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.
6.
And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
7.
And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
8.
And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
9.
And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
10.
And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.
11.
We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.
12.
And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
13.
And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.
14.
And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies:
15.
Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.
16.
Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.
17.
And he put them all together into ward three days.
18.
And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:
19.
If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:
20.
But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
21.
And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
22.
And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
23.
And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
24.
And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.
25.
Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.
26.
And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.
27.
And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack's mouth.
28.
And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us?
29.
And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying,
30.
The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.
ROUGH TONGUE AND TENDER HEART
‘The lord of the land spake roughly unto us.’
Genesis 42:30
There may be immeasurable kindness hiding behind a rough exterior. Joseph made himself strange to his brethren; but what truth was in his heart, what tenderness, what love!
I. So it sometimes is in human relationships. For a little while the father must look gravely on the child who has disobeyed, and must speak seriously and sternly to him; but underneath the surface, his very soul is throbbing over the wrongdoer. A true friend is called, now and then, to reprove and rebuke his friend, rather than suffer sin upon him; but his affection is unchanged all the time.
II. So it often is in the providence of God. He leads me through dark rooms, along stony paths, up the steep hillsides, down into the waters which are ‘to the palate bitter, and to the stomach cold.’ He seems to hide the shining of His face. But He loves me none the less but all the more. He is seeking my richest good. He is consulting my truest welfare.
III. So it frequently is, too, in the history of the soul. There is conviction of sin before there is the assurance of forgiveness. There is trouble, and afterwards there is peace. Weeping endures for a night, and then joy comes in the morning. My Saviour deepens and intensifies in me the sense of my guilt, ere He lifts away my heavy burden and welcomes me into His house of wine.
IV. Sin always finds the sinner out. Let me look the humbling and momentous truth in the face. I am inclined to refuse to do this. I am disposed to prophesy smooth things to my heart.
But that is foolish, ruinous, suicidal. It prevents me taking home the consolations of God. I cannot know the comfort till I know the sadness. I am not meant to abide in the gloom for ever, but to pass out of its shadows into the sunshine. But I cannot enter the region of light and peace, until I have become acquainted with that of darkness and pain. Only then ‘the morning will awaken, the shadows will decay.’ Only then the weeping will yield place to shouting and joy.
So soon as Joseph’s brethren know the incubus of their guilt and confess the vileness of their pollution, pardon and hope and life are not far away.
Illustration
‘ Our Brother sometimes speaks roughly, but never because He does not love us. It is to test us; to see whether we love Him for His own sake, or for the bounties He gives us; to know what is in our hearts. “Thou shalt remember,” said Moses, “all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble thee, to prove thee, to know what was in thy heart.”
But all the time that He is speaking roughly to us, and even when He is taking our Simeon from us, His eyes are full of tears, He is filling our sacks with corn, and giving us provision for the way. The roughness is a great effort for Him to sustain; and He longs for the hour when He may cast aside His mask, and talk with us face to face.
So long as this strange behaviour is in our Lord, we must be humble and resigned. We must above all be very tender with our brothers. It does not become us to be churlish or austere to them; but, on the contrary, sweet, generous, and helpful.’
31.
And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies:
32.
We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.
33.
And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone:
34.
And bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffick in the land.
35.
And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
36.
And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.
37.
And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.
38.
And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.