(Genesis) Genesis 42:29-38

Now we read in verse 29, "...and they came unto Jacob their father under the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them, saying, The man who is the Lord of the land, he spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. And we said unto him, We are true men, we are no spies. We be twelve brethren, sons of our father, one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.

And the man, the Lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that you are true men, leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone, and bring your youngest brother unto me. Then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men, so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffic in the land." Now remember, they left Simeon down there in that land. "...And it came to pass, as they emptied their sacks, that behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack.

And when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. And rightly so. They felt like that this was a trick, of course.

And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children. Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away? All these things are against me." Poor old Jacob. He's not the cocky individual we once knew.

He's not quite yet the man of faith. We'll see a little later, but he's growing, and he's not bragging now, but he's very pessimistic. All these things are against me.

His son Joseph would not have said this, but this man did. Paul's going to say it even in a different way, too. Paul's going to say all things work together for good to them that love God.

He's going to say, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Now Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee. Deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.

And he said, My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. Now, this man Jacob's life was wrapped up in the life of this boy Benjamin.

You see, Joseph was his favorite. He was the firstborn of his lovely Rachel, and now Joseph is gone. That was a heartbreak to him.

And now, here is the chance that he may lose this other son of Rachel, and he says, If this takes place, I'll die. And very candidly, he would have. His life was absolutely tied up in the life of this boy Benjamin.

He's the son of my right hand. He's my walking stick. I lean on him.

That's what he had been doing. And now, he's to be taken from me. Well, Jacob says, I'm not going to let him go down.

Well, poor Simon is down there cooling his heels in jail. That's what he's doing. And Jacob says, I'm not going to let Benjamin go.