QT 12/24/2025 Gen 42:29–38, Emerging out of self-pity

Genesis 42:29–38 (ESV) —

29 When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, 30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. 31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we have never been spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’ 33 Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way. 34 Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’ ”

35 As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. 36 And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me.” 37 Then Reuben said to his father, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.” 38 But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”

 

NOTE: Reuben as the oldest, takes the lead in the family. His proposal is ridiculous -- … you can kill two of your grandchildren if I don't return with Benjamin. Judah will take the lead next time, and his argument will be more reasonable. For Jacob's part, all he seems to do these days is wine and mope -- "All this has come against me" -- as if he was saying that life has been terrible to him. The forgotten person here is Simeon. He is a hot head. He and Levi slaughtered a whole town. He probably was the leader in wanting to kill Joseph, since Reuben, the oldest wanted to rescue him, and Simeon was the next oldest. The previous passage infers that Joseph took Simeon from them (even though they were given the choice). I wonder what God was doing in Simeon's life. He sat in jail a long time, probably months, and had a lot of time to think about the town he slaughtered and Joseph.

 

Jacob's response is pretty typical when we go through hard suffering. All of life could be going well, but when disaster hits, all is forgotten and life seems terrible and not worth it. I've been there. It is a very foolish emotional response, but completely normal. The problem is that Jacob seems to have languished in his pity party ever since Joseph was "killed" and now twenty years later, he is still mourning.

 

It is normal to mourn, to cry out against God, and to be angry with life. But we cannot stay there. At some point, we need to escape our pity party and go on living again. We can't live in a cocoon.

 

PONDER:

1. Am I still struggling with bitterness over something that has happened many years ago?
2. What will it take to emerge and start living in peace, joy, and hope again?
3. Maybe, I need to approach God asking forgiveness and strength to move on?

 

PRAYER: Father, I have been where Jacob languished. Thankfully, you helped me to see my sin and come out of my cocoon of self-pity. Thank you for what I have learned and what I can teach others.