Till Shiloh Comes (39 page)

“Here it is!” Rashidi cried out to the officer who was with him. “Found in the youngest brother's sack. So you are in a bad fix, young man.”

Benjamin did not say a word.

Judah cried out, “Benjamin—tell them you didn't take it!”

But Benjamin's head was down and he remained silent.

Finally Issachar shouted, “You were a fool to take that cup!”

“He didn't take it,” Judah said. “Our brother is not a thief.”

But all the brothers except Reuben and Judah lost their tempers, crying out in agony and grief.

“Your mother was a thief!” Levi shouted. “She stole her father's gods, and you inherited her thieving ways. It's in your blood! Why have you disgraced us?”

“That's enough of that!” Rashidi said. “The rest of you are free. Go back to your home. Only he who took the cup will go with us.”

Judah said at once, “We will all go back with you, sir. Not a one of us will go back to our father's house.”

Judah glared around at his brothers, with Reuben standing by his side. All of the others dropped their eyes, ashamed at their accusations. “Come,” Judah said heavily, “we must look to God in this matter.”

“I think you'd better look to your god,” Rashidi said. “This is serious business. All right, back to the Provider.”

Joseph could not remember a time when he was more tense. He had set the machinery in motion, and now that the final act of the drama was upon him, he found himself unable to sit still. He knew Rashidi would return with his brothers, and over and over he ran through his mind how he would react. He had not left his house but had prowled the rooms, speaking at times to his sons, but his mind was not on them.

Asenath had watched him and finally came to his side and said, “What's the matter, Joseph? You are beside yourself.”

“I am worried about what's going to happen.” He had told her of placing the cup in Benjamin's sack, and she had rebuked him for playing games. She did so now with a frown on her face.

“I don't understand all of this, Joseph. Why don't you just tell them who you are?”

“I want to see if they really have had a change of heart. It's impossible to tell. If I had told them at the very first that I was their brother Joseph, they would have put on faces of repentance. I want to see it happen before they know who I am. I think I will—”

At that moment a servant hurried in. “Master, Lord Rashidi has returned with your brothers.”

“Where are they?”

“He has them in the banquet hall, sir.”

“Shall I go with you?” Asenath asked.

“No, but if all goes well, you will meet them soon. Please do not leave the house.”

“Very well.”

Joseph walked into the room and saw that the face of every brother was drawn and filled with fear—except for Benjamin's. The youngest of the brothers was standing straight, a soldier beside him, and he was looking directly at Joseph. Something passed between the two men, and Joseph said loudly, “I am gravely disappointed in your behavior. You have said all along that you are honest men, and indeed you were truthful in the matter of your youngest brother. But I gave you my hospitality, and you repaid it by stealing something that was very precious to me. I assume that you know your guilt.”

There was silence among the brothers, and then Judah stepped forward. “My lord, we are guilty in that your cup was found among us, but we are not thieves. How the cup came to be among us we do not know, but we can only tell you that we are innocent.”

There was a simple nobility in Judah at that moment. He who had spent years under the burden of guilt and groaned over the treatment of their younger brother, and he who had so mismanaged his own life now stood straight as a tree and faced Joseph courageously.

Joseph was impressed, but he played his role to the hilt. “I am the right hand of Pharaoh, and I know many things. The one thing I do not know is whether all of you sinned or only your youngest. He sat beside me at the table, and I told him the cup was precious to me. The cup was found among his things, and therefore the rest of you are free to go, but the youngest stays with me.”

Judah took a deep breath and moved closer. His voice rang out clearly. “My lord, I must tell you the truth. You cannot detain our youngest brother. You cannot keep him here with you.”

“You say
cannot
to me?” Joseph demanded.

“I must, my lord. But I will make you an offer that I hope you will accept. May I speak from my heart?”

“Speak,” Joseph replied.

“When we came before you at first, you were suspicious of us, master. You asked many questions about our family, and I finally told you that our father had a wife by which he had two sons. The name of one was Joseph, the other was Benjamin. Joseph is gone, and our father clings to Benjamin as a man clings to his dearest possession. To snatch him away would mean the death of our father.”

The room was silent, and Judah gained more dignity as he spoke, holding his head high. “My lord, I believe in the God of my fathers, and I do not understand how the cup got into my younger brother's sack. It is a mystery, but you must remember that you are the one who insisted we bring our brother. It was almost impossible to get our father to consent to this. He spoke for days about his wife Rachel and how he might lose both the sons of his True Wife, but after much weeping, he finally consented. Now we are here, and I, Jacob's fourth son, speak to your heart, my lord. You are a father and have sons whom you love.”

And then Judah, with his massive head and broad shoulders—very much like the lion for which he was named—lifted his voice. “I took the responsibility, and I vowed to my father that if I did not return Benjamin to him, I will answer for it with my own life. And now, O Great Provider, I beg of you—let me stay here instead of my brother. I will be your slave, my lord. Only let Benjamin go home with his brothers.” Judah's voice broke, and he began to weep. “How could I possibly go to my father and not have him with me? He would die, and my heart would break.”

Judah was shaking and his face was pale as he ended his speech, and Joseph rose from his seat, tears running down his cheeks. He cried out, “All of you who are of Egypt, go out at once!”

The guards and Rashidi left. As soon as the door had closed, Joseph stretched out his arms and cried, “I am your brother Joseph!”

The brothers stood stunned, not able to respond. Then Benjamin uttered a strange cry and rushed forward. “Joseph—Joseph!” he sobbed. He threw himself into Joseph's arms and looked up into his face. “You are my brother Joseph! You are not dead!”

Joseph held the trembling form of his brother in his arms, and tears ran freely down his cheeks. He stroked Benjamin's hair as he had done when he was a small child. The two stood locked in an embrace, and finally Joseph turned to the others, but kept his arm around Benjamin's shoulders. He faced the brothers, who were still standing in shocked silence. “Yes, I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into slavery. But you did me no harm, for God has been with me. Now tell me. Is my father truly alive?” The brothers were still unable to speak, so Joseph continued, “Judah, that was a great speech you made, and I embrace you and congratulate you.”

Judah was trembling and weeping, as were most of the other brothers. “Joseph,” he whispered, “I … I can't believe it!”

And then Reuben said hoarsely, “How is it possible, my brother?”

“God did all this,” he said with a sweep of his arm at the elegant surroundings. “It was El Shaddai, the all-powerful One, who planned it from the beginning. He knew the drought was coming, and He sent me to this place so that I would be able to help
you
when the famine came.” And then the brothers gathered around, all talking at the same time. Several of them actually reached out and touched Joseph, and every one of them was suddenly aware of the lifting of a burden they had borne for years.

Finally Joseph said, “We must make many plans. Our father must be brought here, but it must be done gently.”

“Yes,” Benjamin said quickly. He reached up and took Joseph's hand and clung to it. “The shock would kill him. I cannot think how it must be done.”

“We will talk about that later,” Joseph said with a smile. “Now you must meet my wife and two boys. We will eat and drink, all twelve of us. The twelve sons of Jacob!”

There was talk, and the brothers were introduced to Joseph's family. And the next day all of the capital swarmed with the news, and Pharaoh himself was told that Joseph's brothers had come to Egypt.

Pharaoh was happy. He turned to Isiri and said, “We must make them welcome, my dear. After all, we owe everything to Joseph!”

Ephraim and Manasseh were somewhat overwhelmed by their father's eleven brothers. They stared into the bearded faces but were unable to absorb the Hebrew names, for they were so far different from Egyptian ones. Benjamin smiled and knelt down so that he was on the level of the two boys. “Don't be confused by how strange we look,” he said. “We are your uncles, and I hope to become better acquainted with you.”

Ephraim, the more talkative and bolder of the two, said, “Do you have any little boys?”

“Yes, I do, and I hope one day you will be able to play with them and that I can take you all fishing.”

“Do you have any little girls?”

“I have two.”

“I don't like to play with girls,” Ephraim said staunchly.

“I didn't like to play with girls either when I was your age,” Benjamin replied. He got to his feet and turned around and saw that Joseph was watching him with a smile. “You have two fine boys here, brother. I'm sure you must be very proud.”

“I am,” Joseph said, “but it is my wife who deserves the most credit. All of their good qualities come from her.”

Asenath had been only slightly less overwhelmed than her sons by the invasion of Joseph's eleven brothers. But she was a woman of some sophistication and was able to ignore their rather wild and woolly looks as she greeted each of them with an extended hand. Having a good memory, she quickly mastered all of their names.

Issachar and Zebulun were both enchanted by Lady Asenath. Zebulun in particular was so impressed he could not take his eyes off of her. When she found out he wanted to be a sailor, she endeared herself to him forever by saying, “You must let me persuade you to come on a voyage. Your brother and I love ships very much.”

Zebulun was captivated and later said to Joseph, “You have married the most wonderful woman in the world. I love her dearly.”

“So do I, Zebulun,” Joseph laughed, “and indeed we will take you on many voyages as soon as you return with our father.”

Zebulun looked troubled. “Do you think we can persuade him? You know how he is about his homeland.”

“I know, and although he owns only a graveyard there where our fathers are buried, he still thinks of all of that territory as his because God promised Abraham that one day it would be.”

They all sat down to a meal, and the brothers relaxed considerably. They were all listening to Joseph, especially Reuben, who could not take his eyes off of him.

Joseph was aware that there was some awkwardness, and he talked a great deal to Reuben during the meal. “One of my fondest memories is of the time you made my first bow and taught me how to shoot it.”

“That was a long time ago,” Reuben said.

“Yes, it was, but I still remember it. It was a fine bow. I wish I still had it as a keepsake.” When Reuben responded with just a nod, Joseph continued. “I'm anxious to meet your family. Tell me about them.”

Reuben was pleased that Joseph was showing him such attention. At one point he saw that the others were listening to Lady Asenath, and he lowered his voice to confess, “Brother, I failed you.”

“Failed me, Reuben?”

“Yes, you know I did.”

“Why, I know no such thing.”

“I should have stopped my brothers from throwing you into that pit.”

“I think there was very little you could do, Reuben. Please don't torment yourself over something that happened so long ago.”

Reuben looked down at his big hands. He clasped them together and shook his head. Joseph could barely hear his words. “Not a day has gone by since that awful time that I haven't thought about it and hated myself for failing you.”

Joseph was touched by Reuben's words. He had always liked the big man who had been so kind to him when he was a boy. He put his hand on Reuben's shoulder and said, “It was all in God's plan, and it's turned out well. Promise me you won't grieve anymore.”

Reuben turned to face Joseph and managed a small smile. “You're too kind, brother. I can't promise, but I'll do the best I can.”

****

After the meal was over Joseph took time to speak personally to as many of the brothers as he could. He tried not to pay too much attention to Benjamin, but he did have a few moments before the brothers left for the rooms he had provided for them. “I am looking forward to meeting all of your families but especially yours, Benjamin.”

“I think you'll like my wife.” Benjamin smiled shyly. “She's the sweetest woman I ever met.”

“What a fine thing to say!” Joseph exclaimed.

“It's true. You have a fine wife, but mine's even finer, I think.”

“A man should say that. And what about your children? Tell me some more about them.” They had talked about Benjamin's children before, but the subject fascinated Joseph. In the back of his mind he still pictured Benjamin as a small boy with black hair like a helmet as it clung to his round head. He could not imagine that boy having children. “I'm looking forward, brother, to having you here close by me in this country. It would be like a dream. I've missed you more than I can ever say.”