“Then it happened as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly each man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. (In light of the true account of all that had transpired that the brothers relayed to their father, this peculiar discovery of fortune truly can only be interpreted by him as a plot against them. If the brothers had any deep-seated subconscious inkling as to the Egyptian ruler’s true identity, their father has none, for neither has he met him, nor does he believe Joseph to be amongst the living. No, assuredly what Jacob sees here, if what his sons have told him is accurate, circumstantially only predicts calamity, giving rise to great fear.) And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me.” (Bear in mind that the brothers have already suffered greatly in their own interpretation as to how these events are linked to their sin against Joseph, and not unjustly so [also see Psalm 17 and verse 1]. This part of their experience they could not relay to their father of course if they wish to continue in their age-old lie; and yet, how uncomfortably circumstances have conspired against them to bring to their father’s remembrance precisely this very issue – at this point the brothers cannot escape the stark reality of their sin as it literally rears its head repeatedly wherever they now turn – can you imagine the anguish?! Dear brothers and sisters let this compel us to confess our wrongdoing in full as soon as we can, however painful, accepting the consequences and baring the punishment bravely, lest we be so tormented and further entangled by our sin. Not only are the brothers confronted with the pain they have caused their father in the past all over again, circumstances have conspired such that they are now obligated to injure their father in the same horrifying way again, doubly so and this time without their consent! It seems the burning coals are just being heaped and heaped upon their heads without mercy and with no way of escape. Their initial sin seems to have developed a life of its own and now seems to be claiming incrementally more and more lives in its wake. Now, however painful this experience might be for the brothers it is imperatively necessary so that when the cool balm of relief of Mercy and Forgiveness is finally awarded them, they may recognise in the Fear of the Lord that it does not come cheaply, is not a thing to be esteemed lightly or disregarded, for God is not mocked [Galatians 6] and if Mercy did not triumph over judgment [James 2:13] their fate would be completely different.) Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “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.” (In full recognition of the severity of the situation, more so than Jacob could ever imagine at this point, Reuben does a thing most of us understand all too well from previous seasons in our infancy as believers: attempting to repay our sins in our own strength by punishing ourselves with a cruelty and severity we somehow hope will appease what we still secretly believe is a wrathful angry God who opposes us, this being before our revelation of the true atoning work of Christ is full whereby we are convinced that God looks upon us with Kindness, Gentleness and Tender Love as we are truly, truly reconciled to Him in Christ. Furthermore, I am convinced that the problem the brothers attempted to remedy in getting rid of Joseph in the first place, cruelly and ironically re-manifested itself in their father’s special attention and doting upon Benjamin, his second son by Rachel. Horrified by- and still suffering the bitter consequences of their sin against Joseph, I am certain the brothers wouldn’t harm a hair on young Benjamin’s head however and have certainly confronted in themselves the childhood jealousy that moved them to such a grievous sin in the first place; allowing it no place in their hearts a second fateful time. It follows therefore that Reuben is essentially offering up his only two sons as propitiation for Joseph and Benjamin. For even though Jacob makes specific reference to Simeon as well without prejudice, it is evident that the self-hatred that often makes its home with those who have yielded to condemnation and it’s inevitable bitter root of insatiable guilt has been generalised from Reuben’s heart to include all of the brothers who share in this guilt. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had simultaneously elevated both Benjamin and Joseph as pure, innocent, almost angelic in his mind – the innocent victims of their wickedness, as the masochistic knife of guilt is turned again and again in this age-old wound. As with all things however, the Lord is forever working all things together for the Good of those who are called according to His purpose and this altered view of Joseph will of course soon prove true and prepare the foundation for the honour that Joseph has always been destined to receive from his brothers; having now been sanctified unto Christlikeness and Sainthood and soon to become the one who literally forgives and saves them as a further extension of his mirroring of the True Christ, rendering it all the more fitting 😊.) But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, (how interesting to note here that Jacob is still afflicted with doubting the Lord’s ability to watch over his children on the journey [being completely blind to the blatantly obvious facts of their having just made the journey twice unharmed, mind you] more so than he fears the unjust behaviour of this foreign ruler – who is essentially a stranger to him – to bring harm to Benjamin once there; as mentioned before, this is as a direct result of the far-reaching consequences of the brothers’ sin against Joseph, wounding Jacob most dangerously in the area of his Faith in God: possibly the greatest offense of their sin; for as far as Jacob is concerned, Joseph perished as a “calamity [that befell] him along the way in which [he went]” on his way to his brothers, just as he fears Benjamin will here) then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.” (A painful reminder that this truly will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back; without knowing it Jacob is essentially summarising and declaring the full effect of what the brothers had already done to their dear undeserving Father and now threaten to do to him again, even ultimately causing his very death; only this time it is completely outside of their control – it is but the ripple effect of their original sin torturing and condemning them without relenting, or at least so they believe . . . What is also interesting here is the effect that Reuben’s words had on Jacob, I believe it to be subconscious, but along the vein of Reuben’s reasoning just prior to this statement, Jacob has now since also disregarded Simeon and is now also highlighting Joseph and Benjamin only. How frighteningly powerful are our words and sentiments to shift the atmosphere and affect those around us!) 

“³⁵Then it happened as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly each man’s bundle of money was in the sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. ³⁶And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me.”

³⁷Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “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.”

³⁸But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.“

– Genesis 42:35-38 (NKJV)