Joseph Finally Meets His Little Brother

By Mary Vee
Genesis 43:15-23


Of course Benjamin had to travel in the middle of the group. His brothers guarded him like he was a baby. They wouldn’t even let him snitch some of the fruits, honey, pistachio nuts, or almonds their father packed to give to the governor in Egypt. And at night, they wouldn’t let him do hardly anything when setting up the camp. “You might hurt yourself,” they said. Benjamin rolled his eyes. Yeah right.

Reuben wouldn’t even tell him where he hid the money. Each brother brought a double payment to make up for the coins found in their sack on the way home the first time. Reuben and Judah wouldn’t let anyone have any fun.

As they drew near to the capital city, Benjamin’s heart pulsed in his head like a drum. The buildings! Magnificent buildings rose high into the sky. Reuben led them down a narrow street of shops. Blankets, pottery, paintings, every kind of food imaginable!

Benjamin strayed to one shop to look inside. Asher grabbed him by the shoulder. “Come on. We need to see the governor before he closes the food line today.”

At the end of the street, Benjamin found himself in a large court packed with people. Judah moved near him. “Stay close to me. I don’t want you getting lost in the crowd.”

The brothers squeezed in line, inching their way to the front. Two hours later they appeared before the governor’s workers. “State your name and business.”

“I’m Reuben bar Jacob. These are my nine brothers. We’ve come to buy food.”

“Reuben bar Jacob, you say?” The worker left his desk. A few minutes later the governor appeared.

Benjamin gazed at the regal governor. He and his brothers bowed. Judah. The governor spoke to a servant then the servant turned to them. “Follow me."

Benjamin stood. "Judah, where's he taking us."

"I don't know. He said he would release Simeon if we brought you. But now I'm not sure what's going on."

The brothers walked closer together whispering as they followed the servant. They turned a corner and walked down a street to a large home. The servant escorted them into a small room and shut the door. Reuben looked around the room. "This is the governor's house!"

Benjamin walked over to the window. "Why did they bring us here?"

"I know why," Levi flung his fingers through his hair then paced. "It's because of the money that was in our sacks. Their going to accuse us of stealing the money."

Asher rolled one fist into his other hand. "They'll take our donkeys and sell us as slaves."

Benjamin's eyes grew wide. "Maybe we shouldn't have come."

Judah took a deep breath. "No harm will come to you, I will see to that."

The steward opened the door and stepped inside. Reuben pushed forward. "Sir, if we've been brought her because of the coins in our sacks, we are innocent. We paid the money. On our journey home, we opened our grain sacks and found what we paid. To prove our innocence, we've brought double the money to pay back our debt. We have no clue how it got in our sack."

The steward held up his hand and smiled. "Don't worry. You are not in trouble. Your God and the God of your father has put the money in your sacks. I received your payment."

Benjamin and the others sighed relief. The steward opened the door and signaled a guard to come forward. The guard entered with a prisoner.

"Simeon!" Benjamin ran forward and gave his older brother a hug. "Simeon, the governor released you!"

Simeon laughed. "That's because he saw you! You got me out of prison, little brother."

God has given several stories in the Bible that show how he uses younger people, shorter people, different people, and all sorts of people to do the jobs needed to be done. Can you think of a time God used you to help someone?