| | Joseph tries to mentally torture his brothers some more in these chapters, but breaks down and finally tells them who he is and acts nicely towards them. With God apparently away on vacation and having nothing to do with the story (which may be why it has a happy ending without bloodshed!), it's a good thing that Joseph apparently has some morality on his own. The family will soon be united again!
In Genesis 44, Joseph orders his top servant to put his favorite silver cup in Benjamin's sac of grain before the brothers leave, then he has them chased after and accused of thievery. The brothers, who apparently aren't aware of what crazy shenanigans God and his people pull in the Bible all the time, say:
"With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's slaves." (44:9, NASB)
Why does everything have to be so dramatic and involve promises of death? In any case they are searched and, lo and behold, Benjamin has the cup! The brothers rip off their clothes (presumably not because of the heat or a sudden urge for exhibitionism) and are escorted back to Joseph.
Back with Joseph, he generously offers not to kill Benjamin and enslave the otehrs, but just to enslave Benjamin and let the others go back. How nice of him! But Judah tells Joseph the whole story about their dad loving Benjamin, not wanting him to go with since he already lost one son, yada, yada, yada (rehashed stories like this make blogging the Bible easier!).
In Genesis 45, Joseph can't stand it anymore and breaks down before he can hurry off. He admits that he's their long-lost brother Joseph. The Bible says his brothers "were dismayed at his presence" (45:3). NIV says "terrified", KJV says "troubled". So it's not clear to me exactly what they were feeling here: were they scared of what their brother would do to them, bothered by the reminder of what they had done to their brother, confused as to whether he was really their brother, troubled because dream boy's dreams of power over them were apparently coming true? Probably the first one, I suppose.
Joseph tells them not to worry (why would they worry their little heads after how nice he's been to them?!?), that he's not mad about being sold into slavery by his brothers because God wanted Joseph to go to Egypt to hoard food for them. So anyway, Joseph tells them all to move nearby, they will be given the very best Egypt has to offer so that they can prosper for generations to come. They all cry, kiss, and make up.
A little reality check here: wouldn't it have been a heck of a lot easier for God to just not do any of this in the first place? No Joseph to Egypt, no 7 years of famine, everyone's fine and dandy. What does everyone get out of all this?!? Was it a test? Was it just meant to be like a "Full House" episode, where people do bad things and then at the end, the sappy piano music plays, make up, and they all live happily ever after? (D.J.: I'm sorry, Stephanie, that we sold you into slavery! Stephanie: I'm sorry, Michelle, that I tied you up and held you hostage! God just wanted us to learn us lesson and make us prosperous!)
So the brothers head back home with silver and wagons filled with goods. Jacob/Israel doesn't believe all this crazy story at first, but when he sees the wagons he's convinced. He's happy that he'll see Joseph again before he dies.
The House of Jacob/Israel will soon be a Full House again. All's well that ends well. I'm sure the last 5 chapters of Genesis are just like the epilogue of a sitcom with some zany joke to make us laugh at the end, and maybe an old-school freeze frame with credits. Or maybe outtakes, with God accidentally smiting the wrong people or something.
Okay, before I get too loopy, I'll leave it there. See you soon: Same God time, Same God channel.
PS Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved. For ones marked NASB, Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. |
| | Posted 6/3/2009 11:22 AM - 36 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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