“But he said, “Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money.” (How deeply special! Reminiscent of the angel Gabriel’s words to the young Mary, beseeching her not to be afraid and reassuring her that indeed she has found favour with The Most High God, here a similar message is relayed to The Tribes of Israel as it were: permission not to fear; a message of Divine Favour and Providence and the Promise of Peace ☺. Again we also see the comparison between God & his messenger the angel and Joseph here representative of God & his messenger steward: authorised to speak on his behalf. Indeed, as alluded to earlier it is abundantly clear that this young Egyptian steward has been in the presence and under the tutelage of Joseph, for he speaks wisely, authoritatively and is by no means swayed by the doubts, fears, false guilt and insecurity of the brothers. He has evidently been drawn by The Father Himself unto a saving Faith [please see John 6:44] in The Son [our Beloved Lord Jesus represented here in Joseph: A True Child of The Most High God], for he speaks as one led by the Spirit of God and, despite his pagan Egyptian upbringing is well able to acknowledge and profess that The One True God is indeed The God of Israel, as evidenced in the phrase: “your God and the God of your father“.) Then he brought Simeon out to them. (And so we have the Tribes of Israel complete in number once more; having successfully survived their most recent trials [that of Simeon and Judah markedly different from that of the other brothers] – cause enough already for much celebration and expression of deep gratitude unto the Lord – they are yet ignorant of the glorious events that are about to unfold.) So the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed. (We are again also invited to marvel at the degree of authority and intimate involvement awarded this faithful young steward as he continues to act, not only as messenger, but effective proxy for his master Joseph: essentially causing the manifestation of his will to be done, acting in the same gentle, generous, kindly spirit his master would have; extending the very same courtesies. I also cannot help but delight in the fact that the brothers initially feared that their dear donkeys would also be taken as animal slaves and they themselves as human slaves and yet here we see that not only in stark comparison to what they anticipated, are their needs seen to, but that of their little donkeys as well! A blessed, full-circle relation of events that we have come to know and love in the inspired authors of The Word of God, nay, in the very character of God Himself – the God who empathises with the tender love and regard that the righteous have for their animals ☺. One final image worth mentioning is the “giving of [Living] water” and “washing of feet” so intimately associated with the ministry of Our Lord Jesus here on the earth, so perfectly imitated in those True Children of God and their respective ministries as not only harbingers of what is to come, but the very evidence of the core Truths of The Gospel reiterated again and again throughout all ages.) Then they made the present ready for Joseph’s coming at noon, (be it prudence or scepticism, the brothers appear to behave as if they cannot presume to take for granted that the kindly words and gestures of the steward automatically represent that of the Great Lord Joseph; they seem to be preparing their present yet as ones who seek to appease the wrath of one whose mercy they are frightfully dependent on – can they risk heeding the steward’s exhortation not to fear, lest they be caught off guard? let us not forget, these men are acutely aware of their own integral guilt, just as we are when approaching the Father. Were they to know who Joseph actually is, it would only magnify this scathing conviction of guilt all the more for it is against him that they have sinned most abominably, again, just as we know that it is against God that we have sinned most wretchedly; this is precisely why the Gospel message of forgiveness and redemption through a righteousness not our own is so glorious: it is almost impossible by human reasoning to accept such Good News; which is precisely why the exhortation not to fear and to be “with Peace” seems almost irrational when scrutinised under the lens of human reasoning and also why the brothers instinctively seem to be erring on the side of safety) for they heard that they would eat bread there (and finally, here we are given yet more eternal imagery, ultimately fully extrapolated on in the Words of Our Lord Jesus under the New Covenant; not only does He give us the Living Water that will cause us never to thirst again, but He Is the Living Bread that has come down from heaven [See John 6] that will cause us never to hunger. So here we have a steward who has been instructed by his Lord, or instinctively led by The Spirit of his Lord, to wash the feet [aka forgive the remnant daily sins from a whole body already declared righteous], provide Living Water and The Bread come down from Heaven to The Tribes of Israel: what blessed blessed confirmation of The Perfect Work of the Father’s Hands! In the meantime, within the minutiae of lived experience within the constraints of time I can only imagine the mixed feelings of the brothers, the promise of satiation and assurance of Peace given them, but dare they receive such wonderful promises as little children? – would it not be more prudent to cling to feelings of trepidation and fearful anticipation instead . . . ?).”

“²³But he said, “Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

²⁴So the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed. ²⁵Then they made the present ready for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they would eat bread there.”

– Genesis 43:23-25 (NKJV)