(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

43 I should say and we'll finish the entire chapter here today and the name the sermon is Joseph reunited with Benjamin Joseph reunited with Benjamin now of course he just saw his brothers in the last chapter but the one brother he did not see his full brother was Benjamin and he's going to see his full brother here in Genesis 43 and the Bible says here in verse 1 and the famine was sore in the land and it came to pass when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt their father said unto them go again buy us a little food so when the Bible says the famine was sore it means it's it's a huge famine there's a huge lack of food and then it gets to the point where Jacob says you know what I want you to go and buy food now he's allowing some time to go by because it's not a safe trip and you know he's kind of delaying the inevitable and you have to realize that Simeon is behind bars at this moment remember last week Reuben did not go behind bars but the second oldest brother Simeon did which I think shows a lack of character on Reuben's part but Simeon is behind bars and you know you obviously Jacob wants to see his son Simeon but you know there's an expression in the US it's called better is the devil I see than the devil I don't see and I'm not saying this is a good expression but the idea is you know better is the devil I see if you see a situation that's not good but you learn to deal with it it's better than taking a risk of something that could be worse and you know what this often comes up when the political season comes around this expression comes out a lot because pretty much everybody says it is politicians horrible but the alternative could be worse and we've learned to deal with this and we can handle this and so Jacob's learned to be without his son Simeon and he's kind of just accepting it because he says I can't risk losing more children I can't risk losing Benjamin verse 3 and Judah spake on him saying the man did solemnly protest on to us saying he shall not see my face except your brother be with you the brother in reference to Benjamin if thou wilt send our brother with us we will go down and buy thee food but if thou wilt not send him will not go down for the man said on to us he shall not see my face except your brother be with you and so Judah basically steps into the leadership role here and you know what you're looking at Judah who would be the third oldest brother that is here right now you've got Ruben and you've got Levi where Simeon is behind bars but Judah kind of elevates himself as the leader of the group and he says you know what we'll go down if you bring Benjamin dad but if not we're not going to go down I don't believe that Judah is being disrespectful this is not a 10 year old talking to their father this is a grown man who is not completely under the authority of his father at this point I mean obviously respects his father Jacob but he's a grown man he's an adult and he's just saying you know what hey dad we can't do that it's just not a good idea you know we'll go down if you bring Benjamin not then you know we're just going to have to deal with this verse 6 and Israel said obviously Israel referring to Jacob and Israel said wherefore dealt ye so ill with me as to tell the man whether he had yet yet a brother now obviously this is it is kind of unfair to blame the sons because it's not their fault they would have never known that Joseph would have asked you know do you have a younger brother or the man bringing the younger brother obviously Jacob's a grieving father and he's kind of just pouring out his complaints and kind of blaming you know his sons even though it's not really their fault he's like why did you let them know that there was another brother verse 7 and they said the man asked us straightly of our state in our kindred saying is your father yet alive have you another brother and we told him according to the tenor of these words could we certainly know that he would say bring your brother down now of course the reason why Joseph specifically asked about is your father yet alive and have you another brother is because the two people that Joseph cares about in his family are his brother Benjamin and his father Jacob now when I read these chapters I don't want to get ahead of myself preaching is we're going to see it in the chapters coming up I feel like he has this really strong love for Benjamin and when I'm reading this he seems like he's kind of in between on his father Jacob has this love and he wants to see Jacob but he has a bit of mixed emotions that's the way it kind of comes across to me but of course he specifically asked because he does care about his dad and he does care about his brother Benjamin verse 8 and Judas said unto Israel's father send the lad with me and we will rise and go that we may live and not die both we and now and also our little ones I will be surety for him of my hand shalt I require him if I bring him not unto thee and set up before thee then let me bear the blame forever and Judas says I will be surety I will make sure I take care of him I will be responsible this terminology of surety is is sometimes mentioned in financial things so for example somebody gets a loan and let's say they can't really they don't have the credit they don't have the background to get the loan on their own in the banks going to deny them if somebody else cosigns on the loan it's kind of an older term to use for this like you know being surety basically they're saying I will cosign I'm not the main person but if they cannot end up paying I will be the one responsible and so what Judas basically stating is you know what if anything happens if anything happens I will be the one responsible and I will bear the blame forever now if you remember last week we saw that Ruben said you know what if I don't bring him back just kill my sons right slay my sons now that that is just a stupid thing to say because why would Jacob want to kill his grandsons right and that's that's just dumb obviously no matter what takes place he's not going to murder his grandsons right and so what Judas saying is hey you know what I realize that if it doesn't go well and we lose Benjamin obviously he's not going to kill me or any of us because he loves us but you know what you can be bitter and hate me and blame me for the rest of your life I will be the one responsible and you know what he's basically stepping up to the plate and saying any consequence just bring it to me right anyway if Judah in the Bible is an interesting character because he's not always a clean and perfect person we saw that several chapters earlier but he's showing really strong character here because he's saying I will be responsible anyway this is the characteristic trait you need of someone who's a leader where they basically say you know what if things do not go well I will be responsible right I mean isn't that what we need in two thousand and twenty three for fathers in their homes saying you know what I'm the one who's responsible as for me and my house will serve the Lord and so if our family doesn't serve the Lord I'm responsible why I'm the leader right and if you're the leader you must be willing to accept the blame if things don't work out I've said it this way a good leader will share the credit and take the blank he said well why is that because if things go well it's a joint effort now things go badly yeah that's also a joint effort but here's the thing if you're five percent responsible or ten percent responsible you're responsible right I mean if you raise up kids and they do not love God right whether you're a father or mother you are at least partially to blame for what took place right and what Judah is saying is you know what I will bear the blame if things do not work out it's my fault and attorney look at verse number ten verse ten he says for except we had lingered surely now we had returned the second time and what what Judah stating is that you know lingering means to kind of wait around and just you know not do anything and he's saying if we had just gone back immediately we would already be back and he's saying you know what it's just going to get worse at this point because obviously realize this if a lot of people are going to Egypt for food there's always the possibility they're going to run out of food right and so what he's saying is hey let's go now and get this done because it's only going to get worse it's only going to get more dangerous right is like you know we would have already been back at this point and their father Israel said unto them if it must be so now do this he's saying if there is no other option then do this take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels and carry down the man a present a little bomb and a little honey spices and mirror nets nuts and almonds and take double money in your hand and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks carried again in your hand for adventure was an oversight take also your brother and arise go again onto the man and God Almighty give you mercy before the man that he may send away your other brother and Benjamin if I be bereaved of my children I am bereaved and what Jacob says is you know what if anything takes place my children that's the way it's going to be he's like you know what we have no other option now in verse 14 it says and God Almighty give you mercy before the man and so when Jacob refers to God and he names him he says God Almighty now turn your Bible to Exodus chapter 6 Exodus 6 Exodus chapter 6 and in fact as you're reading through the book of Genesis this is what you're going to see you're going to see God Almighty God Almighty God Almighty God Almighty which is actually a name and so the attribute of being Almighty or omnipotent or all powerful you know the idea of is there anything too hard for the Lord is attached to the name of God and so the name is describing one of his attributes the fact that he is all powerful and so of course when we're thinking of God one of the first things you think of I would probably say the first is that God is all powerful obviously God is omnipresent and God is omniscient but the first thing I think of of being God is all powerful and when you're saying God Almighty you're saying that he is all powerful he is the one he is the omnipotent God right but that's not the only name of God in the Bible that's what it says in Exodus 6 verse 1 then the Lord said unto Moses now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh with a strong hand shall he let them go and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land and God spake unto Moses and said unto him I am the Lord and I appeared unto Abraham unto Isaac and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them and he said if you had asked Abraham what's my name he would have said God Almighty and if you had mentioned Jehovah Abraham would be like what are you talking about because he was not revealed by the name of Jehovah yet if you had asked Isaac he would have said God Almighty if you had talked to Jacob you'd say God Almighty if you came to them with the name of Jehovah they'd be like you know they'd have no idea about it right same thing if you had said Abraham hey you know what do you believe in Jesus it'd be like you know what are you talking about because that name was not yet revealed and so here's the thing not all the names of God were revealed at the beginning of the Bible so if you talk to people 2500 years ago you talked to Daniel he wouldn't know the name Jesus right but now that name is revealed now here's the thing about this when a new name of God is revealed the new name does not replace the old name the new name this is very important the new name does not replace the old name you see one name of God today is God Almighty why because the name was not replaced see God is still Almighty God is still omnipotent and you're going to see that these names of God you know what obviously the big name in the New Testament is Jesus okay but here's the thing the name God Almighty is still a name of God he's still all powerful okay the name Jehovah is still a name of God what's interesting is you've got the Jehovah's Witnesses and they will say the only name of God is Jehovah now it's interesting because there is the name before Jehovah God Almighty and they just seem to ignore that and they say it's always Jehovah Jehovah Jehovah so they replace God Almighty with Jehovah but then they refused to replace Jehovah when a new name comes out Jesus right it's like well why don't you just replace Jehovah now here's the thing we don't replace God Almighty we don't replace Jehovah we just say you know what more has been revealed about who God is okay now let me let me show actually you know and we'll look at this and talk about this for a while actually you know go to 1 John 5 I'm going to add some stuff on my notes 1 John chapter 5 verse 20 1 John chapter 5 verse 20 and it says in 1 John 5 20 and we know that the Son of God has come okay now when it says the Son of God here who's this referring to you know Apollo Kibale just making sure you're awake right obviously Jesus Christ right we're referring to the Son of God Jesus Christ and we know that the Son of God has come and have given us an understanding that we may know him that is true and we are in him that is true even in his son Jesus Christ this is the true God and eternal life and when you're really looking at this verse and really reading it it's really kind of confusing because talks about the Son of God and yet the Son of God is the true God right you say what's the Bible saying here well the Bible saying that Jesus Christ is the true God now throughout the Old Testament don't you see a belief in the true God the true God you also see the living God the living God so when Jesus Christ is saying I am the way the truth what he's stating is I'm the true God right I'm the way the truth in the life the living God he's saying that's me I am the life he says I am the resurrection in the life talk about having power to lay down his life and bring it back again the Bible specifically says that Jesus resurrected himself from the dead so the Bible saying here in 1 John 5 verse 20 that Jesus is the true God right this is a great verse to prove the deity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and here's the thing though this is not stating that you know look at verse number 7 verse 7 also very famous verse for there are three that bear record in heaven the Father God the Father the Word God the Son and the Holy Ghost and these three are one obviously we believe in the Trinity what we believe is that God has always and always will eternally exist in three persons right always three not two not four but three you can say well you know God can do whatever he wants so God can become like at a fourth person no God is is three right God is one and God is three in the very nature of God and of course he made us as body soul and spirit for a reason okay and so God is three and yet God is one what it says in first John five twenty is that Jesus Christ is the true God okay go to Philippians two Philippians two Philippians chapter two Philippians two verse nine where for God also have highly exalted him and given him a name notice this which is a above every name above every name right which is above every name that the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father this doesn't mean the name Jehovah's not significant it doesn't mean that the name God Almighty is not significant but here's the thing when we talk about salvation it's about do you believe on Jesus Christ and see a lot of people would say I believe in God Almighty I mean a Jew would say they believe in God Almighty right Islam would say they believe in God Almighty problem is they don't believe on Jesus Christ and the name above every name the Bible says is Jesus go back to Exodus 6 Exodus 6 Exodus chapter 6 when you talk to Jehovah's witnesses they will tell you that the name Jehovah is the only name of God and they will also say that the name Jehovah was taken out of our Bible okay now I want you to notice something in verse number two okay Exodus 6 verse 2 in God's big on the Moses said on them I am the Lord now notice that word Lord you have a capital L you have a capital O you have a capital R you have a capital D when you see Lord in the Bible sometimes it's all capital sometimes it's capital L lower case O lower case R lower case D okay you say why is it what's the difference the capital L the capital O the capital R the capital D is Jehovah God okay the YHWH okay it's the Jehovah God here when you see the capital L capital O capital R capital D and so the question comes up okay why is it the name Jehovah is sometimes removed from the King James Bible but not all the time because in verse 2 it's not removed right I mean in verse 2 when they translated it because we believe the King James Bible is perfect and in verse 2 when they translated they translated it capital L capital O capital R capital D but then in verse 3 they said Jehovah and what you're going to find is that 7 times in your King James Bible you see the name Jehovah out of all the times it would translate it capital L capital O capital R capital D and then 7 times it translates it as Jehovah of course the question would be well why did they do that why did they just always translate it as capital L capital O capital R capital D or why did they not just keep it the same as Jehovah right well to to be honest they would have just changed it every time except the 7 times we're going to look at all 7 examples if they had not changed it or kept it as Jehovah it would actually be confusing okay and so notice what it says in verse 3 and I appeared onto Abraham onto Isaac and onto Jacob by the name of God Almighty but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them now if you had translated this as Lord but by my name Lord was I not known to them that would be confusing you said why because the term Lord is actually used in many countries they'll call someone Lord whatever being like a ruler but they don't call them Jehovah something right and so if it said by my name Lord was I not known to them well that doesn't make a whole lot of sense because the word Lord is throughout the Bible as capital L lowercase ORD because that's a term given I mean Sarah called her husband Lord the Bible says right referred to him as Lord and so then it translated it as capital L capital O capital R capital D it'd be confusing because they would have referred to God as Lord right now turn your Bible to Genesis 22 Genesis 22 I mean Lord just means boss right Lord means boss look obviously this gets gets complicated when you're translating from one language to a next but I'm showing you why because the Jehovah's Witness might come up to you and they might ask you that question you know why is it that they changed but they didn't change in these seven instances right why is it that these seven times they kept it as Jehovah and that's a good question why is it the Bible did not translate it as Lord in those instances Genesis 22 verse 14 and Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh as it is said to this day in the Mount of the Lord it shall be seen so in this verse you see the capital L capital O capital R capital D but then right before that it doesn't say Lord Jireh it says Jehovah Jireh well why would they not translate this as Lord Jireh because you don't change the name of a place right think of think of Rio de Janeiro Brazil right which translates as river of January nobody knows it as river of January right right if you said you know what you know the city in Brazil the famous city river of January what you know it as Rio de Janeiro Brazil right where they got that massive statue of Jesus you don't change the name as you go from one language to a next you keep the name of a place the same right you know you know of in for example this is Anjalee City and that's the exact same as Los Angeles but you know Los Angeles as Los Angeles the city of angels the city of angels but you call it Los Angeles you wouldn't say Anjalee City in California you say Los Angeles California right or you'd say Anjalee City here you wouldn't change it to Los Angeles okay Rio de Janeiro you don't change it to river of January doesn't really sound that good river of January right wouldn't make a lot of sense go to Exodus 17 so it makes sense Jehovah Jireh not Lord Jireh because you don't change the name of a place. But obviously the translators are not idiots I mean we looked at multiple verses where it does translate it it does change it then it doesn't change it obviously they had a reason and I'm just kind of showing you these seven times the reason I would say they do not translate it as Lord that makes sense Jehovah Jireh you're not going to change the name of a place okay Exodus 17 verse 15 in Moses build an altar and call the name of it Jehovah Nissi so there's an actual name given to this older and so he gives it this name and of course they're just going to keep it the same right you're not going to change the Nissi to something else so you're not going to I mean Lord Nissi would be confusing it's like well no just Jehovah Nissi okay go to Judges 6 Judges chapter 6 Judges 6 verse 24 then Gideon build an altar there on to the Lord and call it Jehovah Shalom on to this day it is yet an opera of the visa rights so once again in order is given and it's given a name and it's not called Lord Shalom because it would make no sense to change half of it not change the other half so when the translators did this they keep it as you have Jehovah Jiver Jehovah Nissi Jehovah Shalom right but in that same verse you have the capital L capital O capital R capital D okay now turn your Bible to Psalm 83 Psalm 83 now they don't do this exact same way in some languages like for example the Spanish Bible the 1602 is the first good Bible that they had recently they've had a reign of reign of lara Gomez and my understanding it's always hell about hell by hell by hell by so like in Spanish is testigo the hill by is Jehovah's Witness and hell by is Jehovah and they translated as hell by hell by hell by but when they translated in the English language it's Lord Lord Lord Lord but these seven instances it just would not make sense to translate it as Lord you wouldn't change the name of a place it wouldn't have made sense to say but I mean my name Lord was I not known to them it'd be like it doesn't make sense because God is Lord that's the term given to other people these three instances of a place or an altar you're not going to change the name Psalm 83 this is the famous one that Jehovah's Witnesses love Psalm 83 verse 16 fill their faces with shame that they may seek thy name Oh Lord capital L capital O capital R capital B D this is Jehovah God right capital L capital O capital R capital D let them be confounded in trouble forever you let them be put to shame in Paris Psalm 83 verse 18 so many three verse 18 that men may know that thou whose name alone is Jehovah are at the most high over all the earth now when Jehovah's Witnesses look at this verse the way they interpret this is that the only name the only name of God is Jehovah right and yet we see the name God Almighty right so why would you say the only name of God is Jehovah that's not the only name of God or the Bible speaks about in the book of Psalms by his name job which job the JAH is the last three letters of the word Hallelujah so that's about praising the Lord that's the context there there's many names of God right you could preach a sermon on the names of God in the significance because every name has a significance God Almighty that he's all powerful okay and they interpret this while his only name is Jehovah well that's not true because we know the name Jesus we know the name God Almighty we know the name job that is not his only name what this is saying is he's the only one whose name is Jehovah now here's the thing it wouldn't really make sense to say well whose name alone is Lord when Sarah called Abraham Lord and that's a term given to some people they use the term Lord it wouldn't really make a lot of sense even though if you're reading it it's capital L capital old capital R capital D and that's different than capital L lower case O lower case R lower case D the thing is though when the word is spoken and I said well whose name alone is Lord and it's like he's not the one whose only name is Lord that wouldn't really make a lot of sense but if you say whose name alone is Jehovah well that does make sense right are the most high over all the earth turn your Bible Isaiah twelve two more instances Isaiah twelve Isaiah chapter twelve so there would be nothing wrong with saying that Jesus is God almighty nothing wrong with saying that Jesus is Jehovah because the names of God are not done and obviously Jesus is God right Isaiah twelve verse one and in that day thou shalt say Oh Lord capital L capital O capital R capital D I will praise thee though thou was angry with me thine anger is turned away and now comfort is me and by the and as I'm going through these seven instances where they translate it as Jehovah I'm just giving you the reason why I do not believe they translated as what makes sense to me I mean I think all these makes sense you know you might come up with another reason why they chose not to translate it as Lord in that instance I'm just showing you what my thoughts are my as I'm reading this verse two behold God is my salvation I will trust and not be afraid for the Lord Jehovah is my strength in my song he also and of course you think of Jesus being salvation and of course our Lord and Savior of Jesus Christ but look it would not make a lot of sense to say in verse two for the Lord Lord right now when you say Lord Jehovah and you use different terms it adds like an extra emphasis but it kind of adds extra inferences because you know even though its the capital capital capital capital capital D you say Lord is kind of like the boss Jehovah is what you're thinking Lord Jehovah but if you said Lord Lord it's like that's confusing go to Isaiah 26 Isaiah 26 Isaiah 26 one last instance one Well, this is a question probably a lot of us, I mean, probably everybody wonders this from time to time because you know, you've heard, you know, Jehovah God, Jehovah God, and yet it doesn't appear a whole lot in the Bible, but it appears a few times. And then of course you're thinking, well, why would it appear sometimes and not other times? Isaiah 26, verse three, thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose name is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee. Trust he in the Lord forever, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. So once again, Lord Jehovah, you wouldn't say Lord, Lord, okay? Go back to Genesis 43. Genesis 43. Genesis chapter 43. And so when Jacob refers to God in verse 14, he says, and God Almighty, God all powerful, God omnipotent, give you mercy before the man that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin, if I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. And the men took that present and they took double money in their hand and Benjamin and rose up and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, bring these men home and slay and make ready for these men shall dine with me at noon. And the men did as Joseph bade and the man brought the men into Joseph's house. And the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph's house. And they said, because of the money that was returned in our sacks and at the first time when we brought in, that he may seek a cation against us and fall upon us and take us for bond men and our asses. And so, I mean, they're afraid because here's the thing, they're going to buy food and then Joseph says, I'm gonna eat a meal with you, right? That's pretty strange because obviously Joseph is not gonna eat meals with other people that are begging for food and getting food. And yet here you see in Genesis 43 that Joseph says, you know what? I'm gonna dine with them at noon. And of course they're thinking, I mean, what is he gonna do to us? Is he gonna kill us? I mean, what is he gonna do? Because this is a very strange thing when he's saying that he's gonna dine with them. Verse 19, and they came near to the steward of Joseph's house and they communed with him at the door of the house and said, oh, sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food. And it came to pass when we came to the end that we opened our sacks and behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight and we have brought it again in our hands. In other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food. We cannot tell who put our money in our sacks. And he said, peace be to you, fear not your God and the God of your father hath given you treasure in your sacks. I had your money and he brought Simeon out onto them. So Joseph says, you know what? God is the one that blessed you. And he said, you know what? I, you know, he gave you that money and then he brings back Simeon onto them. Verse 24, and the man brought the men into Joseph's house and gave them water and they washed their feet and he gave their asses provender. They made ready the present against Joseph came at noon for they heard that they should eat bread there. When Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house and bow themselves to him to the earth. So they're being very respectful to Joseph. Obviously they want to make sure that everything goes well. I mean, Jacob said, bring all of these things as a present. I want to make sure everything goes okay. And notice verse 27. And he asked them of their welfare and said, is your father well? Obviously Joseph cares about Jacob. You know, he says, is your father well? Is he doing okay? The old man of whom he spake, is he yet alive? Look, this is not a normal thing that somebody would be doing as they're selling food. Like, oh, how's your father doing? Right, you wouldn't be having a meal with them and you wouldn't ask, how's your father doing? It would be basically, yeah, you know what? Just give us the money. We'll give you the food, right? And so obviously Joseph has a love for his father, Jacob. And of course we're gonna see this develop as the chapters go on. He says, is he alive? How is he doing? And the answer, thy servant our father is in good health. He is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads and made obeisance. And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, is this your younger brother of whom he spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. Now you say, why is he asking, is this Benjamin? Well, he hasn't seen Benjamin in 20 plus years. And if Joseph was 17 and Benjamin was younger, we don't really know the exact age of Benjamin. Let's just say he was seven years younger than Joseph. Cause I really don't know, but he's obviously younger than Joseph. I mean, if he was 10 years old and now he's 30, it would be kind of hard to fully recognize him. Now I'm sure though, I mean, if I looked at my sister, I mean, she looks a lot like me, right? I mean, you can certainly see a resemblance between me and my sister, right? I mean, you have sons and daughters. There's gonna be a resemblance between all of them, right? You can see them and say, hey, you know what? I can see, you know what? That's my sister, right? Or you can look at your parents and say, I can see that's my dad. I can see that's my mom. There's a resemblance, there's similarities. But at the same time, he's not 100% for sure, because he hasn't seen him in 20 plus years. And of course he would assume this is the younger brother because there's one other person there. And he's gonna assume it's gonna be Benjamin. But of course, you know what? They could have just brought somebody else and said, hey, this is our younger brother, right? But obviously they don't do that. They actually bring Benjamin and he can recognize him. Verse 30, and Joseph made haste for his vows did yearn upon his brother. And he saw it were to weep and he entered into his chamber and wept there. So Joseph knows this is his brother Benjamin and he's just immediately gonna lose it. And so before he cries in front of them, he just leaves, goes to a private place and he just is crying because he's excited and happy to see his brother Benjamin, overwhelmed with emotions. And he washed his face and went out and refrained himself and said, set on bread. And they set on for him by himself and for them by themselves and for the Egyptians which did eat with him by themselves. Because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews but that is an abomination onto the Egyptians. And what the Bible says here is that the Egyptians did not eat bread with the Hebrews. And you know, the question is, well, why is it that they refuse to eat with the Hebrews? And it says it is an abomination to the Egyptians to eat with the Hebrews, right? Now I've got some articles pulled up here of what people say, and I'm just gonna tell you why I believe they did not eat with the Hebrews. I think it's because they have a different religion. That's the reason why. I think it's an abomination to the Egyptians because it's like, we believe in the Egyptian gods and what's the message of the Hebrew God? Because it doesn't say that it would be an abomination to eat with any other groups of people. It says with the Hebrews, you say, well, what's the difference? Because the Hebrews would have said, no, no, no, no. It's not our God or your God. Everyone has a different religion and they all lead up to heaven. No, no, no, no. Our God's the true God. Our God is the one living God. Your God is a dead God, is a false God. And obviously they would know, well, that's the opinion of the Hebrews, right? Now, obviously if you don't say anything, maybe people won't get offended. But if you start talking about your God, they're gonna be offended. Right? I mean, try to sit down and have a meal with a Muslim and say, hey, you know what? Jesus, you have to believe in Jesus. You're gonna go to hell. Well, that's not exactly gonna be a pleasant meal, right? It's not like they would really wanna have a meal with us, nor would we really wanna have a meal with them either. Why? Because we believe different things. Because you know what? When you're having a meal together, there's a fellowship involved. There's a bonding. Now, obviously I'm not saying it's wrong to go to lunch with a coworker, especially if you have the intention of trying to give them the gospel. But I would say if you're having a meal together and it's just, hey, we're just kind of fellowshipping as friends. It's like, well, the message of Christianity is that you should not be close to opinions with other people of different beliefs. And obviously that would be the same message for the Hebrews. And obviously the Egyptians looked at this and said, you know what? They've got their God. We've got our God. We do not wanna be that close. You know, they're being respectful, but it's like, we're not gonna sit down and have a meal together because our God is different than your God. Now, that's my opinion. That's not really what you read in other articles. I'm gonna read what it says in different articles, which they use a lot of history, which I think is pretty speculative, but this is what it says. Why is it an abomination to Egypt? And they also bring up the fact that, you know, a shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians, which is gonna be mentioned later on in the book of Genesis. Well, obviously you think of the one chief shepherd, Jesus Christ, the Bible mentions, and shepherd is a word synonymous with pastor, which is a term used both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, actually more times in the Old Testament. And I think the idea is, yeah, you know what? They have a different God than us. So they're against shepherds. They're against the God of the Hebrews. It says available explanations of the causes for Egyptian sense of abomination in Genesis 43 verse 32, Genesis 46 verse 34, and Exodus 822 are either too general or incorrect. It is suggested that in Genesis 43 verse 32, the sense of abomination possibly stems from the melodious woolen garments worn by the Hebrews. So according to this, you know, maybe the hatred is because of the clothing of the Hebrews, right? I guess what it's stating is, well, they've got woolen garments and we've got gods of animals, so we'll be offended if there is a woolen garment, okay? Now, I don't believe this interpretation. This is what it says though. In Genesis 46 verse 34, it is perhaps a combination of basic farmer slash shepherd distaste and hatred stemming from an association of shepherds with the barbaric nomadic chieftains on Egypt's northeastern border. And in Exodus 8 verse 22, it might be driven by the Hebrew's custom of burning portions of animals sacrificed to a deity. These suggestions, while speculative, have a cease and live in context. An introduction, Genesis 43 verse 32, tells that Joseph hosted his brothers as well as some Egyptian officials for dinner. The acceding's arrangements were however unusual. They served him by himself and them by themselves and the Egyptians who ate with them by themselves. And so it kind of goes on and on for different possible reasons. I'm sorry, but here's the thing. When you're reading your Bible, it's like, you know what? Obviously when it talks about the Hebrews being an abomination to the Egyptians, multiple times being a shepherd's an abomination, eating with them's an abomination. It's like, we can just look at our Bible and figure out, well, why would it be an abomination to them? I think it's a very obvious reason because of the God of the Hebrews, right? I mean, it's one thing if there's someone who's not really zealous about what they believe, but look, people, if they knew what we believe and how zealously we believed it, they wouldn't want to have a meal with us either, right? They'd have a meal with a lot of Baptists, but not with Verity Baptist Church, right? I mean, is that not true? I mean, they say it's an abomination. I mean, even a lot of Baptists, even a lot of Baptists would not want to have a meal with us, right? The feeling is generally mutual, right? I mean, now if somebody's a fellow like-minded believer, I'd set aside differences, have a meal with them. I wouldn't have a problem with that, but you know what? It's like, you know what? If you're very zealous of what you believe, it offends people. They don't want to have a meal with them because of what they believe. Makes perfect sense to me because we understand that just in our modern day, that if someone has a different religion, it's kind of like, you know what? Our closest friends are those that go to church with us, right? The closest friends that we have in this world are those that we fellowship with, those that we go to church with. Look, the closest friends of my children are the children in this room. And of course, they're friends with the children in Manila as well, but quite honestly, they're around the children here more in Pampanga, so the closest friends my children have are the children of this church, right? The closest friends that I have are the people of this church because I'm around the people of this church. Now, I mean, I have neighbors that are nice people. I say hello to them. I walk by them and everything, but I realize at the end of the day, well, they have a different religion than me. I mean, how close am I gonna be with someone who has a different religion, right? And they also quote from Josephus. Josephus is a famous historian, which for whatever reason, people take everything he says as like a fact of what he says. And he says that, he says that he skips the detail of the Egyptians being unable to eat with the Hebrews in his commentary on this. And, you know, he goes on and on and talks about, well, maybe they had a different menu. They had different styles of food. So it's like, you know, well, you know, we don't like to eat the same types of food. I think that's ridiculous, right? I think it's pretty obvious the reason why is because, well, you know what? We're gonna be respectful to them, right? Just like, look, I would be respectful to a Muslim that I saw in public. I'm not gonna be rude to them. I mean, if there's a Muslim at a line, you know, at a grocery store, I'm not gonna be rude to them. I'll be respectful to them. But at the same time, I'm not gonna sit down and have a meal with them. And I'm sure they would feel the same way. I mean, a Muslim is most likely gonna be respectful to us even if they know that we're very zealous about what we believe. But do you think they wanna have a meal with us? Obviously not, right? You know, I'll be respectful, you know, to a Hindu that I see. I'll be respectful. I'll be courteous to them. But I'm not gonna wanna sit down and have a meal with them in front of a statue of Shiva or something, right? I mean, you sit down and have a meal with a Muslim and whoops, it's one of the five times of prayer. Wait, we gotta stop and just pray to Mecca. It's like, all right, I'm outta here, right? This is just weird, right? You know, it's like, obviously it goes, you know, going past the point of being respectful. You don't wanna be too close. And obviously the Egyptians felt the same way. At this time, Egypt rules the world. I mean, they feel like we are the best in the world and it's like, our gods are the true gods. This is a true religion. And so when the Hebrews are the one religion that's very zealously against it, they're not gonna wanna be that close with them. Verse 33, and they sat before him, Genesis 43, verse 33, we'll close up. And they sat before him, the first born according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth and the men marveled one another. And he took and sent messes onto them from beforehand. But Benjamin's mess was five times, five times so much as any of theirs and they drank and were married with him. And so obviously there's a preferential treatment to Benjamin. And you know, I'm assuming that this is one of those things that the brothers in hindsight after these events, once they understand it's Joseph, they probably think back to, oh, that's why he was always asking about our father. That's why he was always asking about our brother. That's why he seemed to be so friendly with Benjamin. I mean, it's all gonna make sense. You know, because often in life, you look at things in hindsight, you're like, oh, that makes sense now. But obviously they don't understand this at this moment because they have no idea that it is Joseph, right? And so, you know, he sees Benjamin, but you know, once again, I'll just state this as we're looking chapter by chapter. He doesn't just immediately want to become just best friends with all of them. He doesn't just say, all right, you know, let's just, you know, put aside all differences and hang out because I still feel like there's some bitterness that's there. And we're still gonna see that Judah is gonna plead with Joseph later on when he talks about their father. And that's kind of the moment of the breaking point. At this point though, I don't believe Joseph has reached that point of a hundred percent forgiveness. But I'll also state, I don't think that I would have ever reached a hundred percent forgiveness, to be honest. I might've just basically said, okay, whatever, you know, I want to see dad, I want to see my brother. So, but I would not have just completely forgiven. There's no doubt. I'm not debating whether or not Joseph forgives them because he certainly forgives them 100%. There's no question about that. I just don't think it's at this point that he has reached that yet. Let's go to the word of prayer. Dear heavenly father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see this chapter. Just a lot of great information and help us try to just try to dig into the story and kind of get a sense of the emotions of all the characters involved and what they're thinking, God, and just kind of lessons that we can learn from the story. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.