Read with Me
Genesis 43:8-14 (HCSB)
Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me. We will be on our way so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our children. I will be responsible for him. You can hold me personally accountable! If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, I will be guilty before you forever. If we had not wasted time, we could have come back twice by now.”
Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and take them down to the man as a gift—some balsam and some honey, aromatic gum and resin, pistachios and almonds. Take twice as much money with you. Return the money that was returned to you in the top of your bags. Perhaps it was a mistake. Take your brother also, and go back at once to the man. May God Almighty cause the man to be merciful to you so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin to you. As for me, if I am deprived of my sons, then I am deprived.”
Listen with Me
The only option for Jacob and his family during the second year of the great famine that was gripping the whole area was to return to Egypt for more grain. But the man in charge of selling the grain was adamant that he would not even grant the brothers an audience if they came without their youngest brother, Benjamin. Add to that the fact that Simeon was still imprisoned in Egypt, and it was clear that Jacob must trust Benjamin to the care of his brothers and send him along to Egypt.
Judah was willing to put his own life on the line to ensure that Benjamin returned safely. If he did not return him to his father, he would voluntarily become an outcast from the family all the rest of his life.
Jacob finally relented because he realized that he really didn’t have any choice. But, as he had always done, he didn’t turn to the Lord, but instead tried to tip the scales in his favor through his own efforts, sending gifts to the man in charge and ensuring that the brothers took double the necessary money in order to repay what they had found in their grain sacks on their arrival.
The twin tragedies of losing first Rachel and then Joseph had caused Jacob to completely lose his faith in God. He had believed that because God had promised to be with him always, all the way back at Bethel (Genesis 28:15), that that meant that he would never experience tragedy or loss. So, when he did experience both tragedy and loss, that caused him to believe that God had either broken his promise deliberately, showing that He was not to be trusted, or that He was powerless to stop the tragedy, showing that he was not to He relied on.
But God never promised that nothing bad would happen to Jacob. Tragedy and loss are the natural result of living in a sin-damaged world. But God had promised Jacob that he would be with him no matter what happened until He fulfilled every promise He had made to him. And God had kept that promise, even though at that moment Jacob was unwilling to recognize it.
Pray with Me
Father, You have made the same promise to us (Matthew 28:20). It has never been a promise to shield us from tragedy, hardship, or suffering, but a promise to see us through whatever comes, all the way until we leave this world and arrive at Your throne in heaven. Intellectually, we know that suffering, tragedy, and loss are the natural result of living in a sin-damaged world, but it can be hard to remember that when the trials actually come to us. Help us to hold on to You tightly whenever we pass through trials or suffering, standing firm on Your promise to be with us all the way through to the other side. Amen.