Genesis 42 Lesson: Joseph, his brothers & the mills of God

Bible Study Series: Joseph, Jesus and You

Genesis 42 Lesson: Joseph, his brothers & the mills of God!

by I Gordon

“Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceedingly small; Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all.”

No doubt you have heard the saying above: "Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceedingly small; Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all." Often used in the context of the retribution of God, it can also describe the slow but powerful work of God in refining and grinding those that are His own. Genesis chapter 42, which we are in today, begins a process where Joseph's father and brothers will be 'ground exceeding small'. You see, this chapter reintroduces Joseph's brothers as they come to Egypt seeking food. And the mills of God, through the hand of Joseph, will go to work on the hearts of these boys. So what shall we look at? We'll explore this chapter looking at:

• What it teaches concerning salvation 
• What it teaches concerning God's ways with believers
• What it teaches concerning the current day in its prophetic implications.

Joseph's brothers go to Egypt

Gen 42:1-8 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you just keep looking at each other?" (2) He continued, "I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die." (3) Then ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. (4) But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him. (5) So Israel's sons were among those who went to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also. (6) Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the one who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph's brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. (7) As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. "Where do you come from?" he asked. "From the land of Canaan," they replied, "to buy food." (8) Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

You probably don't remember the last verse of the previous chapter but it says 'And all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the world.' (Gen 41:57). Simply put, the famine was severe everywhere and it became desperate for Jacob and his sons as well as they were not immune. Thankfully, Jacob was looking for solutions and heard that there was grain in Egypt. So he sent his sons down there to seek salvation. Now there is a nice little picture of salvation here. Do you see it? 

Picturing the steps of salvation

There are several steps in this passages showing how a sinner comes to the Lord:

• Firstly, this was a time of desperation. Always understand that God allows, organizes and uses desperate times. Sometimes it takes a desperate time for someone to change. 
• As his desperation increased his awareness of need, Jacob looked for an answer. In doing so he heard of a possible solution - there was grain in Egypt being dispensed by a ruler who was second in charge under Pharaoh. In like manner when a sinner's heart begins to be aware of their need, so they begin to seek for an answer and their ears are more open for a possible solution.  
• Jacob told his sons that if they were to go they would 'live and not die' (Gen 42:2). In like manner, all who come to Christ will find salvation, rest and life! (Matt 11:28, Rom 10:13)
• Having heard about the solution, but without seeing it, they believed it to be true and took action. It is not just hearing the message that saves. There must be action to believe and go to the One who can save. In this case this involved a long journey down to Egypt but they were willing to count the cost and make the trip, for they wanted to live. And so it is for those that see their need. They are willing to count the cost and come to Christ, whatever shame or despising that may bring.

I had a letter recently from a lady struggling with the concept of faith. She wrote "I’ve heard some people talk about faith as a chair. It’s one thing to look at the chair and know that it is strong enough to hold you, but it’s another thing to actually sit in the chair and trust it to hold you. In terms of salvation, how do I “sit in the chair”? It’s not a physical chair so I’m struggling to understand this." J.Vernon McGee writes on this using this passage:

A great many people say that faith is so mysterious to them and that they don't know how to believe. I talked to a man who did not want to believe, but his argument was, "Well, how can I believe?" Notice here how Jacob believed. He heard something: "I have heard that there is corn in Egypt." He believed it, believed that it would bring life to them. So he acted upon his belief: "Get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die." My friend, that is what saving faith is. Some folk ask, "How can I believe in Jesus?" Can you imagine Jacob standing there before his ten sons and saying, "I've heard that there is corn down in Egypt, but how am I going to believe it?" Well, the way to believe it is to act upon it. The Bible says, "… Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved …" (Act 16:31). You hear something and you believe it. That is what old Jacob did. That is the way he got corn which brought life to his family. And the way you and I get eternal life is through faith in Christ.
J. Vernon McGee

God's ways for young and old

This passage also pictures how God can work in our life¹. Sometimes we are reluctant to move... reluctant to follow what God wants. Sometimes He simply wants to teach us that we need to come to the point where we will trust Him no matter what. This is an example of that. God wanted Israel and his sons to be in Egypt. But what would get them to leave their home? Well, only a period of utter desperation would. And so God is tightening the knot on both Jacob and his sons here. As well as the fact that His will and purpose for His nation involved going down into Egypt first, they all had something in their own individual lives that was unresolved... something that God was working on. For Jacob, it was that natural strength and propensity to wriggle out of any hard situation by any natural means necessary. God was going to work on that till he came to the point of letting go and simply trusting God. We'll see this more in the next study. For Joseph's brothers... well they had been living a lie for a couple of decades. They had sworn black and blue that Joseph had been killed by an animal all the while knowing that they had betrayed and sold him into slavery. They may have suppressed this guilt and tried to move on like all was good, but God hadn't forgotten and He was going to use the upcoming situation for their acknowledgment of guilt as well. 

So God is turning the screws and increasing the pressure on both Jacob and his sons! He is manipulating circumstances so that Joseph's brothers will have to go to Egypt and Jacob himself will be placed as it were, between a rock and a hard place. In fact such will be the difficulty and lack of options for Jacob, there will be but one way out - by letting go of the situation completely, fully surrendering to God and trusting Him. Let me say that you are never too old for God to think that He doesn't need to keep working on you! A couple of years ago, after several months of stroke-like symptoms down her left side, my Mum was diagnosed with a golf ball sized brain tumor. So here she was, at the ripe old age of 85, having brain surgery. Now I have mentioned this before this part is worth repeating. For in the night before she was to go into hospital she encountered the Lord. She saw an outline of Him standing amongst creation with a path that led to Him and beyond. And she knew that the path beyond led into the life to come. It was as though she was being given a choice of whether she went to be with Him now or not. She told me that she was filled with joy and peace, with a large part of her desiring to go on. But she said to the Lord that if He still had things for her to learn then she wanted to learn them. She also said that her life was in His hands and will. And so she went on and through the whole brain surgery experience in peace, knowing that the Lord was in control. But here's the thing - she was 85 at this time and God hadn't finished with the things that He wanted to teach her. Not yet! If you feel like the screws have been turned half a revolution and the pressure is coming on, thank the Lord. He has more for you to learn as well.   

So back to our story, arriving in Egypt, Joseph's brothers bow before Joseph, not yet knowing who he is! Oh golly! Here we go... This is of course 'a' fulfillment of Joseph's dream which he had when he was still a teenager. Sometimes the promises of God take decades to come about. Sometimes you have to wait what seems like a lifetime to have specific prayers answered. But God's word does not return void. Maybe you are waiting for the answered prayers for salvation of a loved one. If so, keep knocking on that door and keep believing. 

Turning the screw

Gen 42:9-23 Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, "You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected." (10) No, my lord, they answered. "Your servants have come to buy food. (11) We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies." (12) No! he said to them. "You have come to see where our land is unprotected." (13) But they replied, "Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more." (14) Joseph said to them, "It is just as I told you: You are spies! (15) And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. (16) Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!" (17) And he put them all in custody for three days. (18) On the third day, Joseph said to them, "Do this and you will live, for I fear God: (19) If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. (20) But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die." This they proceeded to do. (21) They said to one another, "Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that's why this distress has come upon us." (22) Reuben replied, "Didn't I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn't listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood." (23) They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter. (24) He turned away from them and began to weep, but then turned back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes. 

Hmm... This is an interesting passage. Joseph recognized them, but they didn't know him. And so Joseph instantly accuses them of being spies and comes up with a novel way of determining whether that are speaking the truth or not... They must return with their brother Benjamin or else Simeon, who is being held captive until they return², will be lost to them in the darkness of an Egyptian prison forever. Do you think that Joseph just made all this up on the spot when he saw his brothers or had this been given some thought? I think he knew that the day would come when both God and necessity would see them come down into Egypt. He wouldn't have known however who would come so certainly there was still a lot of fast thinking going on! Now, as mentioned, there are times that God makes things hard. We try to scramble and find a way out, but no way eventuates because it is God Himself who has shut the door. This is not because He is against us but because He loves us and has a plan that He is working towards. I can look back on my life and see years of difficulty where I wanted a way out. But God was working and using such times. As I have written before, some of the more popular studies on the site that have helped people came from a time where I 'wanted out!' And Joseph's brothers are looking for a way out but Joseph is a step ahead. 

Ultimately, as you see, this process begins to work something very very interesting in their hearts. Despite trying to assure Joseph of their intentions and talk their way out of an increasingly sticky situation, things go from bad to worse for the brothers. After three days in prison they are released yet Simeon, as mentioned, is held as surety that they return with Benjamin. And as they start to prepare for their travels home, what happens? Their thoughts go back to a place they had sworn not to speak about. They go back in their thoughts about two decades to what they did to their young brother Joseph! The difficulty of their current situation caused this response:

"Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that's why this distress has come upon us." Reuben replied, "Didn't I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn't listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood."

Wow! It is roughly 20 years on but their guilt has never left them. It was there though suppressed over many years and all it took was a crisis in their own life to bring it to the surface! So much so that Reuben declares that they must now give an account of his blood. Imagine if you were Joseph and hear them say this. All these years he has been wondering if there is any guilt, any remorse, any indication that his brothers are sorry for what they did to him. And so in this first test, he gets an initial answer. And it is an answer that makes him weep. He has learned that yes, they do feel guilt, and also that Reuben never wanted any hard upon Joseph at all. 

The basis of Jesus' second coming

Again, I find it extremely interesting to see how Joseph's brothers reacted when the pressure came on, especially in light of the prophetic implications. As I mentioned above, as things go from bad to worse for the brothers, their minds go back about two decades to what they did to Joseph. Joseph hadn't been mentioned, but that is where their minds and guilty conscience took them. This is a picture of where the minds of the Jews will go in 'the time of Jacob's trouble'. It will not just go back two decades however, but two thousand years as they remember and see clearly what they did to Jesus. Joseph may not have been in control when he was rejected and sold, but he is in full control of this situation. He is the judge and executor and they are at his mercy. Now look at what they say when events go south for them:

• While they were still outwardly lying about Joseph's supposed death (Genesis 42:13) what they really thought was completely different: "Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that's why this distress has come upon us." - there is a realization that their punishment is because of what they did to their brother. This is a picture of the remorse that comes when the Jews finally see and take responsibility for rejecting Jesus. 
• Reuben said, "Now we must give an accounting for his blood." They realize that they must give an account for His blood. This reminds us of the words of the Jews when condemning Jesus, when they stated 'His blood be on us, and on our children.' (Matt 27:25) 
• And Joseph is watching, and listening. They don't realize it but he understands them and is watching for their response. And it is an emotional time of both grief and weeping. It says 7 times that Joseph wept (Genesis 42:24; 43:30; 45:2, 14; 46:29; 50:1, 17). It was emotional for Jesus too realizing what would come upon Israel because they missed the day of their visitation. He also wept. (Luk 19:41-44)  This all points to the basis of Jesus' 2nd coming for all in Israel will weep greatly:
  Zec 12:10 And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. 

Even blessings bring conviction for the guilty heart

Gen 42:25-29 Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man's silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. After this was done for them, (26) they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left. (27) At the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack. (28) My silver has been returned, he said to his brothers. "Here it is in my sack." Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, "What is this that God has done to us?" 

So Joseph ordered that something else get added to their sacks of grain as his brother left... He gave them back their money as well! Maybe he wanted to bless them. Maybe he was still playing with them. Maybe both! It is hard to know. If he did simply seek to bless them by returning their money, because of the previous accusations of spying and their own guilty conscience, it had the opposite effect. You may remember how when Jesus blessed Peter by giving him a net full of fish (after he had toiled all night and caught nothing), Peter's reaction to the goodness of God was to fall at Jesus' feet and say "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!" (Luke 5;8). Such is the awakened heart where even the goodness of God can bring more conviction of your own state!  

Now having seen their returned money, Joseph's brothers probably thought 'oh great... he accused us of being spies and now he'll think we are thieving spies!" It is good to remember that these brothers were not timid individuals (they once went and destroyed a whole town in retribution over their sister being raped), yet here they were trembling in fear! In fact, such is their conviction and troubled state that they even think God is against them! We read of their reaction as 'their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, "What is this that God has done to us?" You have no doubt heard the saying 'you put the fear of God in me'. Well Joseph did that... literally! They were frightened that God was doing this and they would be right! He was! But such is the conviction upon a guilty conscience! Speaking of this event, one has called this 'the miseries of an awakened conscience' saying  

1. They pursue the sinner everywhere
2. They drive the sinner to put the worst construction upon every event
3. They are intended to lead the sinner to repentance
   (T. H. Leale.)

As one has said 'nothing makes men so fearful as an evil conscience!'³

Conclusion

Well, we will leave it there. Nine of Joseph's brothers are trembling as they make the long trip home, to get their last brother Benjamin, so they can release their other brother Simeon, from prison. The chapter will continue in the next study where we will see the tightening of the knot around father Jacob as well. He will play a big part in this story as without his total surrender, nothing will proceed. And getting to that point is easier said than done for this naturally strong and resourceful man! So as a quick recap we have seen:

• We've seen that the desperation seen in the famine gives a good picture of salvation. In our desperation we hear the good news that there is salvation and life giving food coming from a far away country. And in faith we believe, and are willing to count the cost and go to receive this spiritual food so that we can live!
• We've seen the ways of God, and the mills of God, that slowly but surely grind and refine our lives. God works all things together for good. 
• We've seen that the ever increasing pressure on Jacob and his family is a great picture of what is occurring, and will continue to occur, only increasing in intensity and leading to the conviction and eventual salvation of the Jewish nation. Just as the difficulties that came upon Joseph's brothers made them think of what they had done to Joseph two decades earlier, so the coming time of Jacob's trouble will lead the Jews to remember and acknowledge what they did to the greater Joseph, Jesus Christ, two millennia earlier!

We'll carry on next time with the rest of this chapter and the next as we look at these ways of God in the life of Jacob himself. 

God Bless.

FOOTNOTES