a way that would be continuously reminding everyone that he was the cause of his mother’s death. 

We must also remember how much Jacob loved Rachel!  He spent 14 years of his life working in order to obtain her as his wife.  It is highly unlikely that he would not honor her dying wish and name their son something completely different than what she had called him, as most of us have been traditionally taught.    

Instead of accepting the traditional interpretation here, one would think that Rachel may have sought consolation that her son made it alive.  It could be that when Rachel heard the mid-wife say; “Do not fear, for now you have another son” that she chose the last part of the name to be “‘on.”

We cannot be sure how the ancient text was pronounced.  Historically, there are two ways to pronounce ‘on;  “awen” and “on.”  These two words have completely different meanings.  “Awen” means “sorrow” and “on” means “vigor.”  To be vigorous is to have strength.  It seems possible that Jacob/Israel did not rename the child after Rachel’s death; but he simply added amplification to the name she had already given.  Rachel’s meaning “this son is my progeny” (Ben-oni) becomes “This son is my strength” which translates to Benjamin.

So it was that Jacob had to bury Rachel, the love of his life.  He buried her on the way between Bethel and Bethlehem and he sat up a pillar for her tombstone.  The scriptures say that that pillar, marking Rachel’s tomb, is there to this day. 

Israel (Jacob) moved on again and set up a tent near Migdal Eder.  He now was the father of twelve sons. 

The sons of Leah were Ruben (the firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. 

The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

The sons of  Rachel’s servant, Bilhah, were Dan and Naphtali.

The sons of Leah’s servant, Ziplah, were Gad and Asher.

The first born son of Jacob did many rebellious things to break his father’s heart.  It was while they were in Migdal Eder that Ruben committed a great sin and slept with Bilhah, his mother’s servant, Jacob’s concubine, mother of his half-brothers.  Israel (Jacob) knew of this.  It was no secret and it was very shameful to him.

After all of these sorrowful events in Israel’s life, he finally came back to Mamre and reunited with his father, Isaac.  Isaac was old and blind when Israel had first left home as Jacob, and it was not thought at that time that Isaac would live much longer.  He had somehow recovered his strength and he lived to be one hundred and eighty years old.  He lived to see his two sons united again.  It must have brought him joy in his old age. 

When Isaac died, he was buried in the tombs of Abraham and Sarah.  He had lived a long and full life.  Together, Jacob and Esau buried their father.