Till Shiloh Comes

by Gilbert, Morris

  Joseph stared at Judah and said, “So … your father is alive.”

  “Yes. You have asked that before. What do you want from us?”

  “Don’t question me!” Joseph snapped. “I will ask the questions here.”

  “Yes, my lord,” Judah answered meekly.

  Joseph stared hard at Judah. “Well, lion head,” he said, “go on. Convince me that you are not spies.”

  Judah shrugged his shoulders slightly. “I know not how to convince you, sir. There are more than seventy in our tribe. All of us are married.”

  “The youngest, he is married too?”

  “Yes. And he has many children.”

  Joseph was shocked. He was still thinking, he discovered, of Benjamin as a little fellow with the ruddy face and curly hair, as he had seen him before he left on his ill-fated trip to Shechem. Now he had to adjust to the idea that Benjamin was grown and married with children even as he himself was.

  Judah made the best plea he could, but it all amounted to his word alone that they were not spies. Finally Joseph said, “You cannot deceive a man like me. As for your innocence, we will see about that. You say you are honest. Good! Bring your youngest brother of whom you speak here. If you will bring him and put him before my face, then I will believe what you have said.”

  “You mean,” Judah whispered, “that we have to make the long trip home and then come back again with our youngest brother?”

  Joseph said, “Not all of you. You are prisoners. I will keep you here. Choose one among you to go back to your home. Let him bring the youngest brother you speak of back, and then we will see.”

  Reuben spoke up. “My lord, my father will never let our youngest brother come to Egypt.”

  “And why not?” Joseph demanded.

  “Our youngest brother is the last remaining son of our father’s True Wife, the one he loved above all else. He loved our dead brother, and his youngest son is all he has left.”

  Joseph’s throat seemed suddenly full when he heard this, but he concealed it by saying, “Nonsense! He would not let you ten die before he would send the other.”

  “Yes, my lord, he would,” Reuben said simply and offered no more.

  “Take them away!” Joseph shouted as if terribly angry. “I will deal with this matter later.”

  ****

  For the next three days the sons of Jacob were kept in a separate part of the palace. It was a fine room with benches running around it and grated apertures to allow in the sunlight. But for shepherds used to the open hills and the sky overhead, it was a prison indeed!

  When they talked at all it was about which one of them should go back, but none of them were ready to undertake that. They were well fed and given pads to sleep on, but as the hours passed, they grew more and more despondent.

  “We will all die in this place,” Levi said in despair.

  “I’m afraid you are right,” Simeon agreed. “This Provider is a hard man.”

  Judah said nothing at all while the others were arguing about who should go back. Finally late one night when the argument had died down, he said, “This calamity has come upon us because of our sin.” A deathly silence fell on the room, and he said, “God does not forget, and He has not forgotten what we did to our brother. We are guilty. We heard his cries, and we refused to have mercy.”

  Reuben lifted his head. “Yes, you are right, Judah. I told you so, and I begged you all not to lay your hands on the boy. Now his blood is on our heads!”

  ****

  The time passed until finally the man called Rashidi came to summon them before the Provider. When they stood before the Ruler of Egypt, ten hearts were trembling and everyone expected the worst.

  “I have considered what you have said, and I have decided to show myself a merciful man,” the Great Provider told them.

  Judah felt a rush of relief flow through him. It weakened his knees, but he stiffened them and listened to the words of the Provider.

  Joseph stared at them for a moment, then said, “One of you will remain here as a hostage. That one there.” He pointed at Simeon, and immediately two guards came forward, took Simeon by the arm, and pulled him out. “He will live until you prove faithful or unfaithful. The other nine of you return to your home. The food you came to buy will be provided.”

  Judah spoke for them all when he said, “We are grateful to you, O Mighty Provider.”

  “Do not be so grateful yet. If you do not return, I will know that you are spies indeed, and your brother’s life will be forfeit. Go now.”

  The brothers stared at him, and Reuben could not help saying, “Did I not tell you how it would be when our brother cried to us? But you would not listen. Therefore his blood is on our head.” His voice was broken, and tears ran down his cheeks.

  Joseph quickly rose and left the room, for he could not contain himself. As soon as he was alone behind the closed doors, he began to weep. “Good Reuben! He still remembers and grieves! He still loves his little brother Joseph!”

  Chapter 28

  Joseph seemed to be walking on air as he entered the inner room of his office.

  Rashidi smiled and said, “You put on a good act, Joseph. They’re convinced that you hate them.”

  “I did do a good job, didn’t I?” Joseph’s eyes were sparkling, and he came over and gave Rashidi such a hard hug it made the other man gasp. “I can barely contain my joy! My father is still alive. And my brother Benjamin is alive too. Oh, how I thank God for His blessing!”

  “Well, you don’t have to squeeze the life out of me!”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Rashidi,” he said, dropping his arms. “It’s just that I’m so happy.”

  “You’re the only man in the world who can be happy greeting a bunch of men who tried to kill you.”

  “That was a long time ago, and as I’ve tried to explain to you, God is in it all.”

  “If you say so.” Rashidi shrugged his shoulders. “You still have a problem.”

  “What problem?”

  “According to what they all say, your father will never let your younger brother come to Egypt.”

  Joseph stared at Rashidi and seemed to lose some of his exuberance. He paced back and forth, stroking his chin, then said, “God has worked so far. He will do the rest of it.”

  “So we’re to release them all except the one hostage?”

  “Yes, but I have a scheme I want you to arrange.”

  “You’re a scheming man, Provider. What shall I do?”

  “I want you to take their money they brought for the food, but before they leave, I want you to put that money back in their sacks.”

  “Give them their money back?”

  “Exactly!” Joseph’s eyes gleamed. He had learned to be somewhat of an actor during his years of administrating the land. He’d had to deal with people on many levels, and if truth be told, there was a little of his father in him. Sometimes he was mischievous, playing jokes on his wife or on Rashidi. Now his eyes gleamed as he said, “Yes, I want you to do this. It will confuse them. They may guess I’ve arranged it, but they won’t know exactly what I’m up to. I’ll leave it to you to accomplish.”

  “It will be as you say, master.”

  “Oh,” Joseph added, “put the money in the top of their sacks so they’ll see it when they open them on their journey away from here.”

  “It’ll scare the wits out of them,” Rashidi said with a shrug. “They won’t know what in the world is happening.”

  “Just do as I say, and I want to have one more meeting with them before they leave.”

  ****

  The meeting took place as Joseph had demanded, and once again the brothers stood in front of the Great Provider. They were frightened half to death of the man, and all of them fell on their faces and pressed their foreheads to the floor.

  “You may rise,” Joseph said in a grand fashion. He had disguised himself once again, and now his eyes went from one to the other. He said harshly, “I have spoken, and you kno
w what you are to do.”

  “Yes, O Great Provider,” Judah said. His voice was clear, but his face was pale, as were the faces of the others. “We will do our best, but I must tell you again our father has never allowed our younger brother to leave his side.”

  “That may be a lie you are making up.”

  “No, Excellency, it is not a lie! It is the exact truth.”

  “Do not think you can deceive a man like me. I can see into men’s hearts.” Joseph stared straight at Judah and saw the man quail before him. “I have spoken! Now, as to the arrangements. You will be given food according to the prices that are now fixed. I will deal with you in an honest way as far as business is concerned. The nine of you will go back, and the arrival of your youngest brother will redeem this brother’s life.” He indicated Simeon, who by this time was reconciled to his fate. He stared back at Joseph without saying a word. Joseph got up and left the room. The nine brothers gathered around Simeon, encouraging him.

  “Don’t be afraid, Simeon,” Reuben said, patting him on the shoulder. “Somehow we’ll persuade Father.”

  “I don’t think so,” Simeon said bluntly. “You know how he is about Benjamin.”

  “Never fear, brother. We will not let you down.”

  Simeon then said something that none of them ever forgot. He had been one of the most violent against Joseph back in the day of their dark hearts, but now he looked straight at Reuben and said, “We had another brother once, and we all failed him, and he was more righteous than I.”

  A silence fell over the group, and then the guards came and said, “Come, fellow,” and all the brothers managed to touch Simeon, shaking his hand or patting him on the shoulder, as he was led away.

  When the brothers had passed outside, Judah said, “Simeon is right. All I can think about is how Joseph cried to us and wept, and we hardened our hearts.”

  “Come, we must go,” Reuben said loudly. “The quicker we get back to Father, the quicker we can start persuading him to let Benjamin return with us.”

  By midmorning the animals were loaded, and the purchase price was weighed out. It was paid mostly in silver rings, which they had brought for that express purpose. The sacks were loaded—huge sacks bulging out over the flanks of the heavily laden beasts. They were ready to leave, but to their surprise the lord named Rashidi provided a meal for them. It was a good meal of lentil soup, sugar-covered raisins, and goat meat that had been cooked to a tender goodness. Despite their troubles, they ate heartily. They were also given food for the first days of their journey.

  “This is the custom in Egypt,” Rashidi told them. “I would advise you to pay close attention to what the Great Provider has told you. He is not a man you can deceive.”

  Dan snapped at him, “We are not deceitful men! We are honest and have told the exact truth!”

  “Ah, I trust that is so, for you may rest assured you will not get anything out of the Lord of the Nile except you bring your brother as he has commanded. And now I counsel you to hurry, for your brother will wait here with some impatience.”

  Reuben walked away toward the lead animal and led the group out of the city. They were all depressed about Simeon, and all were thinking about having to break the news to their father. It was a daunting thought, for Jacob was not a man to change his mind easily.

  They traveled at a fast pace, and there was no talk among them except for the brief break they took at noon when they ate the food that had been provided. All of them seemed to avoid the glances of the others, and all were lost in their own thoughts. It should have been a time of gladness, for the beasts were loaded down with grain, which would be welcome at home, but Reuben said as they were eating, “This food won’t last long shared among seventy people.”

  “No,” Naphtali agreed, “and it won’t do any good to come back again without Benjamin.”

  All afternoon they traveled, and finally at dark they chose a camping ground, a pleasant spot between lime cliffs on one side and rolling plains on the other. There was a well there, and other people had camped before. Quickly they built up a fire, and some of them prepared their evening meal while the others unloaded the donkeys and put the packs together. Others drew water and piled branches for the fire. It was Issachar who fed the animals. Of all the brothers, he had the greatest concern for the beasts—indeed, he even seemed to like them.

  They were just preparing to eat when Issachar went to the feed bag and pulled something out. He stared at it and then shouted, “Reuben, come here quickly!”

  “What is it?” Reuben said. He was bending over the fire, and the smoke was in his eyes. He rubbed them and said, “What do you want?”

  “Look what was in my sack!”

  Reuben tossed another piece of wood on the fire and then walked over to where Issachar was standing. “Look,” he said. “What does it mean, brother?”

  Reuben stared at the ten silver rings Issachar had brought to buy grain. He reached into the bag and picked up the rings, staring at them in his hand.

  “What is it?” Judah asked, coming up beside Reuben.

  Reuben turned and opened his hand. “It’s … it’s some of the money we brought to pay for the food.”

  “What’s it doing in there?” Judah demanded. He turned and said, “Issachar, what have you done?”

  “I haven’t done anything! I just opened the bag and there it was.”

  “Didn’t you give your money to the official?” Reuben demanded.

  “Of course I did! You saw me do it, didn’t you, Gad?”

  All the brothers had gathered around now and were taking a good look at the rings. For a moment they all babbled, firing questions at Issachar, who denied any knowledge of how the rings got into his sack.

  “What in the world could this mean?” Judah whispered.

  “There’s something terribly wrong about this,” Levi said.

  “Yes, there is,” Judah said. Then a thought came to him, and he whirled and ran to his own beast. Jerking the feed bag off of the pommel, he opened it and stared down. “My money is here too,” he said, astonished.

  All of them rushed to open the feed bags, and all of them had the same story. Reuben stood staring down at the money in his own bag, and his mind seemed to be working slowly. “This is insane,” he whispered hoarsely.

  For a moment no one spoke, and then Dan said, “We’ll have to go take this money back.”

  “No, we can’t do that,” Judah said.

  “But they’ll think we stole it.”

  An argument began then, some wanting to go back and some wanting to get away as quickly as possible. Finally Reuben said heavily, “I have no idea what it means, but we can’t go back.”

  “We’ll go to our father,” Judah said. “We’ll convince him that we have to go back and take Benjamin, and when we go back, we’ll give this money back to the Provider.”

  It was not an answer that gave them any comfort, but they saw no other solution. Finally they ate a little, although their appetites were gone, then laid down in their bedrolls. In fact, none of them slept well that night.

  ****

  Tamar had served Jacob his noon meal, a soup made from whatever she could throw together. She had made enough for Benjamin, and father and son had eaten together—the old man silent and Benjamin speaking about his brothers, wondering when they would come back. Tamar waited until they were finished, got their bowls, then retired, but not so far away that she could not hear what they were saying.

  Benjamin had been moody during the absence of his brothers. He still was grieved that he had not been permitted to go, but he had stopped complaining to his father, for that was useless. The two had been talking about the history of his people, and Benjamin, after a long silence, decided to ask about something that had been troubling him for a long time.

  “Father, may I ask you a question that may cause you a little grief?”

  Jacob laughed and reached out and took the young man’s hand and squeezed it. “Of course you c
an. I’m used to people asking me hard questions.”

  “I’ve wondered about it so long, and no one seems to have any answers.”

  “Just ask the question, my son.”

  “How was it that you got the birthright instead of your brother, Esau?”

  Jacob looked at Benjamin in surprise. He would have resented it if any of his other sons had asked such a question, but with Benjamin he could not be angry. “It is not a pleasant story, my son.”

  “But it’s always better to know the truth, isn’t it, Father?”

  “Yes, I think it is.” Jacob picked up a cup that was half filled with the sour milk he liked so well, took a swallow, then put it down. “People do not really understand what happened at that time. What have you heard?”

  Benjamin hesitated, then said, “Well, sir, what I have heard is that my grandmother wanted you to have the blessing instead of Esau, and because your father was old and blind, she disguised you, and you pretended to be Esau, and that’s how you got the blessing.”

  “And what do you think of that, Benjamin?”

  “Well, it doesn’t seem—”

  When Benjamin broke off, Jacob said quietly, “It doesn’t sound honest, does it?”

  “Well, I’m sure the story has been twisted. It’s probably very different. I can’t believe that Grandmother would do such a thing, or that you would, sir.”

  “But we did.” Jacob saw the young man flinch and said quietly, “We did exactly what you said. I remember it so well. Indeed, how could I ever forget it? It changed my whole life. You must remember, my son, that most of life is just one boring day after another, but then there will come one moment when everything changes. It’s like a man bends over to pick up something, and when he straightens up, the whole world around him has changed.”

  “I don’t understand you, Father.”

  “Then listen.” Jacob took another sip of the soured milk and began to speak. Behind him, but staying hidden, Tamar was listening intently.

  “My brother, Esau, was older than I. He was the firstborn, and he deserved the birthright. It was his according to all the traditions of our fathers. There’s no question about that—but there’s one thing that nobody really knows.”