Now, Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house.
Fill the men's sacks with as much food as they can carry,
and put each man's silver in the mouth of his sack.
Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one's sack,
along with the silver for his grain.
And he did as Joseph said.
As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys.
They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward,
go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them,
why have you repaid good with evil?
Isn't the cup my master drinks from, and isn't this the cup my master drinks from,
and also uses for divination?
This is a wicked thing you have done.
When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them.
But they said to him, why does my Lord say such things?
Far be it from your servants to do anything like that.
We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan
the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks.
So why would we steal silver or gold from your master's house?
If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die,
and the rest of us will become my Lord's slaves.
Very well, then he said, let it be as you say.
Whoever is found to have it will become my slave.
The rest of you will be free from blame.
Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it.
Then the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest.
And the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.
At this they tore their clothes.
Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.
Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in,
and they threw themselves to the ground before him.
Joseph said to them, what is this you have done?
Don't you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?
What can we say to my Lord? Judah replied.
What can we say?
How can we prove our innocence?
God has uncovered your servant's guilt.
We are now my Lord's slaves.
We ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup.
But Joseph said, far be it from me to do such a thing.
Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave.
The rest of you go back to your father in peace.
Then Judah went up to him and said, please, my Lord, let your servants speak a word to my Lord.
Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself.
My Lord asked his servants, do you have a father or a brother?
And we answered, we have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age.
His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother's sons left.
And his father loves him.
Then you said to your servants, bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.
And we said to my Lord, the boy cannot leave his father.
If he leaves him, his father will die.
But you told your servants, unless your youngest brother comes down with you,
you will not see my face again.
When we went back to your servant, my father, we told him what my Lord had said.
Then our father said, go back and buy a little more food.
But we said we cannot go down.
Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go.
We cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.
Your servant, my father, said to us, you know that my wife bore me two sons.
One of them went away from me, and I said, he has surely been torn to pieces,
and I have not seen him sinned.
If you take this one from me too, and harm comes to him,
you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.
So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant, my father,
and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy's life,
sees that the boy isn't there, he will die.
Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow.
Your servant guaranteed the boy's safety to my father.
I said, if I do not bring him back to you,
I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life.
Now then, please let your servant remain here as my Lord's slave in place of the boy,
and let the boy return with his brothers.
How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me?
No, do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father.
Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants,
and he cried out, make everyone leave my presence.
So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers,
and he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him,
and Pharaoh's household heard about it.
Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph.
Is my father still living?
But his brothers were not able to answer him,
because they were terrified at his presence.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, come close to me.
When they had done so, he said, I am your brother Joseph,
the one you sold into Egypt, and now do not be distressed,
and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here,
because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.
For two years now, there has been famine in the land,
and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping.
But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth,
and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.
He made me father to Pharaoh,
Lord of his entire household, and ruler of all Egypt.
Amen.
And we'll leave the story.
There's Judah and Joseph reveal God's grace.
We're coming towards the climax of this sort of epic Old Testament story
that dominates the last chunk of the book of Genesis.
Two observations before we get going.
First of all, and this is for you,
if you get drawn in by the drama of stories like I do.
If you find when you're watching movies or television,
you're reading books,
you really feel for the hero of the story.
You're pulling for them,
and you're sort of down with the villains.
This is one of those stories that really does have it all
in terms of drama,
in terms of a range of emotions,
in terms of tension.
But it's so important that we don't read this just as any old story,
as a really great and riveting read.
This is God's word.
And it's part of that story revealing God's promise
to bless and to save the family of Jacob
and the nations of the world through this family.
And it's important that we recognize,
and I hope we've been seeing it as the weeks go on,
that it points powerfully to Jesus.
And it points us towards that even bigger salvation story.
So we'll try not to read it just as a really exciting story.
And one other observation,
because this is a story that revolves around family
and family drama,
one of the things I guess that happens,
you know, in real life,
we know of other families that have highs and lows,
joys and sorrows.
And we feel that as people.
But we feel it in a sense at a distance.
You know, that the joy and the sorrow,
it fades more quickly for us
than it does for the family
that's right at the heart of this story.
But one of the things that I want us to do
and to try really hard
is to place ourselves into the story of Jacob and his sons.
Not just to stand on the sidelines and say,
there's a nice story about that family over there,
but rather to recognize that this story includes you
and it includes me.
Particularly in this section,
that we would see ourselves as those who need rescue.
That we would see ourselves as those
who are being offered grace and peace today.
That in a very real sense,
we come helpless before our King,
the one who has our lives in His hand
and we need His mercy.
So that we would make this good story
our good news story.
So that just as we come towards,
in a sense, one of the climaxes of this.
But before we get to there,
we need to see that tension is still being built.
The first 13 verses of chapter 44
are setting the stage
because here Joseph is introducing one final test
for his brothers.
Now, remember, God has raised Joseph up to power.
We saw that through the dreams that God sent him.
And we also heard it from Joseph's own mouth.
For example, chapter 45, verse 8.
So then, it was not you who sent me here,
but God, he made me father to Pharaoh,
lord of his entire household and over Egypt.
And so God's given him this position.
And as God's agent, he's acting for God,
he sets this last test for his brothers.
So first couple of verses, the test is set.
And we notice that it revolves around
Joseph's younger brother, Benjamin.
So the sacks of grain are to be filled with silver
as they were before.
But additionally, the king's special silver cup
is to be placed in Benjamin's bag.
What does that mean?
Benjamin, the brother, is going to find himself in danger.
And what will those older brothers do?
We see the plan essentially in verse 10,
in the words of the servant.
Once the servant is caught up with them
and they've had their conversation
and the cup has been found,
or it's about to be found.
Verse 10, obviously coming from Joseph,
we hear these words.
Let it be as you say,
whoever is found to have the cup
will become my slave.
The rest of you will be free from blame.
So there's the tension being introduced.
This whole test is going to show
that Benjamin stands guilty facing slavery.
Those brothers can go free.
What are they going to do in that situation?
Because they've been there before, haven't they?
Sometimes we have that experience
where we're placed in a test situation.
I guess driving theory tests
get us there a little bit,
where there's a simulation
where a driver is presented with
sort of stressful scenarios
and how will they cope.
Here Joseph's brothers are being put back
into a stressful scenario
or a dramatic situation
that they've already been in.
Takes us all the way back to chapter 37.
When they had a brother in distress,
Joseph,
and they left him down a pit.
When they had a chance to do the right thing,
but instead they sold Joseph to be a slave
and they took the money and ran home.
They knew how much their father loved Joseph,
but they did not care for their father then.
How will they act now 20 years later?
And we get some clues
in verse 7
and verse 9.
We see how united they are.
Verse 7,
Far be it from your servants
to do anything like that.
Verse 9,
If any of your servants
is found to have it,
he will die
and the rest of us
will become my Lord's slaves.
You see how they're united.
They're not all looking out
for number one anymore.
Now they seem to trust each other as well.
Verse 13,
As the cup is found in Benjamin's sack,
we discover they're not going to take the money and run,
though they were entitled to,
according to the test.
Rather,
they feel the misery of Benjamin.
They anticipate the misery of their father Jacob,
and they stay
so that they might defend Benjamin.
There has been change.
Stop and think just for a moment.
The disaster facing the family of Jacob
could not be greater at this moment.
You've got these brothers
who are all away in Egypt
while their families and their flocks
are away in Canaan
with no one to provide for them.
They also know that
if the situation stays as it is,
their father will most likely die of a broken heart.
They also know that
if the situation doesn't resolve,
this is the end of their family clan,
and importantly,
this is the end of God's promise.
God had said he was going to bless them
and the world through this family,
but if this family comes to an end,
then so too does the promise of God.
So there is tension here.
There is grief here.
In verse 13,
as we see them tearing their clothes
and heading back to the city,
they are now emotionally
walking in the shoes of Joseph,
their brother,
some 20 plus years earlier.
How does this story,
at this point,
connect us with Jesus?
One of the wonderful things
that the New Testament tells us,
especially the book of Hebrews,
that Jesus, in love,
has become our brother.
He identifies with us,
becomes one of us,
sympathizes with us in our grief.
We can think about the words of the steward
to the brothers in verse 4,
when he says to them,
he accuses them,
why have you repaid good with evil?
You apply that to our story,
we have received good from God.
Every day that we have life,
we are receiving good from God.
We have received the greatest good in Jesus,
but by our own natural instinct,
we return evil for good.
We turn our back on God.
We choose to rebel against God.
And unlike Benjamin,
our guilt is very real.
But then there's Jesus, our brother.
And Jesus, our brother, in love,
he walks the road to judgment for us.
He didn't need to do that.
In love, he came,
and he walked that path
all the way to the cross
where he takes on himself
the sin and guilt of his people.
All those who will trust in Jesus,
who are in Christ,
they are declared forgiven
and declared to be perfectly righteous
in God's sight.
And so we are reminded
of the cross
as God's greatest good
in response to our great evil.
That loving sacrifice of Jesus,
a gift for us to receive by faith
if we will turn to him
and believe.
So the test has been set.
And now we're going to see
how Judah passes the test.
And as he does so,
he's going to reveal to us
how God has been changing him.
He's going to show us
God's transforming grace.
So remember,
Moses is the one
who writes the book of Genesis.
And so far,
as we've thought about
the story of Jacob,
Joseph has been the main actor.
But we've also seen Judah
from time to time.
And we're beginning to see
his rising importance.
And just as he is beginning
to take center stage,
we're also being invited
to see how God has been changing
his moral character.
Again, one of the wonderful things
about the Bible
is its honesty.
It doesn't present,
you know, picture-perfect followers
of God.
No, it shows sinners
who are saved by grace
so that the glory always,
always belongs to God
and not to us.
We make a mess
and God fixes it up
and that brings glory to him.
So just to remind ourselves
very briefly,
what we've seen of Judah
up until this point,
we've seen him jealous
of his father's love
for his brother.
We've seen him angry
and hateful
towards his brother.
We've seen him sell
his brother into slavery.
We've seen him totally ruthless,
not caring about
his father's broken heart.
We've seen him failing
to keep his promises.
We have seen him guilty
of sexual immorality.
But now,
we're seeing a different side
to Judah
because of God's grace.
Verse 16,
as he begins to talk
to Joseph,
as he is clearly being seen
as the leader
among his brothers.
Do you see the language?
Verse 16,
what can we say
to my Lord?
What can we say?
How can we prove
our innocence?
This isn't a man
who's out for himself anymore.
This is a man
who is standing
to defend
his younger brother,
Benjamin.
Verse 17,
even when Joseph dangles
the carrot of freedom,
when he says,
only the man
who was found to have
the cup will become
my slave.
The rest of you
go back to your father
in peace.
He refuses
to take that freedom.
He refuses to walk away
from his brother.
And what we have instead
from verse 18
to the end of the chapter
is we have Judah,
the leader among the brothers,
rehearsing
different conversations
that took place
up until this point.
But for our purpose,
what I want us to see
is how Judah
has changed.
We see it in verse
30 and 31
where he is now
profoundly concerned
for his father's heart.
If the boy is not with us
when I go back
to your servant,
my father,
he will die.
Your servants
will bring the gray head
of our father
down to the grave
in sorrow.
Didn't care about that
20 years ago
but now he cares
about his father's heart.
Now he wants to do
his father's will.
He wants to keep
that promise
that he made
to his father.
Verse 32,
your servant,
this is Judah speaking,
your servant guaranteed
Benjamin's safety
to my father.
I said,
if I do not bring him
back to you,
I will bear the blame
before you,
my father,
all my life.
He is going to do
what he has pledged
to do.
He will bear responsibility.
Verse 33,
now then,
please let your servant
remain here
as my Lord's slave
in place of the boy
and let the boy
return with his brotherhood.
What a change
God has worked
in this man's life.
He's going to defend
his younger brother
to the end.
It's a beautiful thing
to see the change
that God makes
in a person's life.
Judah is one of those people
that really dramatic
testimony to God's grace.
You know,
if we could talk to Judah,
he would say,
you know,
I was like this.
I was jealous.
I was hateful.
I was immoral.
I was angry.
I turned my back
on God and his purposes,
but God intervened.
God showed me my sin.
God showed me mercy.
And now,
I'm living,
trusting in God's promises.
I'm looking to preserve
my family
because God has made
promises to my family.
God has changed me.
How do we explain
this kind of change?
We explain it in light
of the grace of God.
Christianity is not
work really hard
to become a better
version of you.
Christianity is not
try really hard
and keep the rules.
Judah is not here
turning over
a new moral leaf.
No,
Judah has been changed
by encountering
the mercy and grace
of God.
And Judah's story
is the story
of every Christian.
That there was
a time in our life
when we were blind
to our sin.
We were blind
to our need
of God
and his love.
When we took
our joy
from created things
and we didn't
give praise
and glory
to God.
There was a time
when we had
no care
for our Father
in Heaven's heart.
We did not care
to live for him
and for his glory.
And so that remains
until and unless
God by his Spirit
works in our heart.
In verse 16,
Judah says,
God has uncovered
your servant's guilt.
He feels in that test
God convicting him
of his sin
and that has changed him.
And that's what God
needs to do
for every one of us
if we are to be saved.
God the Spirit
needs to show us
our guilt
that we have not
lived to love God
and we have not
perfectly loved others.
So by God's standard,
we are condemned.
God the Spirit
needs to show us
our need.
I cannot save myself
but God has sent
Jesus, his Son,
to die for me.
He can save me.
And it's the Spirit
that calls us,
causes us
to put our trust
in Jesus
to show us
not just that
Jesus died for sin
but that Jesus died
for me
and for my sin.
The Spirit makes it
very real
and very personal.
Judah,
he was a mess.
Morally,
spiritually,
relationally,
but God's grace
was powerful.
God's grace
changed him.
God's grace
is greater
than our sin.
That means
Judah's story
can be anybody's story,
can be your story
today.
So we see
in the life
of Judah
a wonderful reminder
of God's
transforming grace
but we also
have a wonderful
reminder of Jesus
in the story
of Judah.
Judah,
in a few chapters
will be told
that kings
and nations,
kings of nations
will come from him,
that the king
God promised
would come
from the line
of Judah,
Jesus would come
from Judah's family
and we can see
lots of ways
in which
the story of Judah
connects to the story
of Jesus.
Just like Judah,
Jesus will keep
his promise
to his father
regardless of the cost
to rescue
his brothers.
Jesus came
to save sinners
by dying for us
and we get
in the garden
of Gethsemane
an insight
into just
what that would
cost Jesus.
So the night
before Jesus
died,
he is in
a garden
called Gethsemane
and he's praying
to his father
and there's sweat
coming,
drops of blood
coming,
the emotion,
the sense
of anticipation
of the cross
and Jesus,
it says,
if there's any
other way,
Father,
if there's any
other way
to save sinners
that doesn't
involve me
dying in their
place,
then let's do that
but nevertheless,
not my will
but yours
be done.
Jesus,
knowing what
it would cost him,
his very life,
causing him
to be forsaken
by his father
as he would bear
the sins of the world,
Jesus did not
walk away
from his father's
will,
Jesus did not
walk away
from those
he came to save
and Jesus
never will.
Just like
Judah too,
Jesus pleads
the cause
of his brothers.
Again,
to think about
a book like
Hebrews
in the New Testament,
Jesus is described
as our mediator.
It's as if
Jesus is our
defense
lawyer.
He becomes
our representative
but the remarkable
thing about
Jesus,
our representative
is that
although he is
perfectly innocent
and he knows
we are guilty,
he takes on
himself
our guilt
so that when
we are trusting
in him,
we can be
considered to be
absolutely perfect
and righteous
in God's sight.
There's that
wonderful great
exchange that
happens at the cross,
Jesus takes
my sin
and he gives
to me
his righteousness.
And now,
right now,
Jesus in heaven
is still
our mediator.
He's still
pleading the
cause of
his people
on the basis
of his
completed
sacrifice.
Accept them
because you
accepted me,
Father.
and because
of that,
if we are
trusting in
Jesus,
we have
total security
as the
people of
God.
Our freedom
is sure.
Unlike
Judah,
Jesus,
our brother,
pays the
ultimate price
to secure
our pardon.
One of the
amazing things
about Judah
is that he
was willing
to go into
slavery
for the
rest of
his life
so that
Benjamin,
his brother,
might go
free.
But that
didn't happen.
Instead,
there was
family reunion.
But Jesus,
Jesus said,
I've come
to serve
and I've
come to
give my
life as
a ransom.
I have
come to
pay the
price to
free people
from the
slavery to
sin so they
can enjoy
the freedom
of knowing
and enjoying
God.
God,
and he
paid the
ultimate
price.
His death
on the
cross is
where we
find our
freedom.
The only
way for us
to know
God,
to have
peace with
God,
to enjoy
life with
God,
is because
Jesus was
willing to
pay that
price to
secure our
ransom.
Just like
Judah,
praise God
for the
gospel,
Jesus
passed
his test.
So where
we stand
in our
place in
history,
everything
that is
needed for
our salvation
has already
been done.
If you're
not a
Christian,
you have
nothing to
do to
be saved
other than
to confess
your sin
and your
need,
other than
to trust
that when
Jesus died,
he died
for you,
and to
have him
as your
Lord and
King,
to receive
him as
a gift.
And when
we do
that,
we get
to live
and join
the freedom
that Jesus
came to
buy for
us.
That's
the story
of Judah
and how
Judah reveals
God's
grace.
Let's also
think about
Joseph.
Now when
Joseph reveals
his identity,
he's doing
more than
that.
He's also
showing them
God's
saving
grace.
I wanted
to get
to chapter
45 so
we wouldn't
have another
cliffhanger
moment but
rather we'd
get to this
point.
You know,
we've probably
seen TV
shows that
have the
big reveal
idea for
some of us.
We maybe
grew up
watching
Surprise,
Surprise or
maybe Michael
McIntyre's
big show you
see occasionally
those big
family reunions.
People haven't
seen each other
for decades
perhaps and
they're on
different
continents and
they're brought
back together.
You get this
wonderful reunion.
Everybody loves
those,
doesn't they?
Some of those
stories are
really profoundly
dramatic but
none of them
come close to
this amazing
family reunion.
Just imagine
Joseph's emotions
for a moment.
Imagine his
joy,
imagine all
that's going
on.
Think about
all that
he'd
suffered
as a
teenager.
The hate
that he'd
endured
from his
brothers,
the jealousy
being sold
as a slave
by your
brothers,
being thrown
into a pit
and then
moving from
slavery to
being a
prisoner,
falsely
accused and
having to
be there
for three
years.
He has
suffered so
much in
his story.
Think about
all he had
lost and
left behind.
he'd been
living in
the land
of promise.
He was
part of a
family that
God had
made great
promises to
but again
he's been
stripped from
that and
sent to
Egypt.
He has
gone through
a lot.
What about
his brothers
as this
reunion happens?
How are they
feeling?
Are they feeling
joy?
Hooray,
our brother's
back.
Look at
verse 3.
His brothers
were not
able to
answer him
because they
were terrified
at his
presence.
Remember
Joseph has
been talking
through a
translator
pretending he
didn't know
their language.
All of a sudden
they're realizing
Joseph has heard
every conversation
and that's
a cause for
terror.
But now
more importantly
they're also
thinking have
we found
ourselves the
enemy of the
second most
powerful man in
the world?
God now
we're in the
hands of our
brother.
When he was
in our hands
we sold him
into slavery.
What's he
going to do
to us now?
Two ways
we see grace
shining in this
reunion.
In the words
of Joseph
first of all
in verse 4
words of
comfort.
Joseph said
to his
brothers
come close
to me.
What is
Joseph saying
there?
He's saying
I am
your brother.
I am
not here
as an
enemy.
I am
not against
you.
I am
for you.
We've
seen it
in his
story.
There is
no bitterness
in Joseph's
life.
He has
forgiven
his brothers.
They gave
him evil
but now
he will
return
it with
good.
And then
in verse
five to
eight
obviously a
lesson they
really need
to hear
three times
he reveals
that this
was all
part of
God's
plan.
End of
verse five
it was to
save lives
that God
sent me
ahead of
you.
Verse seven
God sent
me ahead of
you to
preserve for
you a
remnant on
earth and
to save
your lives
by a
great
deliverance.
Verse eight
so then it
was not
you who
sent me
here but
God.
Behind
their
evil
stood a
faithful
promise
keeping
sovereign
God who
was in
control and
who was
going to
make sure
that that
promise to
Abraham and
his family
would
continue.
Just as an
aside it's
important for
us to
recognize that
both of
those things
are held
true.
Joseph will
say you
were responsible
you sold
me.
Human
responsibility
is never
denied in
the Bible but
also God's
sovereignty is
clearly in
view.
God is
clearly in
control and
that's one of
the tensions
for us as we
read the Bible
that both of
these things
are true.
It's not an
either or.
We are
responsible and
God is in
control when it
comes to our
actions.
But we
see in the
words of
Joseph a
wonderful response
to the grief
the brothers have
felt.
Remember back in
verse 13 they
tear their
clothes and
they trudge
back to
Egypt not
sure what's
going to
happen.
Wondering is
this the end
of God's
promise for
us?
Is this the
end of our
family?
And Joseph
in his words
of grace
answers with a
loud and
clear no.
God's promises
can never and
will never
fail.
We have a
God that we
can trust.
We have a
God who is
reliable.
Now of course
we won't
always know
his timetable
and we will
not always be
able to
understand why
certain things
happen but we
do know that
God is faithful
and God is
loving and God
always keeps
his promises
and so we
can hold on
to that.
as we see
it work out
in the story
of Joseph
and of course
we see this
reality again
in the story
of Jesus.
The very first
sermon of the
early church
in Acts
chapter 2
we find Peter
preaching and
he will say
to a crowd
quite clearly
you put
Jesus to
death.
You killed
God's son
and God's
savior.
He could
say to a
crowd you
are guilty
of sin
and unbelief
and of
sending Jesus
the son of
God the
savior of
the world
to the
cross but
he can
also say
that Jesus
was handed
over by
God's set
purpose
by God's
foreknowledge
and that God
raised Jesus
and God
made him
Lord and
Christ.
The greatest
evil that has
ever taken
place was
when the
perfect son
of God
was killed
on the
cross.
But behind
that great
evil was the
greatest good
we have ever
seen.
God's salvation
plan for
sinners like
us established
there in the
loving sacrifice
of Jesus.
When the
crowd in
Peter's day
heard his
words and they
were convicted
they said
what is it that
we need to
do?
Peter said
you need to
repent, you
need to turn
away from sin
and turn back
to God, you
need to be
baptized, you
need to show
that you
belong to
God to
believe in
Jesus.
It's a
message.
Just as
Joseph said
to his
brothers come
close to
me, Jesus
is the
brother who
invites us.
Come near,
come close
to me, enjoy
peace with
God through
me, enjoy
love because
of me, enjoy
reunion in a
place in the
family of God
in Jesus.
Have you
come to
Jesus your
brother?
Have you
found that
joy of
reunion?
If not,
what's
stopping you
today?
What is it
that's holding
you back from
knowing God's
love in
Jesus?
There is a
wonderful promise
that if you
will turn to
him, he
will never
turn away
from you, but
rather he will
welcome you to
enjoy life with
him now and
forever.
itor.
What?
Verse roman
日本本
Emmanuel