Judah’s Repentance
Genesis 44:1-45:151
March 25, 2007

[Prayer]

Today’s message is from Genesis 44:1 through 45:15. This is about Joseph’s final test for the brothers (really, God’s final test) and how they responded to it. It’s about repentance and forgiveness.

Before we read today’s passage, I’m going to review, as I’ve been doing, some of the events that led up to it. I’m going to go back to chapter 37 where the brothers sold Joseph into slavery.

Do you remember what the brothers said when Joseph came looking for them out in the field? I’m going to read it:

18They saw him in the distance, and before he had reached them, they plotted to kill him. 19They said to one another, “Here comes that dreamer! 20Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal ate him. Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!” (Genesis 37:18-20)

I think they must have been complaining to each other about Joseph quite a lot before he arrived (“Here comes that dreamer!”) And you can see how little they cared about Joseph. They didn’t care about their own brother. They just wanted to get rid of him—by any means.

You can also see how little they cared about their father, Jacob. They were going to tell him that some wild animal had killed Joseph. How much pain that would cause Jacob, but they didn’t even consider it. They didn’t care just so long as they could get rid of Joseph.

A few verses later, at Judah’s suggestion, they wound up selling Joseph to the Ishmaelites as a slave to be taken to Egypt—far away. It’s wasn’t so that his life would be spared, but so that (I think, anyway) they could somehow feel less guilty. They dipped Joseph’s robe in the blood of a slaughtered goat and brought it to Jacob to lead him to believe that some wild animal had killed Joseph. After that, I doubt if they ever talked about the incident again.

That was chapter 37. Chapter 38 is about Judah’s life. It doesn’t seem to fit into the story. But Judah is a main character in today’s passage. (And, by the way, I used the word character in referring to Judah. We talk about characters in fiction and also about characters in the Bible. I don’t really like to use the word character because these are real people who really lived and the Bible is not fiction!)

Chapter 38 shows the kind of life Judah lived—what I’ve referred to as an ordinary mundane life such as any sinner might live (as opposed to the kind of lives Christians should live, which should be neither sinful nor ordinary nor mundane). I think chapter 38 is in the Bible to show us more about Judah’s life.

Judah’s life was an ordinary sinful life. However, at the end of chapter 38, Judah was going to have his daughter-in-law Tamar burned to death when she became pregnant through prostitution, but when he found out the truth about what had happened, he declared, “She is more righteous than I am.” Judah and Tamar are two of the human ancestors of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Incidentally, I suspect that the other brothers lived lives similar to that of Judah.)

God had been preparing these men—these men that he had chosen—these brothers—in fact, all of the 12 brothers including Joseph, to be the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel. Through them he would give to the world his law, his word and his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but he has revealed himself through his Son Jesus. Through him we are saved from sin and from judgment and from destruction.

Well, the famine came and the famine brought the brothers (except for Benjamin) to Egypt. (And, really, it was God who brought the brothers to Egypt. He used a famine to do it!)

When the brothers came to Joseph to buy grain, Joseph recognized them (I think maybe he was waiting for them), but they didn’t recognize him. He accused them of being spies, locked them up for three days, and finally sent them all back except Simeon, whom he kept locked up. He told them they would have to bring their younger brother back with them if they ever expected to talk to him again. He also threatened them with death if they came back without Benjamin. I’m going to read what they said to each other as a result of this. (They didn’t realize Joseph could understand them because he was speaking through an interpreter. He heard it all.) This is from Genesis 42:21, 22:

21Then they said to each other, “It is plain that we are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his deep distress when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this trouble has come to us.”
22But Reuben replied: “Didn’t I tell you not to harm the boy? But you wouldn’t listen. Now we must account for his blood!” (Genesis 42:21, 22)

...and from Genesis 42:27 and 28 (this is where they were on their way back from Egypt):

27At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his money there at the top of the bag. 28He said to his brothers, “My money has been returned! It’s here in my bag.” Their hearts sank. Trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us?” (Genesis 42:27, 28)

At this point it had been at least 20 years since the brothers sold Joseph into slavery. I don’t think they even talked about what they had done to Joseph (and to their father) to each other or to anyone else in all that time.  But I doubt that it was ever out of their minds for long. Evil men may boast about their evil deeds and then forget about them, but these brothers were not proud of what they had done. When trouble came, even trouble that appeared to be completely unrelated, they ‘knew’ that it was from God. They were being punished.

“What is this God has done to us?” The brothers were right when they concluded they were being punished by God. But though their deeds were very evil and the punishment seemed harsh, it was actually the Lord’s loving discipline, the discipline that brings forth a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who are trained by it. (Heb. 12:11)

Well, when the brothers arrived home without Simeon and told Jacob that if they were ever to expect to talk to Joseph again (and to retrieve Simeon and to buy grain and to return with their lives), they would have to take Benjamin back with them. Jacob said, “No!” But, when they ran out of food, Jacob relented and sent Benjamin back with them.

When they arrived, they were very much afraid of what would happen to them (wouldn’t you be?), but, as it turned out, they had a party. This was the first time in over 20 years that all 12 of the brothers had been together. (Only Joseph knew that, of course.) Genesis 43:12 says, “They drank, and they got drunk with Joseph.”

(Donna asked last week whether they really got drunk. That’s what the HCSB says: “They drank and they got drunk with Joseph.” None of the other translations I looked at say that. They say things like, “They were merry,” “They drank freely” or “They drank abundantly.” However, I looked in the lexicons, and it says that they got drunk. The ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew, the Septuagint, also says they got drunk. So, I think they had quite a party.)

And that brings us up to today’s passage. We’ll take turns reading it as we have the last several weeks, a few paragraphs each.

And remember, as we read the passage, that it’s the word of God. “All Scripture is inspired (breathed out) by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16, 17)

Also, as always, I exhort you to read your Bibles every day. Study and meditate on the word of God. It’s what keeps you alive spiritually (which, incidentally, is far more important than staying alive physically). The word of God is part of the full armor of God which you have to have on at all times to stand against all of Satan’s tactics. The word of God is the sword of the Spirit. Without the word of God, you are defenseless against all the lies of the devil. (And I see the evidence of that all the time. Without the word of God, people—people who say they are Christians—go after every weird, unbiblical and destructive idea that comes along. So, put on the full armor of God. (To see what it is, read Ephesians 6:10-18.)

Now, let’s read the passage. I’ll start and we’ll each read a few paragraphs. It’s Genesis 44:1 through 45:15.

[Read Genesis 44:1-45:15]

There was still one more test, one more training exercise, that the brothers had to go through before Joseph could reveal himself to them. Twenty some years earlier, out of jealousy, they had sold Joseph into slavery (and would have killed him if it hadn’t been for Judah’s suggestion). And, they had had not the least care about the grief their action would bring to their father Jacob. And now Benjamin, Joseph’s only full brother, was Jacob’s favorite son. He, not the other brothers, was the one whom Jacob was afraid to send—was afraid of losing—when he had sent the brothers to buy grain. Now, Benjamin was with them before ‘the man’, before Joseph, and everything seemed to be going well. They had all had a party together and they were ready to go back the next morning. However...there was one more test.

After the banquet, Joseph instructed his steward to put his silver cup into the mouth of Benjamin’s grain sack. Then, when the brothers were on their way, to go after them and accuse them of stealing the cup. The steward was to make it out to be something very valuable, the cup that Joseph used for divination. (Wouldn’t you think something that enabled you to tell the future or to tell what was going on at some distant location would be very valuable? Wouldn’t you think it would be a disaster if you lost it? Well, of course Joseph was able to see the future in certain situations, but it was not the cup that revealed things to him, it was the Almighty God!)

When the steward caught up to the brothers and accused them, they protested that they had brought back the silver that had been placed in the mouths of their sacks, so why would they steal a cup. They sounded very confident: “If any of us is found to have it, he must die, and we also will become my lord’s slaves.” (But I would say that all their hair was probably standing on end at that time.)

The steward said that he accepted the brothers’ proposal, but he modified it quite a bit. The one found with the cup would be his slave and the rest would go free rather than the one found with the cup being put to death and the rest enslaved.

The steward searched each of the brothers’ sacks from the oldest to the youngest (which I’m sure increased their suspense quite a bit). When the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack, the brothers tore their clothes. (Tearing your clothes in the Bible is a gesture of extreme distress.)

Now here’s something important. The steward had told them that only the one who was found with the cup would be his slave and the rest would be held blameless. All but Benjamin could have gone free. They could have just continued on their journey. But they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.

Now listen to this. When Joseph rebuked them and asked them how they could have done such a thing as stealing his special cup, listen to how they answered: (This is Judah speaking, but I believe he is speaking for all of them. They all feel the same way.) “What can we say to my lord?  How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed your servants’ iniquity. We are now my lord’s slaves—both we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

“How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed your servants’ iniquity.” Not, “We are innocent men. Why would we do such a thing? We brought back the silver. Why would we steal a silver cup?” but, “God has exposed your servants’ iniquity.” And they insisted—Judah speaking for all of them insisted—that they would all become Joseph’s slaves. God had exposed their iniquity. But, Joseph insisted that only Benjamin would be his slave.

(Isn’t this amazing? The brothers are being given every opportunity to go free if they’ll just leave Benjamin there with Joseph. They don’t want to do it—even when Joseph insisted that only Benjamin would be his slave. That is a demonstration of God’s grace and power!)

Now listen to Judah’s plea. I’m going to read it again. I think this is the most beautiful speech in the Bible:

18But Judah approached him and said, “Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh. 19My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 20and we answered my lord, ‘We have an elderly father and a young brother, the child of his old age. The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’ 21Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him to me so that I can see him.’ 22But we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.’ 23Then you said to your servants, ‘If your younger brother does not come down with you, you will not see me again.’ [And compare this with their attitude 20 years earlier.]
24 “This is what happened when we went back to your servant my father: We reported your words to him. 25But our father said, ‘Go again, and buy us some food.’ 26We told him, ‘We cannot go down unless our younger brother goes with us. But if our younger brother isn’t with us, we cannot see the man.’ 27Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28One left—I said that he must have been torn to pieces—and I have never seen him again. 29If you also take this one from me and anything happens to him, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.’
30 “So, if I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us—his life is wrapped up with the boy’s life—31when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hairs of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow. 32Your servant became accountable to my father for the boy, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will always bear the guilt for sinning against you, my father.’ 33Now please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave, in place of the boy. Let him go back with his brothers. 34For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the grief that would overwhelm my father.” (Genesis 44:18-34)

Judah is offering himself in place of Benjamin. Isn’t it incredible? This is repentance! He had told Jacob that he would bear the responsibility for Benjamin and that if anything happened to him, he would bear the guilt forever. It didn’t sound like much at the time—“I’ll be guilty forever”—but now we see the result! Greater love has no one than this, that he would lay down his life for his friends! This is the kind of fruit God wants to see! This is where there is much rejoicing in heaven when one sinner repents!

After this, Joseph could no longer control himself. He cried out, “Send everyone away from me!” But he wept so loudly the Egyptians heard it...and even Pharaoh’s household heard it.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph!” They were speechless and they were terrified. But Joseph told them to come close to him. (We need to come close to Jesus, too. Anyone who comes to him, he will never send away. That’s what he says. It’s the word of God.) The brothers came close to Joseph.

Joseph told the brothers not to be worried or angry for selling him into Egypt,...that it was God’s intent for their whole family to come there and to be established in Egypt,...and that they should not think that it was they who had sent him to Egypt, but that it was God who had sent him to Egypt for his good purpose, for their salvation (and for the salvation of many, many others, too).

We should have the kind of thinking and attitude that Joseph had. (I should have the kind of thinking that Joseph had.) God is sovereign over all his creation.  That means he has complete control over everything that happens in it. And nothing at all happens anywhere that God is not aware of. And he loves us. (By the way, if you don’t like what is happening to you and around you and you complain about it, you are complaining against God!)

Joseph told his brothers to go back and to bring their father and the rest of their family to Egypt: “This is what your son Joseph says: ‘God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me without delay.  You can settle in the land of Goshen and be near me—you, your children, and grandchildren, your sheep, cattle, and all you have.’” They would be near Joseph and would be provided for in the land of Goshen throughout the rest of the famine. And Joseph told them to tell Jacob about his glory in Egypt and to bring him quickly.

Verses 14 and 15, the last two verses in today’s passage, say, “Then Joseph threw his arms around Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept on his shoulder. Joseph kissed each of his brothers as he wept, and afterward his brothers talked with him.”

All of these things really happened. God’s had a purpose for them as Joseph pointed out. But I think there is a further purpose in this account. These events give us a picture of what happens when we come as sinners to Jesus. We are welcomed.

And one other thing: The last phrase in verse 15 says, “...and afterward his brothers talked with him.” You almost wouldn’t notice it; but it means that they had fellowship together with Joseph. All that the brothers had done to Joseph was forgiven and they could talk to Joseph without fear and freely and as brothers.

If you come to Jesus and confess your sin and say, “I am guilty and now I am your slave,” you will be able to talk to Jesus freely and have fellowship with him. If you haven’t done that, do it. It’s a matter of life and death. And if you’ve drifted away from trusting and obeying, come back and be close to Jesus. You will be welcomed back!

[Prayer]



END NOTES
1 Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible ®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible ®, Holman CSB ® and HCSB ® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.