Day 41 – Joseph & Meeting his Brothers

• The story continues briskly today, as we read of the time of the famine that God promised would come. The story is dominated with the interactions between Joseph and his brothers as he tests their character. I hope you enjoyed reading it, knowing Joseph’s thoughts and feelings, as well as the naive concern shown by the brothers in front of him. It’s a beautifully written piece of storytelling, I think.
• What did the brothers go to Egypt for? Who stayed behind? Why do you think Benjamin stayed with his father?
• Joseph recognised his brothers (Genesis 42:8), but they didn’t recognise him. Joseph was seventeen when he left and perhaps had changed quite a lot in appearance in the ten years (or so) that they had been apart. Why did Joseph not reveal who he really was to his brothers right away?
• What do you think Joseph felt about his family throughout these two chapters? What about his brothers, and Jacob? What do you think life had been like for the brothers, as well as their father, during the last ten years as they kept up the pretence with Jacob that Joseph was dead, and seeing him mourn for a son he thought gone?
• The brothers had bought money with them to buy the grain they needed, but it gets secreted back in the sacks of the men as they left for home. Why did Joseph command this, and what was the reaction of the brothers when they found the money?
• Why did Joseph ask for them to get Benjamin? What was Joseph looking for in asking for this? Think about how the brothers had acted with Joseph the last time they had been together, and the way they seem to be acting now.
• Think about how Jacob spoke in Genesis 42:38 and 43:14. Remember this is Jacob! – the cunning trickster who schemed his way to a blessing and the fortune with his birthright. What state is he in when he considers having to let Benjamin leave?
• As you read chapter 43, you might begin to wonder what plans Joseph has to test his brothers further, as he chooses to dine with them whislt still not telling them who he is. Fear not – we’ll find out what happens tomorrow!
• Joseph weeps more than once when he’s out of sight of the brothers. Why did Joseph weep? We read that Jesus wept too. Why do people cry about or for other people?

On passages like the ones we read today, it can be very easy to simply enjoy a good story and not scratch more deeply under the surface.

This reading plan focuses on God’s salvation plan through history. God’s plan is going to be worked out through someone from Abraham’s line – and here we are with Abraham’s great grandchildren potentially on the verge of starvation through the famine.

How, therefore, can we look at the bigger picture of what’s going on to see God’s sovereign control over proceedings? What situation is Joseph in that means there is hope and life for Jacob and his other sons? What valuable lessons do you think the twelve brothers, Joseph included, are all learning today that will stand them in good stead to lead their own families?