Read with Me
Genesis 43:1-7 (HCSB)
Now the famine in the land was severe. When they had used up the grain they had brought back from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us some food.”
But Judah said to him, “The man specifically warned us: ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. But if you will not send him, we will not go, for the man said to us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’ ”
“Why did you cause me so much trouble?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man that you had another brother?”
They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”
Listen with Me
Several months passed while Simeon waited in the jail in Egypt for his brothers’ return with Benjamin so that he could be set free. As time passed, he began to wonder if his father was unwilling to send Benjamin to Egypt, preferring to keep him safe back in Canaan. If that was the case, he realized that he might never get out!
Eventually, the grain the brothers had brought from Egypt ran out, and starvation began to look like a real possibility. So, Jacob ordered his sons to go back to Egypt for more grain.
But Judas spoke for the group, insisting that if they did that, at best, they wouldn’t be able to see the man in charge. At worst, they would all be imprisoned as spies. That would mean that not only would the family not get the needed grain, but Jacob could also end up losing all his sons except for Benjamin.
Jacob was angry that his sons had volunteered the information that there was another brother still at home, giving the man in charge the opportunity to command Benjamin’s presence in Egypt. But Judah insisted that it had not been his idea. The man in charge had questioned them closely (now giving details that had not yet appeared in the narrative), asking very pointed questions that seem to imply that he already knew the answers. All they had done was to answer truthfully. They had felt they had no choice, already having been accused of being liars and spies. They had no idea what was going to happen once the man received their answers.
Pray with Me
Father, even though Jacob had some idea of who you were, neither he nor his sons understood who and what You truly are. They had no inkling that You were able to move people and events all over the area to accomplish what You had promised. But You are, and You do. Forgive us Lord for forgetting how great and mighty and all-powerful You truly are, preferring to make things happen for Your agenda through our own puny power. Help us instead to seek Your will and Your way first, and then to work in Your divine power every step. Amen.