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By our men, we're up to Genesis chapter 43 now. And last week we were in Genesis 42, obviously. And I'll just give you a quick reminder where we're at in this kind of final story, really, in Genesis. Genesis 42, if you remember, Jacob sent his loitering sons down to Egypt to buy corn, but kept Benjamin at home. And I was thinking about this just as I was writing these notes, that if Joseph was seventeen, when sold into slavery, and was by now over thirty-seven, because if you remember, he was thirty before the seven years of plenty, so when he stood before Pharaoh, he was thirty years old. We've had the seven years of plenty, so he's over thirty-seven now. And then Benjamin, who was born at some point before they settled beyond the Tower of Edo in chapter thirty-five, we don't know how long they were there for, they then went to see Isaac as he died. But the point being that he was definitely obviously born before Joseph was seventeen, he's now over thirty-seven, so Benjamin at this point is comfortably over twenty years old. Just bear that in mind, because I think last week I was going, oh, we're not so sure, but then I thought I'd better work this out. And in fact, yeah, he's definitely over twenty at this point, so it's not that he's just a young kid. The other ten, anyway, were sent off into Egypt to buy corn, unbeknownst to them, from the brother, obviously, that they sold into slavery over twenty years earlier, so what a strange turn of events there in the end. Joseph disguised himself, played games with them, if you remember, imprisoning them for three days, before then keeping Simeon and sending them off to get Benjamin. So remember, he kept Simeon in ward and sent the rest of them off. Now he'd given them corn, but then he put their money back in their sacks, which confused and concerned them when they discovered it. And we see from verse thirty-five, when they've returned, it says, And it came to pass they emptied their sacks, that behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack. And when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children, Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away, all these things are against me. And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee, deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. And he said, My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If mischief befall him by the way, and the witch ye go, then shall ye bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. And then we go into Genesis forty-three and verse one, where it then says, And the famine was sore in the land. I'm going to pray and then we're going to keep going with this chapter. Father, thank you for your word, thank you for this chapter of the Bible, Lord. And the talking points that I've kind of decided to focus on out of this chapter, please help me to just preach those points clearly and accurately and boldly and fully in spirit, Lord. Help everyone to just have attentive ears to really pay attention to what your word is saying. In Jesus' name, for all of this, Amen. Okay, so remember it said, And the famine was sore in the land. And remember that this was to continue for a total of seven years. And it sounds pretty bad already, it was sore in the land, so it sounds pretty bad. By the time of chapter forty-five and verse six, it was only two years in. So it said, For these two years have the famine been in the land, and yet there are five years in the which they shall neither be earing nor harvest. So there's no way that they would have survived, obviously, for the continuing five years. Okay, and we're before the two year mark at this point. It says in verse two, 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. And back to a bit of a consistent theme recently about effort, about not being a sluggard. If you remember last week in chapter forty-two, it opened up in verse one with, Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do you look one upon another? Which could be applied to all areas of life. Obviously, I've kind of expanded on that a bit. But it's not just a one-time wonder, okay, is it? It's not just a one-time wonder, a quick bit of effort and then time to put your feet up. Verse two here, where we are in chapter forty-three said, 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. And sometimes you've got to put some regular effort in too, don't you? Because life is just about labour, that's life. And I'm not going to spend too long on this. It's a bit of a consistent theme. We've had recently, obviously, looking at the Book of Proverbs as well, but it's an important theme because we so often, we're so just, you know, in a way predispose, the flesh wants to be lazy, doesn't it? But the flesh isn't happy being lazy, the flesh just wants to be lazy. We're not happy ultimately being lazy. You've got to put regular effort in. And whether that's in your job, in your marriage, in your parenting, you've got to put the graft in. So say you've got the dream job, you put all the time and effort in, you've got that job, you managed to nail it. Well, you better put the graft in or you're going to lose the job, aren't you? OK, so it's not just, well, I've got it now, it's feet up. You've got to keep working. You've got to keep impressing the boss. You've got to keep putting effort in in all areas of life. You know, for some, maybe they find they found the right spouse, but you need to regularly work to make it a happy marriage, don't you? So it's no good. Well, I've got the wife now. It's feet up. Everyone is going to live happily ever after or vice versa. You've got to put the graft in. You've got to put work in. You're going to have times where you have to really work, you know, to love your wife. You're going to have times where a wife really has to work to love her husband and to submit unto him at times. And, you know, you just got to put graft in. You've got to put work into anything. Maybe you've just had a parenting breakthrough and sometimes you do. You put some work in. You're like, right, OK, we kind of worked out how to deal with this particular behaviour, how to deal with that, how to deal with this issue, how to deal with that situation. But then it needs constant effort. And it could be hard because sometimes you kind of, you've done something, you put some graft in and then you kind of want to just be able to relax sometimes. But that's just not life, is it? Life is about work. It's about labour. That's just the way it is. It wasn't enough here that they had made that one trip into Egypt. It was time to go again. And that's true of our spiritual lives as well, isn't it? There's a famine in this land and many others as well. There is to some degree. And most people have to travel for the spiritual food. That's just the reality of life, isn't it? And people find that hard to deal with. And, you know, and because there's this church, church, church, church, church in every area you are, you just think, well, there's got to be a church nearer. But that's just not life, unfortunately. You've got to travel for it. You've got to put the effort in. Whether that's travelling to move or travelling on a Sunday. And it's not just a one off trip. It's not a one off trip and you're sustained for the next seven years. Like it wasn't for these guys here. It's not a one off trip and you're sustained for the next seven months. Seven days even. Really, because that's why we have a midweek service. We have a midweek service because it needs that three to thrive. It needs that regularly. You need to be in church. And it's not, you know, because we get people and look, you know, I love it. I love it that we get visitors from different areas of the country. I want them to keep visiting. I want people to come. You know, and I'm not I'm not never going to say to them, right. It's not worth it. But here's the thing. They need to come more than a one off visit, don't they? Come down and they get a taste of it. But you've got to put the effort in. And here they've got to put the effort in. It wasn't enough just one visit to Egypt. They've got to go again and go again and go again. And people need to do that for the spiritual food, don't they? Now, look, don't get me wrong. If they can find a church nearby that's good for them, great. You can find a church somewhere up north that's acceptable. Great. What drop there? But whatever. OK, but but if you can, great. OK. But the sad truth is for most people, they need to travel, don't they? Most people need to travel for the spiritual food. We need regular feeding, and that just requires regular effort in all areas, whatever it is, just physical food, just just food itself. You need to put effort in to be able to buy food. You know, and that's the same when it comes to spiritual food. Here they put in the effort, though. However, well, at least Jacob wants him to. But they're not so fond of this plan after last time. OK, so they say in verse three, And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, He shall not see my face except your brother be with you. So so remember that Joseph had said to bring back Benjamin, hadn't he? If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy the food. But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down. For the man said unto us, He shall not see my face except your brother be with you. So Judah is becoming the spokesperson here. Who knows what the eldest Reuben is up to now? We've talked about Reuben at length now, so I'm not going to go into him again here. But Judah now kind of seems to have taken over as a spokesperson. And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me as to tell the man whether he had yet a brother? And they said, The man asked us straightly of our state and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? Have ye 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, that would have been fair enough. However, that's not exactly how it played out. OK, if anyone remembers, if you go back to Genesis 42 and we'll have a look at verse eight. So had this been what really happened, fair enough. But it wasn't. Genesis 42 and verse eight says this. And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them and said unto them, Ye are spies, to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food and thy servants come. Straight away, they offer up verse 11, We are all one man's sons. We are true men, thy servants are no spies. And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. OK, again, he hasn't asked them about brothers. Is your father yet alive? Have you another brother? And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is to stay with our father. And one is not. And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies. Hereby ye shall be proved by the life of Pharaoh. Ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come thither. Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh. Surely you are spies. So it is more that they offered up the information after being accused of being spies. Yeah, they've just told Jacob. We've just seen they've just said that the man asked us straightly of our state and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? Have you another brother? That's a lie. That's not what happened. And I do believe that there's a bit of a lesson there, OK, because often we do just give far more information to people than we need to. And often it gets into trouble. And it's something we have to be careful of in the spiritual battle. OK, and just to make this clear, in the spiritual battle, the enemy is looking for anything that they can use. OK, just to make that clear, they're looking for anything. It's a diligent search. It's like trying to find what they can from you. And it's not just iniquity. So, of course, our enemy wants to find iniquity on us. But it can just be to find an emotional angle to get you with. It's to see what makes you tick, what can maybe hurt you, what can maybe upset you, if they can catch something coming out of your mouth. That's how it works. OK, and believe me, that's how it works. OK, and it's a thing, this kind of subject, it's not always a comfortable subject preaching because you kind of feel like, I'm sure there'll be people just thinking, oh, you know, you just think that there's all this spiritual battle going on. But there is. I'll tell you why, because we're a soul winning church. And it's not just myself, it's not just my wife, it's not just my kids. It's everyone in here is in a spiritual battle. And we're in a spiritual battle. And in the spiritual battle, the enemy is looking to get something from you to work with. And that's just the way it is. OK, and I think the reason people find this hard, I'll tell you why they find it hard. It's a lack of faith. It's a lack of really believing the Bible for what it says, because we go through the Book of Proverbs. We're just being given warning after warning after warning, you know, reminders of how to spot these sorts of people, how to deal with them. And it's in all areas of life. So it's not like I said, it's not just about in church. It's all areas, because they're just trying to come in in all different areas of our lives to try and get us to try and attack us, try and find something on us, to try and accuse us. You know, he's a great accuser. There's so many ways. And then people read it all. And then they say, oh, no, I'm sure there's no problem there. I'm sure people don't come into church and try to destroy a church. I'm sure, you know, that you're not going to get just weirdos walk in here and stuff like that. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? But that's what we see. The word of God is constantly warning us, saying they're coming in from every angle. And one thing that they often try and do is to try and get something from you. And it's something that I'm still trying to learn to deal with, because sometimes, I don't know, have you ever been in a conversation? Now, I've been in these a lot where you come away from a conversation with someone feeling like you've literally been interrogated. So you come away, you've been talking to someone, and it's as if you've just been like, just primed for information for five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes. You just say, what on earth? You know, you come away and you're kind of like, I think we just talk. I just got asked about 50 questions. What on earth, right? And it happens a lot, yeah. And I'm still trying to learn, OK, because I just like to chat sometimes, you know, like I'm buying a pulpit, I talk, right? You know, so I'm just like used to chatting. And then I kind of, it's something I've got to learn not to do so much of, because sometimes I just chat away to people and then it's like, sometimes it's just storing it all up. And that's the reality, whether it's to find a weakness or some truth for the future, lies to sound more believable. That's one angle that people do. You know, they just, just it's like it's a diligent search. And of course, it's not that you have to respond, no comment to any question. OK, so just don't go too far with this. Don't be like, right, that's it. Every time someone talks to me, it's just like, no comment, no comment. If anyone's wondering, that's like the British interview technique, isn't it? You know, it's like, just no comment, no comment, no comment, no comment. So people are told to do these things. But you don't have to know comment. But maybe, look, maybe. Here's another, you don't have to refuse to show an interest in people either, by the way. So on the other hand, as well, don't be like, right, but not ask any questions in this church. You're going to think that I'm just trying to like interrogate them or something. It's not that you can't, you know, show an interest by all means. Nothing wrong with that. But for us, offering up all of your life history like we see here to people that you don't know is never a good idea. It's never a good idea. And they'll always use something, take something, pull a little bit of this and then try and smash you with it. And if you do, and if you have people that you just feel like they just interrogate you, interrogate you, interrogate you, there's sometimes for a good reason that you're getting that warning signs. You're like, what on earth, you know, why? Because it's one thing to be interested about other people. It's another to just literally interrogate them, you know. And I've had this a lot. And you've got to watch out for this stuff. Now, here they know that they shouldn't have done that. They shouldn't have offered it up. And sometimes we know you're kind of after it. Like, oh my God, man, why was I just like talking about this, talking about that? They seemed interested. And I don't even know this person. I've suddenly just told them, you know, my whole my life routine and everything else. You know, and it's like, oh no. But they knew they shouldn't, which is why back in chapter 43, they're lying about it. So then what does it lead to? Them lying and pretending it didn't kind of go down as it did. And look, some people are really clever about getting stuff out of you. And it can be amazing how people do this sometimes. But it's something we have to be careful for. It says in verse seven, Now, this is a more normal suggestion as opposed to Rubens in the previous chapter. This is a sort of normal way of doing it. Yeah, it's going it's on me, not it's on my poor children. Yeah. If you remember, Genesis 2, 37 said, Now, it's not to say that Judah is a perfect guy, but he's not offering up his children as a sacrifice for him to look good. OK, to win some brownie points, to be the saviour. He's not offering his kids to be able to do that. And people do that, like we obviously went into depth last week. He said, he just said, look, he said, I will be surety. That's how it should be, right? It's on me of my hand shall I require if I bring him not unto thee and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever. He said, for except we had lingered, surely now we had returned the second time. So he's saying the Lord of the Egyptians, if you remember, as far as he was concerned, but it's Joseph, would have expected us back by now. That's what he's saying. He's going, look, we should have been back by now as well. We need to get on with this. So he's saying to take some gifts, extra money too, and hopefully, God willing, things will work out. OK, now a couple of points to make here. In case you're wondering why they need corn when they've got honey nuts and almonds. Firstly, he did say take a little. So verse 11 said, and the father Israel said unto them, if it must be so, now do this, take of the best fruits in the land, in your vessels, and carry down a manna present, a little balm. And a little honey. I don't think it was that he was being tight fisted. I think it's just that they didn't have much there. Spices and myrrh nuts and almonds. I think it's a little honey, spices and myrrh nuts and almonds. So I don't think there's much there. But also, they've got a lot of livestock too that need feeding as well. And being a famine, there probably wasn't much good pasture around, I'm guessing as well. So maybe if you remember, they were feeding the ass with the corn on the way back last time. So I'm sure some of that was being used maybe for the livestock as well. But anyway, Jacob, he's not silly, is he? He's saying, bring some gifts and that should help win him over. And I'd like to just focus quickly on this truth in life as well. So turn to Proverbs 19, because you could go the wrong way in either direction with this. OK, so there are always extremes. OK, some will shower people with gifts, but the motivation isn't a good one. And others will then avoid doing anything nice in case they look like a flatterer. OK, so you could kind of go both ways with this, right? Because Proverbs 19, where you are in verse six, says this, Proverbs 19, six says, many will entreat the favour of the prince and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts. So the truth is that when someone gives you a gift, the natural response is for them to just be elevated in your mind, isn't it? That's just natural. Someone gives you something you want to like, you like him straight away. You want to like him, you want to put them up here because they're giving you a gift. Now, that doesn't mean that we should never give anyone a gift. OK, so again, you've got to be careful with this stuff because some people just go extreme or, you know, it's like this way or that way. It's not. It doesn't mean that you can't give someone a gift. It's nice giving gifts sometimes. If you just want to do something nice, it can be nice to give someone something. OK, so that doesn't mean, oh, you must be really bad if you do that. You're just trying to entreat the favour of whoever it is that you give the gift to. However, we should also be careful to not let a gift affect our judgment. OK, because it does. That's just reality. When people are giving you gifts and they've given you gifts and maybe they continue to give you gifts, often that will affect your judgment and how you deal with situations and how you perceive that person, even when there's other damning stuff about that person. OK, so we have to be careful with that as well. For example, the poisonous person in your life that is a potential danger to you, your kids or whatever else. A bad influence maybe, but, well, they just kept bringing gifts and that will win a lot of people over. So I don't want to tell them, oh, no, I don't come around because they always come around with something else. I don't want to kind of keep away from them because they always just give me something nice. They always give me something new. They come with this, they come with that. And gifts doesn't just have to be a wrapped up gift. A gift can be many different areas as well. It can be favours. It can be, you know, just lots of different ways people will give you something, will give of themselves or something else. Or here's another way you've got to look at this when in a position of leadership. Now, that can be in work, in the workplace. That can be as a parent. That can be obviously in the church as well. When judging a situation, having respect unto the gift giver, for example. And you could even do that as a parent, couldn't you? You know, there's one kid that just does lots for you and everything else. And then because of that, you automatically want to take their side when there's a 50-50 or something, you know. And again, you can apply it in many areas. It's to have respect unto the person that's giving you gifts. You want to see the best in them because they've given you gifts. Yeah, that's pretty standard. This isn't anything mind-blowing here. But aside from things like that, OK, we want to be careful to understand people's motivations. So that's the key with this, because many people give gifts because they want to be nice. They want to make someone happy. They want to do something kind. They want to be selfless. But there are people that give gifts to manipulate. That's, again, just the reality of life. To flatter, to raise them up in your minds for an ulterior motive. And again, like I said, that could be in the workplace. That could be, and a lot of the time people will say, people that try to end up stabbing them in the back, you know, to try and, you know, take their position in a workplace, something else. Often we're flattering them beforehand. We're often giving them things and everything else. And then they were blindsided by them. But it's not just a workplace. It can be, like I said, in the family. And it's an age old tactic in churches. And obviously for me, that's my job. That's something I look out for. The Absalom style church dividers. They try to be everyone's best friend. Gifts all around, constant flattery. Everyone is getting a gift from them in every different area. Because what they're trying to do is basically do an Absalom. And that's something that we have to look out for in a church as well. So something you don't want to have known about you, that you're just like, everyone's your best friend. Because that's not normal, is it? You know, and I'm not saying we have that here, but we did have before a similar situation where it wasn't just baked cookies as well. It was lifts, sleepovers, meals out. Anything to make people feel indebted to some degree, to feel in their pocket to some degree, to feel like they just couldn't, then they felt bad. I had people saying, look, there's all this stuff going on. I was getting lifts and all this kind of poison in the car. But I just felt bad. I couldn't do anything because I was getting a lift off them. So it's that sort of stuff that we're constantly looking out for as well. And the thing with that, when people do that stuff, that's fake. It's not genuine. When someone is trying to just shower you with stuff and get you, oh, we'll drive you, oh, don't worry, we'll drive you all the way over here, we'll do that. And then once they get you in the car, then it's the poison and it's the whispers. Then it's the complaints about the church and everything else. That's not a genuine love. It's the opposite. Yeah. It's not genuine. It's not they love you so much as well as everyone else. It has a purpose. It has a goal. Yeah, and sometimes the goal can be long term as well. OK, like Absalom's was 40 years. And whether it's in a church, the workplace, external family, we're warned so as to be wise to these things. That's why we're warned. We're warned because so that we're able to spot it, we're able to see it. Proverbs 29.5 says, That's a hard truth to kind of get our heads around because we love flattery. We love gifts. We love it all. And when people are doing that, and again, flattery isn't complimenting. Flattery is when it's fake. Flattery is when it's not genuine. And when they do that, when you start to feel that, it's because someone's spreading a net for your feet. And that can be through gifts, through things like that, and obviously can be through words as well. Now, here in Genesis 43, though, it's not that Jacob is trying to take over Egypt. OK, yet he is trying to get favour with the gifts, isn't he? That's just the truth here. Like he did with his brother Esau. And whether you're in the wrong or not, gifts can also be a way of seeking peace, can't they? So gifts can be a good way of actually making something up to someone. So it's not that it's always a bad thing. Yeah, it's an ulterior motive, but the reality of it is the motive is quite obvious. You know, so if I've really upset and really offended someone and say, for example, I've really upset my wife, I've said something mean, I've said something harsh, and I turn up with a bunch of flowers, she's not going, you sneaky so-and-so. Can't believe you've come back home with a bunch. You think you're going to pull one over, pull the wool over my eyes with those. No, because it's obvious what I'm doing, but it's not a bad thing, is it? She'd prefer that than me not go, well, I would have got you flowers to say sorry, but I didn't want you to think I was just trying to flatter you or win you over with a gift. So obviously, look, there's a time when it can be a good thing as well, OK? But we just need to be aware of that. So if you understand the motivation, it's like, OK, well, that's a peace offering. There's nothing wrong with that, is there, you know, as long as it's obvious like that and you're not trying to be very sneaky and stuff like that. So it's not all bad, but we should be wise about it and not let it slant, maybe future judgment, OK? So that's the key point that I want to make here. Now, verse 11, it said, Be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand of 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. So Joseph invites them round for lunch for some freshly slayed meat. And I'm sure they had a way of doing things well there. You know, some people like to age their meat, but whatever, they did something good here. I'm sure it's nice when it's freshly done as well. And the man 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 at the first timer we brought in, that you may seek occasion against us and fall upon us and take us for bob men and our asses. So they think that he's going to arrest and enslave them and steal their asses, or we would probably say donkeys too, OK? And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house. Bear in mind, they have been imprisoned by this guy for a few days previously. Simeon's been in prison for however long, we're not sure, so you can understand him being a bit nervous. So anyway, they came, they communed with him at the door of the house, this is the steward of Joseph's 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 inn 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 hand. 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, this is the steward, Peace be to you, fear not, your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. I had your money, and he brought Simeon out unto them. So firstly, poor Simeon is finally out of prison. And that's kind of glossed over a bit here, isn't it, as well? So I don't know, maybe it wasn't the worst prison. He was in war, at least. But Simeon gets out. But do you know what I find most interesting about this little passage here? Is that the steward, or verse 16 also said the ruler, of Joseph's house seems to be a believer, doesn't he? Wouldn't you say? He said, Peace be to you, fear not, your God and the God of your father have given you treasure in your sacks. I had your money, and he brought Simeon out unto them. So I think he's a believer, which tells me that Joseph is living up to his reputation as being a wise man of God, and that he's getting people saved. That's what I think. I mean, this guy, he's talking about the God of, you know, the God of their father. And he's saying, have given you treasure in your sacks. I had your money, as in I'm doing it for God type thing, you know? And yeah, that for me says, look, Joseph isn't just all talk. Or it's not just all talk about Joseph. Proverbs 11, 30 says, the fruit of the right is the tree of life. And he that win of souls is wise. And in Genesis 41, 39, we read, And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, for as much as God has showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art. And I think he's living up to that, isn't he? I think he's getting people saved and understandably the steward, the ruler of his house, because bear in mind, like Joseph's a busy guy. He's like the second in charge in the whole of Egypt. So he's going to need someone doing other stuff and help him with that. And his second guy here seems to be a believer as well, seems to be someone who at least acknowledges God in all these things. But anyway, that for me is interesting. But keep going. Verse 24, it says, And a man brought the men into Joseph's house, gave them water, and they washed their feet, and he gave their asses provender. And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there. I don't know how they made ready the present. Maybe they wrapped it up. They all signed the card each or something, I don't know. And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present, which was in their hand into the house and bowed themselves to him to the earth. And he asked them of their welfare and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom you spake, is he yet alive? And they answered, 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 you spake unto me? And he said, God, be gracious unto thee, my son, that Joseph made haste for his bowels, did yearn upon his brother, and he sought wetter wheat, and he entered into his chamber of wet air. Now, this is seeing his little brother for the first time in over 20 years. You can understand this being an emotional time for him. This was the one that didn't try and, you know, kill him and sell him as a slave and everything else. This was his full brother from the same mother. He hasn't seen him for over 20 years. He's now a grown man. He's now an adult. And you can imagine that must have been quite an emotional time to see him for the first time in 20 years. This is in verse 31. And he washed his face and went out and refined himself and said, set on bread. And they set on for him by himself and for them by themselves and for the Egyptians, which should eat with them by themselves, because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians. So it seems that they're not eating of the same food together. They're not maybe... I think it's... I don't think that they've all gone in separate rooms. I think that they're not sharing the food together. So they've got their own kind of portion of food and then the next... Because a lot of like social eating and throughout history has been to kind of a dish in the middle and sharing it and eating of the same food together, not necessarily all the plates are done separately and then brought out, you know, like maybe people do in sort of... in more modern, sort of westernised sort of nations in a rush and everything else and getting the microwave meal out of the microwave and one each and stuff like that. So a lot of the time people would be sharing a dish or dishes, plural, in the middle. But why were they not sharing? Because the Egyptians consider it an abomination to eat bread with the Hebrews. Now, why is that? Why was that? Well, there was some sort of... clearly some sort of nationalistic issue going on there, OK? Maybe it was all non-Egyptians that they just had a problem with or maybe just Hebrews. But it can feel like that as a believer sometimes, can't it? OK, it can feel like that. The more that you come out from among them spiritually, the more that you give up those old sins. So the more that you just start cleaning up your life, you're giving up those old sins, maybe it's the boozing, maybe for some the drugs, maybe the bad music, maybe the obsessing over effeminate men kicking a ball around or whatever other sport it is, you know, whatever it is, you know, you start getting rid of that out of your life. It stops being as much of an interest for you. Maybe for women it might be a bit different. Maybe the more they start giving up the cross-dressing, the tarty outfits, the inch-thick make-up, the gossip, you know, they're not as interested in that stuff, they're not partaking. For maybe many it's like the rehashed old movies. The more they're just not aware anymore. It's like, no, I haven't seen the latest release. It's probably just a load of the usual old trash. It's probably just another rehashed old idea because no-one seems to have anything original. They've just done the new remake of some old movie that seemed to be a success to try and get a captured audience already at the beginning who wants to watch it for nostalgia's sake, or something else. Or maybe it's a badly acted series, that you're not into that anymore and the old friends just can't deal with it. It's like, well, what do we actually talk about now? Because you don't watch the latest series of just stupid, annoyingly tempting endings to make you want to watch the next one and stay up till even later at night watching something that you just regret in the morning and thought, why on earth did I watch that? Absolute rubbish. The acting was appalling. The plotline was ridiculous. They just added all sorts of smut and gore and everything else just for the sake of it. Why am I watching this? And you stop doing all that, the more you clean your life up, the more you seem to become an abomination. Have you noticed that? The more you're an abomination now, because you're not doing what they do. And isn't that the truth for so many? Isn't that what happens? You clean up, you haven't told them I don't want anything to do with you. You're thinking, well, hopefully I might be able to still give them the gospel. I don't, and something that we shouldn't be doing is just like kicking everyone out of our lives. Unless obviously they're like pure wicked, they're a real problem. But what happens is you end up getting kicked out, but you haven't done anything wrong. You're not doing whatever you were doing in the past anymore, but they don't want anything to do with you anymore. The phone calls get less, the messages, you know, the catch-ups, the invites get less, the less they want to be around you. And that's the funny thing about spiritual separation. If you separate spiritually, yeah, you turn from the old idols. Because a lot of that stuff's just idolatry, isn't it? So you turn from those idols, those gods with a small G that you used to kind of put up here and you used to find it so important, whether it's, you know, the queer football team or whatever it is, you know, whatever sport, whatever it is, it was just so important. You know, you give up that stuff, you turn from that stuff, and the old idolaters will often then physically separate from you. And it's kind of like, it's kind of handy. The problem is if you're not giving up that stuff. The problem is if you're holding onto that stuff and then you're like, one foot in, one foot out, and often they sense that they've still got you. And sometimes it can take a little while because they kind of, they try and probe and see, maybe this Christianity thing won't last that long. We'll try and pull them back in. We'll get them back. And then when they see, no, actually, this person is standing up, you know, they're standing strong on this, they ain't changed, this isn't a fad. And don't ever, you know, you don't want them to ever think it's a fad, do you? This ain't a fad. And when you get to that point, often the physical separation just happens, doesn't it? So, nah, he's not so fun anymore. Or whatever else it is. Now, is that a problem? No, just eat without them. First study two said, and they set on for him by himself and for them by themselves and for the Egyptians, which should eat with him by themselves because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews for that is an abomination to the Egyptian. I mean, the nerve of it, really. But isn't that like that with our lives as well? I mean, it doesn't matter. You could be crawling around in a gutter, covered in your own puke. You could be committing, whether it's adultery or cheating, because that's sadly what it is most of the time on your girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever. You could be living all sorts of wickedness, whatever it is. You could be doing all sorts of drugs, doing all sorts of illegal stuff. You could, whatever. None of that's a problem, but you're now dressing in a skirt. It's an abomination. You're, what? You actually, you're a family man? You're a family woman? Oh, it's disgusting. I can't believe it. What, you worship the God of the Bible? What, you knock on people's doors? It's like, oh, it wouldn't matter what you did before. Oh, what, you used to like getting fights and beat people up? You used to do whatever it is, you know? Or you used to just, you know, constantly just gossip about everyone behind their back? Whatever it is. Oh, none of that's a problem, but you knock on someone's door and try and preach them the gospel, you abomination. How wicked are you? That's seriously, what it's like, is it? They think you're the abomination. You homeschool your kids? Oh, it didn't matter when you sent your kids off, when you let all the sundry look after them, you didn't even care. Well, your sundaes may be spent down the pub with your kids with a load of drunkards, everyone, no one even knows where they are, what they're doing. Oh, no, no, no. No, that's all right. But you take your kids soul-winning? The poor things. My wife had it the other day, this, your children shouldn't be out and about. She said, what, you think we shouldn't be able to take our... No, she said, you don't think children should be outside? Shouldn't be going and knocking on doors. My kid weren't knocking on your door, I was, you know? But it's like, it's bizarre, isn't it, really? And here, they're saying it's an abomination to the Egyptians, and it's them causing the problem, not the Hebrews. But I'm sure they blame the Hebrews. So Hebrews were the problem, they were the, it was them, it was all them, and that's what we deal with, don't we? And the reason, and hopefully the kids growing up here won't have to deal with that so much, because for many here, as first generation Christians, you're kind of, you're trying to put away that old life and stuff, and put away those old people, especially in the early days, and they hate that stuff, don't they? Absolutely hate it. But a lot of the kids here will still be just seen as that, won't they? People will project all that stuff upon them, how wicked they are for just trying to live a clean life. Unbelievable. But nothing new under the sun. Verse 33 said, and they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men marvelled one at another. You can imagine the surprise, okay, that they're now eating with this guy. I mean, now on the way down they're going, what's going to happen next? Simeon's in prison, is it going to be us next? Is it going to be even worse? On the way to the house, they thought he's just looking for an occasion against us, so he can basically just frame us, and then we're really back to rights, you know? Well, it says they're marvelling, they're just like, I can't believe this, they're sitting here eating lunch together. And he took and sent messes unto them from before him. But Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs, and they drank and were merry with him. Now, messes being a portion of food, okay, so he's giving them food to eat, and Benjamin gets this huge feast, it seems, all right? So Benjamin gets, I don't know, he gets five portions. I don't know what the food, I'm assuming it's quite nice. Okay, he obviously slayed some sort of animal. Benjamin gets the big feast, he's continuing with the classic favouritism that's been going on in that family for a while now. But I want to deal with the last part of the verse, okay, because of the changing use of the word merry, because nowadays, many will read this, read this verse, and just assume that the wise Joseph got just a little drunk with him during lunch. So he kind of gave out the food, and then they drank, and then they just got a bit merry, because that's what you do. You know, it's like, Joseph is running the nation, Joseph, you know, is this wise guy and everything else, he just said, yeah, he's got a little bit, little bit. You know, just a bit merry. However, that was never what the word meant, okay? So even over 200 years later, when the Webster's 1828 dictionary was written, so over 200 years after this King James Bible was translated, merry, this is exactly how it says it in the Webster's 1828, merry as an adjective. Gay and noisy, and not, we're not talking about sodomy here, obviously. Gay and noisy, jovial, exhilarated to laughter, okay, and then he gives some examples. Man is a merrier species of the creation. They drank and were merry with him, quoting Genesis 43, 34, with that description being gay and noisy, jovial, exhilarated laughter. Okay, so happy is another word we'd use. Number two, causing laughter or mirth as a merry jest. Number three, brisk as a merry gale. This is a primary sense of the word. So that's quite interesting, isn't it? So merry being used to describe, you know, a sort of wind. Brisk as a merry gale. And number four, pleasant, agreeable, delightful. And then the example is to make merry to be jovial, to indulge in hilarity, to feast with mirth, and then it quotes, or at least it gives a reference to Judges 9.27. Nothing about being slightly drunk. Nothing about alcohol at all, is it? 200 years later, nothing about alcohol. There was no, no one ever used that word and combined it to alcohol. Now it's not to say that people aren't sometimes merry due to alcohol. Gay people do get merry sometimes due to alcohol, but it's a short-lived merriness. So it's not that they're just oh so happy and no, and we even see, there are examples of this in scripture of people being merry because of alcohol, but it's not that the merriness is combined, it's not that it suggests alcohol. Merriness is just being happy, gay, noisy, jovial, exhilarated to laughter. Okay, so turn to Luke 15 to see a very clear example of it being the joy that comes from a feast without alcohol. So Luke chapter 15. Luke 15 is a famous story of the prodigal son. And whatever your beliefs about the pictures in the story, I think most would agree that the father here definitely pictures God. Okay, the father here pictures God in the prodigal son. It says in Luke 15 and verse 20, and he arose, talking about the son and came to his father, but when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said unto him, father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, bring forth the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and be merry. Eat and be merry. No mention of drinking anything, yeah? Verse 24, for this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost, he's found and they began to be merry. So they're happy, they're feasting. Verse 25, now his eldest son was in the field and as he came in true night of the house, he heard music and dancing and he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, thy brother is come and my father has killed the fatted calf because he has received him safe and sound. And he was angry and would not go in, therefore came his father out and entreated him. And he answered and said to his father, lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time of thy commandment and yet thou never gavest me a kid, okay, that's obviously, you know, a young goat here, that I might make merry with my friends. So that he could have a joyful feast, he said. You didn't even give me a kid. Or he would have said, by the way, that he never gave him the special wine, would he? If it was about getting drunk. He would have said, and you didn't even give me the booze so that I could make merry, no, because it's about getting merry with the feast of eating the food, yeah? But as soon as this thy son was come, which had devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, son, now art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead and is alive again and was lost and is found. Not one mention of any sort of drink in the whole passage, agreed? Okay, and the story picturing God isn't about him getting drunk while celebrating either the returning sinner or the Gentiles, whichever way you wanna look at the story in the picture there. So back in Genesis 43, why the emphasising of them drinking then before saying they were merry? It said, and he took and sent messes, in verse 34, the last verse here, chapter 43, and he took and sent messes unto them from before him, but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs, and they drank and were merry with him. Throughout scripture, okay, you see this order when it comes to eating, you might have noticed, they ate and they drank, or worded, they did eat and drink. Yeah, you might have seen that many times scripture. Already in Genesis, we've seen examples of this. So turn to Genesis chapter 24, chapter 24, where Abraham's servant has found Rebekah, and look at verse 54, Genesis 24, 54, it says, Genesis 24, 54, and they did eat and drink. He and the men that were with him and tarried all night, and they rose up in the morning, and he said, send me away unto my master. No, he didn't pause his mission for a boozy night out. Okay, he ate and they did eat and drink. Okay, this was his faithful servant off to find a wife. And then we're gonna look in the next chapter when the faint Esau, claiming to be at the point of death, sold his birthright in Genesis 25, 34, says that Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils, and he did eat and drink, and rose up and went his way, thus Esau despised his birthright. He didn't turn it into a celebratory knees up. He was at the, remember, he was at the point of death. Yeah, he's happy to just have some of this pottage, some of this lentil soup, and he did drink. It wasn't like, okay, time to crack open the strong stuff now that you're recovering. Okay, that's not what happened. Then next chapter, chapter 26, when Abimelech came to make peace with Isaac in Genesis 26, 30, it says, and he made them a feast and they did eat and drink. That's Genesis 26, 30. So instead of nursing a hangover, they then got up early in the morning to leave, okay? So there's no, again, no suggestion that they were drinking booze or anything else. And then when Isaac was about to bless Jacob instead of Esau, okay, then the next chapter, chapter 27, he got given the venison. Okay, Genesis 27, 25 says, or at least what he thought was venison. It says, and he said, bring it near to me and I'll eat of my son's venison that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him and he did eat and he brought him wine and he drank. So why this order? You ever wondered that? Why is it just constantly talking about eating then drinking, eating then drinking? Now I remember years ago studying, I studied nutrition many years ago and one of the teachings that really stuck me right at the beginning was not to drink just before meal. Anyone ever heard this before? Yeah, a few people here. So not to drink, whatever it was, okay, but especially water, is not to drink a load of water before, even during a meal. So the teaching was, if I remember right, it's basically because you end up diluting your stomach acid. So you're guzzling down all this water and then watch, because some people even will have things to help, if people have digestion issues and stuff, they'll actually drink things and have things which will help stimulate stomach acid. Well, the water kind of dilutes it. So what happens is you're guzzling a load of water, whether it's before or during your eating and then you just don't seem to digest so well. And I honestly completely agree with that teaching because some teachers had a nonsense, but when I grew up, that was something I would usually get on most of my fluid during a meal. And I remember me and my family, it was like a kind of habit you kind of fall into in the end. We would be getting through a litre of water each sometimes during a meal and you kind of, there's indigestion, you're burping, you're eating, you're kind of trying to get all this water down at the same time because you're thirsty and that's where you've got used to getting hydrated, rehydrated during a meal. But you just didn't never digest it that well, you know? It was an uncomfortable feeling. So the teaching was that to not drink a load of fluid before or during your eat whilst eating. And when it comes to the wine or juice, which I believe it is in this last example we've just seen here, here's another thing to think about. Aside from that people eat and then drink, is what is something that all cultures will regularly have after a savoury meal? What is something they all have? A dessert, right? Now, I'm not saying you have to have a dessert with every meal, although any of the wives here, you know, probably wouldn't go amiss. Okay? But it's not that you have to have it, but it's a classic thing that people do, especially after a feast, don't they? So people will eat and they have something sweet, and why? Because a lot of the time, even when you're full up and you've eaten a lot of savoury food, there's always room for pudding, isn't there? Okay, so you're always able to have something sweet, and often it's kind of, you almost crave that, don't you, a lot of the time? And you just kind of, it helps you almost, it finishes off a meal nicely, doesn't it? Well, I think that after, I think that after eating a feast, some people, they maybe will have an ice cream or they'll maybe have something which isn't exactly nutty and crunchy and everything else. And another thing some people might have is some sweet juice. And like, it's like an after dinner drink, like some people will go as far as like, sweet alcoholic drinks after a meal, okay? And that's something that people do in certain cultures, certain, I don't want to go into the alcoholic drinks, but people will, it'll be the sweeter drinks as a post-meal drink. Well, but it's the same with the fruit juice or something, it's a concept of basically a sweet dessert to finish your food with. And it's at that point, after a meal and a dessert of some sort, that you're content, aren't you? That's when you're content, that's when you're merry, that's when you're happy, that's when you're done. You know, sometimes, like I talked about before, it's not a good time during meal time to talk about contentious stuff. And a lot of the time it's because you kind of, you can get a bit hangry, can't you? Before that food hits your stomach and everything else, the hangers there and premium. I mean, I look back, when I was young, the worst rows, the worst family arguments, stuff like that, were always before a late Sunday lunch. Because we used to have the late Sunday lunch and it was just that little bit too late and there was a bit of hanger going around and a bit of testosterone and there'd be some row and some fallout and some argument and something else. Often, it was Sundays. I always had a bad, just a bad memory, childhood memories of Sundays. Because Sundays, just a lot of the time, ended up with a bit of a row. But after that meal, if you could avoid the row, everyone was best friends. Because after you've eaten, you've had a nice Sunday lunch, you've had a nice sweet dessert, that's when people are merry, that's when their heart is glad. So, what it's not talking about, and obviously in that last passage that we looked at and just whenever we see it, it's not talking about the sort of wine that Proverbs 20 and verse one said, "'Wine is a mocker, a strong drink is raging, "'and whose server is deceived thereby is not wise.'" So, I don't believe that the wise Joseph is now getting merry on booze. No, they ate, they drank, and probably, having some money and some wealth, it was probably a nice sweet grape juice or something else afterwards, and they're merry. And by the way, that other type of wine, the drinkers of in Scripture are always described as being drunk or drunken. Always. They're even, they have a merry heart because they're drunken. However, as we know, that merry heart doesn't last long, right? So, it said, "'And he took and sent messes unto them from before him, "'but Benjamin's mess was five times "'as much as any of theirs, "'and they drank and were merry with him.'" So, they're happy and content having eaten and finished by drinking that we just see, and that was just, I just went with Genesis because we've already gone over those passages. Throughout the Bible, that's what you see, that order. Eat, then drink, eat, then drink. And maybe that's a good thing to think, if anyone's thought about that and gone, yeah, actually, yeah, I don't always, kind of drink a lot of fluid before or during a meal, and I don't always feel a little bit burpy and stuff like that. Maybe something to try out. But anyway. Now, as with the previous chapters, I believe that the pictures of the tribulation continue here, and they're gonna continue. And look, you'd have to go back and look at, I think it was Genesis chapter 41 and part two to see what I think is a clear start of this picture of the tribulation. And you wouldn't say, just look at this chapter and go, oh yeah, look, clearly the tribulation, but I just think we're continuing that picture. And then eventually we're gonna get to the point where money fails and we're in a cashless society, okay? So for me, I think it's pretty clear once you look at it. But I think that it continues with Jacob, potentially representing God the Father for a point here, and the children of Israel believers with Judah. Judah being the one who the physical line comes from, to Christ, okay? I believe now representing Christ, just in this little passage from verse eight, interceding on their behalf. Look at verse eight, it says, And Judah said unto Israel his father, send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and thou and also our little ones. I will be surety for him, of my hand shalt thou require him. If I bring him not unto thee and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever. And that's the intercession that the Lord Jesus Christ has offered for all believers, that's what I believe that is. I think that the conversation as well with the steward, and I think they're also seeing in that verse eight, you're also seeing that the protection offered by what I think is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the conversation with the steward is a reminder then of God's provision and protection to those serving him in those times. Look at verse 19, it says, And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, verse 19, this is, 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 inn 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 had brought it again in our hand. And 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 has given you treasure in your sacks, I had your money, and you brought Simeon out unto them. So it's God that will sustain us through that time. That's the only way. And that's, you know, often we see, you know, basically enduring to the end, which is what will save you. And that's because it's not because, Oh, well, I'm just kind of enduring in this way. It's because you've been serving God and you're enduring in the Christian life. And therefore that's why physically you can make it through the tribulation because it's God that will then protect you. I think it's beyond our reasoning because all these people go into their bunkers and their, you know, bug out plans or whatever they have. And, you know, they ain't making it, okay. So I think it's tribulation. Let's go and like hole up somewhere and we'll make it. They ain't making it. They'll be the quickest to go. It's those that are enduring in the faith that are soul winning, okay. And then the eating situation that we've just looked at, I think is a picture of the hatred directed to believers. It says in verse 32, and they set on for him by himself, for them by themselves, for the Egyptians which should eat with him by themselves, because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. And you don't have to turn it, but Matthew 10, 22, talking of this time says, and ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, but he that endureth till the end shall be saved. So I think they're just, we're just continuing those pictures. They're smaller ones, but I think it's continuing through. We're going to see more as we carry on through the next few chapters. And that was Genesis 43. And on that, we're going to finish in a word of prayer. Well, thank you for your word. Thank you for, you know, just the many lessons we just constantly get out of your word, Lord, and things that we can look at and inspire kind of other study and other teachings that we can get from other places in your word. And Lord, I pray that you just help us to be wise, help us to learn from some of the warnings that I think, you know, we've got out of there and other passages of scripture. And Lord, and also that as well as being wise, we just, you know, take your word for what it says, not read into your word, not because of a wicked heart, reading, boozing, and alcohol, and other things like so many sadly will do around the world, Lord, but just take your word for what it says. Help us all to just apply what we've heard today. If there are places that we can apply it to our lives, help us to do that. Going forward for the rest of the week and then to all return on Sunday for another day in your house. Jesus, don't pray all this of it.