Genesis 43:15-25
The men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and got up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and butcher an animal, and prepare; for the men will dine with me at noon.”
The man did as Joseph commanded, and the man brought the men to Joseph’s house. The men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, “Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time, we’re brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, attack us, and seize us as slaves, along with our donkeys.” They came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house, and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food. When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and behold, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back in our hand. We have brought down other money in our hand to buy food. We don’t know who put our money in our sacks.”
He said, “Peace be to you. Don’t be afraid. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money.” He brought Simeon out to them. The man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet. He gave their donkeys fodder. They prepared the present for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.
It’s good for us to remember that we are watching a crisis from the outside. From where we read the account, we can see that things are probably not going to turn out that bad for these men, but from their point of view, it is pretty scary. Our point of view is better than Joseph’s brothers because God has told us more about what is really going on. We see things a little more like God sees them compared to Joseph’s brothers. When we go through troubles though, we may not see much at all. What we can be sure of is that the more we see things from God’s perspective, the more realistic our outlook will be. Even though these men couldn’t see what we can, they did have the promises of God which said that God would make them a great nation someday. It is important to hold on to God’s promises when bad things happen to us. When God’s Holy Spirit helps us focus on the truth from His perspective, we can be confident in very bad circumstances.
It was interesting to me that the steward of the house referred to their God and the God of their father. I would imagine that that may have sounded odd to the brothers. By this time, it must have been known to many people that Joseph’s God interpreted Pharaoh’s dream. Perhaps this steward had become a believer in Joseph’s God. From this account, it does not appear that Egypt spoiled Joseph’s relationship with God. It does appear that Joseph had influenced the people around him. This is a good example for us. God counts on us as Christians to not be influenced by the world but to become an influence in the world by the power of the Holy Spirit.