Genesis chapter 43 and verse
18. And this is speaking about Joseph's
brothers who are now in Egypt. 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 preventer. And they
made ready the presents 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 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 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 you speak 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 marvelled 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. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word also. Tensions must have been very
high amongst the brothers as they arrived back in Pharaoh's
grain city. They had with them the younger
brother Benjamin that had been demanded by Joseph. They had
brought gifts for Joseph as well. They had double money in their
sacks for the corn that they wanted to buy in case there had
been a problem with the first payment. But they had no idea
how they would be received and how they would be treated. They
wanted corn, they wanted Simeon back, that was their brother
who was still in prison, and I'm sure they wanted to be in
and out of the country as quickly as possible. But that wasn't
to be. As soon as Joseph saw them, he
recognised Benjamin and he ordered the brothers to be brought into
his house. And I want us to kind of pick
up the story there and just think about what happened as these
men were brought into Joseph's house. The first thing that we
notice is that Joseph's brothers try to explain what it is that
is causing them so much tension and their nervousness. And that's
our first point today. It is that explanation that they
gave. You see, when a sinner is anxious
for his or her soul, the first thing that they try to do is
justify themselves. And this is what the brothers
did when they spoke to Joseph Stuart. They said, as it were,
let us explain Let us explain what we think has happened here. Let us give the reasons for what
we think might have gone wrong. But the wonderful thing about
the Gospel, the wonderful thing about the Gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ is that our peace with God does not rest on our
explanations or our excuses being heard by God. It rests rather
on our debts being paid and our sins being taken away by the
Lord Jesus Christ. The steward said to these men
as they tried to begin explaining all about money and sacks and
corn and misunderstandings, he said, your debt's cancelled. I had your payment. There is
nothing outstanding on your account. And those are the only words
that bring true peace to a guilty sinner. When God tells us by
his gospel, your sins are gone, your debts are paid, and the
price of your redemption has been found. When God tells us
that in the gospel he causes us to look to the Lord Jesus
Christ, and that is where true peace is to be found for a guilty
conscience. Actually, it's very interesting
about this steward. I think he's quite an intriguing
character. He had clearly learned some things
about God from living in Joseph's house and being part of Joseph's
household, maybe even part of his family. And I think that
that's quite interesting because I suspect that when we get to
heaven, we will discover that the knowledge of the gospel was
always more widespread than just the Jews and the children of
Israel. And whenever we look at the Old
Testament narratives, we can find that the gospel was always
reaching out from the borders of Israel. always going into
the nations around about. And this is an example. Here
was a steward in Egypt who knew things about God and the covenant
of God and the people of God and indeed the blessing of God. And here's another thing. that
is perhaps worth mentioning at this point. The giving of the
gifts that the brothers gave to Joseph, both from their father
Jacob and for themselves, and their bowing down to Joseph with
their faces on the ground, what the word of God calls obeisance. We don't use the word obeisance
very much, but if we were to bow before a queen or a king
or kneel in some capacity before someone, that would be called
giving them obeisance. And that's what Joseph's brothers
did here. But this reminds us of Joseph's
dreams. Remember how the ears of corn
bowed down and the stars bowed down? This reminds us the obeisance
or the honour that these brothers paid to Joseph of Joseph's dreams. And here we see those dreams
coming true. All the brothers and indeed Jacob
the father too by merit of this gift that he gave honoured Joseph
as God's word foretold they would. Whoever would have imagined this
outcome of events and yet here we see this dream that Joseph
had or the dreams that Joseph had, finding by their accomplishment
the unfolding of the will and the purpose of God. This reminds
us that God is working his plans and purposes in this world. We use words like decree and
ordain and command and providence. These are words that we don't
perhaps speak very often in normal language, but they're words which
have meaning about God's overruling control in this world. So that all that occurs in the
world does so within the eternal decrees and will of God. and that what God ordains, or
orders to take place, indeed does happen. And it's not always
easy to understand how it is that a certain thing is happening
at God's command or God's decree, but it is a principle which is
nevertheless true. Our God controls our destiny
and the destiny of the whole world and everything in it. And sometimes, just to remind
us that God is in control, he tells us what will happen before
it happens. And that sharpens our interest,
it tests our faith, and it confirms his own glory. And this was an
example. Joseph's dreams were an example
and the bowing down of his brothers proved that this was true. Israel was not saved by good
luck when Joseph went down to Egypt. And Israel was not later
placed into servitude and slavery by bad luck when another Pharaoh
arose who knew not Joseph. But everything fulfilled God's
overarching plan, his purpose and his holy will for his people. And here's a final thought for
us today, and with this, we'll wrap up our thoughts. Did you
notice Joseph's special, particular attention and affection for his
brother Benjamin? All these brothers, and here
they are, all 12 of them together now in one room, all these brothers
had the same father. But Benjamin was Joseph's brother
by the same mother, Rachel. And that special relationship
and that special affection is what drove all of Joseph's dealings
with his brothers. It was for Benjamin's sake that
he was doing all these things. Indeed, we might even say that
it was Joseph's love for Benjamin that preserved all the brothers. Joseph placed them all at his
table. He fed and provided for them
all. He even wept over them all. But he honoured Benjamin. with
the extra portions of the food that was served. It's an interesting
word. They were called messies. And
I thought that's a strange word to use for a beautiful banquet
and a lovely meal. A mess. Well, that's just one
of these words that kind of has changed meaning over the years.
Back in Scotland we would say we're going for the messages
or we're going to buy provisions or we're going to buy groceries
and we would call those groceries or those provisions our messages. And that's the same word. It
was something that was gone and gotten and brought back. And
so these were messes or meals that were supplied to Joseph's
brothers. But Benjamin received the most,
five times more. And that was simply Joseph showing
that the very best food from off his own table would be supplied
to Benjamin and to his brothers. But here's the final thought.
God's church is Christ's Benjamin. He loves, Christ loves and provides
for us all we need in this life and all we need for the life
to come. He is our Joseph. Christ is our Joseph. He is our
elder brother and we are his Benjamin that he loves and cares
for, that he looks after and provides for. And if we may be
given liberty to employ Moses' blessing upon Benjamin, and you
can read it if you want to take a wee note of this, it will be
worth having a wee look at. It's Deuteronomy chapter 33 and
verse 12. This is what Moses says of Benjamin.
We are the beloved of the Lord. As Benjamin, we are the beloved
of the Lord. We shall dwell in safety by him. And the Lord shall cover us all
the day long with his protection and his perfect righteousness. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to us from the life of Joseph. Amen.