CHAPTER 43

(1707 B.C.)

EGYPT

¹And the famine was sore in the land (likewise, the Great Tribulation, which is yet to come, and of which this Verse is a type, will be sore in the land of Israel).

²And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food (it seems that the grain which they obtained in Egypt was used solely as their own personal food, with the flocks and herds evidently eating other things).

³And Judah spoke unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, You shall not see my face, except your brother be with you (Reuben is the firstborn, and should have taken the lead in all these matters, but it is Judah who in fact stands in the position of leadership; Jesus will come from the Tribe of Judah).

⁴If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food:

⁵But if you will not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, You shall not see my face, except your brother be with you (Josephs skill that skill which only love can give in leading his brothers step by step to a confession of their sin against him, and to a sense of its blackness in the sight of God, is a picture of the future action of the Lord Jesus Christ in bringing Israel to recognize her sin in rejecting Him, and the consequent enormity of that sin against God Williams).

⁶And Israel said, Wherefore dealt you so ill with me, as to tell the man whether you had yet a brother? (The Holy Spirit now refers to Jacob as Israel. This refers to the fact of Jacobs obedience in sending Benjamin, even though he did not desire to do so. Whenever the Holy Spirit uses the name Israel as it refers to Jacob, always and without exception, it is referring to Faith and, in a sense, a milestone in his faith walk.)

⁷And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have you another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

⁸And Judah said unto 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.

⁹I will be surety for him; of my hand shall you require him: if I bring him not unto you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame for ever:

¹⁰For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time (had it not been for this critical issue, the taking of Benjamin, due to the lack of food, they would have already returned).

¹¹And 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:

¹²And 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 (all of this was to prove that they were honest men; little did they realize what Josephs intentions actually were):

¹³Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man (under no consideration would Jacob have allowed Benjamin to have gone to Egypt, but that he had reached the place to where there was no choice; this was Gods Will, and sometimes the Lord has to box us into a corner, before we will obey that Will):

¹⁴And 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. (By using the title, God Almighty, which means El Shaddai, the Patriarch is referring to the Covenant God of Abraham [17:1]. El Shaddai means the All-Sufficient One.)

¹⁵And 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. (He was their brother and their saviour, but yet they did not know him. Likewise, Israel will stand before Christ at the Second Coming, and will not know Him [Zech. 13:6].)

¹⁶And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, and kill (slaughter a lamb for a meal), and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon. (The union of Benjamin with Joseph points forward to the day when Christ, as Benjamin, will be the Son of the Right Hand to Israel and, as Joseph, King over all the Earth.)

¹⁷And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Josephs house. (Israel will one day be brought to the Heavenly Josephs house. Paul said so [Rom. 11:26-27].)

FEAR

¹⁸And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Josephs house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses (the special attention they were being given, they erroneously read as negative).

¹⁹And they came near to the steward of Josephs house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,

²⁰And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:

²¹And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every mans money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand.

²²And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.

²³And he said (the steward said), Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them. (Strangely, the steward speaks of Elohim, Whom the Egyptians did not know. The conduct of Joseph cannot be explained except on the ground of his inspiration. He is not acting. He is not trifling with human feelings. He is not merely following the dictate of his own personal affections. He is, under Divine direction, planning for the removal of his fathers house to Egypt, that the people of God may pass through their season of trial in the house of bondage Spence.)

²⁴And the man brought the men into Josephs house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender (food).

²⁵And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there (the further it goes, the stranger it becomes; surely, the lord of Egypt didnt invite rank strangers from other nations of the Earth into his house to eat with him, and especially lowly shepherds! But yet here they were).

JOSEPH

²⁶And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth (again, they fulfilled his dream [37:7, 9]).

²⁷And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive? (It must have seemed strange to the sons of Jacob to hear the lord of Egypt asking personal questions about their father and his health, etc.)

²⁸And they answered, Your servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance (it had been approximately 20 years since Joseph had seen his father, Jacob).

²⁹And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mothers son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom you spoke unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto you, my son. (This is the first time that Joseph had seen Benjamin. He had not yet been born when Joseph was sold into Egypt.)

WEEPING

³⁰And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there. (The scene was poignant, not only as it expressed the feelings of the moment, but it presents itself in a much larger way, even as it typifies that coming day when Christ will stand before Israel. At long last, the sons of Jacob will have come home. In fact, in all of history, there has never been anything so drastic as the fall of Jacob, and I speak of the Nation of Israel and their rejection of Christ. It eclipses every other happening [Rom. 11:15].)

³¹And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread (serve the meal).

THE BANQUET

³²And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians. (The meal presented here is indicative of that which will take place at the Second Coming, when both Jews and Gentiles will fellowship with Christ, of Whom Joseph was a Type.)

³³And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another (they were seated according to their ages, beginning with Reuben, who was the firstborn, unto Benjamin, who was the youngest. How did the lord of Egypt know these things, Josephs brothers must have pondered?).

³⁴And he took and sent messes (the food) unto them from before him: but Benjamins mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him. (The number five is the number of the Grace of God. The name Benjamin means My strong right hand, typifying Christ. In a coming day, when Israel comes back to Christ, even though Christ has a strong right hand, He will deal with Israel in Grace, signified by the food given to Benjamin, which was five times more than his brothers.)