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Joseph & Messiah reveal what true repentance looks like (Genesis 42–44)
In this study
Why was Joseph toying with his brothers?Hidden Messiah, Leper MessiahLegacy of those who say ‘yes’ to HeavenSolomon’s splitting the baby & Judah’s sacrifice for his brothers
Their father Jacob said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.” Genesis 42:36 NASB
Why did Joseph consider Benjamin so important that he manipulated his brothers to bring Benjamin to Egypt and then to try to keep Benjamin in Egypt at the expense of his brothers? One reason may be to further fulfill the prophetic dreams that God had previously revealed to him when he was shown that all of his brothers would bow before him.
Medieval Jewish commentator Rashi pointed out about this part of the Torah reading מקץ Miketz (“from the end,” Gen. 41:1–44:17) that Jacob suspected his sons were complicit in Joseph’s death/disappearance. Jacob had some animosity and irritation towards his 10 sons, although he loved them. Benjamin, however, was unique. He was the son of Jacob’s beloved wife and was not in any way complicit on Joseph’s disappearance/death and all the love and affection that Jacob could no longer give to Joseph was doted upon Benjamin.
When Joseph gave Benjamin five times the provisions (Gen. 43:34), Joseph was testing his brothers. However, Joseph also gave the brothers, including Benjamin a lot of intoxicants and he was able to observe how they treated each other when they were under the influence of alcohol and their guard was down.
When a person is evenly mildly under the influence of alcohol, they tend to talk more freely about what they like, or what they don’t like. Joseph was trying to see if he could provoke the brothers to make snide comments, jokes or funny looks about the fact that the Viceroy of Egypt was favoring Benjamin over them.
Why was Joseph toying with his brothers?
Everything Joseph did was to provoke jealously and to make it easy for the brothers confess any disdain they may have towards Benjamin. They could discard him to save themselves if they hated Benjamin as much as they had hated Joseph when he was younger.
I’m sure that Benjamin, as Joseph’s full brother, looked, acted and talked enough like Joseph that living around him was a constant reminder of Joseph and if they held that against Benjamin, Joseph was willing to concoct a scenario to take Benjamin away from them forever. But the brothers did not respond that way at all. They never threw Benjamin under the bus. Instead, they blamed themselves and what they had done to Joseph for all the intrigue and drama that was happening to them in Egypt.
“Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” 1Corinthians 10:11 NASB
It’s important to understand how and why Joseph tested his brothers so harshly. These tests Joseph inflicted on his brothers were recorded for us, not only to use as a righteous example, but also for us to understand how the Messiah would act and how others would treat Him when He came ...
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By Hallel FellowshipIn this study
Why was Joseph toying with his brothers?Hidden Messiah, Leper MessiahLegacy of those who say ‘yes’ to HeavenSolomon’s splitting the baby & Judah’s sacrifice for his brothers
Their father Jacob said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.” Genesis 42:36 NASB
Why did Joseph consider Benjamin so important that he manipulated his brothers to bring Benjamin to Egypt and then to try to keep Benjamin in Egypt at the expense of his brothers? One reason may be to further fulfill the prophetic dreams that God had previously revealed to him when he was shown that all of his brothers would bow before him.
Medieval Jewish commentator Rashi pointed out about this part of the Torah reading מקץ Miketz (“from the end,” Gen. 41:1–44:17) that Jacob suspected his sons were complicit in Joseph’s death/disappearance. Jacob had some animosity and irritation towards his 10 sons, although he loved them. Benjamin, however, was unique. He was the son of Jacob’s beloved wife and was not in any way complicit on Joseph’s disappearance/death and all the love and affection that Jacob could no longer give to Joseph was doted upon Benjamin.
When Joseph gave Benjamin five times the provisions (Gen. 43:34), Joseph was testing his brothers. However, Joseph also gave the brothers, including Benjamin a lot of intoxicants and he was able to observe how they treated each other when they were under the influence of alcohol and their guard was down.
When a person is evenly mildly under the influence of alcohol, they tend to talk more freely about what they like, or what they don’t like. Joseph was trying to see if he could provoke the brothers to make snide comments, jokes or funny looks about the fact that the Viceroy of Egypt was favoring Benjamin over them.
Why was Joseph toying with his brothers?
Everything Joseph did was to provoke jealously and to make it easy for the brothers confess any disdain they may have towards Benjamin. They could discard him to save themselves if they hated Benjamin as much as they had hated Joseph when he was younger.
I’m sure that Benjamin, as Joseph’s full brother, looked, acted and talked enough like Joseph that living around him was a constant reminder of Joseph and if they held that against Benjamin, Joseph was willing to concoct a scenario to take Benjamin away from them forever. But the brothers did not respond that way at all. They never threw Benjamin under the bus. Instead, they blamed themselves and what they had done to Joseph for all the intrigue and drama that was happening to them in Egypt.
“Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” 1Corinthians 10:11 NASB
It’s important to understand how and why Joseph tested his brothers so harshly. These tests Joseph inflicted on his brothers were recorded for us, not only to use as a righteous example, but also for us to understand how the Messiah would act and how others would treat Him when He came ...