Genesis 43:1 Commentary and Bible Study

‘The famine was sore in the land.’ Desperation at last forces Jacob to do what he would not otherwise have done. Sore, in the land of promise? Was that consistent with God’s promise to bless Jacob? Calvin asks. What was the purpose of this famine? The blessing was going to come in greater ways than just food, and this was a temporary trial, nor did any of the family perish because of it. It was going to be the means of bringing the sons to repentance, at least outwardly, and hopefully inwardly. It was to fulfil prophecy given to Abraham – ‘Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years’ (Genesis 15:13) – by bringing Israel down into Egypt. It was going to allow Israel to grow and develop as a nation. It would give more time for the Canaanites to become ripe for judgment. It would make opportunity for the plagues and judgment on Pharoah, teaching God’s sovereignty in who he chooses, and his great power celebrated in Scripture – ‘And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance’ (Genesis 15:14). It would lead to the exodus, a type of New Testament conversion, and it would bring about a deliverance of Israel through Joseph, a type of Christ our Saviour. The whole family must have been close to starvation for Jacob to say this, since he knew that the sons were likely to raise the matter of sending Benjamin just as they had done before. But Jacob must take responsibility for the welfare of the family, for this is the family chosen by God, and though there is much confusion in his mind at this point about what God is doing with them, he must try to preserve them as best he can. His faith has wavered, but it has not altogether failed.