“Now the famine was severe in the land. 2 And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.” 3 But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’ ” 6 Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” 7 They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” 8 And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. 9 I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. 10 If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.” (Genesis 43:1–10 (ESV)
Following an indefinite period of time, Jacob’s family had exhausted their food supply, which had been purchased in Egypt (Gen. 42). Jacob instructed his eldest sons who were with him in Canaan to return to Egypt and buy some more food. Perhaps Jacob, given his advanced age, forgot the conditions placed by the Egyptian governor, who in reality was his son Joseph, for their return and the release of Simeon. However, his son Judah was quick to remind him.
3 But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you’ ” (Gen. 43:3-5). The brother in question was Benjamin, the youngest.
Jacob’s reply was consistently self-centered as it was when his sons returned from Egypt (Gen. 42:36-38). He said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?”(Gen. 43:6).
Moses recorded their answer. “They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’” (Gen. 43:7)?
Dr. R.C. explains, “Jacob was afraid when money was found in the sacks of grain from Egypt (Gen. 42:35), but he did not fear divine retribution like his sons did (v. 28b). Scholars suggest he was afraid his sons had planned some kind of a coup d’état. His favorite son Joseph disappeared after looking for these brothers (chap. 37), and now they wanted to take his beloved Benjamin, Rachel’s other son (35:24), into the desert. Moreover, Jacob’s sons returned from Egypt with money, but no Simeon. Jacob likely surmised that the brothers sold Simeon into slavery and suspected his sons would remove Benjamin, who like Joseph, would not champion any attempt to supplant their father. Jacob’s focus on himself supports this contention.
What follows was a solemn pledge given by Jacob’s son Judah. This was the same Judah who orchestrated the sale of Joseph to the Midianites so many years before (Gen. 37:25-27). We will examine Judah’s pledge when next we meet.
The Scriptures depict God’s people as they truly are, bad choices included. Always remember that the believer’s righteous standing before God is always based upon the imputed righteousness of Christ and not our own (Romans 3:21-26; Philippians 3:1-9). While God’s calls each believer in Christ to obedience, our hope and confidence is solely in the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ.
Soli deo Gloria!
His Word Today 