Failure delays progress, obedience accelerates destiny

 

Jacob was used to bribe

Jacob had learned, through long experience, to negotiate danger with generosity. When he feared his brother Esau, he sent lavish gifts ahead of him, hoping to soften a hostile heart. Years later, he applied the same wisdom when sending his sons back to Egypt, believing that a present would win favor with the powerful ruler they faced, unaware that this ruler was his own son. Jacob instructed his sons to take some of the best fruits of the land, balm, honey, spices, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds as a present to Joseph.

Take some of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and carry down a present for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds (Genesis 43:11).

For Joseph, however, this moment was deeply emotional. More than twenty years had passed since he last saw his brothers (eleven years as a slave, two in prison, and seven of abundance in Egypt). Seeing Benjamin, his only full brother, overwhelmed him with emotion and reopened wounds long buried. The half-brothers, burdened by guilt, fully expected punishment. They assumed, and rightly so by human standards, that they deserved to be enslaved.

 

Yet Joseph responded not with vengeance but with kindness. His mercy was not weakness, it was purposeful grace. Through generosity, restraint, and love, God was at work, using Joseph to draw his brothers toward confession, repentance, and reconciliation. Divine goodness, not retribution, became the instrument that transformed hardened hearts and restored a broken family.

 

This separation is clearly illustrated as the Egyptians set Joseph a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves. The Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that was an abomination to the Egyptians. Even with Joseph’s immense authority and status, racial and cultural boundaries could not be crossed. Egyptian prejudice unintentionally served God’s covenantal plan by keeping Israel isolated.

So they set him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians (Genesis 43:32).

Joseph then orchestrated a deeper moral test. Benjamin, his only full brother, was served a portion five times greater than that of the others. This was not favoritism, it was examination. Years earlier, jealousy had driven the brothers to sell Joseph into slavery. Now, faced again with unequal treatment, their hearts were being weighed. Would envy resurface, or had repentance taken root?

 

The test revealed transformation. They no longer reacted with resentment. God had used time, hardship, and grace to change them. The lesson is unmistakable, when God tests us and we respond rightly, the test need not be repeated. Failure delays progress, obedience accelerates destiny. Learn to pass tests the first time, because unresolved character issues will always resurface until they are healed.

George G. Ruheni, PhD.

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