Genesis 42:26-38

²⁶ Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and left.

²⁷ But when one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack.

²⁸ He said to his brothers, “My money has been put back; here it is in the mouth of my sack!” Their hearts failed them when they discovered this, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”

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 harshly to us and thought that we were 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, ‘This is how I will determine 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 will know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will give your brother back to you, and you will trade in the land.'”

³⁵ When they emptied their sacks, see, 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. Everything is going against me.”

³⁷ Then Reuben said to his father, “If I do not bring him back to you, you can kill my two sons. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.”

³⁸ But he said, “My son will not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If injury should happen to him on the trip that you are to take, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”

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blame or believe

There are two instances in this passage of people responding to adversity by blaming others. Interestingly, both are correct. The brothers of Joseph were correct in blaming God for the predicament that they found themselves in. They asked, “What is this that God has done to us?” A reckoning had come, and God had them just as surely trapped as their brother had been when they threw him into the pit, or sold him into slavery.

Also, Jacob was correct when he blamed his sons for his dilemma. He was not right in assuming that Joseph was dead, but he had every reason to believe that. He also knew that his other sons were somehow responsible for the mess he was in.

But the problem with blaming others is that it gets us nowhere. The only thing that helps when we face severe challenges in our life is a strong faith in God. Blaming him or others corrupts that faith. The LORD is looking for a people who dare to envision a future in which God has rescued us from our troubles, and restored us to what he wants.

LORD, forgive us for blaming others – for focusing on the past. Give us the wisdom to look for your rescue, and the glorious future which is in your will.