Interesting Timelines

“So please, my lord, let me stay here as a slave instead of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.  For how can I return to my father if the boy is not with me?  I couldn’t bear to see the anguish this would cause my father!” [Genesis 44.33-34]

These words were spoken by Judah.  And, just to get an idea of the timeline of everything, it is important to remember that Judah, by this time was already a father to full-grown men himself  He had already "left home" according to Genesis 38.  He had already had ER and Onan whom the LORD killed because they were wicked.  He had already had Shelah, a third son.  He had already been involved in the unimaginably unusual sexual encounter with is daughter-in-law, Tamar, which resulted in the birth of twins, Perez and Zerah.  And, according to what will be read in tomorrow's OYCB reading was at least almost if not already a grandfather to children from Perez.

What does all this mean?

First, it means that the timelines involved in the events in the Bible (read in a matter of minutes) occurred over very long periods of time.  It means that, quite possibly, Judah could have been at least a parent at the time of the ordeal with Joseph first being sold into slavery.  For Benjamin to be referred to as a "boy" would seem to indicate that a line-up of these brothers would span more than just a few years!  

Along this same theme, the fact that the brothers did not recognize Joseph could also indicate a lot of years passing, as no amount of dress or jewelry could mask family recognition to the degree that years of living could.

Another tidbit of information gleaned from this story is that in the day and age this occurred, families were very closely involved with each other!  Even though Judah already had a family of his own, he was still involved in joining his brothers (as a family unit) to go to Egypt to buy food.

A final bit of info I gathered from this story is that Judah (in particular) having come into this unexpected encounter with Joseph with literally years and years of life-experience, certainly by that time understood the loss of a son (as his father had experienced).  

Father, I am sure there is so much more that I have missed or don't understand about this story.  However, I am grateful for the thoughts You have given me today!  Thank You!