Morning Light – Genesis 43: Benjamin, Son of the Right Hand

[Today: Genesis 43] Benjamin, Son of the Right Hand. In this chapter, the brothers of Joseph return to him with Benjamin in tow Joseph is a type of Christ rejoicing to see his younger brother after all this time. For us, we see Benjamin as a type of the believer, initially rejected but now restored by grace through the suffering of Jesus, our Joseph who lifts up Benjamin’s head and gives him and by extension us five times more the blessing than the other brothers.

[Gen 43:1-34 KJV] 1 And the famine [was] sore in the land. 2 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food. 3 And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother [be] with you. 4 If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food: 5 But if thou wilt not send [him], we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother [be] with you. 6 And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye [so] ill with me, [as] to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? 7 And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, [Is] your father yet alive? have ye [another] brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down? 8 And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, [and] also our little ones. 9 I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever: 10 For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time. 11 And their father Israel said unto them, If [it must be] so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds: 12 And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry [it] again in your hand; peradventure it [was] an oversight: 13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: 14 And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved [of my children], I am bereaved. 15 And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. 16 And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring [these] men home, and slay, and make ready; for [these] men shall dine with me at noon. 17 And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house. 18 And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses. 19 And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house, 20 And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food: 21 And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, [every] man’s money [was] in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand. 22 And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks. 23 And he said, Peace [be] to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them. 24 And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave [them] water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender. 25 And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there. 26 And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which [was] in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth. 27 And he asked them of [their] welfare, and said, [Is] your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? [Is] he yet alive? 28 And they answered, Thy servant our father [is] in good health, he [is] yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance. 29 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, [Is] this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. 30 And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought [where] to weep; and he entered into [his] chamber, and wept there. 31 And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. 32 And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that [is] an abomination unto the Egyptians. 33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another. 34 And he took [and sent] messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.

In this chapter, we see that the famine in Egypt and Canaan continues, and Jacob is compelled to send his sons again to Joseph for grain. This is all by the hand of God working not to harm Jacob and the patriarchs but to bring them to promotion. It is helpful to learn not to judge situations in the short term. I know in my own life, I have had times when it didn’t seem that God was answering, and things were hard. Looking back years later, I am grateful and in fact, thankful that God didn’t answer those prayers back then because if He had, I might have missed out on the miracle and the blessing that I wasn’t expecting.

In v. 2, Jacob tells his sons to go again and buy “just a little food.” How many know that God is not a God of “just a little?” Jacob is looking at things this way because he is in fear of Benjamin’s life. Anxiety will always cause you to sell yourself short and to sell God’s power and majesty in your situation short. Learn to go, first-class, all the way. Believe that no matter what things may look like, God is still on the throne, and your blessing time is just ahead at the very point (as in Jacob’s situation) the very point things look the most threatening and the bleakest.

In response to the command to return to Egypt for grain, Judah reminds Jacob that they cannot return without Benjamin to make the case of their innocence before Joseph (although they didn’t know it was Joseph they were dealing with). Unless Jacob is willing to put Benjamin in their care for the return trip to Egypt, the brothers all agree that they will not go. This is not because they are not dutiful sons but because they dare not return for fear of being put to death. This would not have actually happened, but they had no way of knowing this.

In v. 6, Jacob complains that his sons had been so forthcoming as to admit they even had a younger brother, but the men reply that the magistrate (Joseph, unknown to them) grilled them with questions they were compelled to answer. At this point, Judah speaks up and makes the case that if they do not take Benjamin and return to Joseph, they will all die in any case. It is essential to realize that Joseph instructed them to return immediately with their younger brother and with their father, but they held out and prolonged their own suffering. Do you realize that many times, God will require something of you that is fearful and you don’t necessarily see any positive outcome, but in reality, if you will obey the Father, you will see that in seeking to save your own hide you were only forsaking your own mercy? God knows what He is doing. Trust Him for a positive outcome, even when things look bad.

In v. 9, Judah presses Jacob to agree, being willing to carry all the blame for things not working out if that’s how it goes. Jacob finally gives in and sends with his sons the best of what he had to give, a little balm, a little honey, spices, myrrh, and so forth to assuage the magistrate’s wrath (Joseph in reality though they were not aware of this as yet).

Jacob also instructs his sons to take double the money that they needed in order to buy grain, so they can be seen as not keeping the money that Joseph originally returned to their sacks in case it was an oversight on Joseph’s part. In addition, Jacob does give in and allow them to take Benjamin as well, not knowing what the outcome will be. Have you ever found yourself in this situation? Between a rock and a hard place when obeying God is the only hope you have? Let the story of Joseph in this situation give you courage. Just as God saw to it that things worked out for Jacob and his sons even so things will work out for you.

After working all this out with Jacob, the brothers gather up Benjamin and return to face Joseph. If they weren’t sure how Joseph would respond, they no doubt totally surprised that when Joseph lays eyes on Benjamin, he orders that a celebration be put in order to rejoice at the return of these brothers with their youngest Benjamin to answer to Joseph.

At this point, Joseph’s servants are acting to do their masters bidding, but they were surely puzzled. Egyptians did not have any respect for shepherds, and their master Joseph had never treated any sojourners for grain as he was now showing regard for these men. As for Joseph’s brothers, they are afraid and confused, as well. They don’t know why their money was returned in their sacks in the first place, and they fear that all of this beneficial treatment was Joseph setting them up for something much worse to come.

The men are brought to Joseph’s house, and they bow down before him, thus fulfilled Joseph’s dream when he was only 17 years of age. Joseph allows this to happen and begins now to inquire after their father’s (his father’s) well being. The patriarchs respond that yes, the old man still lives and is in good health. Then Joseph (v. 29) turns his attention to Benjamin, his mother’s only other son. At this point, Joseph can’t take it any longer, and he rushes away to a private chamber weeping with emotion. After some time, he composes himself and washes his fact and returns to his brothers in the banqueting hall.

When they sit down to the meal, Joseph sits apart because Egyptians would never break bread with Hebrews because of their profession as shepherds. The brothers are seated according to birth order by Joseph, and that amazes the men because they don’t realize that Joseph knows anything about them, so how could he get their ages right in the seating arrangement? Lastly, Joseph arranges the portions for each of the brothers but gives Benjamin five times more than the others.

What is the significance of the five times more portion that Joseph gives to Benjamin? Remember that when Benjamin was born, his mother called him “son of my sorrow…” This is what the Father said to Eve after sin entered in – she would bear children in sorrow. But Jacob, as a type of Christ, insisted that no, Benjamin would be “son of My right hand…” This is a type and shadow of man being born in sin, yes, and as Rachel giving birth to Benjamin, we are cut off from the womb because of transgression. The Father’s heart, however (in Jacob’s case as a type of the Father our God), insists that though we are born in sin and sorrow yet our portion in the new birth is to be raised up to new life to sit at His right hand.