A Journey Through the Bible, Part 22

Old Testament

Genesis 43 and 44

Genesis 43:34—“Then he took servings to them from before him, but Benjamin's serving was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.” Jacob’s 11 sons return to Egypt, this time bringing Benjamin with them as Joseph had demanded. Joseph invites them to dine with him, and verse 34 indicates that he had acquired a bit of his father’s nepotism. Joseph is going to show favoritism to Benjamin twice in the Genesis account; they were full brothers, both being the son of Rachel. In chapter 43, it’s possible that Joseph is showing this partiality to Benjamin to see how his brothers would react—would they be offended as they were when Jacob favored Joseph? There is no indication of such animosity here. Later in Genesis, however, Joseph will superfluously prefer Benjamin and it doesn’t look good. Yet, his other brothers give no indication of ill will against Joseph for doing so. They have matured and that’s much of what Joseph was attempting to determine.

Genesis 44:17—“But he said, "Far be it from me that I should do so; the man in whose hand the cup was found, he shall be my slave. And as for you, go up in peace to your father." This is the apex of Joseph’s test of his brothers—will they sell out Benjamin, who was currently their father’s favorite, they way they had done Joseph 22 years before? Were they the same men or had they changed? It would have been interesting to see what Joseph would have done had the 10 brothers said to Benjamin, “See you later, pal, we’re going home.” But, of course, Judah comes to the rescue and Joseph now knows that his brothers have developed into much better men than they had been before.

New Testament

Matthew 24

Matthew 24:34—“Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.” As I argue extensively in my “New Testament Chapter Summaries” blog, verses 4-35 of Matthew 24 apply to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. This is contrary to what I consider a gross misunderstanding by premillennialists, who wish to apply this section to the Second Coming of Christ. Verse 34 indicates that the generation currently alive would witness the things Jesus had just been talking about. Well, obviously that would fit the 70 A.D. thesis, and not the Second Coming theory. How do the premillennialists get around that? They do so by claiming that the word “generation” can mean “race,” which, thus, “this race”—i.e., Jews—“will not pass away…,” which can obviously stretch indefinitely. There are a couple of things wrong with this. To be fair, the Greek word used here can be translated “race,” but there isn’t one single instance in the KJV New Testament where it is, and it’s found 42 times (if I added correctly). So the scholars who knew the language best, chose the word “generation.” Plus, I personally have a tiny bit of a problem with calling the Jewish people a “race.” Judaism is a religion, not a “race.” If I were to convert to Judaism, that wouldn’t change my race, that would change my religion. Now, again, to try for equanimity here, the idea of “race” can be considered as those bound by a common descent, which the Jews would be. And indeed, any Jew who converted to Christianity would still be a descendent of Abraham. But Jesus condemns the Jewish abuse of Judaism as a religion; he never censures the Jews as a “race” of people. So the whole context and construction of the language and religion forbids the word “generation” in Matthew 24:34 being translated “race.” Indeed, if it weren’t for premillennialism trying to pilfer this passage for its erroneous doctrine, no one would have ever considered Jesus meaning anything other than the “generation” to whom He was talking.