Back to Egypt

And as I begin my message today, I want to bring you first to the end of this passage

where Jacob reminisces about his life to Pharaoh in chapter 47, verse 9.

And he says this,

The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years.

Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life.

And they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers

in the days of their sojourning.

So he says,

Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life.

Now, some of you can relate to that.

And even if you personally can't relate to that sentiment,

you at least probably know someone who can.

In this world, we will have tribulation, Jesus said in John 16, 33.

In this world, people suffer from natural disasters like Hurricane Harvey.

We experience the loss of loved ones.

We endure hardships and injustice.

People hurt each other.

And hurt people hurt more people.

And they sin and suffer in perpetual cycle.

And for that reason, if you look around, there is no shortage of bitterness in this world.

But in this passage, it teaches that for Christians, we can rise above it all

to trust in God in the midst of sin and suffering

because God's sovereign purposes prevail through it all.

Now, that's the main point of this passage.

And we see this truth in Genesis 42 to 47 through the unfolding stories of three main characters.

First, we're going to talk about Judah.

And then second, we're going to talk about Joseph.

And third, we're going to talk about Jacob.

And these chapters are really a literary clinic on character development.

They're such complex, broken characters that God transforms in the course of these chapters

and have been throughout the previous chapters as well.

Their stories teach us that we can trust in God in the midst of sin and suffering

because God's sovereign purposes prevail through it all.

So first of these portraits is of Judah in chapters 42 to 44.

And by Judah, I mean all the brothers of Joseph, the sons of Leah,

because he kind of functions as a representative of the brothers.

And Genesis 41, the chapter before where we are today,

concluded with Joseph rising to the rank of vizier.

It is the second in command in all of Egypt after Pharaoh.

And then he was entrusted with meeting the needs of the Egyptians

during the seven years of famine.

So he was in charge of the storehouses.

And then we are now turning, the scene is turning now to Canaan again

to see how the Israelites, how Jacob and his sons are dealing with the same famine

that struck the area.

And so read 42, turn to 42 verses 1 to 5 with me.

I'm going to read that out loud now.

Verses 1 to 5 of chapter 42.

But actually, before we do that, I'm just going to pray to ask for God's help.

We usually pray before the scripture reading,

so I got kind of thrown off my routine here.

Let me pray.

God, we know that our words often fall to the ground.

They are not fulfilled.

We go back on our promises.

But your words never fall to the ground.

You're always faithful.

That's why we cling to your word.

And we want to hear from your word to be challenged and addressed by it.

So we pray.

We need your help.

That by your spirit, you enliven our hearts,

illuminate our minds to understand and to grasp

and to apply these truths to our lives

so that we can glorify you and honor you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Chapter 42, verses 1 to 5.

It says,

When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt,

he said to his sons,

Why do you look at one another?

And he said,

Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt.

Go down and buy grain for us there,

that we may live and not die.

So ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.

But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with his brothers,

for he feared that harm might happen to him.

Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came,

for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

So Jacob and his family, too, have been affected by the famine that struck Egypt.

And now they are literally running out of food.

And Jacob, in effect, scores his sons.

Like, so what are you doing?

Go and get us some food.

I heard that there's some food in Egypt.

And then it says in verse 3 that ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.

And that's interesting because Joseph now has 11 brothers.

So why just ten?

And then the answer is given immediately by the narrator.

And it's because Jacob, their father, feared that harm might happen to Benjamin, his youngest.

And Benjamin, so Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers.

And Joseph and Benjamin are the two sons, the only two children he has by his favorite wife, Rachel.

And so he's trying to protect his son, Benjamin.

The word harm coming upon Benjamin, it only occurs in Genesis.

In the entire Bible, it occurs four times.

And three of the times it deals with Benjamin.

So he's trying to protect Benjamin from harm.

And the last time it occurs is, interestingly enough, in Exodus 21 to 23,

the harm is applied to a baby that is accidentally miscarried

because some men who are fighting around accidentally hits the pregnant woman

and the baby miscarries.

And the harm is that to have come to the baby.

So Jacob is literally here babying Benjamin, saying,

This is my son.

This is my favorite son.

And no harm is going to come to him on my watch.

So he doesn't send him.

He just sends the ten brothers.

Well, harm might come to them.

But, I mean, that's not a bigger deal for him than it is for Benjamin.

So in God's providence, out of all those thousands probably of people

that are there to buy grain from Egypt,

Joseph is personally overseeing the sale of grain.

And he gets to meet his brothers.

And Joseph recognizes his brothers because, I mean,

they probably haven't changed too much except for aging.

But Joseph has changed quite a bit.

One, he was an adolescent when he was taken to Egypt.

And now he's the second in rank in all of Egypt.

So he's hard to recognize.

So they don't recognize him.

And Joseph takes advantage of that disparity,

that he knows them but they know him not,

to test them to see if they have changed since the time

they sold them into slavery in Egypt.

And so verse 7, it says,

Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them,

but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them.

So these words are signifying that divine justice

is now catching up to Joseph's brothers.

Because if you look at chapter 37, verse 18,

it says that Joseph's brothers conspired against Joseph.

And then in 37, 32 to 33,

after selling Joseph into slavery,

they dipped his robe of many colors in gold blood

and then brought it to his father Jacob,

asking him to identify it, right?

So those two words, identify, right,

and to conspire,

are the exact same Hebrew words that are translated here

as recognized and treat as strangers.

So now, so those two are,

so basically Joseph is doing to his brothers

what his brothers did to him,

exactly what he did to him.

Possibly a little bit of vindictiveness there,

but more likely he's trying to test him,

test them to see where their heart is.

And he accuses them of being spies

sent by foreign power to scout the weakness of Egypt.

And then he presses them.

And as he continues to press them,

they start to divulge more information

about their family in order to gain Joseph's trust.

And so they say in verse 10,

know my Lord, your servants have come to buy food.

We are all sons of one man.

We are honest men.

Your servants have never been spies.

There's a lot of irony in those statements, right?

So he says, we are all sons of one man,

not knowing that even the man he is there speaking to

is a son of one man.

And then not just that, they're speaking,

they say that they're honest men

to the very brother that they sold into slavery, right?

So you can see the irony.

Joseph is watching them.

They're claiming to be honest men,

sons of all one man.

They continue in verse 13.

We, your servants, are 12 brothers,

the sons of one man in the land of Canaan.

And behold, the youngest is this day with our father,

and one is no more.

Quite the vague euphemism.

One is no more.

When the reality is that they themselves heartlessly

and callously sold him into slavery, right?

And so after, at this point,

Jacob has learned that he has another brother

because Benjamin was born after he was sold into slavery.

So he presses them further to get more information

about his family in verses 15 to 16.

By this, you shall be tested.

By the life of Pharaoh,

you shall not go from this place

unless your youngest brother comes here.

Send one of you and let him bring your brother

while you remain confined,

that your words may be tested,

whether there is truth in you or else.

By the life of Pharaoh,

surely you are spies.

After saying this,

Joseph puts them in prison for three days.

And this too is evidence of the justice, right?

Joseph was formerly imprisoned

on account of his brothers selling him into slavery.

And now they are imprisoned on account of Joseph.

In fact, the word that is translated in verse 17

as he put them all together in custody,

that is a word play on Joseph's name.

It looks and sounds exactly like the name Joseph.

So basically, Joseph is Josephing his brothers.

He's treating them like the way they treated Joseph previously.

Now, during their imprisonment,

Joseph revises his plan.

And we don't know why exactly,

but maybe he realizes,

well, if only one of them goes back,

I mean, he's not gonna be able

to take much food back to his family.

Maybe they won't survive.

Okay, maybe it's better to keep one back

and send the rest of them home.

We don't know what's his thinking.

But he revises his plan.

He decides to leave one brother with him

and to send everyone back to grab Benjamin.

And Joseph's brothers know that God

is bringing them to account

for what they did to Joseph

as all this is happening.

Because they say in verse 21,

in truth, we are guilty concerning our brother

in that we saw the distress of his soul

when he begged us and we did not listen.

This is why this distress has come upon us.

They caused Joseph distress.

And now the same distress has come upon them.

And then Reuben tries to justify himself

in this situation to his brothers.

He says, did I not tell you not to sin against the boy?

But you did not listen.

And so now there comes a reckoning for his blood.

So Joseph overhears this, the narrator tells us.

And even though he has a translator between them,

obviously the brothers think that he's understanding

through a translator,

but he doesn't need a translator.

So he understands what they're saying.

And so at this point,

he learns that his oldest brother, Reuben,

was not complicit in their plan

to sell him, to kill him, right?

Or initially to kill him,

and then later to sell him into Egypt.

And so maybe that's why Joseph has some compassion

on his oldest brother, Reuben.

But he decides to hold Simeon in prison.

Simeon is the second oldest brother instead of Reuben.

And then he sends them back home.

And this may also be just kind of ironic,

divine retribution.

Because now, because Benjamin, right,

the second son of Rachel,

is held by Jacob,

and he wants him to bring him back.

So in exchange for Benjamin,

he's now holding on to the second son of Leah.

So there's a lot of just kind of retribution happening.

Just Joseph, exactly the way they treated Joseph,

mistreated Joseph,

is happening to the brothers.

And so they go back with additional provisions

and probably out of compassion for his family,

he returns all the money that they paid for the grain

and puts them back into the sacks.

And as they're going,

they discover,

one of the brothers discovered the money in the sack

and they panic.

They're like,

oh no,

my money is in the sack.

So they're worried that basically

when the Egyptians do their accounting later,

they're going to realize

that they didn't pay for the grain that they took.

And then now,

they're going to get in trouble later

if they ever come across them again.

And so,

they say in verse 28,

what is this that God has done to us?

This is a recurring theme.

As all these things are happening,

we recognize that it's not people

who are the ultimate agents,

but God is doing these things.

God is bringing the brothers of Joseph to account.

But that's just the start

because it gets worse.

So they discovered the money in one sack

and now they arrive

and they tell Jacob,

their father,

all that has transpired up to this point.

And then when they opened the rest of the sacks,

they discover that the money is back

in every single sack of grain.

So that means they didn't get,

they didn't pay any money for the grain

that they just brought from Egypt.

And then it says in verse 35,

of chapter 42,

and when they and their fathers

saw their bundles of money,

they were afraid.

And then follow this.

And what they say,

what Jacob says in response,

in verse 36,

is shocking and highly suggestive.

It says,

you have bereaved me of my children.

Joseph is no more.

Simeon is no more.

And now you would take Benjamin.

All this has come against me.

Right?

So first,

Jacob is blaming his sons

for the loss of Joseph and Simeon.

And if you have followed Joseph's story

up to this point,

well, maybe you can blame,

you know,

them for Simeon

because perhaps they weren't persuasive enough

with Joseph or something like that.

But really,

it's not their fault.

Right?

And then secondly,

Joseph,

according to the theory,

according to the lie

that they sold to their father,

right,

Joseph was devoured by wild beasts.

Right?

So if Joseph was devoured by wild beasts,

they're not to blame.

So when Jacob says here,

you have bereaved me,

my children,

he's suggesting something

that perhaps it was not up to no one.

So this is,

a lot of commentators note this,

but it may be that first time

they sold Joseph into slavery.

Obviously,

they had a lot of money.

It says that they sold them

for 20 shekels of silver,

which is about two years worth of wages.

So think about how much you earn in two years.

And all of a sudden,

one day,

they have that money.

And perhaps the father notices some of that

and starts to harbor some suspicions.

Okay,

what happened to Joseph?

What really happened?

Where did all this disposable income come from?

We don't know what he did,

but he probably pushed the suspicion

to the back of his mind,

thinking,

oh,

that's just unthinkable.

There's no way that happened.

But then,

now Simeon is lost,

and then they come,

and the Simeon is gone,

and they open the sacks,

and all the money

that he gave them

to get the grain is there.

There's Simeon.

There's money.

Again,

and he's,

so that,

at least,

it would be very rash,

reasonable for him

to suspect them

of doing something unthinkable.

So he says,

you have bereaved me.

He doesn't say,

you have all been bereaved.

No,

you have bereaved me

of my children.

You have,

Joseph is no more,

Simeon is no more,

and now you would take Benjamin.

All this has come against me.

Now,

that explains the,

the overzealous response

of Reuben

in the following verse,

because he says in verse 17,

verse 37,

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.

But Jacob does not confide in Reuben,

and he replies in verse 38,

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

down on the journey

that you are to make,

you would bring down

my gray hairs

with sorrow to Sheol.

Now,

this is a statement

because Jacob is saying,

in effect,

I don't know about your sons,

but my son surely

isn't going down with you,

right?

And he's,

and also look at how,

what he says,

Jacob refers to Joseph

as his brother,

meaning Benjamin's brother,

not your brother

or their brother,

right?

And he also says,

he is the only one left,

as if the other 10 sons of Leah

are not even his sons,

right?

He's the only one I have left.

There's so much brokenness

in this family.

And Jacob is virtually renouncing

his 10 sons of Leah

as less than sons,

and doubling down

on his favoritism

of Rachel's sons,

of Benjamin now.

And so even though

the brothers

sold Joseph initially

in order to gain

the favor of their father

by getting rid of

the favorite one,

they're back to square one,

exactly the same place

where they began.

Now Benjamin has taken

that mantle

of Jacob's favorite child.

And in fact,

the words that he uses

to describe

what would happen to him

should he lose Benjamin

is almost identical

to what he said

when he lost Joseph.

You'll bring down

my gray hair

in sorrow to shield.

So at this point,

we are seeing,

in the following chapter,

we're going to see

even more,

but even in the midst

of Joseph's brother's

sin and suffering,

God is working something here.

He's working out

his sovereign plan

and we're going to see

that in the following chapters.

Look at chapter 43.

Now some time has passed

and it seems that

at least some of the tension

and suspicion

that was there

between Jacob

and his 10 sons

has been diffused

because now they're hungry again

and they need food,

right?

So Jacob once again

tells him to go buy some food

and then Judah reminds him

emphatically,

father,

it's not happening

unless we take Benjamin with him.

The man told us so.

And so we have seen

since chapter 37,

so basically that's when

Reuben,

the firstborn of Jacob,

tried to usurp

his father's authority

by sleeping with

his father's concubine.

Now ever since then,

he's kind of lost

his kind of status,

his favor with his father

as firstborn.

And then after that,

the second and third sons,

Simeon and Levi,

also lost their favorite status

with the father

by raiding and ransacking

the town of Shechem.

And so you see that later

when Jacob blesses his sons

on his deathbed.

So he kind of,

he passes over,

I mean he blesses them

but it's kind of a curse

for Reuben,

Simeon and Levi.

And so that's,

so now you see increasingly

Judah,

the fourth son,

taking the mantle of leadership

and that's what we see here.

So Judah starts to represent

his brothers and then now,

now he says in verses

eight to 10 of chapter 43,

send a boy with me

and we will arise and go

that we may live and not die.

Both we and you

and also our little ones.

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 we had not delayed,

we will now have returned twice.

So Judah is,

is more persuasive than Reuben

and Judah,

I mean Jacob trusts him

more than Reuben

and recognizing that

the alternative really is

death by starvation,

he says to himself

in chapter 43 verse 14,

if I am bereaved of my children,

I am bereaved.

And he says,

go take Benjamin

and go back to Egypt.

And not just,

he doesn't just send them to Egypt

with the money to buy the grain,

he sends them also

with the choice fruits of the land

in order to basically gain

the ruler of Egypt's favor.

And he also sends them

with double the money.

And this is so interesting,

what Jacob says,

he says,

perhaps it was an oversight.

Perhaps.

He's not convinced

that it was an oversight.

Perhaps it was an oversight.

So he says in verse 12,

and he sends them all back.

Now, man,

this is such a gripping story.

I hope you guys,

we didn't get to read the full thing.

I hope you guys get to read it at home.

But basically,

when they arrive,

they receive an exceedingly warm welcome

from Joseph.

And they are taken into Joseph's house

for a luncheon.

But a guilty conscience

doesn't sit well

with kind dealings.

And so automatically,

they start to suspect,

oh no,

they're going to try to ambush us

and then enslave us.

So they go up to the steward

preemptively and say,

hey,

remember last time,

the money?

Like,

we didn't do that.

We didn't take the money.

And we brought all the money back.

And then the steward tells them

in verse 23,

peace to you.

Do not be afraid.

Your God

and the God of your father

has put treasure in your sacks for you.

I received your money.

Now,

whether knowingly or unknowingly,

Joseph's steward expresses the truth

that really kind of main point

throughout this passage,

that God is sovereignly working

in and through all human activity,

including Joseph instructing his servants

to put the money back in their sacks.

So in this scene,

we see Joseph's particular affection

for his full brother,

Benjamin.

Read very emotional verses here.

Verses 29 to 30.

Please read that with me.

It says,

Lifted up his eyes

and saw his brother,

Benjamin,

his mother's son,

and said,

is this your youngest brother

of whom you spoke to me?

God be gracious to you,

my son.

Then Joseph hurried out

for his compassion,

grew warm for his brother,

and he sought a place to weep,

and he entered his chamber

and wept there.

In describing this entire second visit

of Joseph's brothers,

the narrator has intentionally

not used any relational terms.

So Joseph, up to this point,

has always been called the man,

and Joseph's brothers

have always been called the men.

It's not very creative,

but then this is the first time

where it says,

Benjamin is his brother,

and his mother's son.

Relational terms are used

to convey exceeding affection

that Joseph has for Benjamin.

So he goes out to weep,

and he returns,

having composed himself.

But after the feast,

his test is not done.

Joseph initiates the final part

of his test of his brothers,

and then he commands his steward

in verses 1 to 2 of chapter 44.

We're in chapter 44 now,

verses 1 to 2.

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.

Now, at this point in the narrative,

we don't know what Joseph is up to.

All we know,

he could be just pretty generous,

like he was the first time,

just giving them the money back,

and then because he loves Benjamin,

giving him his special silver cup.

But then we see what he's doing later

in verses 4 to 5,

because he instructs his steward further.

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.

So when the servant catches up

to Joseph's brothers,

and then the servant interrogates them,

the brothers are so certain

of their innocence,

they say this in verse 9,

whichever of your servants

is found with it shall die,

and we also will be my Lord's servants.

But the steward is working

on Joseph's instructions,

so he's not really interested

in the rest of the brothers.

So he just says,

no, verse 10,

he was found with it shall be my servant,

and the rest of you shall be innocent.

So he takes their suggestion

of making a servant,

but he doesn't accept their suggestion

of making them all servants.

So it's a much more lenient punishment,

but of course,

the steward already knows

where that silver cup is,

and the tension in the narrative builds

as they check one sack at a time,

starting from the eldest

to the youngest,

and then finally,

they come to Benjamin's sack,

and then they open it,

and the cup is found

in Benjamin's sack.

Now, this is a brilliant test

that Joseph has designed, right?

Because what happened, right?

The first time his brother

sold him into slavery, right?

They abandoned him callously

to the Egyptians to be a slave there,

and then they left.

And the test is this.

Now, you're going to have to decide.

Now, the other son of Rachel,

Benjamin,

is about to be enslaved in Egypt.

Will you do the same thing

you did to me

and abandon him and go home?

Right?

That's the test.

And so now,

the test is set,

and then we get to see

the response.

And this is,

and the brother's response

is so telling.

I mean,

they've been living

with gnawing guilt

for the last 20,

22 years.

I mean,

it's in the back.

It's bothering their conscience.

They sense it

in all their dealings

with their father.

And then so,

Judah and the brothers,

they say this.

God has found out

the guilt of your servant.

Now,

they're not referring

to the guilt

of stealing the cup

because they didn't steal the cup.

They're saying God has found

out the guilt

of selling Joseph

into slavery.

And that's exactly

what God is doing.

He's finding out their guilt,

bringing them to account,

and he's forcing

Joseph's brothers

to reckon with their sin

and to repent of it

so that they can be reconciled

to one another.

Right?

So in the midst

of all their sin

and suffering,

God is working out

his sovereign purposes.

And we see what he's doing

in the following years.

Right?

So 22 years

of unconfessed sin,

right,

that they've been dealing

with is finally coming

to a climax here.

So Judah's speech

in chapter 44,

18 to 34,

is one of the most

beautiful,

eloquent,

and impassioned speeches

in all of Hebrew literature

and all of the Bible.

Now,

it's really a point-for-point

undoing

of their earlier violation

of that paternal

and fraternal loyalty

and love.

So I'm going to read it

in full

because it's worth reading.

Verse 18 to 34,

please read it with me.

Chapter 44,

verses 18 to 34.

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 servant,

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 servant,

bring him down to me

that I may,

and I 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

and my evil to shield.

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 shield.

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.

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.

Oh,

it's...

Judah

now really

understands

what it means

that his

aged father's

life is bound up

with the life

of Benjamin.

Right?

And he states

very plainly,

right,

that Benjamin

is his favorite,

that Jacob

has singled them out

for special affection,

just as he had

previously done

with Joseph.

And this

is a remarkable

admission

if you think about it,

right?

I mean,

that's a very tough

pill to swallow

for Judah

and the rest

of the brothers,

right,

the ten brothers,

the sons of Leah.

That means

because that's...

Jacob is not

truly treating them

like sons,

acknowledging them

as full sons.

Right?

It's a painful reality

for them to admit.

In fact,

that was what

aroused their jealousy

in the first place

to get rid of Joseph.

But now,

that same favoritism

that had previously

led them

to sell Joseph

into slavery,

that same favoritism

is the reason

that Judah gives

for cherishing

and protecting

their younger brother,

Benjamin.

Do you guys see

what's the change

that has taken place

in Judah and his brothers?

Before,

they said,

you know what?

Jacob just loves him.

Well,

let's get rid of Joseph.

Let's get rid of him.

Now,

because Jacob loves Benjamin

and with a special affection,

they say,

we cannot afford

to do the same.

Take me instead

and make me your slave

so that Benjamin

can go home

to be with his father.

And the word father

is mentioned 14 times

in the Hebrew

in this speech of Judah.

My father,

my father,

that's his obsession.

That's his primary

overriding concern.

I cannot,

again,

bring such grief

to my father.

Right?

So that earlier violation

of that paternal bond

by selling Joseph

into slavery

is now being reversed

and they're showing

great and extraordinarily

affection,

loyalty

to their father.

And so through

Judah's speech,

Joseph learns

many things.

One,

he learns that

his father

had thought

that he was torn

to pieces

by a wild beast.

And then second,

he learns

what consternation

he must have caused

by withholding Simeon

and demanding

that they bring Benjamin.

And then third,

he sees that

a true repentance

and transformation

has taken place

in the life

of his brothers.

Now they really care

for even Rachel's son,

even the son

that on account

of whom

they are

in a way

disinherited

and disregarded.

And so that

breaks down

Joseph's last defenses

and it says

in chapter 45

verses 1 to 3,

Then Joseph

could not

control himself

before all those

who stood by him.

He cried,

Make everyone

go out for me.

So no one

stayed with him

when Joseph

made himself

known to his brothers

and he wept

aloud

so that the Egyptians

heard it

and the household

of Pharaoh

heard it.

And Joseph

said to his brothers,

I am Joseph.

Is my father

still alive?

But his brothers

could not answer him

for they were

dismayed at his presence.

So Joseph

then comforts

and reassures

his dismayed brothers

and then in verses

14 to 15

he says,

Then he fell

upon his brother

Benjamin's neck

and wept

and Benjamin

wept upon his neck

and he kissed

all his brothers

and wept upon them.

After that,

his brothers

talked with him.

After 22 years

of not talking

to one another

as brothers.

Now they talk

once again

to each other

as brothers.

as sons

of the same

father.

God has

sovereignly

worked

reconciliation

in Jacob's

family

even through

all their sin

and suffering.

In a group

this large

the chances are

that there's

at least

some of you

who have

a painful

secret

that you have

been keeping

from others

like Joseph's

brothers.

Maybe there's

a sin

that you keep

hidden

and refuse

to confess

through shame

and guilt.

Maybe

you aborted

a baby

from an

unwanted

pregnancy.

Maybe

you visited

sex parlors

or watched

pornography

in the seclusion

of your mobile

device.

Maybe you

cross-dress

in secret

and fantasize

about sexual

engagements

that God

forbids.

Maybe you

have a persistent

image issue

and you engage

in binge eating

and purging.

maybe you

have severe

depressive

and suicidal

thoughts

and you're

cutting yourself.

Whatever

it might

be

I'm here

to tell you

on the

authority

of God's

word

that you

can be

healed

and forgiven

and free.

We see

that in the

life of

Joseph's

brothers.

God

worked out

his sovereign

plan

even through

their sin

and he

brought healing

and reconciliation

to their

family.

It's never

too late

to come

clean

before God.

You are

never

beyond

redemption

because

our

redeemer

is the

almighty

Lord

himself.

So

James 5

16

exhorts

therefore

confess

your sins

to one

another

and pray

for one

another

that you

may be

healed.

Unconfessed

sins will

eat away

at your

soul

and a

guilty

conscience

will never

stop

nagging

you.

And

together

they

lead

to

alienation

from

God

separation

from

him.

Come

clean

before

him

today.

In

this

story

Judah

only

offered

himself

as

substitute

but

as

Christians

as

God's

people

we

know

that

God

that

Jesus

Christ

our

true

elder

brother

actually

offered

himself

as

a

substitute

for

our

sins

and

wrongdoings.

Jesus

died

in

our

place

so that

we

can

be

forgiven

of

our

sins

and

that's

why

we

can

come

to

him

that's

what we

call

the

good

news

of

Jesus

and

if

you're

already

a

believer

then

we

are

forgiven

sinners

right

what the

Bible

calls

saints

and

this

passage

illustrates

for us

the

importance

of

reconciliation

in

God's

family

because

the

reason

why

and

the

reason

reconciliation

was made

possible

in

Jacob's

family

right

is

Judah's

brothers

right

instead

of

making

right

their

personal

grievance

the

point

at

which

they

relate

to

their

brother

Joseph

and

Benjamin

it's

because

of

them

now

I'm

I don't

have

the

favor

of

the

father

instead

of

relating

to

them

in

that

way

they

turn

that

around

and

relate

to

them

on

account

of

the

father's

love

for

them

no

my

father

Jacob

really

loves

them

and

cherishes

them

that's

why

I need

to

cherish

them

and

love

them

that's

why

reconciliation

is

made

possible

in

the

same

way

in

the

family

of

God

we

are

diverse

and

God

intended

it

to be

so

he

designed

us

so

that

we're

interdependent

and

not

independent

and

that

experiences

that

make

us

need

each

other

but

when

that

happens

and

we're

also

still

sinners

we

sin

and

therefore

we're

going

to

offend

each

other

but

when

that

happens

we

can

be

reconciled

to

one

another

and

have

unity

in

the

family

of

God

by

not

relating

to

one

another

on

account

of

personal

grievances

they

did

this

to

me

it's

because

of

this

they

do

these

things

that

I

don't

relate

to

each

other

on

those

basis

but

relate

to

each

other

on

the

basis

that

we

have

the

same

father

and

the

father

loves

them

loves

all

of

us

that's

what

brings

us

together

and

reconciles

us

in

the

family

of

God

it's

because

we have

aligned

ourselves

with

him

that

we

can

be

aligned

with

one

another

and

so

God

in

the

midst

of

the

brothers

Judas

sin

and

suffering

works

out

his

sovereign

plan

and

that's

the

first

point

it's

also

the

longest

point

so

stick

with

me

yeah

and

the

second

we

see

the

same

truth

displayed

in

the

life

of

Joseph

right

we

can

trust

in

God

in

the

midst

of

sin

and

suffering

because

God's

sovereign

plan

prevails

through

it

all

look

with

me

if you

turn

with

me

to

41

chapter

40

and

verse

32

there

Joseph

had

said

something

very

interesting

to

Pharaoh

because

he's

interpreting

Pharaoh's

two

dreams

and

he

says

that

the

two

dreams

actually

have

the

same

meaning

and

as

he

interprets

it

for

Pharaoh

he

says

this

the

doubling

of

Pharaoh's

dreams

means

that

the

thing

is

fixed

by

God

and

God

will

shortly

bring

it

about

now

that's

in there

as a

clue

for

the

readers

because

where

was

another

occasion

when

there

were

two

dreams

a

doubling

of

dreams

Joseph's

dreams

Joseph

had

two

dreams

they

weren't

identical

but

they

were

referring

to

the

same

thing

that

his

brothers

his

family

will

bow

down

to

him

right

so

first

dream

he

had

he

had

eleven

of

his

brothers

bow

down

to

him

the

second

dream

he

had

the

sun

and

moon

and

all

the

stars

bowed

down

to

him

so

that's

a

sign

we're

wondering

then

at

this

point

well

Joseph's

dream

was

doubled

when

is

that

going

to

be

fulfilled

and

we're

following

that

narrative

as

we

go

in

chapter

42

6

it

was

noted

that

when

Joseph's

brothers

came

and bowed

themselves

before

him

with

their

faces

to

the

ground

in

verse

9

it

says

Joseph

remembered

the

dreams

that

he

had

dreamed

of

them

now

that's

certainly

a

fulfillment

of

the

first

dream

had

10

brothers

not

11

but

it's

not

a

fulfillment

of

the

second

dream

because

he's