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BY BOOK BIBLE STUDY
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BIBLE
STUDY LESSON
For
the week beginning Sunday April 14, 2019
THE
BROTHERS RETURN TO EGYPT
Genesis
43:1-18
After Jacob’s flat out refusal to
allow his youngest son, Benjamin, to go to Egypt (Genesis 42:38), even if it
would save the life of another one of his son’s, Simeon, the famine continued
to ravage on in the land of Canaan. It had been quite some time since the
famine began, and still there was no relief in sight. And so when the grain that
they had previously purchased was almost gone, Jacob went to his sons again,
and told them to go to Egypt to purchase more.
However, Judah then reminded his father that
the man in Egypt (Joseph) was serious when he said that they could not return
to Egypt to purchase grain, unless their younger brother, Benjamin, was with
them (Vs.3-4). And after some further scolding of his older sons, whom, Jacob
blamed for such a demand from the leader in Egypt (v.6), he finally conceded
that they must take the risk of sending Benjamin there, lest the whole family,
including him, and the livestock, die from starvation.
And so Judah had succeeded where his older
brother Reuben had Failed (Genesis 42:37), and now, Jacob realized that he must
release Benjamin to go to Egypt for the sake of the whole family and its
survival. In addition to bringing Benjamin along, Jacob instructed his sons to
take gifts and a double portion of money to make up for the grain that they had
gotten earlier, and hadn’t paid for. Little did they know that Joseph had
tricked them, by returning their money to their sacks (Vs.11-14).
The brothers then took Benjamin, the gifts,
and the double portion of money, and they returned to Egypt where they
presented themselves before Joseph. When Joseph saw that Benjamin was with them
he told his household manager that he was inviting all of the brothers to have
lunch with him in his palace. The brothers were a bit leery and suspicious of
Joseph’s kindness toward them. They thought among themselves that maybe Joseph
was seeking to lure them into the palace to do harm to them, because of the
money he thought they had stolen. Then too, they thought perhaps Joseph was
planning on enslaving them and seizing all of the possessions that they had
brought with them.
A
FEAST AT JOSEPH’S PALACE
Genesis
43:19-34
When the frightened brothers arrived
at the entrance of Joseph’s palace, they informed the steward about the silver
that they had found in their sacks when they made camp the first night, when
they were returning home from Egypt the last time. The steward assured them
that they didn’t have to worry because it was the LORD their GOD WHO put the
money in their sacks.
When the brothers arrived at lunch, Simeon
was returned to them from his prison cell to join in the meal with them and
Joseph. But first they were given water to wash their feet, and food to feed
their donkeys. Afterwards, they prepared their gifts for Joseph’s noontime
arrival. When Joseph arrived they gave him the gifts, and they each of them bowed
down low to him, not once, but twice.
Joseph, seeing his younger brother
Benjamin, could hardly contain himself, and in fact, he had to hurriedly leave
the room because he could not hold back his emotions and tears. He shortly
returned to the table, however, and at that point, he began to further increase
his brothers uneasiness by actually appointing them around the table according
to their age, from the oldest to the youngest.
And as the “spirit of favoritism” continues
to reign in this chosen family, we see Joseph giving to Benjamin, “five times
as much food”, as he did to the other brothers. Also we see that, just as it
had been foretold to him by GOD all those years ago in a dream, Joseph would
now begin to provide for his family throughout the duration of the famine. And on
this fateful day in Egypt, they would all bow low to their younger brother, Joseph.
A Sunday school lesson
by,
Larry D. Alexander
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