Initiatives that reveal the heart: Genesis 42, 43
sermon Genesis 42 : Patrice Berger, 2023_06_29, AB Lausanne church
title : Initiatives that reveal the heart: Genesis 42, 43
Initiatives that reveal the heart: Genesis 42, 43
Preaching
20% tax!
God gives wisdom to Joseph to propose storing 20% of the crops for 7 years.
It’s huge as a levy, but it’s quite doable because it’s 7 years of abundance.
Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take one-fifth of the crops of Egypt during the seven years of plenty.
Countless stock
As a result of this operation, there are so many reserves that we can’t even count them!
Joseph gathered up wheat like the sand of the sea: in such great quantities that they stopped counting because there was no more number. Genesis 41. 49
Providential reserve
After 7 auspicious years, an extraordinary famine begins. Reservations are welcome for all of Egypt, but not only…
Start of reading
Joseph opened all the supply centers and sold wheat to the Egyptians, because the famine was strong in Egypt.
People came from all countries to Egypt to buy wheat from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere.
1 Seeing that there was wheat in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons:
“Why are you looking at each other?”
2 He added:
“I learned that there was wheat in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us so that we stay alive and don’t die.”
3 Ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to Egypt to buy wheat. 4 Jacob did not send with them Benjamin, the brother of Joseph, because he was afraid that something bad would happen to him.
5 The sons of Israel joined others who had come to buy wheat, because there was a famine in the land of Canaan.
6 As for Joseph, he exercised authority over the land. It was he who sold wheat to the whole population of the country.
Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.
It reminds us of the first dream Joseph had:
5 Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers, who hated it even more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to my dream!
7 We were tying sheaves in the middle of the field, and behold, my sheaf stood up and even remained standing. Your sheaves then surrounded her and bowed down to her.”
8 His brothers said to him,
“Are you really going to rule over us? Are you going to rule us?”
They hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.
Reading: (See Bible Passage Genesis 42 , 43 right)
1 Joseph commanded his steward, “Fill the sacks of these men with food. Put as many as they can carry and put everyone’s money at the entrance to their bag. 2 You shall also put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with the money for his corn.” The steward complied with Joseph’s orders.
3 In the morning, as soon as it was light, they sent the men away with their donkeys.
Contemplation
Let’s stop for a moment.
The Bible was given to us to reveal to us who God is, hence the synonym we use, Word of God. What do we contemplate of God in this text?
sovereignty benevolence providence
In
its sovereignty,
His benevolence,
His providence,
God placed and qualified Joseph in advance to save thousands of people.
We are often impatient, is God inactive?
What we discover is that God builds for things that last.
God is not one step ahead of men
He sees everything
knows everything,
already planned!
On a personal level
Let us rely on Him for our lives.
Jacob’s line will have ups and downs.
As a terrible trial was coming, the Lord through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah said:
But you, Israel, are my servant.
Jacob, you are my chosen one, the descendant of my friend Abraham.
9 I took you to the ends of the earth,
I called you from a distant region and told you:
“You are my servant.”
I chose you and do not reject you.
10 Do not be afraid, for I myself am with you.
Don’t look worried, for I am your God.
I strengthen you
I come to your aid,
I support you with my right hand, the hand of justice.
Isaiah 41:8-10
Didn’t we last read that Jesus is “the Good Shepherd” of those who place their lives in His hands, in John chapter 10 .
Yes, trials will touch us because we are fallen and colonized by sin. But we are in the hands of One who has the ability to express His benevolence.
God did not remove the famine for Jacob and his family but He had provided a solution.
On a cosmic level and for the Church
In the first chapter of the Epistle to the Colossians, concerning Christ, it is said:
All was created by him and for him.
17 He exists before all things and everything subsists in him.
18 He is the head of the body which is the church;
It is normal to be worried about the planet and we know that it suffers from the greatest pollutant, sin and that it will continue to do its work; but it is in the hands of the Designer and the Manufacturer.
It is normal to be worried about the life of faith in the face of iniquity, the life of our congregation; but it is Christ who is at the head of our assembly, even if there are difficult things, just as there were for Joseph,
God sees,
nothing escapes His control and
He carries out what He has decided,
for the life of the assembly,
for the future of the planet,
for all that He promised.
MEDITATION
After this time of contemplation, two observations to help us meditate with God, so that His thoughts are ever more present in our reflections and actions.
The first one :
Joseph’s brothers feel that justice is upon them.
Their actions catch up with them.
Justice ?
Is there justice in the face of evil deeds?
Interestingly, this feeling of justice is engraved in us because we are in the image of God, hence the deduction of the brothers and in particular of
Reuben
behold, his blood is demanded of us
What a man sows, he will also reap
7 Make no mistake about it: God is not being mocked. What a man sows, he will also reap.
8 He who sows
to satisfy her own nature will reap ruin from her,
but he who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.
9 Do not neglect to do good, for we will reap in due time if we do not slack off.
10 So then, while we have the opportunity, let us do good
towards all
and especially to those close to us in faith.
Our lifetime
If we do anything in the eyes of God, there is a strong probability that it will have consequences during our life.
But not always
But not always, some go through life with wickedness and are never worried during their lifetime.
Ecclesiastes observes:
I have seen everything during my life without consistency:
a just man to die because of his righteousness
and a wicked prolong his existence by his wickedness
final righteousness
On the other hand, what the verses of the Epistle to the Galatians tell us is that there will be final justice.
It commits us to do what is right now for all, especially for brothers and sisters in the faith.
Our present acts have an eternal significance.
Cause and effect relationship, questioning
After that, following things that we have experienced, we make a cause and effect relationship as Joseph’s brothers have just done, it is the work of conscience and certainly of the Spirit of God who awakens it.
On the other hand, I note that it is in them that they have done their work.
It is not someone from the outside, it is delicate and in general, it is necessary to abstain, to indicate it in the life of others.
The second joins the catchy title of this moment:
Initiatives that reveal the heart
The Line of Jacob Saved from Famine
God allows through Joseph to save the line of Jacob which is not in Egypt.
Not
because he is the favorite,
God’s pet.
Moreover, through the line of Jacob, God has the plan to save mankind eternally from spiritual famine; the line of Jacob comes to Jesus.
But this line has many sons: 12!
And today’s text is made up of 5:
joseph
Reuben
Simon
Benjamin
Judah.
Let’s stop at Reuben.
episode 1
Reuben is Jacob’s eldest son.
God made promises to Jacob.
The eldest son is promised to be the logical heir to these promises.
However, Reuben’s mother Leah is not Jacob’s beloved and expected wife, Rachel is.
When, finally, Jacob finally has a boy (Joseph) with the woman he loves, Rachel, Reuben was most certainly afraid of no longer being an heir. There was a competitor… So Ruben takes an initiative to establish his authority as clan chief, that of sleeping with one of his father’s concubines, Bilha, in his father’s absence.
21 Israel departed and pitched his tent after Migdal-eder. 22 While Israel was residing in that region, Reuben went to sleep with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it.
For this initiative, he will not have the blessings that were his…
Part 2
He who thought he was the clan chief, is overwhelmed by his brothers and it is Judah that they listen to (certainly for a misdeed at that time).
26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother and hiding his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and lay no hands on him, for he is our brother, he is of our flesh.” His brothers listened to him. 28When the Midian merchants passed, they dragged Joseph out of the cistern and brought him up, and sold him for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who carried him off to Egypt.
29 When Reuben returned to the cistern, he found that Joseph was no longer there. He tore his clothes, 30 returned to his brothers and said:
“He’s not here anymore! And me, where can I go?”
Part 3
We read earlier that Reuben tries to convince Jacob to let him go to Egypt with Benjamin, there is no dead hand, because he puts in the balance the life of his two children:
37 Reuben said to his father:
“If I don’t bring Benjamin back to you, you can kill my two sons. Give it to me and I’ll bring it back to you.”
More the desire to “reign” than to serve
These three initiatives reveal his selfishness, his desire to be a leader on his own account.
Him, not Joseph
The fact that Joseph is sold into slavery is a problem for him.
But he doesn’t seem to be crushed by what’s happening to his brother Joseph.
30 returned to his brothers and said:
“He’s not here anymore! And me, where can I go?”
His children, not him
The guarantee of Benjamin’s return is on his children’s lives, not his own.
Judah gets involved
On the contrary, Judah, who wins his case, puts himself indebted if Benjamin does not return!
Difference Between Berge and Mercenary
You remember the last time, in John 10 , there were two different types of people tending the flock:
one who stakes his life for his flock (the Good Shepherd);
one who saves his life, if there is a problem (the employee or the mercenary).
Promise made to Abraham
God’s promise to the patriarchs, especially to Abraham: that all nations will be blessed in his seed.
All the nations of the earth will be blessed in your offspring,
People of this character at the crossroads of the history of revelation
It has to go through someone revealing the character of God, not someone playing it solo…
Judah will be the one who will be the extension of the promises that God made to Jacob.
We will have the same thing with the family of Jesse and the choice of David. At another crossroads in revelation history with royalty.
Consistency
It is wonderful to observe the consistency of the plan of salvation in Jesus, right from the start.
Jesus will give his life for humanity!
A bigger rescue
Just now we marveled at the providence of God who, through Joseph, had provided for the rescue of thousands of people, including Jacob’s family. Moreover, God was already watching over the realization of an eternal rescue plan. , for many more people: through Christ!!!
Bible Passages
Genesis 42:1-37
Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?
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.
And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.
But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.
And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
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.
And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spoke roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
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.
And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.
We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.
And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
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.
And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spoke unto you, saying, Ye are spies:
Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.
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.
And he put them all together into ward three days.
And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:
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:
But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
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.
And Reuben answered them, saying, Spoke I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spoke unto them by an interpreter.
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.
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.
And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.
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.
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?
And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying,
The man, who is the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.
And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies:
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.
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:
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 traffic in the land.
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.
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.
And Reuben spoke 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.
Genesis 43:1-34
And the famine was sore in the land.
And 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.
And Judah spoke unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.
If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:
But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.
And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?
And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye 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?
And 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 thou, and also our little ones.
I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever:
For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.
And 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:
And 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:
Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man:
And 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.
And 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.
And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, and slay, and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon.
And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.
And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's 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.
And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,
And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:
And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand.
And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.
And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.
And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender.
And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.
And 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.
And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spoke? Is he yet alive?
And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.
And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spoke unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son.
And 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.
And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.
And 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.
And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marveled one at another.
And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.
Related Links / Notes
Series : The Josephs in the Bible
Study Notes are translated from the original French version prepared by the pastor Patrice Berger. The orginal French notes are in “note” form, and are not a direct transcription of the video, however they are quite close the original text preached at the church. The notes provided here follow that form, and are detailed enough to help provide a deep understanding of the texts of the parables.
All services as well as some of the bible studies are streamed on the channel YouTube église AB Renens-Lausanne. Also visit the You Tube channel of the Swiss Action Biblique Youth Groups (JAB Suisse Romande).
Bible verses cited in this series are avalaible online in the KJV Bible among others and also as a podcast on Spotify
Keywords
- Antichrist
- Christ
- Son of God
- Eternal life
- Assurance
- Communion
- Perseverance
- Discernment
- Holy Spirit