Introduction: After Jacob and his household returned to Hebron (Gen. 35:27), he seemed to settle down to a life of farming and ranching. Isaac, his father, had died; he was at peace with his brother Esau; and it seemed all would be going well for him in his twilight years.
But several things were going to happen, affecting him for years to come.
1 He lost his wife and two sons
Text, Genesis 37:31-35, KJV: 35 And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; 32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no. 33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. 34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
One of the hardest things Jacob had to endure was the loss of his favorite son, Joseph. This event took place when Joseph was about 17. His other brothers, all ten of them, hated him because he had become Jacob’s favorite. Further, when he brought back word (“an evil report”) of what Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher (sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, respectively), they hated him so much they couldn’t even speak peaceably with him.
And Joseph hadn’t done himself any favors by explaining a couple of dreams to his brothers, father and possibly his mother, too. His dreams were those of people bowing down to him and that was not something any of them wanted to hear. The text of what Joseph dreamed and the reactions are all found in the first section of Genesis 37.
Also in Genesis 37 is the reaction and treatment of Joseph by his brothers. They hated him so much that they wanted to kill him, but settled for throwing him into a pit, with perhaps little thought of getting him out of there. What a picture of the human heart: so little concern for those who are weaker, younger, or less than the control group in any way.
But no, nine of the brothers came up with a plan: “Let’s not kill him, but let’s sell him and that way he’s gone and we won’t have to hear or face him or his dreams anymore.” They completed this deception by keeping Joseph’s coat, dipped it in animal blood, and asked their father if this was Joseph’s coat or not.
It was, and Jacob was absolutely stricken. He mourned for many days (and who wouldn’t, realizing one of your children was gone forever as far as he knew). Even worse, the brothers and the other “daughters (maybe daughters-in-law)” tried to comfort Jacob when these 10 were responsible for causing the problem in the first place! What a performance they tried to put on for Jacob’s behalf!
We can look at this and ask, didn’t they have any shame? Maybe they had some guilt at the time but years later, when they once again came face to face with Joseph, their guilt and shame rose to the very top. But they seemed to be doing a good job of hiding the truth from Jacob at the time.
Even so, the truth was too much for Judah, Jacob’s fourth son. He decided to leave the family for whatever reason (conscience could be one such reason) and spent a number of years in Canaan, which could be anywhere away from Hebron. According to one online Bible atlas, Judah had wandered north-west and was living for the time about 20 miles from Hebron. Genesis 38 has the story how Judah lived, loved, and lost so much in his time away from his family.
Still, Judah was able to take part in some good things. First, he was able to obtain and manage a flock of sheep (38:13) but even better, he was able to have a son who became a direct ancestor of Messiah Jesus! The story is not pretty, and it’s even sordid, but it does show that sometimes God can take something and still make something good out of it. Just ask Judah’s son!
Then there was another loss for Jacob. Rachel, his favorite wife, had died some time before this event took place but it seems Leah was still alive. But sometime after this, and before Jacob went to live in Egypt, Leah died. She’s never mentioned except as dying before Jacob (Gen 49:10) and as an example for Ruth, many years after this (Ruth 4:11). Nothing is said about when Leah died, or from what cause, but Jacob no doubt carried this pain for many days.
It’s a tribute to Jacob’s inner strength that he was able to keep going even after the losses he suffered. True, Judah returned to the family after a while, and later the whole family would be reunited with Joseph, but once Leah died, there was no earthly reunion possible. Still, Jacob never lost his faith in God and as far as we know, never yielded to any temptations.
That faith in God would become very important as Jacob faced another serious challenge.
2 He faced a very severe famine
Text, Genesis 42:1-5, KJV: 1 Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? 2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. 3 And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. 4 But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him. 5 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
After Joseph had disappeared (and Jacob never did get the true story, as far as we know), God used Joseph to save not only Egypt but also other parts of the world. Joseph not only received dreams, he also had the ability to interpret dreams. He told the Pharaoh’s chief butler and chief baker the meaning of their dreams—and both men received the identical treatment or fate as Joseph had predicted (prophesied?).
Two years after this, Pharaoh had a pair of dreams and Joseph interpreted them. Over the next seven years, Egypt was able to store an incredible amount of grain because one of Pharaoh’s dreams had a sign that seven years of famine would be coming. Genesis 41 has the whole story.
But even as far away as where Jacob and his family were living, the famine reached them as well. We’re not told if the seven years of plenty were known in Canaan or if it was only in Egypt. We do know that before long, Egypt was the only place to get food (grain, “corn” in the KJV). Jacob eventually realized that there was only one place to get food, and it wasn’t home.
That meant Egypt. Did Jacob remember what happened years before when Abram, his grandfather, had gone to Egypt because of a famine? Was Jacob afraid of the same thing happening—was he afraid he might lose Leah, if she was still living? Or was he afraid of losing his sons? Besides, each of Jacob’s sons might have been wondering what to do and, who knows, maybe they figured the best thing to do was—nothing at all.
Jacob, though, seemed to throw a bucket of cold water in the face of each son! His question, “Why are you standing around and looking at each other?” might have been a bit of a shock to them. After all, years before, they had all been feeding the flock/s even a good distance from Hebron; now, for whatever reason, they’re all in one place and it seems the only thing they’re looking at is each other! Nobody seemed to be watching the flocks and nobody seemed to be tending crops. They’re just looking . . . at each other.
Now, after he got their attention, Jacob gives his sons a command: “I’ve heard there’s food in Egypt, so go down and get some of it for us! You don’t want to die, do you (paraphrased)?”
Wouldn’t you have liked to be there as the ten brothers (Jacob was not letting Benjamin go too far from his side, we might say!) made preparations for the trip to Egypt? I can imagine these men selecting which and how many animals to bring, how much food for these animals (maybe in short supply by now) and for themselves, and maybe most important of all, how much money to bring. I heard someone say, humorously, that these men left home empty and came back full, whereas Naomi, years later, when she returned to Bethlehem, said she had left her home full but had returned empty (Ruth 1:20-21, KJV, paraphrased)!
Much of Genesis, chapter 42, covers the interaction between Joseph and his brothers. He knew them, but they didn’t recognize him, and Joseph made them think over the events of the past 20 or so years. At the end, the brothers paid for the grain and made it back to their home, even though they had a genuine surprise in their grain sacks (read the chapter for the story)!
Once they arrived back home, they found that even the greatest amount of food will only last so long. Before long, the grain they purchased was just about gone. What would Jacob do next?
3 He faced the risk of losing his youngest son
Text, Genesis 43:11-15, KJV: 11 And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds: 12 And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight: 13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: 14 And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. 15 And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.
Jacob had sent his ten oldest sons to Egypt in order to buy some grain because of a severe famine. This famine seemed to affect the land as far away as Hebron, where Jacob was living at the time, and possibly even farther as there is no mention of Jacob going anywhere, not even north or towards Laban’s land. Would he have even considered this? Perhaps this was another evidence that Jacob trusted God, but had to put “feet to his faith”, to quote a saying I’ve heard a few times over the years.
Now that the first batch of Egyptian grain was gone, Jacob instructed his sons to return and buy some more. Whether Jacob forgot, or tried to not bring up the subject of Benjamin is not known. Clearly Jacob didn’t want to risk losing Benjamin as he seemed to still be wounded over the loss of Joseph years before (although Joseph was still very much alive!).
Judah succeeded where Reuben had failed on the first visit, by offering to bear the blame forever. This is very ironic because Judah was the one who suggested the Ten sell Joseph to a caravan of traders 20 or so years before! Now he’s offering to be Benjamin’s guardian, down and back.
The passage cited above shows how Jacob tried to appeal to the Egyptian official in charge of selling grain (not knowing it was Joseph!) Then Jacob, facing either starvation or resignation, agreed to let Benjamin go with the other nine (Simeon had been kept as a hostage; compare 42:24 and 43:23). Eventually the brothers made it to Egypt and stood before Joseph, even though they still didn’t know who he was at the time.
The rest of chapter 43 and chapters 44 and 45 relate the story of the brothers being reconciled and the plan to relocate to Egypt. Jacob had endured many things in these twilight years but he wasn’t done yet.
Jacob still had some things to do, people to see, and places to go, before his earthly life was over. When you and I endure losses, remember that many saints endured these too. The same Lord Who was with those saints, comforting and encouraging them, will do the same for us.
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
