Genesis 43:29

They came with their gifts, but found Joseph's feast. It seemed so strange. Brought into his house, they are afraid, they think he is looking for an excuse to attack them. But instead of the punishment they deserved, it is "Peace to you, do not be afraid," and he gave them water to wash their feet. Joseph comes home at noon. Again they bow to him; his heart is moved with yearning love… But when he saw his long-loved brother Benjamin, he could hold back no longer. He said, "God be gracious to you, my son." He hurried out and wept. What a picture of divine grace! My reader, if you only knew the yearning heart of God!

It is Elohim, God in His nature, God sovereign in His action… It is the historic as well as the abstract expression; and so it is in Genesis 43:23, 29… God, or Elohim, stands in contrast with man; Jehovah is His name of relationship; El Shaddai is the proper patriarchal title.

He wept again when he saw Benjamin. He was the son of Joseph's own mother, her only child besides himself, and his birth was also her death. He was also the only one among his father's children — all of them standing in front of him — who had not been guilty of his blood. That is who Joseph saw in Benjamin at that moment. These tears, then, nature could account for.

The tears sprang out of a sense of relationship. Benjamin knew nothing of that relationship yet, but Joseph knew, and he was moved beyond words… The work of conviction and repentance in his brothers had not yet gone deep enough for him to declare that relationship. So he "washed his face and came out," controlling himself. In this way he showed patience in his dealings with them.

But Benjamin, the younger son of Rachel, is of vital interest to Joseph too, far more than the brothers could guess (v. 29). We have seen that he is a type of Christ, the Messiah of Israel reigning in power and glory. Israel must learn to connect a reigning Messiah with a suffering Messiah, as they have never done before. Of course both are one and the same person, the blessed Lord Jesus. But one man alone cannot give an adequate picture of what only Christ displays in perfection.

First, there is Joseph, the saviour who receives them and provides for them; the dreamer, once rejected but now exalted, to whom they come. Second, there is Benjamin, the true propitiation, by whom they come. Joseph could only receive them in connection with Benjamin. In the same way, Christ can only receive and pardon those who come on the ground of His own person and merits. We come to Christ and with Christ. This is exactly what the "old man," Jacob, tries to avoid. When he can avoid it no longer, he prepares his gift of balm, honey and the rest, putting Benjamin last… But Benjamin was all that was needed. It is strange that the more Jacob adds to Benjamin, the more uneasy he gets. The sinner who relies wholly and only on Christ always has a more settled peace and assurance than the one who wants to add his own good works or religiousness. I do not say a more settled salvation.