Close encounters of the God kind


The First Encounter: 

The narrative of Genesis 42:1-45:28 describes how Israel's sons sold their brother Joseph into slavery and lied to their father about had happened to him. They did this because of their jealousy of Joseph's close relationship with their father. 

After many years they were forced to go to Egypt to beg for food from Joseph, the second-in-command of all Egypt, who they didn't recognize. Joseph does recognize them but does not reveal himself and questions their reasons for visiting Egypt and accuses them of being spies which they strongly deny. Consequently, Joseph has their brother Simeon held as surety until the other brothers bring their youngest brother  Benjamin (Joseph's other blood-brother) down to Egypt to prove their story. The brothers are allowed to purchase grain and they return to their father Jacob who is extremely unhappy how things have turned out. They have food but another son is lost from the family and the youngest brother Benjamin is required to act as proof of their story to get Simeon released. Jacob refuses to allow Benjamin to leave.

Also, when they arrived back home, they were tormented by the discovery that their money had somehow been returned to them in their luggage. Their hearts sank at this discovery because they could only see trouble for Simeon. 

The Second Encounter:

However, when the purchased grain runs out, they are forced to return to Egypt to buy more and Jacob reluctantly allows Benjamin go with them. Again they stand before Joseph who secretly instructs his chief steward to prepare a feast for them at his home. While the chief steward takes them to Joseph's house they fear that they might be taken as slaves and are surprised when Joseph serves them. After a night of merriment they are sent on their way the next morning with grain and their money secretly returned to them (again) by the chief steward. However Joseph instructs that his personal drinking cup be put in Benjamin's bag. The sons leave early but after a few hours Joseph's servants chase them down, ostensibly, in search of Joseph's personal drinking cup. The sons panic and declare that if anything is found they will be Joseph's slaves and that the thief should die.  Imagine their grief when it is discovered that Benjamin has the cup hidden in his luggage (Gen 44:13) and they are required to return to Joseph.

The Third Encounter:

Joseph grills them about the "stolen" cup and they fall at his feet and plead for Benjamin's life. It seems that Joseph is taking revenge on them for their past deeds but this is not the case. Joseph is forcing them to come to terms with who they are. During their first visit they claimed that that they were honest men and then proceeded to tell him that they had another brother who "was no more" (Genesis 42:15). Obviously Joseph knew the true story and he saw that they are still covering up what they had done all those years ago. Joseph yearns to be reunited with his father and brothers but he knows that they are as duplicitous as they had been in the past and they cannot be reunited until their past actions have been dealt with.

Joseph's manipulation of the situation keeps reminding them about what they had done. They had thought that it was all forgotten, however all their woes seem to hinge on that past act and it terrifies them. What impact all this will have on their father weighs heavily on their minds.

Finally, Judah's intercession for Benjamin's freedom and his desire to take Benjamin's place as a slave to Joseph indicates that the brothers are changing. Compare this with the Judah of Genesis 37 when he instigated the sale of Joseph to the Ishmaelites. At last they are facing their past and Joseph because of his love for his brothers declares himself and declares that God sent him ahead to prepare for their rescue. This in turn brings joy to the Pharaoh who promises the sons of Israel that they can dwell in Egypt and enjoy the best of the land. 

What is surprising about this narrative is how similar it is to our journey to salvation in Jesus.

The New Testament describes how the Father, Son and Spirit all play a part in our salvation and so it is in this story. There are three players:

  • The chief steward who prepares grain for the sons of Israel, returns their money, guides them to Joseph's house, manages Joseph's house and fulfills Joseph's requests. The chief steward is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
  • Joseph who is second-in-command to Pharaoh and yearns to be in relationship with them and works with the chief steward to cause them to keep returning to him. Joseph is a symbol of Jesus.
  • The Pharaoh the ruler of all who rejoiced when the brothers were reunited. Pharaoh is a symbol of God the Father. 

When we need grain:

Most of us live in a way that ensures any understanding or knowledge of Jesus as the Son of God becomes a past memory or ignored entirely. What we don't know is that He has gone before us to prepare a way to the Father and full spiritual sustenance. He, by His Spirit, uses life's trials and circumstances to cause us to encounter Him. Blindly we fail to recognize Him during these times and we continue to shut Him out. Despite this, we are "given grain" (life's blessings) and we then run back to our old lives. Also, like the sons of Israel when they discovered their money had been returned to them by the chief steward, we experience fear when God's Spirit brings joy or blessing to our lives. We can't see how much Jesus yearns to be in relationship with us but instead we assume that He is waiting to punish us.

However we run out of "spiritual grain" again and like the sons of Israel who tried to impress Joseph with gifts; so it is with us. In this encounter we are a little more aware of who He is so we try to impress Him with our own self-righteous efforts to obtain salvation. We do anything we can to avoid revealing who we really are.

We also experience fear just like the sons of Israel when the chief steward brought them to dine at Joseph's house. They only saw the possibility of slavery in Joseph's house, and likewise  we only see the possibility of religious slavery in following Jesus. What we don't know is that coming clean about who we are will lead us into utter freedom and enjoying the richness of relationship with Him. 

However, when we finally do realise that we need God's forgiveness He fully reveals Himself to us and allows us to share in all the Father's abundant love, mercy and blessing. 









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