Genesis 43 - 45 (27th Jan) - Weiling

Genesis 43 – 45
I won’t be summarizing the chapters since I assume you are already reading the bible chapters for yourself :) but I shall share about some of the points that strike me.

On Favoritism
All 10 brothers were sent on the first trip up to Egypt for food. Jacob/ Israel did not send Benjamin as “he was afraid that harm might come to him”. (Chp 42: 3, 4) [It seems like Benjamin’s life was a little bit more precious than theirs to Jacob] Upon their return, they discovered that their money had been returned to their sacks. If they went back to Egypt again, they might be accused to be thieves! Jacob refused to let them bring Benjamin down to get Simeon back as he was afraid of losing him as well, “his brother is dead and he is the only one left”. [Recap: Joseph and Benjamin were the 2 sons Jacob had with Rachel, the wife he loved.] It was only when i) they ran out of food and ii) Judah promised to guarantee Benjamin’s safety and bear all responsibility that Jacob allowed them to bring Benjamin along on their 2nd trip to Egypt.

Favoritism – we can’t control the affections of another person. It was very clear who Jacob favored – Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin. In Gen 29:31, it says “When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren”. God loved Leah and her sons. And I think God has a soft spot for the forgotten, the weak and the unloved. Sometimes we think it’s always the strong ones or the talented ones who gets picked. I used to think that Joseph would be in Jesus’ genealogy since he’s the hero of the story. But guess what? God chose to give the honor to Judah. (Matt 1: 3) What did Judah do?

What made him so special? But it’s really not about how smart a person is or what he does. We don’t have to strive for God’s love and acceptance. Read the child-bearing competition between Leah and Rachel in Gen 29 & 30 again to see how the women named their sons and fought for glory, honor and their husband’s affections. With Judah, Leah chose to simply praise God –“This time I will praise the Lord” (Gen 29: 35).

God’s perfect plan
It is not clearly stated why Joseph did not immediately reveal his identity to his brothers. Perhaps after his brothers tried to do harm to him in Chp 37, Joseph was not sure if he can fully trust them and thus decided to observe them further. But I do not think it was out of hatred or anger either. In fact, Joseph forgave them and asked that they “not be grieved or angry” with themselves Gen 45: 5. Joseph had gone through some very difficult times; and when he faced his brothers again, many a times his emotions overwhelmed him and he had to turn away to weep. (Gen 42: 24; 43: 30; 45: 1-2, 14-15) He was rejected, his brothers tried to do harm to him. He tried to do what was right, but was wrongly accused of sexual harassment and thrown into jail.

He was forgotten by the cup-bearer and spent two years prison before things took a significant turn for the better. There were probably many questions; many things that didn’t make sense at that point of time. But Joseph chose to look to God and trust Him. Finally, there was meaning in his suffering. (Gen 45: 5-8) If he was not sold to Egypt, if he had not interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, if he did not have favor… he would not have been able to help his family. It did not mean God caused the brothers to hate him and want to kill him, but that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”(Rom 8: 28) All things are beautifully interwoven into God’s plan.

Even if you may not understand the things you are going through right now, trust in Him who loves you and makes all things beautiful in His time.