The Final Test (2)

Introduction

Tonight we see the final test that Joseph gives his brothers on the road to shalom or the road to peace. Over the last few chapters we have been on a journey towards the reconciliation of the covenant family. The journey towards Joseph and his family being brought back together and in good relationship with each other.

This started with the brothers coming to Egypt to get food and not recognizing Joseph. Joseph has been accusing them and seeing how they handle these different test. The first time he keeps one of the brothers and sends the rest back and says the one can be free if they bring the youngest brother with them. This most recent trip they have brought the youngest brother with them and their brother Simeon was released. Now they are preparing to go back home as a complete group with their food but Joseph has different plans to test them.

There are many parallels that we can draw between this passage and our lives but it is best to let the passage speak for itself so lets pray and then we can begin to dive in.

Joseph frames his brothers

Genesis 44:1–13 ESV

Then he commanded the steward of his house, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack, and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him. As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys. They had gone only a short distance from the city. Now Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good? Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this.’ ” When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words. They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! Behold, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be my lord’s servants.” He said, “Let it be as you say: he who is found with it shall be my servant, and the rest of you shall be innocent.” Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack. And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

Joseph starts this out with a scheme of putting the money back in their sacks of food like he did before but this time he puts his silver cup into the sack of Benjamin. Benjamin if you remember is the youngest brother and he is their dads favorite. Their dad did not want to let them even take him in the first place because he was so worried about his safety but the brothers all promised to protect him.

Early in the morning the brothers leave to get a start on their travels and soon after they leave with the trap set to frame them Joseph sends out his men to meet them and accuse them of taking the cup. They defend themselves saying that it makes no sense that they would steal it and then they even go so far as to say if any of them has it they shall die. The steward of Josephs house has mercy and says that the one who stole it shall become a slave and the rest shall go free.

They then all lower their sacks and he begins to search them starting with the oldest and going down to the youngest. When he gets to Benjamin he discovers the cup. The brothers do not keep on their journey though, they tear their clothes then load up and go back to the city.

Though these brothers are on the right track we can learn from them speaking to quickly in a time of testing. It says in Proverbs 18.13

Proverbs 18:13 ESV

If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.

You have probably seen this before when someone answers before they hear the whole question. It is only a way to find yourself in more trouble, luckily for these brothers they are dealing with godly people and not true pagan Egyptians.

Joseph indicts his brothers

Genesis 44:14–17 ESV

When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there. They fell before him to the ground. Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination?” And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.” But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so! 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.”

Now they are before Joseph bowing down yet again. Joseph brings his accusation against them asking what have you done. He uses divination to keep his cover still, divination is banned in the book of Leviticus. Judah then says that God has found their guilt, pointing back to what they did to Joseph. They feel guilty and feel like this is their punishment for it. He then says that they will all be slaves to Joseph. Joseph remains though saying that only the guilty one will be punished.

This is yet another spot where they are given the opportunity to leave him behind. When the steward first came and found them they could have continued on their journey but instead they turned around and now Joseph gives them another escape but they do not take it.

Judah's Intercession

Genesis 44:18–32 ESV

Then Judah went up to him and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself. My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’ Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again.’ “When we went back to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. And when our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,’ we said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother goes with us, then we will go down. For we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 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.’ “Now therefore, as soon as I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy’s life, as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.’

Judah now intercedes for his brother. He goes through their life giving details to Joseph about his own story that he did not know. He says that he fears what will happen if they return without Benjamin and they he himself was to bear the blame if anything happened to him.

This is a step up for Judah as he has become more and more of a leader and now he is pleading for the life of his brother when many of the original plans for Joseph were made by him. This leads to the most shocking statement from Judah.

Judah's substitution

Genesis 44:33–34 ESV

Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.”

Judah then offers himself as a substitute for Benjamin. He asks to remain as a slave in Benjamin’s place so that the boy may return safely to his father. The language of substitution here recalls the ram that stood in the place of Isaac on Mount Moriah in Genesis 22:13. Judah’s willingness to stand in Benjamin’s place demonstrates genuine repentance and transformation. The one who once suggested selling a brother now offers himself to save a brother. His concern is not only for Benjamin but also for the grief that would overwhelm his father if Benjamin did not return.

This moment reveals the profound change that has taken place in the brothers. They no longer act out of jealousy or self preservation but out of sacrificial concern for one another and for their father. Judah’s substitutionary offer becomes the decisive evidence Joseph needs in order to reveal his identity in the next chapter. Through this test God brings about reconciliation within the family and advances his covenant purposes, preparing the way for the preservation of Jacob’s household during this famine.

Conclusion

So here at the end of this chapter the final test is over. How do you think they did?

Judah stands up as a substitution for Benjamin, life for life here. All the brothers tear their clothes in mourning. They all return to seek his welfare. These brothers have changed dramatically.

In our lives when we are saved we are fully forgiven but we are not instantly made perfect. We begin to grow to be more like Christ as we go through life. The most important things you can do to help this growth is to come to church, especially on Sunday mornings, and read your Bible.

God is in the business of changing lives, he is changing the lives of these brothers and ultimately bring them all back together and he can change our lives to make us more like him is we will let him.