Genesis 42-44
Key Verse 44:33

*JOSEPH REMEMBERS HIS DREAMS (42:1)

1. Why did Jacob send 10 of his sons to Egypt? (1?5) How urgent was their problem in Canaan? Why did he not send Benjamin?

2. Describe the initial meeting of Joseph with his brothers. What did Joseph think of when they bowed down before him? (9a) What does this show about his faith?

3. When he accused them of being spies, what information did they divulge about themselves and their family? How did Joseph propose to test them to prove that they were not spies? (9b?17) What was the new proposal Joseph made after keeping them in prison for 3 days? (18-20) Why?

4. When the brothers talked among themselves, what did they reveal about their their burden of guilt?

5. When Joseph heard them confess their great sin against him, how did he react? Why do you think he wept? What does this
suggest about his motives for giving his brothers a hard time?

6. What additional anxiety did Joseph give his brothers? (24b-26) When the brothers discovered the money in their grain sacks, why weren't they happy about getting it back? What was their reaction?(27-28,35)

7. What report did the brothers give to their father Jacob,(29-34) and what was his reaction? What reveals the bitterness and fatalism in Jacob's heart? (36-38)

*JUDAH'S CHANGE (43-44)

8. Why and how the brothers urge Jacob to send Benjamin with them back to Egypt? Why did he refuse?  Who finally pursuaded him and how? What does this show about Judah?

9. When they arrived in Egypt with Benjamin, how did Joseph receive them? Why were they so frightened? (43:14-25)

10. What shows Joseph's genuine love for them? How did his kindness become a great burden to them? What surprised them most?

11. What serious problem did Joseph create for his brothers as they were leaving Egypt? (44:1-13) Why do you think he did this?

12. How did Judah respond to the crisis? Look at his speech before Joseph. What evidence can you find of a real change in him?

13. What light does this change in Judah throw on Joseph's real motives for giving his brothers a hard time? How did God use Joseph to change Jacob's sons into men who could be patriarchs of faith?