Substitutionary Atonement: Judah’s Plea for Benjamin Genesis 44:18-34

Introduction

Good Morning, please get out your bible if you brought one and turn to Genesis chapter 44. If you don’t have your bible, there should be one under the seat in front of you. We are two weeks away from Easter Sunday today; and we all know what Easter is about, right? Jesus dying for our sins. Everyone knows that. But what does that really mean? Why did He have to die for our sins?

The full meaning of Christ’s death on the cross cannot be explained in one or two short statements. But there are 4 basic doctrines surrounding His death that give us the central meaning behind Christ’s death. His death was a SUBSTITUTION for sinners, His death was a REDEMPTION for sin, His death was RECONCILIATION between man and God, and His death was a propitiation in relation to God. Christ stood in the place of the sinner as a SUBSTITUTE, and received the punishment due to the sinner in his place, Paying the payment that was due, and so REDEEMS the sinner by paying off his sin debt. God’s wrath towards all who will believe was poured out on Christ, and so in that way His death served as a PROPITIATION. Then because God’s wrath was appeased, His death brought reconciliation between the sinner and God.

This morning we are going to talk specifically about Christ as our substitute, by going over an Old Testament foreshadowing of the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross. We will go over the story of Judah pleading for his younger brother Benjamin in Genesis 44. Before we read that, let’s go over some background to what’s happening in Genesis 44. Abraham’s son Issac, fathered Jacob (later renamed Israel) who fathered 12 sons, who would later represent the 12 tribes of Israel. We will be talking about 3 of those sons this morning; Joseph, Judah, and Benjamin.

In Genesis 37 Joseph has a dream that he would reign over his brothers, then another dream that his mother, father, and brothers were bowing down to him. Of course his brothers and Jacob didn’t appreciate hearing about these dreams, and they rebuked him for sharing them. His brothers were very jealous and angry with him, and planned to kill him and throw him into a pit. But his brother Reuben convinced the other brothers to throw him into the pit alive. After they had thrown him down into the pit, a caravan of Ishmaelites came by on their way to Egypt. Then Judah had the idea to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites, rather than killing him. The brothers lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver, and they took Joseph to Egypt. They then tricked their father into believing Joseph had died.

In Genesis 41, Joseph is called to interpret Pharaoh’s dream of “seven plump and attractive cows being eaten by 7 thin ugly cows. Joseph tells Pharaoh this dream is God showing Pharaoh that there will be seven years of great plenty in Egypt, followed by 7 years of great famine, so great a famine that the seven years of plenty will be forgotten in Egypt. Pharaoh is pleased with Joseph’s interpretation and Joseph is put over all of Pharaoh’s house and all his people, only in regards to the throne was Pharaoh greater than Joseph.

Joseph spends the seven years of plenty, gathering up and storing food in great abundance; preparing for the seven year famine to come. When the 7 years of plenty came to an end, and the 7 year famine began; the people started crying to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh told them to go to Joseph and do as he says. Joseph opened the storehouses of grain and began to sell the grain he had stored up to the Egyptians. The famine spread all throughout the earth, and all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph.

Meanwhile back in Cannan where Joseph’s brothers and father still lived, food was also getting scarce. When Jacob heard there was grain for sale in Egypt, he sent TEN of his 11 son; keeping the youngest Benjamin behind. When the brothers arrived in Egypt to buy the grain, Joseph recognized them, but they didn’t recognize Joseph. So Joseph accused them of being spies. They responded by telling Joseph they are honest men, 12 brothers of one man in Cannan. But one brother was with their father, and one brother had died.

Joseph told them to leave one brother in Egypt in Joseph’s custody while the rest of the brothers carry grain back to their household, and then when they bring their youngest brother Benjamin to Joseph to prove they weren’t lying, they would be set free and allowed to buy and trade in Egypt.

When the 10 brothers arrived back in Cannan, they ate the grain they had brought from Egypt; then Jacob told them to go back to Egypt and buy more grain. Judah replied that the man in Egypt (Joseph) told him not to return unless he brought his younger brother Benjamin with him. Jacob agreed to send Benjamin to Egypt, and when the brothers arrived in Egypt Joseph decided to test his brothers. They bought grain and Joseph commanded his servants to fill their sacks with grain; but to secretly put this silver cup in the sack of the youngest brother, Benjamin. Then he sent the brothers away, and when they were a short distance from the city; Joseph sent his men to overtake them search their bags for this silver cup. Of course the cup was found in Benjamin’s bag where the men had hid it.

The brothers were brought back to Joseph’s house and questioned by Joseph. Judah spoke up on behalf of the brothers and said that they would all be Joseph’s servants as punishment for Benjamin stealing the cup. But Joseph refused this, and said “only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant”. This is the backstory, and will bring us to our passage in Genesis 44. Let’s read Judah’s response to Joseph. verses 18-34.

Opening Prayer

1. Judah the Mediator

Ge 44:18-23

So there are 3 roles that Judah filled on behalf of Benjamin, and the first role is as Judah the Mediator. Read 18-23 Again

So in these verses, Judah is responding to Joseph’s refusal to take all the brothers as servants, but only Benjamin in whose bag the silver cup was found. Judah cannot allow Benjamin to stay alone as a servant and go home in peace to his father, like Joseph told him to. Back in Genesis 43:9 Judah tells his father: “I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.” If Judah returns home without Benjamin, he would have to bear the blame for the loss of his father’s beloved son forever.

Back in Chapter 42, when the brothers initially went to Egypt; they had to leave their brother Simeon behind, until they brought back their younger brother Benjamin to prove to Joseph they weren’t lying, and weren’t spies. When they arrived back home and proposed this idea to bring Benjamin to Egypt to retrieve Simeon, Jacob says to the brothers “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more (Remember Jacob has been tricked into thinking Joseph was killed years ago), and Simeon is no more(because he is being held in Egypt) , and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me.”

Jacob’s son Reuben then stepped up and said to Jacob “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.” I’m sure this offer was quite easy for Jacob to refuse, basically what Reuben is saying is “If I mistakenly get your youngest son killed, then in return you can kill your grandsons too”. Why Reuben thought that would be a tempting offer is beyond me, but that is the offer he made.

Jacob responds to Reuben by saying “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.” Jacob could not handle the thought of losing another son, and he didn’t trust the brothers who had already left Simeon in in Egypt, and Jacob was under the impression that Joseph had been killed by an animal while in the care of his brothers in the fields; little did he know that the brothers had actually sold him into slavery; if he had known the truth certainly he would be even more against them taking Benjamin to Egypt.

They eventually ran out of grain though, and the famine was still severe. So Jacob tells the brothers to go back to Egypt and buy more food. But Judah reminds him that unless they bring Benjamin with, they are not to show their faces in Egypt again. Judah then makes the pledge to his father like we talked about earlier Genesis 43:9 “I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.”

This offer was much more reasonable than Reuben’s previous offer to allow Jacob to kill his grandson’s. Jacob reluctantly allowed Benjamin to accompany the brothers back to Egypt to retrieve Simeon and buy more grain. So we can see why it was not a possibility for Judah to return home peacefully without Benjamin like Joseph told him to do. Jacob would require Benjamin at his hand like he had promised.

So when the brothers were brought back to Joseph’s house after the silver cup was found in Benjamin’s bag, and Joseph says that only Benjamin must stay in Egypt to be his servant; Judah steps up and speaks on behalf of Benjamin. READ VERSE 18. Judah begins his plea with Joseph by referring to Joseph as his lord and himself as his servant, and begged him not to be angry with him for speaking out, and then showed Joseph great respect by referring to him as “equal with Pharaoh”.

READ VERSES 19-20. Judah goes on to remind Joseph of their previous conversation on their last visit, where Judah shared that they had a father and a younger brother back home. And notice he says “his brother is dead” he is referring to Joseph who is the one he is talking to! Could you imagine being Joseph in this conversation?

READ VERSES 21-23 Judah now reminds Joseph of his command that they must bring Benjamin back with them, and even though they told him that their father would die without Benjamin; Joseph insisted that Benjamin come to Egypt.

So in verse 17 Joseph is turning the conversation away from Judah and the other brothers and directing the attention right at Benjamin. He says “Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant, But as for you go up in peace to your father”. Basically saying, I’m done with you Judah and the other brothers you are free to leave; Benjamin will stay and face his consequences. But Judah steps up and speaks on behalf of Benjamin; serving as a Mediator between Benjamin and Joseph.

Judah could’ve left Benjamin in Egypt, and left his father to die without his beloved son, like he had left Joseph to die, then later sold him into slavery; where he had already assumed he had died. But Judah had a changed heart from the days he sold Joseph away. Judah bravely stood in between Benjamin and Joseph who had the power to enslave or kill Benjamin (for something that from Judah’s perspective Benjamin was guilty of).

Judah chose to enter the role of Mediator. A mediator is one who mediates or acts as an middleman between two opposing parties to settle a dispute. God has a dispute with sinful men because they are sinful and He is Holy.

Psalm 11:5 “The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.”

God hates wickedness and evil, and so mankind’s evil sinful deeds have brought us into contention with God. We need a middleman between us and God to settle this dispute, much like Benjamin needed Judah to settle his dispute with Joseph.

The power difference between Benjamin and Joseph was pretty large, Joseph was almost equal with Pharaoh, basically the second most powerful man in Egypt; and Benjamin was a shepherd from Canaan. Surely Benjamin was shaking in his boots when in conflict with this powerful man.

But the power difference between God and mankind is infinitely greater; this makes our dispute with God infinitely more dangerous for us, than Benjamin’s dispute ever could’ve been. The penalty for Benjamin would’ve been slavery, or at worst; death.

But for mankind the penalty for our sin is not only a physical death, but an eternal death in hell. Our sin against an eternal God, carries an eternal penalty that can never be paid off by man. You could spend 100 million years in hell paying for your sin against an eternal God and that eternal penalty will not be even one step closer to being paid off.

Mankind is in much more trouble than Benjamin was and needs a much bigger Mediator than Judah.

Hebrews 9:15 “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.”

This of course is talking about Jesus Christ; He is the mediator of the new covenant

Hebrews 7:22 “This makes Jesus the guarantor of a BETTER covenant.”

1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”

I’ve heard many people claim that they are certain they will make it to heaven, because their mom is a Christian; or they say my grandma has prayed enough for me, I should be good. But 1 Tim 2:5 just said there is ONE mediator between God and men, and it’s not your mom or your grandma; it’s Jesus Christ only. If you don’t have Jesus Christ personally, you don’t have a mediator and you will have no hope when you stand before God.

2. Judah the Advocate

Ge 44:24-29

This will bring us to the second role that Judah fulfilled, which is as Judah the Advocate.

READ VERSES 24-29

In these verses Judah is continuing with his recount of what his father Jacob had told him in regards to Benjamin, and why they couldn’t leave Benjamin in Egypt. Joseph of course wasn’t there when Jacob told them these things, so Judah is hopeful that Joseph will consider their father’s best interests and have compassion on them by letting Benjamin go free.

Judah tells Joseph how their father Jacob had told them to go buy grain, and that the brothers responded by reminding him that unless Benjamin comes with them to Egypt they won’t be able to even see Joseph’s face. Then Judah tugs at Joseph’s heartstrings with Jacob’s response.

Jacob had told the brothers before they left for Egypt with Benjamin in verse 27 “You know that my wife bore me two sons”. So hold on, Jacob had 12 sons; so why is he saying his wife bore him two sons? He goes on to say “One left me, and I said surely he has been torn to pieces and i have never seen him since. If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in evil to Sheol”.

So Jacob is saying that his wife bore him two sons, one is Benjamin of course; the one he is worried about being harmed. And the other he refers to is Joseph, who he believes was mauled by an animal and killed many years ago. But he is saying this to the rest of his sons, so how could he say he only has two sons?

Well Joseph and Benjamin were the only two sons born by Rachel; Jacob’s favorite wife but not his only wife. Jacob was also married to Leah, Rachel’s older sister; who bore him 6 sons; including Judah, Simeon, and Reuben; who Jacob doesn’t seem nearly as concerned with as he is concerned with Benjamin. Then Jacob also had children with Bilhah and Zilpah; Rachel and Leah’s maidservants.

Jacob originally had fallen in love with Rachel and agreed to work for her father Laban for 7 years in exchange for her hand in marriage. But on their wedding night, Laban gave Rachel’s older sister Leah to him instead; with the argument that it’s custom to give the older daughter away in marriage first. Jacob then had to work another 7 years for Rachel’s hand in marriage again.

Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, and showed favoritism toward her. Because of this lack of love that Leah was receiving, God closed the womb of Rachel for a time, and this is why Leah bore Jacob 6 sons, while Rachel only bore him two sons; Joseph and Benjamin, later on in life making them younger than the sons of Leah. Rachel tragically died giving birth to Benjamin.

So this background story explains WHY Jacob was so much more concerned with the safety of Benjamin than his other sons. Because Rachel the one he truly loved; died giving birth to Benjamin. And Joseph had been killed (or so he thought) by an animal, so Benjamin was the only thing he had left from his love Rachel.

Jacob says in verse 29 “if you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in evil to Sheol”. So what does this mean?

There are several different terms used throughout scripture to refer to heaven and hell. Sheol and hades (which is the greek word for Sheol) both refer to the place of the dead. Sheol or Hades is divided into two places that are described in the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man in Luke 16. Let’s turn there; Luke 16:19-31.

Lazarus and the Rich Man are both in Hades (the place of the dead) but Lazarus is in “Abraham’s Bosom” a synonym for heaven, and the Rich Man is in Hades in torment. Lazarus is in the presence of Christ, and Lazarus is in the other side of Hades in torment with a great gulf between them that can never be spanned.

Sheol or Hades also seems to be a temporary place, where souls await the final resurrection. Jesus speaks of the final resurrection in John 5:28–29 “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”

Those who have done good (meaning whoever hears Christ’s word and believes him who sent him like Jesus says in John 5:24) will be resurrected to eternal life with God in Paradise, but those who do evil (meaning those who’ve rejected Christ’s word and refused to believe in the one who sent Him), will be resurrected to judgement.

The Apostle John describes this final judgement in Revelation 20:11-15, let’s turn there. Those who died without Christ, are resurrected from torment in Hades to face God in judgement, then thrown into the lake of fire; which is the final destination for Satan and his children who reject Christ.

So, back to our passage in Genesis; when Jacob said Judah would bring down his gray hairs in evil to Sheol, what he was saying is that if Benjamin were to get hurt, that Jacob would be so overcome with grief and sorrow, in losing Benjamin the only thing he had left from his love Rachel, that he would die.

Back to Judah’s advocacy for Benjamin; He shares this heart wrenching story about his father’s need for his son Benjamin, hoping that Joseph will have empathy towards Jacob and let Benjamin go. In this way Judah is acting as an ADVOCATE for Benjamin and his father.

In our modern day courts, lawyers act as advocates in speaking up for the rights of their client. We call them lawyers because they are well versed in our laws and can interpret our complicated statutes with accuracy. And this is what the Apostle John is illustrating in 1 John 2:1 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an ADVOCATE with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

Romans 8:34 “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the Father right now, advocating for believers.

God’s law has proven us to be guilty; we have all broken God’s laws and continue to do so. Romans 3:10 “as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;”

Like we talked about earlier the just punishment for breaking God’s law is death; physical death and an eternal death in the pits of hell. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Much like Judah was advocating for Benjamin before Joseph, Jesus Christ acts as an advocate for believers, in God’s court room, telling the Father that although you have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and deserve the just punishment; You repented, and put your faith in Christ , and Jesus himself already suffered the punishment for you on your behalf, so you can be pronounced “NOT GUILTY”, not on your own merit, but on Christ’s!

3. Judah the Substitute

Ge 44:30-34

Conclude by showcasing Judah's ultimate offer to take Benjamin's place, drawing a parallel to the heart of the gospel message - substitution and redemption. Maybe highlight Judah's willingness to become a slave so Benjamin might go free, clearly illuminating the redemptive nature of sacrifice. This point will resonate with the audience as a call to embody Christ's sacrificial love, demonstrating how true leadership involves putting others before oneself.