If you've got a Bible, please turn with me to Genesis chapter 43.
That would be great.
We're in the, I think it's the sixth installment in our Joseph series.
It's been great to take somebody we've known about since youth.
We've heard, we've seen on the stage.
We learn at Sunday school and to dig in and find out a bit more and see some new lessons.
There's Joseph and the gospel of many colors.
And this evening, we're in Genesis 43 and 44.
Just a small 62 verses for us to get through.
Anna Levinson writes in a New York newspaper these words.
By the time I was six and my brother was five, we were used to waiting.
Waiting for our father to show up.
On one particular afternoon, we sat in a pool of sunlight that poured through our living room bay window.
We were baking in our jackets ready to go while we waited.
Would he be late?
Would he come at all?
What state would he be in?
What would he smell like?
My parents had separated a year before.
And when my father came to pick us up for occasional visits, his gait was often wobbly and his words were usually slurred.
My mother worked full time in an insurance company.
Our nanny, therefore, would be left to handle these messy transfers.
Sometimes she wouldn't let us go when she saw his condition.
Whilst waiting and worrying, on this occasion I made a decision.
We're so stupid, I said.
He's never going to come.
Most days I would have been right.
But late, slurring but apologetic, he appeared.
We piled into the taxi and drove to Tenderloin, a rough neighborhood across town from where we lived.
On arrival, he gave us a quick tour of the cluttered apartment.
There was a withered pot plant and an overflowing ashtray on a long, dirty coffee table.
A woman with long, stringy blonde hair entered the room and introduced herself as my father's girlfriend.
Immediately, her bulging eyes and grubby fingers scared me.
I was used to meeting weird people when visiting my father, but she was by far the most manic.
After a brief introduction, she and my father abruptly headed to the bedroom, leaving me and my brother on the couch all alone.
A few quiet moments passed before we heard yelling and objects smashing and then silence.
Consumed with fear but driven by curiosity, I crept to the door and knocked softly.
When no answer came, I peered through the crack under the door to see my father and girlfriend passed out on the bed with needles all over the floor.
I ran to the door.
I ran to the phone to call my mother and begged her between sobs to come and pick us up.
Although at that age of six, I couldn't then verbalize exactly what was happening, but I knew one thing.
I never wanted to see my father again.
After that moment, my father disappeared from my life for 18 years.
Alana then writes about the ensuing years struggling with OCD, anxiety, depression, hypochondria and withdrawnness.
The article then moves to when she is in her mid-twenties.
Her father reappears, clean of drugs and eager to make up for lost time.
Yet Alana couldn't engage with him.
She was absolutely unable to trust him or respond to any of his attempts to build bridges.
She writes, my shattered trust couldn't be glued back together.
The article ends after a long and painful process with the barrier slowly coming down after her dad passed literally hundreds and hundreds of trust tests.
Alana writes, it was too risky to let him straight back into my life.
We started with monthly phone calls that he had to make when we had agreed.
Then letters that he had to write and they must be delivered to me every Monday.
After this, we'd meet for coffee miles from his house.
Then we'd move to lunches.
I would always tell him when and where and if he was late or missed, it was over.
Trust is slowly built and quickly destroyed.
I couldn't let him back into my life if he was going to ruin everything all over again.
Testing him, she writes, was the only way I could ever move to trusting him.
Horrible story, isn't it, about a six-year-old?
Crushed and severely affected by her father's drug abuse.
And to find out if he was clean, to find out whether he was worth investing in, she tests him in a number of ways.
And Genesis 42, where we've come from, functions a bit like Alana's story.
Joseph hasn't seen his brothers for 22 years.
The last time they met, it didn't go very well.
He turned up to see how their shepherding was going on and they stripped him and they beat him and they threw him in a well
before selling him to the Ishmaelites who carried him to Egypt.
That's his last memory of his brothers.
Before they turn up in chapter 42.
And as we saw with Paul Fred last week, Joseph sets about testing them.
Testing them to see whether he's better off without them.
Testing them to see whether they've changed.
Testing them to see whether he could ever trust them again after being so treated by them.
And in chapter 42, he sets four tests.
The first one is this.
Is Benjamin still alive?
In verse 12.
He asked them.
And they say he is, but there's no evidence.
So they fail the test.
Then he asked for a volunteer to go and get them and no one volunteers.
So they fail that test.
And then he says for a volunteer to stay while the other nine go to get their brother.
And no one volunteers to stay.
So he has Simeon bound before their eyes.
Will someone come back for Simeon?
Well, no.
Because he's still in Egypt.
By the time we open chapter 43.
Then he sets the money trap that they're on their way.
And they open their sacks.
And all the money they paid to Joseph was still there.
Would they go back?
Or would they carry on on their journey?
Well, they carry on on their journey.
There's no about turn.
And we should go and sort this out.
And then they tell him that we need to take Benjamin.
Have they earned Jacob's trust?
Well, no.
Verse 36.
He seems to blame them for absolutely everything.
You have deprived me of my children.
Joseph is no more.
And Simeon is no more.
And now you want to take Benjamin.
Everything is against me.
They don't trust him.
And I guess implicit in the same episode is,
does Benjamin trust them?
Well, we don't exactly see him jumping up and down saying,
I'll go.
So they fail that test as well.
In fact, you have to say,
in chapter 42,
Joseph brothers are an epic fail.
And you kind of think Joseph is better off without them.
They're still just a ragtag bag of swindlers and murderers
and liars and deceivers
who are all out for themselves.
They don't seem to have changed at all.
Yet what we're going to see in our two chapters
is how God is going to providentially work.
How God is going to set tests
and how things are going to be transformed
so that there'll be restoration, reconciliation
and a glorious reunion in chapter 45.
So why don't I pray?
Father God, thank you that you always have your glory
at the forefront of your agenda.
Father, following closely after that
is the blessing of your people
and the ultimate transformation of them
to look more and more like your son.
So as we open this, your word, this evening,
speak to us, we pray.
Glorify our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Transform us
and orientate our lives once again around your gospel.
Father, do this all
by your grace
through the power of your spirit.
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
So here's the first test
we're going to see
in this little passage.
God tests his people
to free them from idolatry.
God tests his people
to free them from idolatry.
As we enter chapter 43,
the famine is still severe.
It's gone on a long time
and they've run out of food.
They've gone to the cupboard
and it's been like old Mother Hubbard.
There was nothing there.
Simeon is still in Egypt.
He's been there since chapter 42, verse 24.
And Egypt remains their only hope.
The only place in all the world
that has grain surplus enough
that they can give out is Egypt.
And so Jacob says,
verse 2,
go back and buy us a little more food.
Go back and buy us a little more food.
Seems like a really obvious suggestion.
Egypt has food.
You need to go and get it
because we've run out.
And yet there's a problem.
There's a real problem
that Judah points out
in verses 3 to 5.
That if Egypt is their only hope,
then Benjamin is the key
to unlocking that hope.
Benjamin,
Jacob's prize son,
the one that he spent
at the end of chapter 42
saying,
no one's getting hold of Benjamin.
He's staying with me.
And so Judah's reminder
to his father of the fact
that Benjamin is necessary
to get food from Egypt,
stabs Jacob in the heart.
Jacob is very protective of Benjamin.
I don't think it's a stretch to say
that in Jacob's life,
Benjamin has become an idol.
Benjamin has become the center of his life.
Chapter 42, verse 28.
Which is the wrong verse.
38.
My son will not go down there with you.
His brother is dead
and he is the only one left.
If harm comes to him
on the journey you are taking,
you will bring my gray head
down to the grave in sorrow.
Jacob loves Benjamin that much
that he says,
if he dies, I'll die.
If he dies, I'll die.
43, verse 6.
Why did you bring this trouble on me
by telling the man
you had another brother?
Just want to keep him for myself.
Without him, I'll die.
Judah's going to say in verse 44
that my father's life
is bound up with this boy.
Jacob's affections
are completely tied up with Benjamin
and he will not let him go.
Tim Keller writes,
when anything in life
is an absolute requirement
for your happiness, life,
and self-worth,
it is essentially an idol.
Something you are actually worshipping.
When threatened,
your anger is absolute.
To diagnose what the idols
in our lives are,
we must ask,
what am I defending?
What is so important
that I cannot live without?
Seems to be where
Jacob finds himself.
Growing up,
we had a dachshund called Jaffa
and Jaffa was the most placid dog
you will ever find.
You'd let him out in the morning
like you should do all dogs
and if it was raining,
Jaffa would go,
well,
don't really fancy it today.
One time,
every month,
our dog would turn
into a ferocious animal
after a lamb Sunday lunch.
He'd throw the bone,
Jaffa would sit on the lawn
like gnawing at it like crazy
and literally,
if you got in within five meters
of this dog,
it would go for you
in the most savage way.
Jaffa became
the most stupid looking guard dog
anyone could ever imagine.
That seems to be
how Jacob is functioning.
If you come close to Benjamin,
there's going to be problems.
And so God is really testing Jacob
to free him
of his idolizing of his son.
Something profound
happens in this text.
Jacob starts by saying,
no way.
It's not going to happen.
And then in verse 8 to 10,
after Judah reasons with him
and says,
it's not just our lives
that are at stake.
It is your life
and the lives of your children.
You've got to let Benjamin go.
I'm even going to offer myself
a surety for him.
Jacob agrees
with Judah's proposal.
It is a remarkable transformation
between chapter 42
and chapter 43.
But Jacob says,
yes,
you can take him.
In fact,
there is a remarkable transformation
going on in chapter 42.
Jacob is repeatedly referred to
by his name,
Jacob.
When we get to chapter 43,
the name that Jacob
is referred by
is Israel.
Jacob's name means
the twister,
the self-reliant,
the one who's always
in it for himself.
Chapter 42
and chapter 43,
the covenant name of God,
the one who is struggling
with what God's will is,
struggling to trust him.
And in chapter,
in verse 14,
he makes three profound
professions of faith.
the beginning of the verse,
and may God almighty
grant you mercy.
How is
Jacob dealing with his idols?
Well,
he's subscribing
all power to God.
Almighty God,
the one who's in charge.
Suddenly,
when we see that God
is almighty,
our idols are minimized
in size
and they become futile
and worthless.
Where he's blaming God
in chapter 42,
why has God
let this happen to me?
Everything's against me.
Here he's saying,
almighty God,
I place myself,
I place everything
into your hands.
He places his children
into God's hands
so that your brother
will let
your other brother
Simeon and Benjamin
come back to you.
And then he places himself
in the hands
of the sovereign God.
As for me,
if I am bereaved,
I am bereaved.
Suddenly,
he's relinquished
his idol.
Suddenly,
he's trusted himself
to the sovereign God.
And he said,
my life is now bound up
with God's will
and what he wants.
Sounds remarkably,
doesn't it?
That last phrase,
if I am bereaved,
I am bereaved.
Like Esther,
when she goes before King Xerxes,
when she says,
I will go and see the king
even though it is
against the law
and if I perish,
I perish.
Trusting a sovereign God
with life and everything.
If you want to catch
a monkey in the jungle,
all you need to do
is put a banana
in a cage.
And the monkey reaches in,
grabs the banana,
but can't get its hand out.
It can't be free
because it won't let go
and the hand
plus the banana
won't fit through
the bars in the cage.
That seems to be
where Jacob has been.
He's holding on
to this idol
and he can't be free.
But God so tests him
that he lets go
in order that he would be free
to enjoy all that God
has for him.
Even more than he thought
he had.
It's not about preserving
Benjamin,
but God has something
much greater
in store.
And so I guess
we see that God
tests us
so that we let go
of our idols
so we'd be free
to worship him.
So we'd be free
to submit
to his ways
to fulfill his purposes
and enjoy him forever.
And I guess tonight
we're all conscious
that we're riddled
with idols.
Spurgeon will write
that the human heart
is the idol factory.
Riddled with
idolizing children
and work
and power
and money
and reputation
and stuff
and image
and countless
other things.
Jacob
didn't think
he could let
Benjamin go
but God
tested him
to release him
from his idolatry.
Centuries later
Jesus will stand
and say
whoever wants to be
my disciples
must
deny themselves,
take up their cross
and follow me.
Oh that God
would test us
in such a way
that we would
stop worshipping
futile
created things
that we might
be free
to worship
him alone.
God tests
his people
to free them
from idols.
We see that
in the life
of Jacob.
So what idols
are we cleaved
to?
What in our life
is so essential
that we think
we cannot do
without it?
And if it's
threatened
our anger
is disproportionate.
Many great saints
have testified
to the truth
it is only
when Jesus
is all that they have
they realise
that Jesus
is all that they need
and that God
would loosen
our grip
so we could
cling to his son
alone.
So they get
to Egypt
and here's
what I think
we learn from this
God tests
his people
to free us
from fear
and reveal
his grace.
They finally
arrive
the eleven
of their
well the ten
of them
when Simeon
is already there
they make it
down to Egypt
and I think
the whole thing
revolves around
verse 16
when Joseph
saw Benjamin
with them
he said
to the steward
of the house
take these men
to my house
slaughter an animal
and prepare a meal
they are to eat
with me at noon
I think
I'm sure
that Joseph
says to the steward
of the house
in Egyptian
that he knows
what's going on
but the brothers
don't have a clue
and that's why
they're so afraid
that is why
they're terrified
because they're being
ushered
into Joseph's
private quarters
and don't know
what is going
to happen
to them
but it's stupid
because Joseph
is the second
most powerful
man in all
of Egypt
and therefore
the world
Joseph doesn't
need to attack
his brothers
in secret
he can do it
out in the open
because he is
untouchable
the brothers
are frightened
the steward
comes in
and verses
19 to 22
is them
pleading
frantically
their innocence
you can imagine
the scene
they're all
talking over
one another
oh we just
found the silver
we tried to
pay you
somehow it
got back
into our
sacks
please don't
kill us
all making
a real
kerfuffle
then verse 23
the pagan servant
testifies to
God's grace
he says
we did get
your silver
your God
the father
your God
the God
of your father
has given us
has given you
treasure in your
sacks
then he brought
Simeon
out
they thought
they were going
to get knocked
off
and the servant
says no your God
is gracious
he's rewarded
you don't be
afraid
your God is
sovereign and
actually here's
your brother
unbound
fear always
makes us
suspicious
and cynical
and doubting
our fears
always make us
think that the
absolute worst
case scenario
is going
to happen
and our fears
get in the way
of trusting
a sovereign
God
that actually
the way that
we cope with
fear is
doctrine
that when we
see that God
is gracious
and he's
good
when we
see that he's
sovereign
we realise
we have
no need
to be
afraid
because our
God is
unstoppable
and we can
trust him
in every
area of
our lives
so when you
have a freak
out
get your
Bible out
verse 26
and 28
Joseph is
reminded of
God's sovereignty
here are the
brothers
bowing down
again before
him just like
the dream
of the wheat
and the
stars
and then he
sees
Benjamin
and suddenly
his fears
are subsided
they were
telling the
truth
Benjamin
is alive
and his
full brother
the only
other son
born of
Rachel
Jacob's
favourite
wife
is born
in
and it's
too much
for Joseph
deeply
moved
he has to
go out of
the room
to have
a good
cry
I wonder
what in
your life
makes you
afraid
and I
wonder
is the way
you can
conquer
that fear
knowing
more
about
God
trusting
the God
that is
revealed
in this
book
don't we
read in
1 Corinthians
15
that even
God is
sovereign
and gracious
and that
grace is
bigger than
death
he writes
death
has been
swallowed
up in
victory
where
oh death
is your
victory
where
oh death
is your
sting
of death
is sin
and the
power
of sin
is the
law
but thanks
be to
God
he gives
us
victory
through
our
Lord
Jesus
Christ
surely
if God's
grace
is bigger
even
than
death
then fear
becomes
futile
if you
were here
on Thursday
you'd have
heard
Alexander
read
Psalm
23
and what
a beautiful
reminder
even though
I walk
through the
shadow
of death
you're
with me
it gets
even better
than that
you lay
a banquet
before all
my enemies
in the midst
of my enemies
well the brothers
go down to
Egypt
they think
they're going
to be treated
as enemies
God is
gracious
to them
and to top
it all off
Joseph lays
on a banquet
before them
I wonder
will we
trust a
sovereign
gracious
God
in every
area of
our life
so we
will not
be fearful
and we
remember
what he's
like
will we
trust him
in our
everyday
lives
will we
trust him
with
tomorrow
will we
trust him
in every
area
will we
trust him
as a
church
will we
trust him
in our
evangelism
is grace
going to be
sufficient
to quell
our fears
and so
God tests
these brothers
that they
might be
transformed
that fear
might be
replaced
by trust
and they
see that
God is
sovereign
over it
all and
is treating
them far
better
than they
deserve
okay
third point
here we
go
God
tests his
people to
free them
from
individualism
and bind
them
together
do you
see it's
a sting
operation
that it's
not just
the silver
that's
replaced
again
but there's
this cup
that has
special
significance
in
Joseph's
life
and Joseph
knows that
Benjamin is
still alive
but he
doesn't know
that his
brothers love
Benjamin
they're worried
that they
kind of treat
him like
they used
to treat
Joseph
and when
they're away
when Benjamin's
finally been
prized away
from their
father
will they
take this
opportunity
to kill
him again
he's already
partially tested
them in
chapter 43
verse 34
when Benjamin
gets five
times the
helping
will there
be jealousy
and rivalry
then
well it
doesn't seem
to be
everyone's
feasting
and drinking
together
and there
doesn't seem
to be a
hint
but then
dogs don't
turn on each
other when
there's enough
food to go
around
crisis will
reveal what's
really going
on
are they in
it together
are they a
family unit
united
or will
they go
it alone
well the
brothers wake
up in the
morning they've
had a cracking
night in the
prime minister's
house I'm
sure they've
got sore
heads and
they've still
got full
bellies
they've
partied like
Egyptians
they ride
along chatting
together
and then you
know like when
you see the
blue flashing
lights
in your
mirror
they see
the dust
of a
chariot
coming up
behind
not some
random
stop and
search this
is a sting
operation
the servant
repeats
Joseph's words
to them
why have you
repaid good
with evil
isn't this
the cup my
master drinks
from and
also uses
for divination
this is a
wicked thing
you've done
and again
they plead
their innocence
in verses
seven to
nine
if any
of your
servants
they say
is found
to have
it
he will
die
and the
rest of
it will
become my
lord's
slaves
that sounds
pretty
together
but verse
10 he
offers them
a get
out clause
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
they've got an
opportunity
they can go
it alone
they can cut
and run
and so
they're lined
up in
age order
go to
reuben
first
clean
keep going
and i bet
with every
clear sack
that doesn't
have the
cup
benjamin
gets more
and more
sure that
he's going
to be
fine
they get
to benjamin
sack
and he's
got the
cup
and everyone
tears their
clothes
the absolute
worst case
scenario
has happened
that perhaps
benjamin
won't get
back to
jacob
after all
but isn't
it incredible
that they
stick together
as a family
at this
they tore
their clothes
then they
all loaded
their donkeys
and returned
to the city
there seems
to have been
a radical
transformation
they left
simeon
in the city
no problem
benjamin's
caught their
roar
going back
you see how
god is
testing them
and through
these tests
he's freeing
them of it's
all about me
and they
become this
family unit
bound
together
this testing
strengthens the
ropes of
fellowship
between
the brothers
and don't
we know
that in our
own lives
that when
tough times
come doesn't
it bind us
together
some of my
proudest moments
of being
pastor of
Brunsfield
evangelical
church
has been
when all
our backs
are against
the wall
because we
see just how
tightly knitted
we are
together as a
family
that no testing
is very good
when you go
through it
and yet
doesn't it
strengthen those
ropes
doesn't it
bind us
together as a
family
all together
doesn't it
make us
into a true
spiritual family
and not just
people who
rub
shoulders
Christ
1 Corinthians
12
but God
so composed
the body
that there
may be no
division
but that all
the members
have the same
care for one
another
if one member
suffers
all suffer
together
if one member
is honoured
all rejoice
together
crisis comes
and it binds
people together
and yet don't
we know
sometimes when
crisis hits
we're secretly
quite pleased
when others
are brought low
I'm quite
disappointed
when someone
is lifted up
it cannot
be so
God
tests us
to knit us
together
God is for
us
he tests us
to free us
from individualism
and to bind us
together as
his family
lastly
God tests
his people
to free them
from lostness
and reveal
his true
leader
I think
we've seen
throughout
the Joseph
story so
far that
the brothers
are a bit
of a rabble
they seem a bit
rudderless
they don't really
have anyone
who's telling
them what to
do
when Joseph
says would
somebody
volunteer to
go
no one
volunteers
when somebody
says will
someone stay
behind
no one
stays behind
they're a bit
leaderless
they don't
really have
a captain
telling them
what to
do
but in
chapter 43
a leader
emerges
they're like
sheep without
a shepherd
and in
chapter 43
Judah
comes forward
he's the
fourth born
son
and yet we
see him
emerge as
the one
that
Jacob
listens to
Joseph
listens to
we saw
in chapter
42
Reuben
says give
Benjamin
to me
and if
he's dead
you can
kill my
two sons
Judah
says in
chapter 43
if Benjamin
doesn't come
back to you
then it's my
life that
will be
ashamed
before you
all the
days of
my life
Judah's been
growing in
repentance
and transformation
ever since
that really
grisly episode
in chapter
38
where he
gets Tamar
pregnant
and he
makes this
confession
she is
more
righteous
than I
a confession
of sin
and since
that
confession
since that
repentance
Judah's life
has been
changing
over the
last two
decades
and here
we see him
emerge as
the leader
he takes
the blame
he says
our guilt
has been
revealed
and then
he steps
forward
towards
Joseph
verse 18
then Judah
went up
to him
and said
if you
approach
Joseph
who's the
prime minister
uninvited
that's your
life
on the
line
and yet
he stands
before him
he takes
the blame
he recaps
the entire
history
verse 33
is the
most
significant
verse so
far
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
this is
the first
case
in any
part of
scripture
in the
whole
unfolding
of
Genesis
so far
where
somebody
offers
their
life
for
somebody
else
you see
Judah
emerge as
a leader
and then
we see
that he
offers
himself
as a
substitute
you have
to say
that Judah
is behaving
more and more
like the
lion of
Judah
who would
come
a long
way down
the line
brothers
were
rudeless
he appears
as the
shepherd
for the
sheep
of his
brothers
and we
see him
offer his
life
for
Benjamin
Judah
becomes
the
substitute
shepherd
John
10
verse
14
I am
the
good
shepherd
I
know
my
sheep
and my
sheep
know
me
just as
the
father
knows
me
and I
know
the
father
and I
lay
down
my
life
for the
sheep
seems
that there's
a shadow
and a
type of
a greater
one to
come
emerging
in the
life of
Judah
it's been
a bit
of a
whistle
stop
tour
I
hope
that
God
takes
what
is
for
us
and
keep
it
and
sear
it
on
our
hearts
God
tests
his
people
to
free
them
from
idols
see that
in the
interplay
between
Jacob
and
Benjamin
God
tests
his
people
to
free
them
from
fear
and
reveal
his
grace
God
tests
his
people
to
free
them
from
individualism
and
bind
them
together
God
tests
his
people
to
free
them
from
lostness
and
reveal
his
true
leader
let
me
pray
father
god
we've
romped
through
your
word
of
breakneck
speed
father
we've
left
a lot
out
but
lord
i pray
these
four
lessons
might
encourage
us
that
as
we
face
the
test
that
you
put
in
our
way
father
they
might
relinquish
the
grip
the
idols
have
on
us
father
that
we
might
trust
you
when
we're
afraid
of
what's
coming
against
us
knowing
that
you're
sovereign
and
you're
good
all
the
time
father
that
we
wouldn't
go
in
alone
but
it
would
strengthen
us
as
a
family
as
problems
come
as
storms
erupt
that
it
might
strengthen
the
ropes
of
fellowship
between
us
and
lord
that
it
might
make
all
the
more
us
trust
your
son
the
good
shepherd
father
thank
you
that
we
see
it
in
a
type
as
judah
emerges
as
a
leader
amongst
his
brothers
lord
thank
you
that
jesus
is
our
leader
who
offers
himself
for
us
who
takes
our
place
that
we
might
go
free
that
we
might
know
forgiveness
that
we
might
not
be
slaves
anymore
father
thank
you
that
the
one
who
knew
no
sin
became
sin
for
us
so
that
in
him
we
might
become
the
righteousness
of
God
father
bless
these
things
to us
we
pray
in
jesus
name
amen