Category: Genesis

Genesis 43:23 “It’s all right,” he said. “Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

You’ll notice that I have pulled the last verse from yesterday into today’s reflection. That is because it is still resonating with me. Not only the steward’s words–“It’s alright. Don’t be afraid.”–but also the fact that he’s a steward–not the lowest of positions but certainly not the highest–and yet, God used words spoken by a steward to calm my anxious heart.

Genesis 43:24 The steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys. 

I have had it in my mind for a long time that God uses big people–people of position and authority, people of rank and note, Biblical stalwarts. What I am learning as an adult reading and studying the Bible is that God uses people. Period. Messy, broken, imperfect. It’s one of the reasons I share these devos each day. God can use me to encourage others. He can use you, too.

Genesis 43:25 They prepared their gifts for Joseph’s arrival at noon, because they had heard that they were to eat there.

Precious Savior, If your measurement for using people in Your kingdom work is perfection, none of us stand a chance. Thankfully, that’s not who You are. I am so far from perfect, Lord, but if You can use me to uplift and encourage others, if You can use me to point others to You or help calm their anxious hearts, please do. I am Yours–imperfectly, brokenly, completely. I love You. Amen.

Genesis 43:26 When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 43:19-20 So they went up to Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. “We beg your pardon, our lord,” they said, “we came down here the first time to buy food.

Scroll all the way down to verse 23 for a moment. The brothers explain to the steward the entire situation with the food and the silver and the steward’s reply is: “It’s alright. Don’t be afraid.”

Genesis 43:21 But at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver—the exact weight—in the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us.

I worry about so much in this life—Did I do the right thing? Have I done enough? Am I being true to who God created me to be? Are my kids ok? Is my husband? Did I leave the stove on? Just reading the stewards words calms me.

Genesis 43:22 We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don’t know who put our silver in our sacks.”

Precious Savior, You know that the low level hum of anxiety is something I have dealt with my entire life. Thank You for the reminder that I need to hand those worries to You so I can focus on the work You have for me. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 43:23 “It’s all right,” he said. “Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

Have a blessed day. 

Genesis 43:15 So the men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph. 

We are more than the sum of our transgressions. We are more than our mistakes and missteps, more than the worst things we’ve ever thought or said or did. When God looks at us, He sees His deeply loved children. When we look at ourselves, we see all the bad, the wrong, the less than.

Genesis 43:16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare a meal; they are to eat with me at noon.”

God made us to be in community, and I think one of the reasons He did that is because He knows that we can’t clearly see ourselves. Oh, most of us are great at building others up, but we tear ourselves down, thinking we are the only ones who can see ourselves clearly. God gives us community so that there are others in our lives who can hold up His mirror of truth, especially when we can’t see His truth about ourselves. We are deeply, fiercely loved by our Creator. Always.

Genesis 43:17 The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph’s house. 

Precious Savior, Just like Joseph’s brothers, we all struggle with the mistakes and missteps of our lives. We focus on what we did wrong or could have done better. We forget that we are deeply, fiercely, compassionately loved by You. Thank You for the community You call us to. When we lose sight of who You say we are, help us to listen to our village, to hear Your loving truth. We aren’t perfect, but You don’t need perfection. You need willing, loving hearts that seek You always. Help us, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 43:18 Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They thought, “We were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys.”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 43:9-10 I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice.”

Commentary reminds me that Judah, who stepped up now as surety for his brother’s life, refused to give his youngest son to his daughter-in-law, slept with a prostitute (said daughter-in-law), and was going to have her killed when he found out she was pregnant (by him). That is this same Judah we see here.

Genesis 43:11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds. 

This same Judah is the ancestor to King David, who is the ancestor to Jesus. What if God had said after Judah’s first transgression, “This one isn’t worth it”? What if after the second transgression, God had said of Judah, “Why am I wasting my time on this one?” 

Genesis 43:12-13 Take double the amount of silver with you, for you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. Take your brother also and go back to the man at once. 

Precious Savior, We are so quick to judge and to cast off those we deem unworthy, yet You show us time and again that You effectively use broken people in Your kingdom work all the time. And we are all broken, Lord. Thank You for Your fierce love, Your amazing grace, Your deep compassion. Help us to treat each other as You treat us–with love, honoring and honing the potential within. Amen.

Genesis 43:14 And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”

Have a blessed day. 

Genesis 43:5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down, because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”

Judah seems to be the one brother with a bit of conscience. All those years ago, it was Judah who proposed selling Joseph into slavery instead of killing him. Of course, he could have been motivated by greed and money instead of goodwill, but his motives are between him and God.

Genesis 43:6 Israel asked, “Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother?”

Now, when faced with the entire family starving or possibly destroying his father by taking away Benjamin, the youngest and his father’s favorite, Judah steps up in an ever bigger way, offering himself as surety for Benjamin’s life so that they can go get more food and hopefully recover Simeon in the process.

Genesis 43:7 They replied, “The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. ‘Is your father still living?’ he asked us. ‘Do you have another brother?’ We simply answered his questions. How were we to know he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”

Precious Savior, Forgive me when I play God, when I insert myself into a situation, when I judge motives and intentions, when I pass judgement on others instead of loving them as You love. Help me to be more like You daily. Amen.

Genesis 43:8 Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our children may live and not die.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 43:1 Now the famine was still severe in the land. 

I wonder what Simeon is doing all this time. Is he just languishing in jail? How much time has actually passed? Weeks? Months? Years? What’s Joseph into? Does he go talk to Simeon at all? Is he letting Simeon languish in jail all by himself? Had the famine not persisted, would they have even gone back for him at all?

Genesis 43:2 So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

That last question has me wondering about avoidance–If there is no need to fix the situation, just ignore the situation. That’s a little bit what it feels like, and avoidance is a strategy I’m familiar with–There is no logical need for me to dig into this, so I’m going to leave it alone because I don’t like what’s involved in it.

Genesis 43:3 But Judah said to him, “The man warned us solemnly, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ 

Precious Savior, Forgive me for my avoidant tendencies. If there are things in my life that I have avoided instead of dealt with, help me to see and know so I can deal with them instead of letting them fester. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 43:4 If you will send our brother along with us, we will go down and buy food for you.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 42:35 As they were emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his pouch of silver! When they and their father saw the money pouches, they were frightened. 

Commentary says of Jacob’s actions in this section, “At this point, Jacob could not bear to trust God again. He lived protecting himself against future pain.” I’ve got to admit that I am struggling a bit with that quote.

Genesis 42:36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!”

I try to protect myself and my family from pain and loss in myriad ways–planning, packing extras of things, doing the work that needs doing, making sure my family knows how much I love them. I’ve never thought of any of that as not trusting God. Is it?

Genesis 42:37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back.”

Precious Savior, What is the line between being prepared and not trusting You to take care of us? How do I walk that line faithfully, making sure I do my part to be prepared without crossing into the territory of unbelief? Help me to navigate that line steadfastly. Always. Amen.

Genesis 42:38 But Jacob said, “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 42:31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. 

Did Joseph react to his brothers, who sold him into slavery, calling themselves honest men? Did he have to bite his tongue not to say something when these “honest men” said that “one was no more”? Was this part of his struggle, his needing to let go of his anger at his brothers so he could be in a restored relationship with them?

Genesis 42:32 We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.’

Am I projecting? Placing onto Joseph emotions I think I would struggle with had it been me in his situation? Honestly, at this point, I have no idea. What I do know is that God is in control. He is present. He is willing and able to work all things–even this–for their good and His glory if they will allow.

Genesis 42:33 “Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and go. 

Precious Savior, We have all had people who have wronged us, and many times those people show back up in our lives, claiming we can trust them. Trust, once shattered, is hard to repair. Help us, all of us, to seek to love as You love–fiercely, deeply, completely. Protect us, draw us closer, work all things for our good and Your glory. Amen.

Genesis 42:34 But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’ ”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 42:22 Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood.” 

Commentary says about Joseph’s actions, “We don’t know how much he sensed it, but this was all guided by God.” My first reaction was, “What?!? How do you know? How did *he* know?” However, after my initial knee jerk reaction, I pondered my own life and actions and God’s guidance.

Genesis 42:23 They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter.

Many times have I reached out to someone, sent a note of encouragement, because God laid that person on my heart. I try to pay attention and act when I feel His nudge. And many times I’ve heard “I needed that” or “Your timing is perfect” in response to listening to His still small voice and reaching out.

Genesis 42:24 He turned away from them and began to weep, but then came back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.

Precious Savior, Thank You for the ways in which You guide us–big and small, known and unknown. Help us to get better at looking for Your presence, at seeing where You are leading and guiding us. Help us to be Your hands and feet in this world. Amen.

Genesis 42:25-26 Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man’s silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. After this was done for them, they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.

Have a blessed day.