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18 Now the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, “It is because of the money, which was returned in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may make a case against us and seize us, to take us as slaves with our donkeys.” 19 When they drew near to the steward of Joseph’s house, they talked with him at the door of the house, 20 and said, “O sir, we indeed came down the first time to buy food; 21 but it happened, when we came to the encampment, that we opened our sacks, and there, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; so we have brought it back in our hand. 22 And we have brought down other money in our hands to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.” 23 But he said, “Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. ~ Genesis 43:18-23
Today, we return to our study of Genesis 43 where the sons of Jacob have returned to Egypt with their youngest brother Benjamin per the requisition of the man in Egypt. The man in Egypt was their brother but they had yet to discover who his identity. They just thought that he was a powerful Egyptian in Egypt.
In v.18 of today's passage we read, "Now the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, 'It is because of the money, which was returned in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may make a case against us and seize us, to take us as slaves with our donkeys.'"
Due to their guilty conscience Joseph's brothers needed not to be accused. The judgment of God weighed on their conscience. God gave all of mankind a conscience which serves us as a compass especially when we are lost, but only if we allow it. The sons of Israel were facing the consequences of bad decisions and their conscience was eating away at them. The conscience that we were created with is among the first two missionaries that God gave us.
Joseph's brothers had considered what they did to Joseph the last time they were in Egypt and now they have the added burden that they didn’t turn back when they originally found the money in their sacks as they headed home. These events made them frightened because of the importance of the place they had been brought. The wisest course of action when they left the last time, though obviously a difficult one, would have been to return and mention the money immediately. But with Simeon in prison, they would have been scared to even do that.
In v.18 we read, "... that he may make a case against us." When translated literally these words mean, "that he may roll upon us." This statement was a metaphor which was borrowed from the sport of wrestling. When one overturns another, he "rolls on top of him to pin him down." The brothers were afraid because the man of Egypt could have accused them and left the blame on them. In fact, as the ruler, he could have turn them into slaves.
In v.19-22 of today's passage we read, "19 When they drew near to the steward of Joseph’s house, they talked with him at the door of the house, 20 and said, 'O sir, we indeed came down the first time to buy food; 21 but it happened, when we came to the encampment, that we opened our sacks, and there, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; so we have brought it back in our hand. 22 And we have brought down other money in our hands to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.'"
Joseph's brothers' conscience bothered them so much that they wanted to convince Joseph's steward they had done nothing wrong. They knew that if they could resolve the apparent problem before entering the house, they could avoid what they feared when lunchtime arrived. They were convinced that the door of the house was the last spot that they could resolve their problems with the man before they were to be consigned to their fate.
So now, they were given the chance to explain how they ended up with the money they originally paid. Each time they used the word "sack" it was a different word than what was originally used to describe the sack. The word used here is only used 15 times in the Bible and all in this story between Genesis 42 and Genesis 44. The word comes from a root which means to spread out. Just as the sack was spread out to reveal the money, the story was spread out to reveal the hearts and motives of the brothers.
Joseph used the unfolding events to discern the condition of his brothers’ hearts. And, according to v.22, the brothers brought the original money back and their explanation was that they had no idea how they got their original money back. They had done everything they could do to convince the steward that they did nothing wrong. They did this long before Joseph returned and could hold a trial against them. All they could do at this point was to hope that their story would be believed.
In v.23 of today's passage we read, "But he said, 'Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money.' Then he brought Simeon out to them."
It is obvious that Joseph had taught his steward about the God of grace because God's culture had been passed along to him. The treasure, as the steward said, was given to them by their "God." This was a picture of God's grace, something no one can earn or purchase. The grace of God is revolutionary. He is the only author of grace because no one else is in the position to impact our eternity like Him. Therefore, it is His grace and only His grace that screams, "You are loved." Grace declares that God is no longer angry with us. Grace states that we are under no obligation to please God with religious activity. Grace invites us to receive the free gift of forgiveness and once we have, grace declares us as loved and liked by God just as we are. We need not change to impress God or others because He has received us as sons and daughters through His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The final activity in today's passage is that Simeon was returned to his brothers. This had to be to them a big relief because if it were the intention of the man of Egypt to arrest them, then they would have left Simeon in his prison. Instead, Simeon was brought out to join them. Simeon means "He who hears." The brothers were about to hear the truth of their story and they were about to be presented with the biggest decision of their lives. Stay tuned to our next study of Genesis 43 to see how it will turn out. In Proverbs 8:34 the Lord says to us, “Happy are those who listen to me.”
