“When Life is the Pits”
A Study of the Life of Joseph
Sermon # 7
“Dealing With A Doubting Heart”
Gen 42:29-38 - 43:1-14
Last week we saw how the hand of God was drawing the brothers of Joseph to Him. God used the famine to wake up the sons of Jacob. He used their imprisonment to help the brothers understand the nature of their own sinfulness and to bring them to the point of repentance for their past. But God is still not finished with them. He has gotten their attention. He has made them come to grips with their sin.. but those far they have not sought or received forgiveness.
The brothers are brought before Joseph, spend time in jail and head home with their grain but with without their brother Simeon. They have been give strict instructions not to return without Benjamin. On their way home they are surprised and frightened to find their money in the sacks of grain and they assume that “God is doing something TO them” (42:28). In their time of need God has worked it out that they not only got the grain they needed… they got it for free. Instead of thanking God for his goodness they accuse Him of being out to get them.
I. THE RESPONSE OF FEAR (42:29-38)
“Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying: (30) “The man who is lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. (31) But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. (32) We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan.’ (33) Then the man, the lord of the country, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for the famine of your households, and be gone. (34) And bring your youngest brother to me; so I shall know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. I will grant your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.’” (35) Then it happened as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly each man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.” Jacob hears the story and immediately digs in his heels! He concludes that God has struck him with another tragedy. I want you to note with me the three different reactions to adversity portrayed in these chapters. First, there is Joseph who sees his suffering as coming from the hand of a loving heavenly who has his best interest at heart; “you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good” (50:20). Secondly, there is the response of Joseph’s brothers who saw what was happening to them as punishment at the hands of an angry God (42:21-22, 28). And finally there is their father Jacob, who sees it as the fickle hand of fate or the stupidity of his own sons, that was making his life miserable (v. 36). “And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me.”
Who among us has not felt like Jacob, “Everything is against me!” How could Jacob say this had he forgotten God. Here was Jacob’s prime opportunity to turn everyone’s attention to the Lord. But it seems that Jacob still had trouble walking by faith, even though he had known the Lord for well over 100 years. Jacob wrestled constantly with a negative outlook on life. As head of the family he should have been saying “Boys, things may look bad know but we have to trust in God’s promises. Lets get on our knees and pray for the safety of Benjamin as you may your return trip and for Simeon in Pharaoh’s prison. There is a reason for the money being back in your sacks. There is a reason the God wants you to return to Egypt. We don’t have the answers yet but we can trust our God.” Instead Jacob reacted out of fear and said, “Forget it, Benjamin is not going and that is final!” Had Jacob forgotten that he had once wrestled with God and he limped for the remainder of his life?
It is relatively easy for us to read this story and know how it will end and say, “If it were me I wouldn’t have done that. I would have trusted God.” But would you really? Why didn’t you trust Him when you faced difficulties the last time?
We are not really that different;
· A difficult time comes into our lives and we conclude that God has deserted us.
· We face a time of pain or illness and we believe that God does not care.
· Our plans don’t go as expected and we immediately fear that we are being punished.
I want you to notice what happened as a result of Jacob’s fear.
· They delayed returning for more supplies.
· They prolonged the imprisonment of Simeon.
· They delayed the reunion with Joseph.
Fear can be a barrier in our lives. Some of you have allowed fear to keep you from trusting Christ to be saved. You are afraid of what others might think? You’re afraid of what you might have to give up? You’re afraid that you are not good enough (you not but he love you anyway). You’re afraid you can’t keep it up, (you can’t but he can working through you).
Maybe you’re afraid to step out on faith. Your afraid to follow through with what you know God is leading you to do. Maybe you’re afraid to share your faith. Or your afraid because failures in your past. Do you realize what the most common command in the Bible is? It is the command “Fear Not.”
Jacob not only reacts negatively, he over reacts (v. 38). I am sure that you have never been guilty of overreacting right? “But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.” (NKJV) He jumped to the conclusion that Simeon is dead. And amazingly he is still sowing the seeds of favoritism again when he says, “My son,” not “your brother.”
Jacob’s negative response to Reuben’s emotional appeal seems to end the discussion at least for a while. But the devastating effects of the famine would not allow the matter to lie dormant.
Rather than run the slightest risk of losing his beloved Benjamin, Jacob would be willing to allow Simeon to spend the rest of his life in Pharaoh’s prison and give that Egyptian potentate (Joseph) the impression that his son’s words were untrue.
II. THE RESISTANCE TO DEPENDENCE
God always get his way, always, but it’s a lot more painful when we fight Him. God is at work and the famine just does not let up. Some months after they have returned home with the grain they are once again in serious trouble.
Genesis 43:1-3
“Now the famine was severe in the land. (2) And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.” (3) But Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’
Jacob’s first response is to “put off,” to delay in taking action until the matter had reached crisis proportions. When Jacob finally decides they must go back for more grain it is Judah who reminds his father of what had already been reported – that is that if they do not bring Benjamin with them they will not even get an audience with the Egyptian ruler in charge of the grain. Judah response is straight forward and to the point(vv. 4-5). “If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. (5) But if you will not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”
Jacob tried to change his son’s mind by placing the responsibility for their circumstances squarely upon them. In effect he said to his sons it is your fault (v. 6). “And Israel said, “Why did you deal so wrongfully with me as to tell the man whether you had still another brother?” He says, “Why did you do this to me!” In effect he is saying, “None of this would have happened if you had just kept your mouth shut about your youngest brother.” The fact is that Jacob is rebuked his sons for telling the truth. It seems that the old ways of deception were still there with Jacob and in times of stress he did not hesitate to employ his old ways.
They responded by saying, the information we gave to Joseph was in response to direct questioning (v. 7). “But they said, “The man asked us pointedly about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ And we told him according to these words. Could we possibly have known that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” Something has begun to happen to these men, they stand together “they said” and they stand for the truth. They are simply trying to set the record straight and get their father to listen to reason.
Whereas Reuben offered his sons in return for his failure to return with Benjamin (42:37), Judah offered himself as a guarantee of a successful mission (vv. 8-9) “Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. (9) I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.”
Judah is beginning to change the man who was hard and self-centered is beginning to soften. Perhaps for the first time in his life he is putting the happiness of someone else ahead of his own happiness. This is significant because later it will be he that will lead the way in pleading for Benjamin life and freedom after Benjamin is accused of stealing a cup from Joseph that was found in his sack (44:18-32).
Then Judah put his finger on his father’s procrastination (v. 10) when he scolded, “For if we had not lingered, surely by now we would have returned (twice) this second time.” Judah reminds his father that had he not delayed they could have been there and back twice. He urged his father to stop thinking of himself and start acting in accordance with his responsibilities as head of the family. While Jacob’s conversation is laced with the terms “I,” “me, ” and “my,” Jacob thought in terms of “we,” “us,” and “our” (compare 42:36, 38 with 43:8).
III. THE RELUCTANT SUBMISSION (vv. 11-14)
“And their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and carry down a present for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. (12) Take double money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight. (13) Take your brother also, and arise, go back to the man. (14) And may God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved, I am bereaved!”
Although Jacob’s decision does seem to be with a certain amount of reluctance he does decide to do the right thing. With his back to the wall Jacob finally surrenders and says, “Take Benjamin and go and may God Almighty (literally El Shaddai) go with you.” Notice that Jacob is here called by his covenant name “Israel.” For the first time he steps up as Israel and appeals to God as El Shaddai, (Almighty God) surrendering everything into God’s hands. How I wish he had stopped here and his sons could have left with the words El Shaddai resounding in their ears. How empowering that would have been but Jacob adds, “If I am bereaved, I am bereaved!”
But it in Jacob’s defense we must remember that he is now well advanced in age and he is to be left alone, as far as his sons are concerned.
We need to learn from but not repeat “Jacob’s Seven Laws of Problem Management.”
1.Never deal with today what can successfully be put off until tomorrow. In all honesty Jacob is not the only one with a problem for procrastination. Things that are not dealt with today are hardly ever better tomorrow.
2. No problem can possibly be as bad as it seems.
3. Honesty is never the best policy. Whereas the Bible says in Proverbs 12:22 “ Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal truthfully are His delight.” (NKJV)
4. Remember to always look out for your own interest first.
5. As much as possible, see that blame is shifted to others for any problems.
6. A policy our own federal government follows, If our best efforts to solve a problem fail, throw money at it.
7. When all other avenues fail, trust God. Most of us are entirely to much like Jacob, when troubles come we view them strictly from a human perspective. We tend to leave God out of the picture until our back is against the wall and we have absolutely nowhere else to turn. Only then do we turn to God and sometimes not even then!
I wonder what those men talked about on their way back to Egypt? I can’t help but believe that it was the same things that you and I would have talked about had we been in their shoes. I want to believe that God was continuing to melt their hearts and prepare them to be forgiven.
