Why did Jacob fear that harm might come to Benjamin? There are at least two reasons this might be
so and I believe it is probably a combination of the two. It could be that he didn't trust the older
sons, the children not of Rachel, that he didn't completely believe their story
about Joseph. It could be simply that he
loved Benjamin more than the rest because he was Rachel's child and didn't want
to lose him. In verse six, after many
years, we see the fulfillment of Joseph's dream of his brothers bowing before
him. Joseph, remembering not only his
dreams but also these men's treatment of him, treats them roughly, accusing
them of being spies, come to see "the nakedness of the land", that
there is famine here. Are they spies for
the Canaanites? Their response is
quickly that they don't represent a nation, they are all sons of one man, a
family. They continue to count him,
Joseph, as one of them, although he is "no more." Joseph determines to test them, they must
produce the other brother, the one with their father, if they are to be
believed and allowed to return. What do
they mean by "no more." Do
they really believe their own story about him being eaten as the best possible
explanation?
Jesus' family went out to seize Him because they were saying
He was out of His mind. Can you imagine
that? Surely they knew the story about
His birth, the visitation from the angel to both mom and dad, the words of Anna
the prophetess, Simeon, and all that He had done. Nonetheless, they thought He was out of His
mind. Piling on, the scribes from
Jerusalem come and accuse Jesus of being full of Beelzebul and now they have
gone a step too far, they have committed blasphemy against the Spirit and been
completely illogical in the process.
When His family comes again,
Jesus refuses to see them but in the process gives a new meaning of the word
family, those who know and do the will of God.
So the Epistle continues the theme of the day, family, but
in an eyebrow-raising way. A man in the
church in Corinth has his father's wife, presumably not his mother. Paul is completely outraged at the lack of
sexual ethics and mores in the church that the man is not being disciplined for
his conduct. Paul's words are clear, the
man should be removed from the fellowship.
We almost never see churches exercise Godly discipline today. Family relationships are mean to be the
primary place where we learn about morals and ethics and discipline is
sometimes the only way to effect change.
Tolerance in the family teaches that anything goes. Ultimately, the family becomes as
dysfunctional as Jacob's family was when Joseph was sold into slavery.
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