Open your Bibles if you would
to Genesis chapter 43. Genesis chapter 43. The name of the message is Dining
with Joseph. Dining with Joseph. Last week
in our study we left off at verse 25 of Genesis 43. So let's turn again and we'll
look at Joseph dining with his brother and let's read verses
26 to 34. 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 you speak, is he yet alive? And they answered, Thy
servant our father is in good health. He is yet alive. And they bowed down and made
absence to him and made absence. And he lifted up his eyes and
saw his brother Benjamin. His mother's son. And said. Is this your younger brother
of whom you spake unto me? He said, God be gracious unto
thee, my son. And Joseph made haste. For his
bowels did urine 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, Sit on bread. And they sat 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 this 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 before them, which is portions. But Benjamin's mess was five
times so much as any of theirs. And they drank and were married
with him. We see that Joseph, when he comes
back to his home, the first things his brothers did was to present
him with the present from the land of Canaan, which they bought.
And it was a substantial gift. It was a sacrificial gift, because
we know that they didn't have a lot of food back home. So it
was a sacrificial gift for him. Look at verses 26 to 28. And
when Joseph came home, they bought him the present, which was in
their hand, unto the house and bowed themselves to the earth.
And he asked them of their welfare and said, Is your father well,
the old man of whom you speak? 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 absence. So we see that It does not appear
that they mentioned their father as they presented the gift to
Joseph. They were no doubt trying to gain favor with Joseph, not
knowing that that was their brother that they were standing before.
But they were trying to make favor with the ruler of Egypt. And to mention their father would
take Joseph's attention away from them as far as the present
was concerned. And they did not want that. But
note, again, just as Joseph dreamed, his brothers bowed down before
him, beloved, just as he dreamed, just as he dreamed. And they
made absence, which means they prostrated themselves before
him. They were down in the ground before him. They bowed down before
him. And notice again, just as Joseph
did that, That which Joseph proclaimed in his dream came true. Now his
eleven brothers are before him, not just the ten that were there
last time. Now it's all eleven. And they did this in a humble
manner, again fulfilling Joseph's dream and more completely than
before. Again, for now, all 11 children
were together. Look at verses 9 and 10 in Genesis
chapter 37. Genesis chapter 37. Look at verses
9 and 10. And Joseph, we know he, Joseph,
and he dreamed yet another dream and told it to his brethren and
said, behold, I have dreamed a dream more. And behold, the
sun and the moon and the 11 stars made obscence to me. They bowed
down before him, obeisance to him. They bowed down, they prostrated
themselves before him. And he told it to his father
and to his brethren and the father His father rebuked him and said
unto him, what is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall
I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves
to thee, to the earth? So here again, now it's the 11
of them bowing down. Now it's the 11 of them prostrating
themselves before him, just as Joseph had said it would be so.
And they do not know it's Joseph there before. They have no clue.
He hasn't revealed himself to them yet. He will soon, but it'll
be in God's time, won't it? It'll be in God's time. I don't
know how he, well, I know how it happened. God restrained him.
If I had seen my younger brother, I don't have a younger brother,
but I imagine if I had a younger brother and I saw him, I'd want
to run to him. John, if you hadn't saw your brother for 20 years,
you'd want to run to him, your younger brothers. I know you're
the oldest, you'd want to run to them. Give them a hug, wrap your
arms around them. My, you just would, you just
would. Notice in verse 27 that Joseph
asked them of their welfare first. And he asked them of their welfare.
And obviously they told him that they were good. And then he asked
them of his father's welfare. Because he knows his father is
an older man. And what great concern he has
for him. He asked them, how's your father? He didn't say, how's
our father? Because again, he hasn't revealed
himself to him yet. But he says, is your father well?
The old man of whom you speak. Again, he knows that he's older
man now. And they answered him that their
father was good, in good health, and he's alive. In verse 28. Could you imagine how Joseph
felt with that news? Oh, his heart must have leapt.
He loved his father. He loved his father very much. And think of this, Joseph knew
who they were, but they did not know who he was. Just as Christ
knows who we are before we're saved, beloved. He knows who
his sheep are. He knows who his people are.
We have no clue in our natural state of who he is, but he knows
us. His eye is ever upon us, beloved.
Ever upon us. He loved you, beloved, before
you ever loved Him. And what do all God's people
do? We bow down and we prostrate
ourselves before the Lord, don't we? He's King. He's the King of kings and the
Lord of lords. And so how he must have rejoiced
knowing that his father was an older man, and to hear that he
was alive and in good health. Notice they're still trying to
find favor with Joseph, even their answer as Jacob's son referred
to their father as a servant of this man. Notice that too,
even their answer. Even their answer when he said,
and they answered, thy servant our father. So they're still trying to gain
respect before this man. And they said, our father's in
good health and he's alive. And again, what wonderful news
this would be for Joseph. What wonderful news. And little
did the brothers know that the very one that they bowed down
their heads to and that they prostrated themselves before
was the very one that they sold into slavery. The very one. And he's now ruler of Egypt. Joseph, their brother. Second
only to Pharaoh. But all power's been placed in
his hand, isn't it? Pharaoh just says, whatever he
says, you do. Oh my. Again, what a picture
of Christ. God the Father has put all judgment
in Christ's hands, hasn't he? He's the one who's in charge,
beloved. He's the one in full charge. And whatever he says, comes to pass. So we see again the fulfillment
of Joseph's dream. He had shared with them that
when he was 17 years old, that this would occur. And all this
was planned, purposed, and we see here before us, executed
by our great God. He's absolutely sovereign, beloved. Look at verses 29 to 31. And he lifted up his eyes and
saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, is
this your younger brother of whom you spake 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. He washed his face and went out
and refrained himself and said, sit on bread. Now do not forget
that it's been over 22 plus years since Joseph has last laid his
eyes upon Benjamin. His little brother. His dear
little brother. His mother's son. And all the others standing before
him were half-brothers, weren't they? But this was the brother. The brother, his mother's son. And Joseph had a special love
for Benjamin, beloved. He had a special love for Benjamin. He loved his other brothers,
but he had a special love for Benjamin. And we see in verse
29 that Joseph lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin,
saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son. and said, is this
your younger brother of whom you speak unto me? And he said, God be gracious
unto thee, my son. So we see Joseph setting his
eyes upon his brother, Benjamin, and then asking his brothers
if this was their younger brother, the one that they had spoken
of. to him before. And we see no doubt they had
answered in the affirmative. Yes, this is him. This is him. And look at Joseph's sincerity
for his little brother. This is what he had desired most
and earnestly prayed for, to see his younger brother. And God, God is sovereign. And He's gracious to whom He's
gracious. And I can imagine that Joseph
had sincerely prayed to God and poured out his heart to have
mercy on his younger brother, just as he had for him, just
as we pray for our loved ones, don't we? God have mercy on me. God have mercy on them. We pray
for that for our loved ones, for our friends and our family,
fellow workers, that God would have mercy upon them, that he
would save their souls. And we see in verse 30 here that
Joseph couldn't contain his emotions any longer, beloved. And Joseph made haste, for his
bowels did yearn." That's his heart, beloved. His heart did
yearn upon his brother and he sought where to weep. And he
entered into his chamber and wept there. He wept, beloved. He'd have wanted to run to his
brother and embrace him. And let him know that he was
Joseph. Let them know I'm alive. But it was not God's appointed
time for that to happen, was it? It wasn't. Because if it was, it would have
happened. But it wasn't God's appointed time for that to happen.
So Joseph made haste and entered in his chamber and wept there.
His heart did yearn for his brother. Joseph was deeply stirred within
his innermost being, beloved, because of his love for Benjamin. And he's probably fighting back
tears of joy. These are tears of joy, beloved. He's laid his eyes upon his dear
little brother. And he goes into his chamber
where he can freely weep. Just freely weep. And the tears
float out of him because of his love for Benjamin. Now think about this. No one
knows but Christ himself, the longing that's in our Savior's
heart to reveal himself to his chosen people. His blood bought
people, those who are the objects of his eternal love, as we were
talking about earlier, objects of his eternal love, divinely
loved from eternity. And what joy we will experience,
beloved. We know that there's an appointed
time for the revelation of Christ's special love for His people,
isn't there? There's an appointed time for every single sheep of
God. A time of love. A time of love. And He reveals
Himself to His own. And we know that He has a special
joy for His people, because Jude tells us that one day, we who
are His blood-bought brides, born again by the Holy Spirit
of God, will one day be presented faultless before His throne,
faultless before the Father's throne, before the presence of
God's glory, and Christ will present us with exceeding joy. How great our joy will be, right?
To be there, to be part of that number. How great our joy will
be. But think of this, I want us
to think of this. Our joy will be great, won't it? Just when
we're in the presence of the Lord, our joy will be great.
But think of this. Our joy will nowhere compare
to the joy that Christ has in presenting us to the Father. See, we can't even grasp that,
can we, with our finite minds. The joy that we will have to
be in his presence, will not even compare to the
joy that He has presenting us faultless before the Father.
What great love! My! And why wouldn't He present
us with joy? He purchased us with His own
precious blood, beloved. He bought us. And the price was
the shedding of His precious blood. So marvel Marvel at the grace
and the mercy of God that we will be included in that number. In the number that Christ presents
to the Father, the number of his people, the elect, that we'll
be in that number, we who are his people. Marvel that he will
do that with exceeding joy, and each believer can say, for me. My, but he will. You will. And we see in verse 43, that after Joseph had gained his composure,
he washed his face and went out and refrained himself, and he
told them to set on bread. The words, and refrained himself,
is one word in the Hebrew. It means to hold back, to restrain
oneself. to hold back and to restrain
oneself. In this picture we have here,
depicts the self-control that our Lord has. He says this in
Isaiah 42, verse 14, I have long time holding my peace. I have been still and refrained
myself. Now I will cry like a travailing
woman. I will destroy and devour at once. And then in Isaiah 63
verse 15 it says, Look down from heaven and behold from the habitation
of thy holiness and of thy glory. Where is thy zeal and thy strength,
the sounding of thy bowels and thy mercies toward me? Are they
restrained? And then in the New Testament,
the Scriptures declare this. Let's turn there actually. 1
Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2. Starting in verse 21. And we'll
read to 25. or even here unto where ye called,
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that ye should follow His steps." Verse 22, "...who did no sin,
neither was guile found in his mouth." He's perfect, sinless,
spotless. Look at this, and this is an example we should follow,
beloved. "...who when he was revealed, revealed not again." When he suffered, he threatened
not. but committed himself to him that judges righteously,
who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness,
by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray,
but now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. So Joseph, by washing his face,
he had removed all evidence that he'd been weeping, And we see that when he left
his private chamber, he rejoined his brethren, he controlled his
emotions. He controlled his emotions, not allowing himself to weep
before his brethren. And then we see that Joseph commanded
the servants to set the dinner, or set on bread. Let's read verses
32 to 34. 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 this 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 and Bess was
five times so much as any of theirs, and they drank and were
merry with him." So we see in verse 32, there was a special
table set up in the room for Joseph. He ate by himself. Now this was
either done because he was a Hebrew and the Egyptians wouldn't eat
with him, Or it may have been in reverence of who he was as
a leader. Scripture doesn't really tell
us either one. That's two different views from
different commentators. That he was either, it was because
he was a Hebrew, or it was because of his position within Egypt. He's the next man in line The
only one more powerful than him is Pharaoh. And then we see there's
a special table set up for the Egyptians. Who ate by themselves because
they had a custom that would not allow them to eat with the
Hebrews. And I looked into that a little bit. And part of the
reason why they thought the Hebrews were an abomination is because
the Hebrews ate animals that they worshipped. See, they lifted the creature
above the creator. The creator had told the Hebrews,
you can eat this food. But the Egyptians lifted up the
creation rather than the creator. So that was part of the reason
why they wouldn't eat with them. And then there was a special
table also set up for Joseph's brothers. And note that they
sat before him in full sight of Joseph. In full sight. In full sight of him. And then take note, then take
note that their seating, their seating was from the oldest to the youngest, the oldest. Reuben was seated as the firstborn,
and the rest were seated according to their age, right down to Benjamin,
the youngest. Look at verse 33. And they sat
before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest
according to his youth. And the man marveled one at another. They marvel. Brother John, be
like somebody seated your whole family, your brothers and you,
all according to your age. You're my two brothers and me,
my brother Dale, my brother Dave, and then me. Without even, we
don't know that, we wonder why, why? We'd marvel. Because they
don't know he's Joseph, remember? They don't know who he is. So
they marvel at one another that they were seated in this manner
according to their age. It perplexed them, but they marveled
at it. How did this happen? How did this happen? And they would have also marveled
at the honor of being able to eat with the governor. To be
able to eat in the same room as the governor of Egypt, who
was a noble. And no doubt their seating was
arranged by Joseph. No, there's no doubt in that,
is there? No. He knew the ages of his brothers,
but his brothers did not know that they were dining with Joseph.
And they did not know that it was he who caused them to be
seated in the order that was so, and it caused them to marvel. Now look at verse 34. And he
took and sent messes unto them, portions, from before him. But
Benjamin's, or should I say portions, was five times so much as any
of theirs. And they drank and were merry
with him. Now we see that the food was set before them, and
these are healthy portions. These are healthy portions of
food. They wouldn't be hungry after they ate them. Messes here
means a very healthy amount of food. And take note though, Benjamin's
was five times as much as any of the brothers. You think Joseph
was showing some partiality there? You think he was showing some
favoritism there? Oh, this was his dear little
brother Benjamin. And let us remember though that
a type, a type can go only so far and
then it breaks down. And God's love for his children
is the same. He doesn't love one of us more than the other.
Just think of that too, marvel at that. His love for John the
Apostle is the same love he has for you and I, who are his people.
It's incredible, it's absolutely incredible. He doesn't love one
more than another. It's the same for all his left.
And there's a full inheritance reserved for all who were purchased
by Christ with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
here we see the portion of scripture that Benjamin's portion was five
times as much as his brothers. And this was done out of Joseph's
great affection to his own brother. The brother who was of his father
and mother. Some even think that Joseph did
this to see how his brothers would react. Several commentators,
John Gill brings it up too, that Joseph did this to see how they
would react, how his brethren would react if Benjamin received
more. Because remember, remember what happened when Joseph was
given that coat of many colors. They all got jealous. Several commentators think he
did this so that if he saw that same occurrence that happened
with him, that he could give safety to Benjamin and protect
him, and protect him. Because when he gave that larger
portion, it's a sign of distinguishing respect and honor when he got
that bigger portion. Well, let's consider then the
closing portion of verse 34 here. It says, and they drank and were
merry with him. They drank and they were merry
with him. We know that Joseph's brothers were expecting something
bad to happen to them, and here they are eating with the governor. They were expecting something
bad to happen to them, but it didn't happen. And they're eating and
drinking with the governor, and they're having a merry time,
a jolly old time with him. They're having a wonderful time,
beloved. And let us remember, as we dwell
in the land which we dwell in now, this world, this is a world of famine, isn't
it, in a sense. And we're going to go home and
be with the Lord forever, and in His presence forever. And
we will be with Him. And we found favor in the eyes
of our great God beloved. And the scriptures declare that
Jesus receive his sinners and eateth with them. Praise God.
Praise God it says that. And do you notice that there
was three different tables? I'm gonna quickly close with
it. Do you notice there was three different tables, right? Joseph
was in one table. The Egyptians were in another
table. And the Hebrews were in another table. Turn, if you would, to Revelation
chapter 19. One day we will feast in the
presence of the Lord from every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation,
God's people, right? There won't be separate tables,
beloved. Because we're one in Christ.
We're one in Christ. Revelation chapter 19, we'll
read verses 6 to 10. We're feasting in the presence
of our Lord at the marriage supper of the Lamb. And we'll feast
upon the blessed heavenly man, our beloved, of his word. We
feast on the man of his word while we're here, but, oh beloved,
we're feasting in his presence. And one cannot know the Lord
Jesus Christ without having a loving, intimate, living union with him.
And this living union is the most blessed and happy union.
Look at this, though, in Revelation. We're closed with this. Starting
in verse 6, And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude,
as the voice of many waters, and the voice of the mighty thundering,
saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let
us be glad and rejoice and give honor to Him, for the marriage
of the Lamb is come. That's the marriage of the marriage of the
lamb and his bride, look at this, and his wife, that's his bride,
that's his blood-bought bride, beloved, hath made herself ready,
were clothed in his perfect righteousness. He's made us ready, beloved.
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen,
that's the righteousness of Christ, clean and white, for the fine
linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me,
Right, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of the lamb. And he said unto me, these are the true sayings
of God. And I fell at his feet to worship
him. And he said unto me, see thou
do it not. I am thy fellow servant and of
thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Oh, glory to his
name, beloved. What a great God we have. And
we're one in Christ. We're one in Christ. There won't
be separate tables at the marriage supper of the Lamb, beloved.
Oh, my.