Genesis 42: 25-38 Joseph’s Brothers Return to Canaan
“Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s silver to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out, and they loaded the grain on their donkeys and departed.
At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of the sack. “My silver has been returned!” he said to his brothers. “It is here in my sack.”
Their hearts sank, and trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”
When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they described to him all that had happened to them: “The man who is the lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.
But we told him, ‘We are honest men, not spies. We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’
Then the man who is the lord of the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go. But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’”
As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! And when they and their father saw the bags of silver, they were dismayed.
Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is happening against me!”
Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him.”
But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
You must feel really sorry for the remaining nine brothers! Ten men went to Egypt and now they have returned without Simeon. To make things even worse, Jacob lambasts them for losing Simeon, as if they had a choice, and for the request to bring Benjamin and return to Egypt. Jacob refers to Benjamin as “my son,” but all these other men are also Jacob’s sons. Now it’s obvious that Jacob really only values Rachel’s children, disdaining those born of Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah. More now than ever, Jacob demonstrates his failings as a father and grandfather. Tragically, Jacob behaves as if he only has two sons and the remainder of his progeny are simply hired servants. To Jacob, these other sons are useful for herding animals and running to Egypt to bargain for grain, but he doesn’t love them. Even though Reuben is willing to give his own sons into Jacob’s care and allow Jacob to kill them if Benjamin doesn’t return, Jacob doesn’t care. Obviously, Jacob also doesn’t love his grandchildren either.
Few things are more painful than being born to an unfavorite wife in a polygamous family. During our first missionary term, we lived with a businessman who had three wives-one was a virtual prisoner in the house, one was the youngest and the favorite, and the remaining wife had separated from this man but remained dependent on him for her children’s expenses. We once watched as that wife was forced to stand nearly two hours in the blazing noonday sun before this man would deign to give her the money for her children’s school fees. Another friend was the child of an unfavorite wife. When the results of the Senior Secondary School leaving exam were cancelled the year he wrote the exam, his father refused to pay the exam fees the next year, leaving him without the results he needed to go on for further education. Yet another friend, a hospital administrator, and the son of an unfavorite wife, had had to earn his high school fees by selling tea and bread at the roadside. Years later, when our friend was succeeding, he happened to meet his father. This man’s father was so out of touch that the only help he offered this man was a job weeding on his farm. Even in cultures where polygamy is uncommon, families may be shattered by repeated divorces. Family members may be unsure of anyone’s love because the family dynamics are in a continual state of flux.
Gaining peace under such circumstances is a near-impossibility as long as you are looking for peace from family members. Only God can truly give us peace. Perhaps you have come out of a highly dysfunctional situation, one in which you have never known peace. But God knows everything about your struggles, and God can give you His deep abiding peace, a peace that nobody can take away.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, many of us feel torn up inside by family problems. We have no peace and no idea of how to get it. Please help us to look to You and allow You to heal us and soothe our souls. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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