God’s Timeline – Part 49
Joseph’s
Brothers come to Egypt
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House
of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org
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SERMON TIMELINE (2021 A.D. = 5781 Jewish
Calendar Year)
- Creation Week (Approximately 3700 - 4000 B.C.)
o Adam, Eve, and the Fall
-
Cain and Abel
o Evil Fills the World
-
Noah Did All God Commanded
Him
o The Flood (2348 B.C.)
o God’s Covenant with Noah
o Noah’s Sons and Ham’s Sin
o Nations of Noah’s Sons
-
Tower of Babel (Approximately 2200 B.C.)
- God calls Abram (1921 B.C. 75 years old)
o Abram and Lot part ways (1915
B.C.)
o Rescue of Lot (1914 B.C.)
-
The Lord’s Covenant with Abram for Isaac
o Hagar and Ishmael Born (1910 B.C.) Abram 86 years old
o Sarai and Isaac
o The Three Visitors
o Abraham Pleads for Sodom
-
Birth of Isaac (1897 B.C. Abraham 99 years old Sarah 90-Hagar and Ishmael sent away)
o The Lord tests Abraham (1876 B.C.)
o Sarah Dies 127 years old (1860 B.C. Abraham is 136)
-
Isaac marries Rebekah (1857 B.C.
Isaac was 40 when he married Rebekah)
- Jacob and Esau are born (1837 B.C. Isaac was 60 Abraham 159)
o Abraham dies at 175 (1822 B.C. Isaac was 75)
o Isaac receives the Birthright and his father’s
blessing
o Esau marries two Hittites at 40 (1857 B.C.)
o Esau marries a daughter of Ishmael
o Jacob travels to his grandfather’s family to
find a wife (1819 B.C.)
o Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
o Jacob marries Leah then Rachel
§ Levi is born (1749 B.C.)
§ Joseph is born (1741 B.C.)
§ Benjamin is born (1731 B.C.)
o Jacob fled Laban and is pursued
o Jacob Prepares to meet Esau
o Jacob Wrestles with God & Becomes Israel
o Jacob Meets with Esau after 20 Years
o Jacob’s Daughter Raped by Shechem
o Jacob Returns to Bethel
o The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac (1716 B.C. Isaac
was 180 years old)
-
Joseph’s Dreams (Joseph
is seventeen at the time)
o Joseph Sold by His Brothers (1724 B.C.)
o Joseph Imprisoned
o Joseph interprets dreams while in prison
o Joseph Interprets the Pharaoh’s Dream
o Joseph enters the service of Pharaoh (1711 B.C. 7 years
abundance begins)
o Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt (Approx. 1704 B.C.
begins 7-year famine)
INTRODUCTION
Joseph is made second in
command over all of Egypt.
We read in Genesis 41 last week that Joseph collected grain during
the seven years of abundance and filled storehouses, so much so, they stopped
counting.
In Genesis 41:53 we read that the seven years abundance came
to an end and the famine began, just as Joseph said. We also read that this
famine was world-wide, and all the world would come to Egypt for their
salvation from starvation.
SCRIPTURE READING
Genesis 42:1-17
“When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said
to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?” 2 He continued, “I
have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so
that we may live and not die.”
3 Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from
Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others,
because he was afraid that harm might come to him. 5 So Israel’s sons were
among those who went to buy grain, for there was famine in the land of Canaan
also.
6 Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the person who
sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed
down to him with their faces to the ground. 7 As soon as Joseph saw his
brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke
harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked.
“From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy food.”
8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not
recognize him. 9 Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them,
“You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”
10 “No, my lord,” they answered. “Your servants have come to
buy food. 11 We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not
spies.”
12 “No!” he said to them. “You have come to see where our
land is unprotected.”
13 But they replied, “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.”
14 Joseph said to them, “It is just as I told you: You are
spies! 15 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. 16 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!” 17 And he put them all in
custody for three days.
I.
THE TEN
BROTHERS TRAVEL TO EGYPT FOR FOOD
a.
Why do
you just keep looking at each other?
i.
Why are you standing
around doing nothing? Go to Egypt and buy us food!
ii.
This may also be an
allegory of the Father in heaven (represented by Jacob here) telling the tribes
of Israel to stop standing around and FEED the PEOPLE who are starving around
them.
iii.
Joseph, as a type of
Christ, has storehouses filled to overflowing with manna
b.
Jacob did
not send Benjamin
i.
We are not explicitly
told why in the scriptures; some believe it is because once Joseph was gone
Jacob felt the Lord wanted the Birthright and Blessing to be Benjamins.
ii.
He may have been
afraid of losing Benjamin if anything happened to them on the trip to Egypt and
he would be left with no heir
iii.
Or, perhaps he feared
the brothers may do something to Benjamin if they were jealous of the father’s
love for him as they were with Joseph?
c.
Israel’s
sons leave to buy grain in Egypt
i.
Verse 5 states
“Israel’s sons,” giving us clue to the text and its duality
1.
This is what God
wanted (Israel opposed to Jacob)
2.
Allegorically speaking
of the future when God desires the tribes of Israel to seek out salvation, unlike
food from Joseph so they may live, manna from Jesus so they may live eternally.
II.
JOSEPH IS
GOVERNOR OVER EGYPT
a.
Joseph’s
brothers arrive and bow before him with their faces to the ground
i.
Remember their anger
and response to Joseph’s dream in Genesis
37:8?
ii.
“His brothers said to
him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they
hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.”
iii.
Yet, here they were.
b.
Verse 9
states Joseph recalls his dream in Genesis 37:7
i.
“We were binding
sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood
upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”
ii.
Sheaves of
grain…revealing that the time they would bow would have to do with gathering
grain, more specifically, the famine
iii.
Joseph, his sheaf rose
(grew taller, gained more) and stood upright, Joseph rose to a position of
authority.
c.
Joseph
recognizes them, but they do not recognize him (13 years passed)
i.
The last time his
brothers saw Joseph, he was 17
ii.
Joseph was 30 by the
time he went into the Pharaoh’s service
iii.
At least 7 years of
abundance has passed, and the famine has begun
iv.
So, Joseph is at least
20 years older than the last time his brothers saw him
v.
Also, Joseph is the
second in command of all of Egypt, surly he has dressed the part, wearing
jewelry and garments, and looking nothing like a Jewish farmer any longer.
vi.
Though his brothers
would look much the same as before
III.
BUT WHERE
IS BENJAMIN?
a.
Jacob
loved Rachel more than anyone else
i.
Jacob chose Joseph to
receive the Birthright and Father’s Blessing
ii.
Once Joseph was taken
away from him, thought to be dead, Jacob may have felt it was the Lord’s will
for Benjamin to receive the Birthright and Blessing since he was next in line
after Joseph.
iii.
We read a few weeks
ago that Reuben defiling his father’s bed with his father’s concubine was the
reason he lost the birthright and blessing.
b.
Jacob, Joseph,
and others felt the Lord would want Benjamin to replace Joseph
i.
Jacob may have felt
this because of his love for Rachel and Joseph
ii.
Joseph may have
assumed this because Benjamin was not with his brothers when they came to Egypt
iii.
Either way, Joseph
wanted to know how his brothers felt for Benjamin, knowing their jealousy drove
them to attempt murder and sell him into slavery.
c. Joseph says to the brothers, “For I fear God,”
i.
Joseph put them all in
prison for three days
ii.
On the third day,
Joseph released them saying, “Do what I tell you and you will live, for I fear
God…
iii.
The literal states
Joseph said “'Elôhı̂ym”
for God, which is Hebrew
iv.
This would probably
seem strange to the brothers hearing an “Egyptian” use the name of their Hebrew
God that was not widely known at the time, probably not outside their family.
v.
By now in our
historical timeline, most places like Egypt and other larger countries have
developed their own false religions and beliefs. So hearing the name of the
true God being used by the Governor of Egypt may be what led them to say they
thought they were being punished by God for what they did to their brother
Joseph.
vi.
So, what do they have
to do to live?
CONCLUSION –
Joseph allows nine of the
brothers to leave, but keeps Simeon and tells them when they return, they MUST
have Benjamin with them.
Genesis 42:21-25
21 They said to one
another, “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 on us.”
22 Reuben 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.” 23 They did not realize that Joseph
could understand them, since he was using an interpreter.
24 He turned away from
them and began to weep, but then came back and spoke to them again. He had
Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.
25 Joseph gave orders to
fill their bags with grain, to put each man’s silver back in his sack, and to
give them provisions for their journey. After this was done for them, 26 they
loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.
Next week we will read about the brothers returning home to tell Jacob
they need to return to Egypt with Benjamin.
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