A Case of Misery

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

A CASE OF MISERY

Gen 44:21-34

21 "Then you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.' 22 And we said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.' 23 But you told your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.' 24 When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said. 25 "Then our father said, 'Go back and buy a little more food.' 26 But we said, 'We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.' 27 "Your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28 One of them went away from me, and I said, "He has surely been torn to pieces." And I have not seen him since. 29 If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.' 30 "So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy's life, 31 sees that the boy isn't there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow. 32 Your servant guaranteed the boy's safety to my father. I said, 'If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!' 33 "Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord's slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. 34 How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father."

NIV

Judah’s concern for his father’s well-being is outstanding as he offers himself to be the servant of the lord of Egypt just so Benjamin can return to his father. He explains the case of how his father, Jacob, or Israel’s life is so closely tied to the two sons of his wife Rachel and that one is no more, surely torn to pieces, and Benjamin is the only one left. We know Joseph knows all this and we will see his reaction in the next chapter of this story. However, for now, the story is about this man Judah having so much concern about his father having so much misery over not having Benjamin return, he would die. We wonder if that much misery could cause a person’s body to simply shut down and evidentially die. Israel is surely an old man by now with his gray hair so maybe that kind of misery could be greater to the aged, and cause physical harm, even death. We know there are all sorts of events that happen in our lives, and even the loss of a loved one and some have had to lose a child which seems to go against the normal scheme of life. It is natural for children to lose parents through death, but Israel has already lost one son and now could not bear to lose another. His misery would be too great to bear. Judah knows this and tries his best to honor his word to his father. From the next chapter, we know Joseph cannot let this go on any further for he too must feel the pain that would be put upon his father. But let us take that lesson to heart. Is it possible that we could be a cause for someone to experience misery? However, we also want to consider our own soul or spirit, and misery could affect our health. Why would we feel that badly, feel that misery if we are people of faith? Sure, the loss of a loved one, not being with them is not the best experience in life, in fact, it might be one of the hardest. Yet, what does it mean to be a believer? God is our refuge, He is our fortress, our stronghold, our help in ever-present trouble. He is our Rock. He is the one who carries us through the most difficult of times. Because we believe and trust is our God who sent his Son Jesus to take away all our sins, giving us eternal life, we should be able to bear up under those difficult experiences without going into misery that would take our gray hair down to the grave. Going down to the grave might be a metaphor for dying inside, shutting down internally, void of the joy of the Lord. Either way, we as believers should always keep our eyes on Jesus, and look full into his wonderful face, and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.