We're in Genesis 42 now, not long left in the book of Genesis, and we went through Genesis
chapter 41 in two sections, if you remember, and the more recent sermon, the last one,
was looking at the pictures of the end times there, and just to remind you where we were
though in the story of Joseph, where he got pulled out of prison, if you remember, to
interpret Pharaoh's dreams after the butler finally remembered him a couple of years later,
and he interpreted these two similar dreams, explaining that there was going to be a seven
year period of plenty, followed by a seven year period of famine, and then if you remember
after he interpreted, he then counselled Pharaoh to get someone to stockpile food for the seven
years of famine, during the seven years of plenty, and Pharaoh made him that man, a second
in command to Pharaoh, gave him a wife, he had two sons during the time of plenty as
well during that first seven years, and then it was time for the famine, so that's kind
of where we finished up, verse 53, back in Genesis 41 said, and the seven years of plenteousness
that was in the land of Egypt were ended, and the seven years of dearth began to come,
according as Joseph had said, and the dearth was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt
there was bread, and when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh
for bread, and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, go unto Joseph what he said to you do, and
the famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and
sold unto the Egyptians, and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt, and all countries
came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn, because that the famine was so sore in all
lands.
Then we go into Genesis chapter 42 now in verse 1, and it says, now when Jacob saw that
there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, why do ye look one upon another?
I'm going to pray and then we're going to get going with Genesis 42, thank you for your
word, thank you for this chapter of the Bible, Lord, and the talking points we can get out
of it, Lord, please help me to preach those just clearly and boldly and in a way that
people will be edified, Lord, and will grow just in their faith and in the things you
want them to learn about today, Lord, please help everyone to have attentive ears for all
these things to be done in Jesus Christ's holy name, amen.
Okay, so verse 1 said, now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto
his sons, why do ye look one upon another?
So he's basically saying, why are you hanging around, you know, why aren't you being proactive,
is really what he's saying.
And I want to look at this verse, you know, just that point and just briefly now at the
beginning of this sermon, because it is a good reminder for us when we need something,
isn't it?
Why do we look one upon another?
He's basically saying, stop hanging around, stop just loitering, stop just kind of waiting
for things to happen, stop just kind of sitting there and staring and thinking, well, when
is God going to bless me?
He's saying, like, just get up and get busy, right?
He's saying, why do you look one upon another?
And then he goes on to say, there's corn in Egypt, get ye down thither.
So he's going, look, there's somewhere to go, there's a solution to our problem, why
aren't you doing it?
And that for me is a good reminder, for example, when someone needs a job, that's a good reminder,
isn't it?
When you need a job, when you, you know, whether you're in a job, you don't like your job,
or whether you don't have a job, you need a job, a good reminder is just don't look
upon someone else, don't look upon another, and get you down thither and get what you
need, right?
Get up and get a job.
And a great advice, I think I heard it preached a while back, was that if you don't have work,
and many people, you know, for different reasons don't have work, is that you should be spending
the time that you would be working looking for work.
So instead of looking upon one another, instead of kind of sitting there just going, well,
you know, God, please bless me, just hope things work out, it's like, well, put that
time in, because you probably have, if the average here is a 40 hour a week job, you
probably have 40 hours spare to look for work, and look for work.
And you go, well, how do you spend 40 hours looking for work?
Well, if you've exhausted all avenues, you can spend the rest of that 40 hours a week
learning stuff, improving your CV, you know, just doing things which are going to help
you, like working out, you know, learning, you know, learning interview skills, learning
all this different sort of stuff, instead of just kind of waiting around, right?
Because the problem is with waiting around is the more you start to do it, the more you
get used to waiting around, and the more you do get used to hanging around and waiting
for something else to solve it.
And it's not just in, you know, when it comes to looking for a job, it's in all areas, isn't
it?
The more, if you've ever had periods of unemployment or periods, maybe even if you look back to
when you're younger, holiday time, you know, from school, college, whatever it is, there's
a lot of wasted hours.
You look back and think, like, what was, what even happened?
What did I do?
And when you're busy, you just, there's not enough time in the day, is there?
But when you're not, it's like, just time just goes, doesn't it?
Because everything just takes that little bit longer.
But that's why I think we've got to not look upon one another and not just kind of hang
around and not just think, oh, well, something's going to work out and just put the time in,
put the effort in, treat it like you're at work, set your alarm, like, oh, get up, right?
Get up, get busy, because you start sleeping in, it gets later and later, the night's gone
longer.
And let's be honest, people aren't usually doing stuff towards getting a job at midnight,
but they can't sleep because they're getting up later.
So then they're just kind of just hanging around.
And then obviously, you've got the issue where you might be, end up walking on the king's
rooftop or something and wandering around and next thing you know, there's sin coming
into your life, things like that.
But it's not just that, another thing, another one for that would be a church, church life.
How many people around this world in different nations are looking one upon another, basically,
they're not getting up and doing anything and just going, oh, if only there was a church
in my town.
Oh, if only there was a church and don't get me wrong, some people are well meaning, they'll
send me an email sometimes going, do I know if there's a church in wherever in this country
a lot of the time it will be?
And it's like, you know, the reality of it is I have no more ability than they do to
look for a church that now they might be asking, do I think that there's a legitimate church?
I can't really confidently recommend a church in this nation, sadly, and you go, that's
a bit weird.
Look, the reality of it is because I looked for church through a long time and everyone
I ended up thinking, well, I think this is doable, ended up being bad.
So I can't, but what I always say to people is by all means, still look, however, you
know what?
How about you come and visit a proper church?
How about you try and find some people and get out there and get soul winning and start
doing stuff for God?
Because so many people, they're just kind of waiting and waiting and waiting, and then
they wait their whole lives away.
And it's like, oh, just one day God might bless us with a church in wherever, yet you
could have literally just got in a car, got on a train for a few hours and gone to a proper
church.
And pretty much in most places in this nation, it's not the worst journey, you know?
And there are people that do that weekly, there are people in this church that do long
journeys a week.
All over the world that do weekly long journeys.
And you show me in the Bible where it says you need to have a church within five minutes
of your house.
Instead of looking upon one another, we should be getting us down thither, not just with
a church.
And like I said, if you don't have one, you don't have one in your nation, get soul winning,
get doing stuff.
And you're not, you're not, you don't automatically just deserve a church in your nation, anyone.
And by the way, everyone here lives in England, okay?
If you're watching online, if you ever watch this in the future, if you ever talk to people
and they're going, if only we had a church in wherever, it's like, get busy then.
Get busy, get working, get serving, do stuff.
And you never know, God might bless you with a church.
And in the meantime, try and visit churches.
You go, well, that's a bit hard.
Well, you know what?
There's a lot of time and effort that goes into this church, isn't there?
For many members of our church.
And without, you know, that time could have been spent doing extra work and earning money
and saving money to be able to visit a church if they didn't have one.
That time could have been spent soul winning other things.
There's a lot of time, isn't there?
You know, instead of just looking around going, well, one day it will happen.
What about another one?
People go, well, you know, I just so want to get people saved.
Oh, just, you know, I'm not just not getting people saved when I turn up, you know, once
a month to church and go out soul winning or something.
And it's like, well, stop looking at each other and get out and get soul winning, right?
And the more you soul win, the more you soul win, the more you soul win, the more chance
you're going to get someone to save.
And that also applies to when we're out there trying to get our family members saved, trying
to get our friends saved.
It's like, don't stop looking at each other.
Ask them, do they want to hear the gospel?
Well, you know, God, I'm just praying for that opportunity when I'm going to be able
to approach whoever with the gospel.
It's like, ring them up and go, would you like to know how to get saved?
I mean, that's a pretty good opportunity, isn't it?
Stop looking upon each other.
Ring them up, ring up your family member and say, you know, I've just been wondering, would
you like to know how you can be sure you're going to heaven?
That's a pretty good opportunity.
Maybe do it at a time when they're not going to be busy.
Pretty simple, right?
Problem solved.
Another one is for people maybe, and again, like, and this, you know, when I preach this
stuff, because some singles aren't looking for this.
So just because you're single, it doesn't mean that you must be looking for a wife.
So I want to be careful to say that because some people have a gift to not have to.
Some people aren't in a position in their life where they feel like they want a wife.
But if people that do want a wife, and I'm talking especially with the men, because men
I think in general have to be a bit more proactive with that sort of thing, it's like, get up
and look for a wife.
You go, what do you mean?
Where do you look?
Well, like, go to missions trips, visit churches, get out there, get soul winning, meet people,
get people saved, meet members of the opposite sex, get them saved and start to get to know
them and disciple them and stuff like that, just get busy, right?
Get busy for God, get busy doing stuff.
And you know, instead of looking one upon another, instead of looking one upon another
in church going one day, the woman of my dreams is going to walk in the church, it's going
to happen, you know, and we're just, you know, that's, it's like, get busy instead, you know.
You said, behold, I've heard that there is corn in Egypt, get you down thither, and buy
for us from thence.
And the point here is that Jacob is having to say to his sons, get proactive, get busy,
get doing something.
They're in a famine, and they're just sitting around.
And there's corn in Egypt.
And if he heard there's corn in Egypt, I'm sure they knew there was corn in Egypt.
Now, we don't have to turn there because we've been going through Proverbs, but Proverbs
13 four says, said, the soul of the sluggard desireth and have nothing but the soul of
the diligent shall be made fat.
And that's a great thing to think about, you know, the sluggard desires and whatever area
it is, they're just like, you know, for example, like his sons, he just, oh, if only we had
some food, because they're sluggards, but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
If you put the effort into whatever area it is, you will get the rewards.
You will reap what you put in, because whatsoever a man soweth actually also reap, and that
applies to all areas of life, really, doesn't it?
Well, verse two, it said, and he said, behold, I've heard that there is corn in Egypt, get
you down thither, and buy for us from thence that we may live and not die.
So he's saying, if you want us to survive, that you need to be proactive, go and buy
food in Egypt.
And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt, but Benjamin, Joseph's brother,
Jacob, sent not with his brethren, for he said, lest peradventure mischief befall him.
Now if you remember, Benjamin was born in between Bethel and Ephrath, which is Bethlehem,
when they returned from Padaneram, but we don't really know when, and it's not clear
how, what the kind of time periods are there.
Now he's definitely quite a bit younger, although how much younger we don't know.
But it does kind of seem like, seem like potentially the old favouritism issue again here.
It didn't say he sent him not because he was just a kid.
It didn't say he sent him not because he was just a teen and a youth.
He sent him not for he said, lest peradventure mischief befall him.
And it is kind of like, you know, this seems to be a continuous issue with Jacob, doesn't
it?
And he came from a background of that as well.
If you remember, you know, with himself and Esau, and there's a favouritism with his mother
preferring him, his father preferring Esau, because he cooked some good meat, you know,
and they didn't really have much, they didn't really have much of a strong reason for the
favouritism either.
And it's just a good reminder again that you just see these things repeating, don't you?
And in fact, as, and he didn't necessarily know that unless he kind of smelt a rat, but
it did kind of end up with his son Joseph ending up being sold into slavery, although
as far as he's concerned, he's died.
But it was again, part of the reason because of the favouritism and the envy towards him.
And it is just a good reminder, isn't it, that a lot of this stuff just repeats and
repeats and you can, you can stop that as parents, can't you?
You can stop that chain.
You can, just because we were raised a certain way and every single, none of us have perfect
parents here.
There's not a perfect parent.
None of us are perfect parents.
Because we were raised a certain way doesn't mean we have to continue that on with our
line and our kids and we don't have to repeat the errors and the mistakes of our parents,
but we have to recognise it and you have to ask for help with that because whether it's
favouritism or some other issue, some other problem, some other thing, it can, it can
ruin kids, can't it?
It can ruin families and we've already seen some of the results of the favouritism with
what happened with Jacob, with Joseph, sorry.
But anyway, he doesn't send him and in verse 5 it says,
And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came.
For the famine was in the land of Canaan.
And Joseph was the governor over the land, and here it was that sold to all the people
of the land.
And Joseph's brethren came and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to
the earth.
And Joseph saw his brethren and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them and spake
roughly unto them.
And he said unto them, Whence come ye?
And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
So Joseph doesn't want to reveal who he is and I don't think roughly here he's putting
on a mockney accent, by the way, in case you're going, oh, he's trying to like, you know,
kind of roughen up a little bit with the way he talks.
Verse 23 says, And they knew not that Joseph understood them, for he spake unto them by
an interpreter.
So it's not that he's like, right, I'm going to speak a real kind of, you know, like gutter
Egyptian or wherever it is here, it's that he's speaking rudely, okay, speaking rudely,
speaking roughly to them.
And understandably, really, okay, because he sees them and I mean, you can't really
argue with Joseph here, they kidnapped him, were going to kill him, and instead chose
to sell him into slavery.
And these are his brothers, who he grew up with, 17 years of his life with these guys,
and they were planning to kill him for no other reason other than envy.
And then not only that, then they just cast him in a pit to let him die in the pit and
then thought, actually, we can make a few quid out of this as well, let's just sell
him into slavery.
And that's the end of Joseph.
I mean, you can understand him speaking roughly to them.
But look how the tables are turned here, it says in verse six, And Joseph was the governor
over the land, and here it was that sold to all the people of the land.
And Joseph's brethren came and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to
the earth.
And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them and spake
roughly unto them.
And he said unto them, Whence come ye?
And they said from the land of Canaan to buy food.
And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them and said unto them, Ye are
spies, to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
Now go back to chapter 37 to remind you of the dreams that Joseph dreamed.
We'll just have a quick look at those.
Chapter 37 and from verse five, chapter 37, five reads, And Joseph dreamed a dream, and
he told it his brethren, and they hated him yet the more.
And he said unto them, Here I pray you this dream which I've dreamed, for behold, we were
binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose and also stood upright.
And behold, your sheaves stood round about and made obeisance to my sheaf.
Now that's just happened in verse six, by the way, of chapter 42, where it said, And
they bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
So they're making obeisance.
And basically, that's like they're obeying in a way, you know, they're in subjection
to him.
It's not that they're worshipping him, just to make that clear.
But verse eight says, And his brethren said to him, Shout thou indeed reign over us, or
shout thou indeed have dominion over us, and they hated him yet the more for his dreams
and for his words.
Verse nine says, And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said,
Behold, I've dreamed a dream more, and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars made
obeisance to me.
And he told it to his father and to his brethren.
And his father rebuked him and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed?
Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the
earth?
And his brethren envied him, but his father observed the saying.
So for the literal fulfilment of that, Joseph is probably now aware that his father is to
come to Egypt too, I'd imagine, because he's remembering the dreams blue.
He's probably thinking, OK, so I can see this all playing out now.
And it said in verse nine, Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them and said
unto them, Ye are spies to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
So he's accusing them of coming to see weakness as opposed to potentially invade.
Maybe he's suggesting that they're from another land and maybe they're looking to see a way
to invade the land of Egypt during this time of famine.
And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food of thy servants come, we are all
one man's sons, we are true men, thy servants are no spies.
And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan.
And behold, the youngest is to stay with our father, and one is not, meaning that one has
died.
And as far as they're concerned, Joseph is likely dead, or at least they've just kind
of stuck to that story that they've been playing for a long time now.
And they assume he probably is by now.
And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies.
Hereby ye shall be proved by the life of Pharaoh, ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest
brother came hither.
And he's basically saying, as Pharaoh is alive.
He's not saying, you know, unless Pharaoh dies, just saying, as, you know, Pharaoh is
alive and kicking, you ain't going nowhere.
Send one of you and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison that your words
may be proved, whether there be any truth in you or else, by the life of Pharaoh surely
ye are spies.
And he put them all together into a ward three days.
Now, as much as Joseph wants to get everyone to Egypt, okay, knowing that there are seven
years of famine, this definitely feels like some revenge, doesn't it?
I mean, this is, he didn't have to incarcerate them.
He didn't have to tell them that they're spies.
I mean, he could have just gone, tada, you know, it's me.
Get dad, get Benjamin, get him up here, I'm going to feed you guys up.
Not to worry, you know, I've forgiven you, blah, blah, blah.
But he doesn't.
Okay.
And he starts, you know, he starts doing some funny stuff, doesn't he?
Now, did he need to imprison them?
And it does seem like he then changed his mind after a few days.
And you know, you could look at this, and sometimes people look at this and be like,
ah, Joseph, you know, kind of borderline walking on water.
This is all just, you know, amazing.
And he's just kind of coming up with some interesting ways of doing this and that.
But Joseph is just, he's a man of God, but he's also a normal guy.
He's a normal guy that got, was about to be murdered by his brothers and sold into slavery.
And I tell you what, I'd like to see one person here who that happened to, who would then,
when they, when he comes across them years later, just go, oh my, I've just got all this
mercy on you guys.
That's just not normal.
That is the sort of image we're given of how a Christian should be.
A Christian should just, you know, should just forgive anything and everything and everything else.
Well, at this point, A, firstly, they're not seeking forgiveness as far as he's aware at this point.
And B, he's just a normal guy.
And as much as, look, you know, holding onto grudges and things like that doesn't really
bless you and doesn't really help you, and oftentimes it's going to make you feel worse,
we are still human, aren't we?
And we are still just people and we, that's, that would be a hard thing to deal with, wouldn't it?
Especially when you've got the power that Joseph's got there.
I mean, you at least probably use a little bit of it.
You know, you'd be like, well, a little bit of imprisoning and a few days wind him up a little bit,
you know, and then we see some more stuff.
He's like, he starts playing games with them, really, doesn't he?
It says in verse 18, and Joseph said unto them the third day, this do and live, for I fear God,
if ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison, go ye
carry corn for the family of your houses, but bring your youngest brother unto me, so
shall your words be verified and ye shall not die, and they did so.
So he locks them up for three days, okay, and then says because he fears God, he's going
to let them go except for one of them.
So he's kind of saying, well, actually, you know, maybe he's saying, well, you know, you
need to go and bring food back for everyone else.
Maybe one of them going wouldn't be enough.
Verse 21, they said one to another, we are verily guilty concerning our brethren that
we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us, we were not here, therefore is this distress
come upon us.
Now, what's interesting is that they're talking about an event which is by now over 20 years
later.
This is 20 years down the line.
If you remember, Joseph was 17 when it happened in Genesis 41, 46, sorry, when it happened,
and then in Genesis 41, 46, it says that Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh,
the king of Egypt, and Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went throughout
all the land of Egypt.
So we're now well into the famine over seven years later.
So this is beyond 20 years from when this event happened.
And my point is that sometimes, you know, these guys here, look, they're pretty bad
guys, but, you know, they are a Peter, at least they're acknowledging God in all of
this.
And it can take a while for an old grievous sin to come back and bite you, can't it?
It really can.
And there are sometimes, you know, there are results of sins that you've chosen to commit
that maybe will come and get you in many years to come, and it's just the way it is.
And here, that seems to be what's happening, really, because they're not going, yeah, but
what about, you know, when this happened or when that happened?
It seems like this is now where they're kind of reaping what they sowed 20 years ago.
That's a long time later, isn't it?
It said in verse 22, it says, and Reuben answered them, saying, I spake not unto you, sorry,
saying, spake I not unto you, saying, do not sin against the child, and you would not hear.
Therefore behold, also his blood is required.
Now, the more glimpses that we see of Reuben, the worse he seems to get, really.
I mean, in Genesis 37, if you remember when we went through that, I pointed out that Reuben
the whole kind of, Reuben was the best of a bad bunch, reading of this could be pretty
wrong, with the opposite being true.
Go back to Genesis 37, then, to see what really happened.
Your turn to Genesis 37, Genesis 49 and verse 4, Jacob, he's given these prophecies for
them, he's talking about each of them, and he refers to Reuben as unstable as water,
thou shalt not excel, because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, thou defileth thou
it.
He went up to my couch.
Now, like I said, when we went through Genesis 37, unstable as water isn't like a little
bit here and there, he's a bit stable, so he's a bit unstable, no, that's just completely
unstable.
There is no stability in water, you walk on water and you're going to sink, unless you're
the Lord Jesus Christ, or you get an extra lucky 10 seconds, Peter, or something, you
know, until your faith comes, right?
So, water isn't stable.
In Genesis 37, Joseph has been sent to check on his brothers, and it says this in verse
18, and when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against
him to slay him.
And they said one to another, behold, this dream cometh, come now, therefore, and let
us slay him and cast him into some pit, and we will say, some evil beast hath devoured
him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, let us not kill
him.
So it's looking good at this point, isn't it?
You're like, oh, yay, Reuben, the hero.
And Reuben said unto them, shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the
wilderness, and lay no hand upon him that he might rid him out of their hands to deliver
him to his father again.
So why did Reuben tell them to cast him into a pit?
They seem to be happy to listen to him, don't they?
They do as he says.
He's the eldest.
He tells them what to do.
They do it.
Couldn't he have just stopped it altogether?
Couldn't he have just said, don't kill him.
Don't kill him.
Let's let him go.
Couldn't he have gone, Joseph, run.
You know, guys, leave him alone.
Just let him do what he wants to do.
No.
He says, throw him in a pit.
Throw him in a pit.
Let's keep reading.
It says in verse 23, well, in fact, before we do, I'll tell you why.
Let me show you why.
Because it was so that he might rid him out of their hands to deliver him to his father
again.
It was so that he could deliver him to his father.
It was so that he could get some sort of brownie points so that he could kind of get back in
his father's good books after having done some wickedness before with his stepmother.
But we're going to keep reading anyway.
Verse 23 says that it came to pass when Joseph was coming to his brethren that they stripped
Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him, and they took him and cast
him into a pit, and the pit was empty.
There was no water in it.
And they sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a company
of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh
going to carry it down to Egypt.
And Judah said unto his brethren, what profit is it if we slay our brethren and conceal
his blood?
Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites.
Let not our hand be upon him for he is our brother and our flesh.
And his brethren were content.
Then they passed by Midianites merchantmen, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of
the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver, and they brought
Joseph into Egypt.
And Reuben returned unto the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit, and he rent his
clothes.
So he must have been feeling bad for Joseph, you'd think, right?
You know, he just really wanted to deliver him, he rips his clothes, you know, in stress
or anguish.
Verse 30, and he returned unto his brethren and said, The child is not an eye, whither
shall I go?
I mean, what on earth?
The child is not a where am I going to go?
He's worried about himself and where he's going to go because his plan was to basically
bring him back to his father and to basically bring him as, I think, as some sort of peace
offering, some sort of way of getting back into favour with his father, because he committed
adultery with his stepmother, Bilhar.
And just to make it clear, that is, that's disgusting, isn't it?
I mean, how wicked is that, with your stepmother?
I mean, I remember talking about this with brother Huna after we talked about that with
Reuben, and just, I mean, that's bizarre.
And you know, I remember saying, well, I suppose you do, because we were talking about the
possibility of him just being a full reprobate.
And I remember saying, well, I suppose, do you get these sorts of people, and like, Jeremy
Springer and so on, I was kind of thinking, you do get these weird situations, but then
the more you start looking at Reuben, you think you're actually, like, I mean, that's
absolutely vile, isn't it?
His father's wife, I mean, I know you get some freaky things go on in the world, but,
I mean, that's pretty messed up, isn't it?
Pretty messed up.
So I think that he was upset, he's going, whether shall I go, because he couldn't now
use rescuing Joseph to gain favour from his father.
That's what his goal was, I believe.
That's why he's saying, cast him into a pit, and not just, like, let him go, and then that
would have been that, but instead he could rescue him.
And what's he going to do?
Take him out of the pit, rescue him, and go, look, I rescued him from all the others, aren't
I a good one?
And then the rest of them can kind of be cast off, and he can be, maybe even, he's thinking
about getting an even greater than the double portion of the birthright, and he can end
up with the rest of them struck off, and get an even better portion of the inheritance,
basically.
But regardless, it says in verse 31, they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the
goats, and dipped the coat in the blood.
And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father, and said,
This have we found, know now whether it be thy son's coat or no.
And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat, an evil beast had devoured him.
Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces, and Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth
upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
And notice this in verse 35, and all his sons, not some of his sons, not most of his
sons, all his sons, that includes Reuben, and all his daughters, so it wasn't just
the one, it wasn't just Dina, there were other daughters as well, but and all his sons,
and all his daughters, that could maybe include granddaughters, it could include maybe even
daughter-in-laws, but regardless, all his sons, that's Reuben as well, and all his
daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted, and he said, For I will go
down into the grave unto my son mourning, thus his father wept for him.
So Reuben and the rest of them pretended that their brother had been killed by an animal,
and then watched their father mourn for him.
I mean, that's pretty wicked as well, and again, this guy that was, oh, he was going
to deliver them, but now he's playing this kind of dipping the coat in blood, and he's
been killed.
He knew that he'd been, you know, that he'd been sold out of the pit, he's not like,
oh man, he must have just died in the pit and disappeared.
So he's obviously aware of what's happened, but he's playing the whole faking that he
was killed because they were all party, at least in one way to it, because he just wanted
to be the one that rescued him, but really, he said, Throw him in a pit, okay?
They're now watching their father mourn, who won't be comforted, he said he refused to
be comforted.
I mean, that's pretty sick as well, isn't it?
And then watching that, knowing that in fact, he's been, maybe we could go and find him,
he's been sold into slavery, dad.
You know, they were on their way down to Egypt, maybe we could go down and try and find who
these merchantmen were, we know what they look like, we sold them to him, you know,
etc.
No, they're just going to watch their father mourn for him and pretend that he's dead,
having dipped his coat in blood.
And the Midianites sold him into Egypt under Potiphar, an officer of Pharaohs and captain
of the garden.
They could have found that out as well had they found him.
So back in chapter 42, where it says in verse 21, and they said one to another, We are verily
guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought
us, and we would not hear, therefore is this distress come upon us.
They seem to be showing some remorse now, don't they?
That for me looks like some remorse, thinking about the situation they're now in and accepting
the wrong that they did.
Sometimes it takes that for us.
And I hope no one will ever do anything like this.
But sometimes, you know, when you sin, when you do something bad, sometimes it takes you
being feeling like you're being chastised by God to think, yeah, actually, that was
wrong.
I shouldn't have done that.
I shouldn't have made that decision.
I shouldn't have behaved that way.
I shouldn't have done this.
I shouldn't have said that.
Whatever it is.
So they're all showing remorse.
They're accepting their wrong apart from, guess who, Reuben.
Verse 22, Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against
this child, and you would not hear, therefore behold, also his blood is required.
But Reuben said to throw him in a pit.
Instead of shedding his blood, he didn't say don't sin against the child.
He said, throw him in a pit.
He was party to the whole blood on the coat thing.
He was a part of it.
He was comforting his father as well and convincing his father that Joseph had been killed.
And he's saying that he reckons, he said, he told him not to sin against the child.
And this is another trait of wicked people, OK?
This is another trait of wicked people.
They always have an excuse.
It's always someone else's fault.
They're never to blame.
It's always someone else that it's never their fault.
They always, it's because of this, because of that, because of their past, because of
their this, because they never, they never just go, yeah, OK, I'm to blame.
Proverbs 15, 10, you have to turn there because we looked at it on Sunday, says, Correction
is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way, and he that hateth reproof shall die.
Correction's grievous to them.
They can't, they just can't accept fault.
They either hate, they hate reproof and they shall die because they're twice dead.
What happens with these people I've noticed is because they can never be wrong, because
they can never accept fault, even when they're banged to rights, even when they're just clear
as day, they've been exposed before, whoever's been exposed in front of many, then the narrative
quickly changes to absolve them of any blame.
It's always someone else's fault.
It's always someone else's fault why this happened, it was due to that person, due to
this person, due to their background, due to their this, it's always someone else's
fault.
They could do the fake, there's fake repentance, and we've seen that with people before where
they pretend they fake the repentance, but then soon after it was someone else's fault,
it was enough, it was this, it was them, it was that.
They just can't accept fault.
The rest of them are, the rest of them are going, we're guilty for this, they're not
Ruben, Ruben, no, no, it wasn't, there's nothing to do with me, I told you not to sin against
him, it's a lie, and he's convinced himself probably, he's telling the lie to nine other
guys who were there and know full well he said throw him in a pit.
These people just lie through their teeth.
I'm convinced by what Ruben is, you're always a victim, it's not their fault, they speak
lies in hypocrisy and then they project it onto others.
I mean what a hypocritical lie that is, you threw him in a pit, now you're going well
it's your fault, and what does he do, he projects that onto the rest of them, and that's what
these people do.
Now like I said the rest of them seem to be finally accepting what they did, this is in
verse 21, they said one to another, we are verily guilty concerning our brethren that
we saw the anguish of his soul, anguish is extreme pain, either of body or mind and here
obviously it's mind because it says when he besought us, so he's pleading with them, and
we would not hear therefore is this distress come upon us.
So they seem to be accepting it, I mean that must have been a horrendous situation, you've
got this 17 year old kid, he's a kid, he's 17, in anguish, pleading with them, beseeching
them and they wouldn't hear.
And by the way that's by the way the power of envy isn't it, think like how eaten up
with envy must they have been to be able to treat this kid like that, and you can kind
of forgive him for playing games with them now can't you?
Now when you look at that and think about that you go yeah I get it, I get it Joseph,
yeah bang them up for a few days, you know send them off and bring them back and you
know and mess around with them a little bit and put their money back in their bags and
then you know make them scared and everything else, you can understand it right?
Verse 23 it says and they knew not that Joseph understood them for he spake unto them by
an interpreter and he turned himself about from them and wept and returned to them again
and communed with them and took from them Simeon and bound him before their eyes.
So I'm sure that he's still affected by what happened, and understandable like I said,
and I think he's probably got some post-traumatic stress from this, I don't think he's looking
at them going oh I just love my brother so much, I don't think it's tears of love, I
think he's listening to them talking about that event and he anguished it, the anguish
of his soul and he's turning around and weeping about it, and you can understand that right?
I mean the kid he was about to be murdered, he then got thrown in a pit by his own brothers
and then he got sold into slavery and can you imagine the fear, can you imagine what
a kid must have gone through with that and that you know as we know this is the word
of God this 100% happened to this poor kid.
So it says he bound him before their eyes, he's talking about Simeon, so Simeon definitely
got the short straw here, I don't know how he selected Simeon, I don't know if they selected
Simeon, but either way Simeon got chosen here, and then Joseph commanded to fill their
sacks with corn and to restore every man's money into his sack and to give them provision
for the way and thus did he unto them.
And they ladied their asses with the corn and departed thence, and as one of them opened
his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he aspired his money for behold it was
in his sack's mouth.
So he's got some corn out to feed his ass, so bear in mind as well when they're coming
for corn it's not like oh they just want to eat it because later you see you know or maybe
it's in the next chapter offering to he's saying well go down and bring all these different
foods from the land you're going well you had some food yeah but it's for like their
animals as well it's for you know all their livestock and for them to not just end up
with like nothing you know it's for their their whole livelihoods as well and some of
it's being used here to feed his ass and he realises then that the money that he had paid
Joseph was in his sack okay the sack that obviously has been loaded up with corn.
And he said unto his brethren my money is restored and lo it is even in my sack and
the heart failed them and they were afraid saying one to another what is this that God
has done unto us.
So I suppose that they're worried that they're going to be called thieves.
Bear in mind that Simeon's been left there as well so you know it's not kind of a situation
it's like oh never mind we've got away with the money you know let's leg it and we won't
have to come back there again.
It's like they're meant to be coming back to get Simeon and with Benjamin and now suddenly
they're they've got all the money as well and they're just thinking oh no what's going
to happen now.
And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan and told him all that befell
unto them saying the man who is the lord of the land spake roughly to us and took us for
spies of the country.
So definitely definitely being rude to them that's that's the point speaking roughly to
us.
He's taken them as spies of the country.
And we said unto him we are true men we are no spies we be twelve brethren sons of our
father one is not and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.
And the man the lord of the country said unto us hereby shall I know that you are true men
leave one of your brethren here with me and take food for the family of your households
and be gone and bring your youngest brother unto me then shall I know that you're no spies
but that you're true men so will I deliver you your brother and you shall traffic in
the land.
So he's talking about about trading here with trafficking.
And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks that behold every man's bundle of money
was in his sack and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money they were
afraid and Jacob their father said unto them me have you bereaved of my children Joseph
is not and Simeon is not and you will take Benjamin away all these things are against
me.
So he's probably exasperated okay he sent them to buy corn and they've come back one
man down with a demand to bring Benjamin and it looks like they've stolen the corn
to anyone you know anyone else and when they return.
Verse 30 says Reuben spake unto his father saying slay my two sons if I bring him not
to thee deliver sorry slay my two sons if I bring him not to thee deliver him into my
hand I will bring him to thee again.
Now again if you need any more convincing what normal man suggests killing his two sons
if he fails to do something who does that who goes yeah well if I you know I'm going
to make a promise now I've got a promise for you guys if I don't do this if I don't return
from what is a pretty kind of dodgy situation anyway just murder my two sons.
I mean what on earth right and even if you go well maybe it's just an empty offer you
know you didn't expect Jacob to do that it's just kind of a turn of phrase what a bizarre
thing to even suggest what sort of phrase is that oh yeah just kill my kids yeah guys
well if we don't get a thousand salvations this year out of this church just kill my
kids slay my kids yeah they're not really going to do it so it's all right you know
so what on earth right just kill my sons and continuing with our thoughts about Reuben
I hope it's our thoughts now and maybe maybe always has been it does continue to fit doesn't
it because children are just a commodity to these people they really are okay and I've
seen this over the years when you've been around these types of people you know and
whether in church or out of church they're just a commodity there's something useful
there's something to to to pretend with there's something to to maybe give a blag of an image
with or something else the reason is because they lack empathy they don't have empathy
they don't really care about them you don't have to turn to second Timothy 3 3 and Romans
131 both say that they're without natural affection they don't have natural affection
they don't really care now they play the game in public sometimes depending on the angle
so we've had it before where they're just trying to make people make people think that
it's somehow weird and wrong to care about your kids like you're a helicopter parent
if you care where your kids are in a church full of people you don't really know I mean
how wicked is that how wicked is that to try and promote and push that I'll be with
it just not even I don't even care what our who cares where they are because we're just
so free and easy oh yeah we don't care if our kids are crawling out down a staircase
when they can't even walk yet we don't care if they're being held by who knows who some
single guy in the church just cuddles my baby and everything else so it's completely normal
isn't it we just give them to people you know we just kind of we just chat and don't
even give a damn about them they can I don't even know where they are who cares because
we're not a helicopter parent like that's weird it's freaky it's freaky and I will never
stop being astounded when I see that sort of stuff it's like it's your kids the kids
that you're meant to love and care about and you you think it's somehow something to
gloat about you don't even know where they are what they're doing what the hell and it's
those sorts of people like Ruben who are like let's kill my kids kill my kids if I don't
come back like what on earth that's not natural affection is it that's without natural affection
and what and here's the thing is he's trying to desperately please his father but he's
revealing his own wickedness he's trying desperately to please his father he's trying desperately
to prove something to show something and he just reveals his own wickedness for it and
this is what often happens because the abundance of the heart the mouth speaking so here's
a guy trying to show himself trying to prove himself because it's what we would try and
prove themselves and then they just show their own wickedness however Jacob's thinking
Jacob's not silly he's just like no chance he's he's like I mean it's not long after
that he's going he's unstable as water and he's not going to go and send the youngest
with Ruben who's like oh yeah don't worry if I don't come back just kill my kids and
he said my son shall not go down with you for his brother is dead and he is left alone
if mischief befallen by the way and the witchy go then shall you bring down my gray hairs
with sorrow to the grave so so Jacob's basically saying that it would finish him off he lost
his wife in childbirth his let's face it favorite son Joseph who's dead as far as he's concerned
he feels like he's lost him as well his second eldest son Simeon is in his opinion probably
dead now or will be at some point and his weirdo eldest son Ruben is offering to take
his youngest son back to this seemingly crazy lord of Egypt I mean you can understand him
going this ain't happening Ruben thanks but no thanks sorry Simeon you had a good inning
son you managed to kill all that Shechem lot I mean let's face it Simeon's you know not
not exactly got you know passed with flying colors in his life is he it was if you remember
it's him with Levi that killed all that lot in Shechem and he said my son shall not go down
with you for his brother is dead and he's left alone if mischief befallen by the way in which
you go then shall you bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave he's just saying it's
gonna finish me off and that's that's normal that's that's kind of the normal response isn't
it and again there's nothing not much normal about this family okay but Jacob's like look if
I lost another son that would kill me that would kill me Ruben's going kill my sons if
I don't come back on you what a contrast right what a contrast in statements here now last week
I went through some of the pictures in Genesis 41 and like I said last week Joseph coming out
of prison having a beard trim and a change of clothing and for me also having a change of
symbolism I believe going from a Christ figure to an Antichrist figure now with what seemed to be
a new Pharaoh now symbolizing the devil giving power to the beast and if you didn't see if you're
unsure about that just watch last week if you don't agree you don't have to agree but but see
last week if you're unsure I'm not going to go through it all now but just make it clear this
is only symbolism okay it's symbolism and a lot of the events obviously aren't identical so it's
not oh well wait a second but what about this person you know what about them going and coming
back with money and how does this fit in because it's just symbolism there are symbols and things
which are pictures of things like I believe we can learn something from that symbolism last
week but but I believe that some of those pictures do seem to continue here in this chapter some of
that with the sons of Jacob representing believers being persecuted in the tribulation so verse 8
says and Joseph knew his brethren but they knew not him and this represents for me before the
anti-crisis revealed deceiving many Matthew 24 5 says for many shall come in my name saying I am
Christ I shall deceive many so many will be deceived and and I think if it were possible even
the elect so I think for us in that time you know that there'll be a time when we're not sure and we
won't know and we won't know if that world leader and we will be unsure until ultimately we'll only
know a hundred percent for sure you know when that abomination of desolation stands in the holy
place but even even before that I think many will start to get an idea but not right at the
beginning not when he rises to power verse 9 says and Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed
of them and said unto them you are spies to see the nakedness of the land you come and they said
unto him nay my lord but by food of thy servants come we are all one man sons we are true men thy
servants and no spies and he said unto them nay but see the nakedness of the land you come and
they said thy servants are twelve brethren the sons of one man in the land of Canaan behold the
youngest is this day with our father and one is not and Joseph said unto them that is that I
spake unto you saying ye are spies hereby ye shall be proved by the life of Pharaoh you shall not go
forth hence except your youngest brother come hither send one of you and let him fetch your
brother and you shall be kept in prison that your words may be proved whether there be any truth in
you or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies and he put them all together into ward
three days Matthew 24 9 says then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill
you and you should be hateful nations for my name's sake I think that's a picture of the persecution
of believers with the sons of Jacob representing the believers and being persecuted being put in
prison etc and then it says in verse 18 where you are and Joseph said unto them the third day this
do and live for I fear God if you be true men let one of your brethren be bound in the house
of your prison go you carry corn for the famine of your housing but bring your youngest brother
unto me so shall your words be verified he shall not die and they did so he's asking them to
deliver their brother to him in Matthew 24 10 says and then shall many be offended and shall
betray one another and shall hate one another and there'll be people being delivered up etc so I
think that's what that's a picture of there I think that picture continues but again you don't
have to agree that's what I believe and I think that that at least passage of that is just
picturing that persecution of believers and obviously being hunted down being almost you
know being encouraged to betray one another etc and that's what he's ultimately it seems like a
picture of him doing saying bring you bring your brother basically and there's other you know
there's passages like for example if they say he is here go not there etc and again you know you
could you could add that into that but I think that's probably a bit pre that's earlier on when
they're trying to gather up they're trying to basically there's going to be a persecution of
believers with believers getting hunted down and killed I think that's what that is a picture of
and that was Genesis chapter 42 and we're going to finish up in a word of prayer Heavenly Father
thank you for your word thank you for well the the the truths we can get out of that and and again
just you know to go with our sort of Proverbs study just just the reality of people like Reuben
Lord and just just what a real-life example there is there of someone like that and what we can
learn from that and help us to just be as far away from that sort of person as possible and in our
behaviour as well help us to just be behave like sorts of people you want us to Lord please just
bless us now as we go into our week and help us to be proactive Lord with everything we want to
do in all areas of our lives not to just sit around looking upon one another but to get up
and go where we need to go to be busy be proactive in our lives Lord and help us to get home safe and
sound helps to return the Sunday and for the for the ladies have a great day on Saturday