Genesis 42-47 Recap | OT Ep 6

This episode explores the biblical narrative of Joseph reuniting with his brothers, in the land of Egypt. It highlights Judah's emerging leadership, and the eventual reunion of Jacob and Joseph. The discussion emphasizes the significance of sorrow, repentance, and God's providence throughout the story.

Reading Plan - Old Testament in One Year
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Hey everyone,

My name is Austin. And my name is Ashley. Welcome to the Clean Slate Podcast. Where we're finding Jesus in the Old Testament.

Welcome into episode six. So glad you guys have stuck with us almost through Genesis now. Today we will be recapping Genesis chapters 42 through 47.

If you need a layout of the reading plan where we will be each week, it is always linked at the bottom of every episode description. So picking up where we left off last episode, it has now been 20 years since we last saw Jacob.

Yeah, that's right Ash. The last time we saw Jacob, he was mourning the loss of his favorite son, or at least he thought he was anyway. So, you know, going into chapter 42, his first words, his mood hasn't improved guys, his first words are, he's looking at his kids, they're also looking at one another, he's, why do you look at one another? Now, like as a parent, the first time I read that, where I was really thinking through it, I lost it laughing.

I think we've all felt that way. You've told your kids what to do and you walk in and they're all standing around looking at one another like, why aren't you standing around? Go do the thing I said to do.

So Jacob immediately goes into list making mode and telling his sons to go to Egypt and buy some grain. Since Egypt has something to buy, thanks in part to Joseph.

Jacob does tell the brothers though that Benjamin must stay with him and remember Benjamin is his youngest son and is the last son was born to Rachel.

So the brothers do as dad said, and they go down to Egypt because of that famine. And as they get there, Joseph recognizes his brothers, but they do not recognize him. I mean, he's older, dressed as an Egyptian prince. It makes sense that they didn't recognize him.

But at this point, Joseph does not reveal himself to his brothers. But he questions them, saying he thinks that they're spies. And through that conversation, he finds out that his father and younger brother Benjamin are both still alive.

So as Joseph is questioning his brothers, like you said, Bible actually says that he questions them roughly. So he knows who they are again, he's just really digging after them. And he winds up telling them,

going to take one of you captive, and you're going to come back with this supposed younger brother you're talking about, or I'm going to treat you as spies. That was going to be his deal. And the brothers actually, they don't have a choice, they have to take the

they're talking amongst themselves not knowing that Joseph can speak Hebrew. There's actually even an interpreter there.

what they were saying to one another was, hey, this thing is happening to us because of what we did to our brother, and of course me and Joseph, all those years ago.

knowing or would have never dreamed that man is standing just feet from them, right?

And this is kind of a thing that we have to dispel even now in Christianity that our God does not relate to us in that way, that he doesn't dole out blessing when we're good and punishment when we're bad.

That's not how he relates to us, you know, if you're a believer certainly. But even if you're not, the Bible says that it rains on the just and the unjust alike. So just a thing I want to take a moment to say is that the

full of spiritual realities, one of which is where Jesus taught that you reap what you sow. But that's not karma. Karma is very impersonal. God is a good God, And our God, as we see in Romans 8, turns all things for the good of love are called according to his purposes.

So Joseph sends them back to Canaan with the food they came to get. And he also puts the money they pay for the food back in their sacks.

So the deal was that Joseph keeps Simeon captive and tells them to bring back Benjamin in order that he can trust the information that they are saying.

So the brothers return home without Simeon and tell Jacob all of these events that have transpired.

Jacob says by no means is Benjamin going back to Egypt with

So the brothers obviously realized that they're going to run out of food again. The food they brought back is not enough to save them for the entire drought. Reuben, trying to be the leader, trying to be the oldest, makes kind of a deal with Jacob that would involve him pledging that Benjamin would be safe going down to Egypt and back up so they can go get Simeon. But the deal he tries to make actually puts

his own sons, Ruben's own sons, in harm's way if he's wrong. And Jacob's here, none of it. It's just, it's a terrible plan. And he actually just tells them, like, look, you know, I've already lost two sons now. Nobody else is going. I'm not losing any more sons.

So at the start of chapter 43, food is, just like the brothers predicted, beginning to run out. And Judah actually takes the lead for the first time among the brothers and tells Jacob, listen, we've got to go again and buy food. Judah knows there's no chance in them getting Simeon back or making it out of there themselves, for that matter, if they don't take Benjamin with them.

rather than making a pledge that puts someone else in harm's way like Reuben did, Judah places the burden on himself. This is a turning point in the leadership structure of the brothers from this point through the rest of the story. You'll see that Judah is the one who takes charge over the brothers, well, All except for Joseph anyway.

also some significance to the fact that Judah is the direct ancestor of our Lord Jesus. But we'll get back to that in a little while.

So upon hearing this, Jacob gives the brothers his blessing to go get Simeon and more food. The brothers make it back to Joseph and Joseph sees Benjamin. and when he sees Benjamin, he tells his servants to prepare a feast and also releases Simeon.

The brothers have brought double the money back to see about paying double because they were afraid of being accused of theft. assured them that he had received the money from them the last time and that God put it back in their packs.

This is a really good example,

You'll see another one like this when we get to the book of Ruth, that oftentimes when we pray that God will bless somebody, he intends to use us to be that blessing

Joseph knew the brothers had intended to pay the first time, but he blessed them and put the money back in their sacks.

praying for God to bless somebody, take a little time to ask God if he intends to use you Just like he uses Joseph here.

So the feast is prepared and just before their meal, Joseph speaks to Benjamin. Upon speaking to Benjamin, Joseph had to hurry out of the room because of the joy of seeing his younger brother.

ate at one table and Joseph ate at another, which would have been customary for people in Joseph's position to do, as well as Egyptians. They didn't eat with Hebrews. That would have been considered an abomination to them. and there at end of the chapter, you see there was a lot of food and a lot of drinking and everybody was having a really good time.

So in chapter 44, Joseph sends his brothers back home with the grain for other families, but with a test.

What Joseph is testing here is what kind of sorrow do they feel now? So in the New Testament, there's two types of sorrow. There's metamelomai and metanoia. Metamelomai is the type of sorrow we've all experienced where, hey, I'm not really sorry that I did whatever it is I'm in trouble for. I'm sorry that I got caught doing it.

and metanoia is being sorry to God, like to the Lord that I've sinned or I've fallen short here, And Joseph is trying to test, I think, and see, hey, what kind of sorrow are they feeling? So Joseph has his servant put a silver cup in the bag of Benjamin specifically without anybody knowing it. After the men leave, he tells his servant to go catch up to them and ask them why they had stolen from Joseph.

So the servant does this and the brothers were adamant they wouldn't do such a thing because you know actually didn't So much so that they said hey search all of our packs and whoever has the cup you can kill him right here

So the servant searches and he finds it in Benjamin's sack and everyone was very upset. They tore their clothes and returned to the city. It's what the Bible tells us. Now, whenever you see that, about someone tearing their clothes, that was the strongest form of just lament and frustration and agony. Because all they could think is that this is the one kid who had to make it back, right? This is the one kid that dad said, if he dies too, I'm dead.

So they just could not believe the cup is in Benjamin's sack. upon returning to the city, Judah goes and speaks with Joseph and admits guilt. Not guilt of stealing the cup, but guilt of, I am one who has done wrong.

Judah, without saying what he's sorry about and what the thing that he's done wrong is, is letting Joseph know that he is truly remorseful for the things that he has done in his life, one of which is selling Joseph into slavery. Joseph tells him that he wouldn't punish Judah and everyone but Benjamin could return to their father. Now, if we think about this, the old Judah, the old brothers would have absolutely let that happen.

But Judah again pleads with Joseph telling him that this would mean death for their father Jacob. Judah ends his plea by requesting that all of the punishment for Benjamin's supposed betrayal be laid on him. So a couple of points we're seeing here, guys.

We're seeing the older and younger brother dynamic play out again, where Judah is going to take on the punishment that should sort of be Benjamin's in the story. And it's just like Jesus and us, right? Is that Jesus goes to the Father and pleads, Lord, look what I did for them, I have paid their price. If they'll believe in me, they can be free. They can be saved from the coming wrath

And what Joseph sees here in his brother Judah is the true transformation of Judah's heart. Judah is actually experiencing in front of everybody, genuine metanoia type sorrow.

So the narrative of chapter 44 carries itself right into 45. And we see in verses one through four, Joseph can't stand his brothers not knowing that he's here, he's okay. He's seeing the transformation in their heart that they really do feel sorry about this thing they did.

And I want to read verses five through eight here because Joseph really lets his brothers off the hook. Chapter 45, verse five says, and now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here for God sent me before you to preserve life for the famine has been in the land these two years and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.

And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh and Lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

We see also in the book of Psalms in chapter 105, verse 16 says, he, talking about God, summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread, he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

So Joseph is letting his brothers off the hook because he can see something they can't see. God is willing and working out his plan to save the nations.

That plan of saving the nations is immediate in that there's bread for people to eat, but it also goes down through the generations all the way through Abraham's descendants into the coming

Messiah.

Of course, there's a beautiful scene of shock and all and rejoicing that happens when the brothers realize that probably the worst thing they had ever done, at least in the top five, it worked out that their brother is okay, he's

The rest of the chapter is Joseph and his brothers working out how to get Jacob and the rest of the Hebrews down to Egypt. Pharaoh himself is involved in these plans and intends to give them the best land of all of Egypt.

At the very end of the chapter, the brothers arrive home and tell their father about all that has happened. And in verse 27, the scripture says that the spirit of their father, Jacob, revived. Jacob would happily go on this journey to see his favorite son.

So as we enter into chapter 46, which is really a very happy chapter, remember back to Genesis chapter 26, where God told Isaac not to go down to Egypt. God had a plan and it wasn't time for his people to go down to Egypt yet. His timing was crucial.

So God tells Jacob, now is the time, go down to Egypt and Joseph will close your eyes.

meaning he will get to see his favorite son before he passes.

We get a new listing of all of Jacob's descendants and we see that there were 70 people in his family when they went to Egypt.

So once they arrived, we see the reunion we've been waiting for, Jacob and Joseph. In verse 29, Joseph embraces his father and cried on his shoulder for a while.

Jacob in this moment being reunited with a son that you thought was long gone.

and as joyous of a reunion as this is, imagine the scene in heaven when a child of God comes home

After all the tears and laughter and rejoicing, we move into our last chapter of the recap for today. And Joseph actually takes his brothers and his father to see Pharaoh.

So reading through chapter 47, you probably noticed how Jacob mentioned his age at the time that he had met Pharaoh, which was 130 years. And that may have seemed a little strange. Something you should know is that culturally, Egyptians believed 110 years to be a perfect life. If you lived past that, it was a really good omen.

Jacob was essentially letting Pharaoh know that though his days have been evil, they were longer than the perfect Egyptian life. And even then they weren't as long as his fathers. don't know about you guys, but that sounds like the Jacob we know, doesn't it? Remember, striving with God and man. So Pharaoh gives the land of Goshen to the family of Israel to live in.

Pharaoh tells Joseph to appoint any of his brothers that are skilled shepherds to shepherd his own flocks. We see that the Lord has dealt kindly with the family of Israel and has indeed provided for them, both because he loves them and in order that his promise to Abraham to bless the world through his family would stand.

And you know, even that promise wasn't the original promise. The original promise was the gospel plan all along back in Genesis 3 when God promises to send a seed, Jesus, through the woman that would make all of this right again.

It's so cool to watch the promises of God unfold all this time with all the just so happened moments to get us to this point through Jacob, Joseph to save the family, and soon Judah to David to Jesus to save the world.

That's gonna do it for today's recap, guys. May His grace abound to you and to me as we study to find Jesus in the Old Testament.