Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt
Providence working in men’s lives
I. The story of Joseph is a good example of what is meant by Providence working for the best in the lives of men. Look at the young foreigner, as he comes to a land not his own; see how he resists the one great temptation of his age and station; observe how, through means not of his own seeking, through good report and evil, through much misunderstanding of others, but by consistent integrity and just dealing on his own part, he overcomes all the difficulties of his position, and is remembered long afterwards in his adopted land as the benefactor of his generation and the deliverer of his country.
II. The story of Joseph is, perhaps, of all the stories in the Old Testament, the one which most carries us back to our childhood, both from the interest we felt in it as children, and from the true picture of family life which it presents. It brings before us the way in which the greatest blessings for this life and the next depend on the keeping up of family love pure and fresh, as when the preservation and fitting education of the chosen people depended on that touching generosity and brotherly affection which no distance of time, no new customs, no long sojourn in a strange land, could extinguish in the heart of Joseph. Home is on earth the best likeness of heaven; and heaven is that last and best home in which, when the journey of life is over, Joseph and his brethren, Jacob and his sons, Rachel and her children, shall meet to part no more. (Dean Stanley.)
The first journey of Jacob’s brethren into Egypt
I. THEY SHOW EVIDENT SIGNS OF FEAR. Therefore they go together in a company, ten strong, that by their numbers they might encourage and support one another (Genesis 42:3).
II. THEIR WORST FOREBODINGS ARE FULFILLED. They dreaded Egypt, and events justified their fears.
1. They are received roughly (Genesis 42:7).
2. They are suspected of evil designs (Genesis 42:9).
3. They are threatened with the prospect of imprisonment and death.
III. GREAT PRINCIPLES OF GOD’S MORAL GOVERNMENT ARE :ILLUSTRATED IN THIS HISTORY.
1. That pride is sure to meet with a fall. In Genesis 42:6 we are told that “Joseph’s brethren came and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.” Where were now those lofty looks, and that contemptuous tone with which they said when Joseph had told them of his dreams--“Shalt thou then indeed reign over us, or shalt thou have dominion over us?”
2. That nothing can hinder the counsel of God from taking effect.
3. That the crisis will arrive when the wicked must appear before the judgment-seat of the pious.
4. That retribution, even in kind, follows sin.
5. That throughout the severity of God’s righteous anger against Sin there runs a purpose of mercy. (T. H. Leale.)
The first journey of Joseph’s brethren into Egypt
I. THE FAMINE IN CANAAN.
II. THE OFFICE OF CONSCIENCE (Genesis 42:21). Where sin is voluntary wrong-doing, the language of the human heart inevitably connects the penalty with the wrong-doing. In every temptation that comes upon you, think what it will be in the hour of death to be free from the recollection of it. Refrain, refrain, remember the hereafter.
III. OBSERVE THE SEVERITY IN THE LOVE OF JOSEPH (Genesis 42:7). He did not allow his personal feelings to interfere with what seemed to him his duty. Joseph’s love to his brethren was a noble love. God’s love to us is still nobler, and severity accompanies it. It does not shrink from human suffering, for suffering is necessary for the man’s well being.
IV. Lastly, we remark on THE RETURN HOMEWARDS OF JOSEPH’S BRETHREN. Jacob expected corn to relieve their necessities; he got the corn, but with it came sorrow upon sorrow. Bereaved of Joseph, he is now bereaved of Simeon also. In Jacob’s answers to his sons, in the close of the chapter, we find a depth of querulousness and despondency. Job was tried with sorrows far more severe, and yet they only served and contributed to the purifying of his spirit. In order to understand the cause of Jacob’s despondency we must go far back. Jacob was a selfish man; his very religion was selfish; he would become religious only on condition that God would protect and guide him. To that selfish origin may be traced all the evils of his after life. Throughout it seems to have been his principle to receive as much as possible, and to give as little as he could. He who lives in this world for his own personal enjoyment, without God and His Christ, will by degrees find, like Jacob, that he has no rock to rest his soul upon, but that he must go down in sorrow to the grave. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
The retributions of Providence
Men troubled by memory of former sins, not because they doubt mercy of God, but because they doubt themselves. Jacob’s sons better men than formerly, yet the retribution follows.
I. The vengeance of TIME. The sin of twenty years ago. Time no friend to the sinner. Time gives the harvest opportunity and room to develop. Years of Joseph’s imprisonment. Years of torture to brethren.
II. The vengeance of CIRCUMSTANCES. Every link in chain, strong and connected with next link. “Remarkable series of coincidences,” very. The plots and counterplots of fiction: of with Scripture.
III. The vengeance of MEMORY. Joseph’s cries wrought into the mental texture of these men. Hetfy, in “Adam Bede.” The baby’s cry: “ Son, remember.” Memory, a cup of blessing, or devil’s scourge.
IV. The vengeance of CONSCIENCE. Memory may exaggerate, extenuate, add, subtract, &c. But conscience is a just judge. Hamlet, “The play’s the thing,” &c. Adonibezak, conscience-stricken wretch.
V. The vengeance of PUBLICITY. Evildoers clever in blocking up ninety-nine avenues of discovery. The 100th. The shame. The collapse. Conclusion: Vengeance, not last word in relation to sin. “We know that He was manifested,” &c. “Better to fall,” &c. “Faithful and just.” “Though your sins as mountains rise,” &c. (A. P. Watson.)