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The Feast at Joseph’s Palace, Genesis Chapter 43

When Joseph came home, they gave him the gifts they had brought him, then bowed low to the ground before him. After greeting them, he asked, “How is your father, the old man you spoke about? Is he still alive?”

“Yes”, they replied. “Our father, your servant, is alive and well.” And they bowed again.

Then Joseph looked at his brother, Benjamin, the son of his own mother. “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about? ” Joseph asked. “May God be gracious to you.” Then Joseph hurried from the room because he was so overcome with emotion for brother. He went to his private room, where he broke down and wept. After washing his face, he came back out, keeping himself under control. Then he ordered, “Bring out the food!”

The waiters served Joseph at his own table, and his brothers were served at a separate table. The Egyptians who ate with Joseph sat at their own table, because Egyptians despise Hebrews and refused to eat with them. Joseph told each of his brothers where to sit, and to their amazement, he seated them according to age, from oldest to youngest. And Joseph filled their plates with food from his own table, giving Benjamin five times as must as he gave the others. So they feasted and drank freely with him. (vv. 26-34, NLT)

The Brothers Return to Egypt, Genesis Chapter 43

But the famine continued to ravage the land in Canaan. When the grain they had brought out from Egypt was almost gone, Jacob said to his sons, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

But Judah said, “The man was serious when he warned us, ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you. If you send Benjamin with us, we will go down and buy more food. But if you don’t let Benjamin go, we wont’ go either. Remember, the man said, ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you.” (vv. 1-5, NLT)

So their father, Jacob, finally said to them, “If it can’t be avoided, then at least do this. Pack your bags with the best products of this land. Take them down to the man as gifts-balm, honey, gum, aromatic resin, pistachio nuts, and almonds. Also take double the money that was put back n your sacks, as it was probably someone’s mistake. Then take your brother, and go back to the man. May God Almighty give you mercy as you bo before the man, so that he will release Simeon and let Benjamin return. But if I must lose my children, so be it.”

so the men packed Jacob’s gifts and double the money and headed off with Benjamin. They finally arrived in Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph. When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the manager of his household. “These me will eat with me this noon. Take them inside the palace. Then go slaughter and animal, and prepare a big feast. So the man did as Joseph told him and took them into Joesph’s palace.

The brothers were terrified when they say that they were being taken to Joseph’s house. It’s because of the money someone put in our sacks last time were were here,” they said. “He plans to pretend that we stole it. Then he will seize us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys.” (vv. 11-18, NLT)

Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt, Part III, Genesis Chapter 42

Joseph then ordered his servants to fill the men’s sacks with grain, but he also gave secret instructions to return each brother’s payment at the top of his sack. He also gave them supplies for their journey home.So the brothers loaded their donkeys with grain and headed for home. (vv. 25-26, NLT)

When the brothers came to their father, Jacob, in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that happen to them. (v. 29, NLT)

As they emptied out their sacks, there in each man’s sack was the bag of money he had paid for the grain! The brothers and their father were terrified when they saw the bags of money. Jacob exclaimed, “You are robbing me of my children! Joseph is gone, Simeon is gone! An now you want to take Benjamin, too! Everything is going against me!”

Then Ruben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I don’t bring Benjamin back to you. I’ll be responsible for hi, and I promises to bring him back.”

But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down with you. His brother Joseph is dead, and he is all I have left. If anything should happen to him on our journey, you would send this grieving, white-haired man to his grave.” (vv. 35-38, NLT)

Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt, Part II, Genesis Chapter 42

“No!, my lord!,” they exclaimed. “Your servants have simply come to by food. We are all brothers – members of the same family. we are honest men, sir! We are not spies!”

“Yes, you are!” Joseph insisted. “You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.”

“Sir, they said, “there are actually twelve of us. We, your servants, are all brothers, sons of a man living in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is back there with our father, and one of our brothers is no no longer with us.”

But Joseph insisted “As I said, you are spies! This is how I will test your story. I swear by the life of Pharaoh that you will never leave Egypt unless your youngest brother comes here! I’ll keep the rest of you here in prison. Then we’ll find out whether or not your story is true. By the life of Pharaoh, it it turns out that you don’t have a younger brother, then I’ll know that you are spies.”

So Joseph put them all in prison for three days. On the third day, Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man. If you do as I say, you will live. If you really are honest men, choose one of your brothers to remain in prison. The rest of you may go home with grain for your starving families. But you must bring your younger brother back to me. This will prove if you are telling the truth, and you will not die..” To this agreed. (vv. 10-20, NLT)

Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt, Part I, Genesis Chapter 42

When Jacob heard that grain was available in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are standing around looking at one another? I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy enough grain to keep us alive. Otherwise we’ll die.”

So Joseph’s ten older brothers went down to Egypt to buy grain. But Jacob wouldn’t let Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, go with them, for fear some harm might come to him. So Jacob’s sons’ arrived in Egypt along with others to buy food, for the famine was in Canaan as well.

Since Joseph was governor of all Egypt and in charge of selling grain to all the people, it was him that all his brothers came. When they arrived, they bowed before him with their faces to the ground. Joseph recognized his brothers immediately, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where are you from?” he demanded.

“From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We have come to buy food.” (vv. 1-7, NLT)

Pharoah’s Dreams, Part III, Genesis Chapter 41

Jesus responded, “Both of Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God is telling Pharaoh what He is about to do. The seven healthy cows and seven healthy heads of grain both represent seven years of prosperity. The seven thin, scrawny cows that came up later and the seven thin heads of grain, withered by the east wind, represent seven years of famine.” (vv. 25-27, NLT)

“Therefore, Pharaoh should find an intelligent and wise man and put him in charge of the entire land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh should appoint supervisors over the land and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops during the seven good years. Have them gather all the food produced in the good years that are just ahead and bring it to Pharaoh’s store houses. Store it away, and guard it so there will be food in the cities. That way there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come to Egypt. Otherwise the famine will destroy the land.” (vv. 33-36, NLT)

Pharaoh’s Dreams, Part II, Genesis Chapter 41

Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. After he was shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph,” I had a dream last night and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.”

“It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”

So Pharaoh told Joseph his dream,”he said. “I was standing on the bank of the Nile River, and I saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and began grazing on the marsh grass. But then I saw seven sick-looking cows, scrawny and thin, come up after them. I’ve never seen such sorry-looking animals in all the land of Egypt. These thin, scrawny cows ate the seven fat cows. But afterward you wouldn’t have known it, for they were as then and scrawny as before! Then I woke up.”

“Then I fell asleep again, and I had another dream. This time I saw seven heads of grain, full and beautiful, growing on a single stalk Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these were blighted, shriveled, and withered by the east wind. And the shriveled heads swallowed the seven healthy heads. I told these dreams to the magicians, but no one could tell me what they mean.” (vv. 14-24, NLT)

Pharaoh’s Dreams, Part 1 Genesis Chapter 41

The next morning Pharaoh was very disturbed by the dreams. So he called for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. when Pharaoh told them his dreams, not one of them could tell him what they meant.

Finally, the king’s cupbearer spoke up.” Today I have been reminded of my failure,” he told Pharaoh. “Some time ago, you were angry with the chief baker and me, and you imprisoned us in the palace of the captain of the guard. One night the chief baker and I each had a dream, and each dream had its own meaning. There was a young Hebrew man with us in the prison who a a slave of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he told us what each of our dreams meant. And everything happened just as he had predicted. I was restored to my position as cupbearer, and the chief baker was executed and impaled on a pole.” (vv. 8-13, NLT)

Joseph Interprets Two Dreams, Part III, Genesis Chapter 40

When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given the first dream such a positive interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I had a dream, too. In my dream there were three baskets of white pastries stacked on my head. The top basked contained all kinds of pastries fo r Pharaoh, but the birds cam and ate them from the basket on my head.”

“This is what the dream means,” Joseph told him. “The three baskets also represent three days. Three days from now, Pharaoh will life you up and impale your body with a pole. Then the birds will come and peck away at your flesh.”

Pharaoh’s birthday came three days later, and he prepared a banquet for all his officials and staff. He summoned his chief cupbearer and chief baker to join the other officials. He then restored the cupbearer to his former position, so he could again hand Pharaoh his cup. But Pharaoh impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had predicted when interpreted his dream. Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought. (vv. 16-23, NLT)

Joseph Interprets Two Dreams, Part II, Genesis Chapter 40

So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream first. “In my dream,” he said, “I saw a grapevine in front of me. The vine had three branches that began to bud and blossom, and soon it produced clusters of ripe grapes. I was holding Pharaoh’s wine cup in my hand, so I took a cluster of grapes and squeezed the juice into the cup. Then I placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hands.”

“This is what the dream means,” Joseph said. “The three branches represent three days. Within three days, Pharaoh will lift you up and restore your position as his chief cupbearer. And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh so he might let me out of this place. For I was kidnapped from my home land, the land of the Hebrews, and no I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.” (vv. 9-15, NLT)