We are in still in chapter 42 of Genesis with our word for today. דָּרַשׁ seek with care, care for, inquire about, investigate, be intent on, accounting. It is used 164 times in the Old Testament. We see it used in the sense of searching. Deuteronomy 4:29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you תִדְרְשֶׁ֔נּוּ search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. 1 Chronicles 16:11 דִּרְשׁ֤וּ Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! We also see our word used in the sense of inquiring. Genesis 25:22 The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to לִדְרֹ֥שׁ inquire of the Lord. And it’s used in the sense of demanding or reckoning. Genesis 9:5 And for your lifeblood I will require a אֶדְרֹ֔שׁ reckoning: from every beast I will אֶדְרְשֶׁ֑נּוּ require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a אֶדְרֹ֖שׁ reckoning for the life of man. Psalm 10:13 Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, “You will not call to תִּדְרֹֽשׁ account”? This is the same sense our word is used in our chapter today. Genesis 42:22 And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a נִדְרָֽשׁ reckoning for his blood.” As we have looked at several days now that Joseph was orchestrating events so that his brothers would have to face the evil they did to him. What is interesting is that this touches Joseph’s heart. He is not coldly planning revenge against his brothers instead he is affected greatly by it as we see in the next verse. Genesis 42:24-25 They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. Then he turned away from them and wept. And he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man's money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them.
Again, we see Joseph being a great example for us of a godliness. Even when God allows us to go through difficult challenges and orchestrates them because it causes us pain it also hurts God. And God just can’t ignore sin because it is that bad. It is so bad that someone has to pay for it to be held to account for it. There has to be a reckoning. And thank God Jesus was the only one who could pay for your sins and mine. Putting Jesus to death of the cross greatly affected God but he did it anyway to save us. The best picture of this is when Jesus waits to raise Lazarus from the dead. I’ll close with this amazing picture of God being affected emotionally by what he had to do but still going through it because goodness would be the result. John 11:6, 14-15, 17, 21-23, 32-41, 43-44 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone …he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
