[ZNPaaneah]

11And their father Israel said unto them, If it be so now, do this: take of the choice fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spicery and myrrh, [b]nuts, and almonds; 12and take double money in your hand; and the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks carry again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight: 13take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: 14and God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release unto you your other brother and Benjamin. And if I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.

The first use of the word “mercy” in the Bible is the story of Israel sending his sons to Egypt for food. This story is extremely instructive and applicable to us.

Joseph’s brothers are jealous of him because of his dreams and his favored son status. At first the most vicious of them (Simeon) wants to kill him. Simeon is also the one most responsible for killing those in the town of the man that wanted to marry his sister. Reuben wants to preserve him alive to return to his father to put him back in the good graces with him. But that is an idiotic plan, is he going to expose his brothers? If not, what is Joseph going to say? But the plan collapses when Reuben decides to leave the group for a little recreational visit to a camel train from Egypt. Reuben’s profligacy did him in. But Judah takes charge, comes up with a plan that will save Joseph’s life without exposing the sins of his brothers. However, it involves a lie presented as the truth. They dip Joseph’s coat in blood and tell their father “we found this”. They let their father identify it as Joseph’s coat and infer the rest.

All of this works out for good according to God’s plan. There is one little problem. How can Joseph trust them? When he reveals himself to his father he will expose their sins and lies. Israel has prayed for “mercy” because he is not a fool. The story of some Egyptian ruler having dinner with his sons, identifying Simeon as the one that needs to be locked up, and discovering that there is yet another brother, Benjamin, is all very implausible.

So then, how can Joseph merge the truth of their sins with mercy? How can Joseph be merciful but also not be a fool?

It is crucial for Joseph to see his brother Benjamin, after all what happened to him might have been a play to get his inheritance, which will now go to Benjamin. Learning that Israel had sent the ten but held back Benjamin reveals to Joseph that Israel does not trust them either.

By fabricating false charges against Benjamin he forces Judah to confess and demonstrated that his brothers were not monsters and he could trust them. Also, to go from thinking that Benjamin would be imprisoned as a thief in Egypt for the rest of his life and they would have to bring this news back to their father to suddenly realizing the ruler is Joseph made it much easier to embrace the truth. Yes it exposed their past sin, but at least it saved them from a future sin that would have been even worse.

Joseph reconciling with his brothers is the first mention of mercy. Joseph was not foolish, he was well aware of the truth, of the sins, but he also laid out a path for them to confess and repent and be reconciled.

This path involved Joseph taking the cross. He could have sent for Israel as soon as he was promoted to a ruling status in Egypt. Had he done that it would have eliminated any possibility of reconciliation with his brothers. He had to trust the Lord that they would be sent and he could work this out, all the while hoping his father doesn't die in the interim.