Genesis 44:1-34 - A FINAL TEST

8/2/2019 Genesis 44:1-34 - A FINAL TEST

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STUDY ON THE LIFE OF JOSEPH

“TRIUMPH OF FAITH”

Gen 44:1-34

STUDY (9)

Rev (Dr) Paul Ferguson

Calvary Tengah Bible Presbyterian ChurchShalom Chapel, 345 Old Choa Chu Kang Road,

Singapore 689485

February 2011



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“One Final Test” (Genesis 44:1-34)

Joseph had one more strategy to bring his brethren to repentance. He knew that there could be no genuine reconciliation without true repentance. Like

King Solomon’s judgments, these final tests are a masterstroke of wisdom. These tests were born out of love to his brothers and especially to hisyounger brother Benjamin. The brothers still do not know who Joseph is or

what he is seeking to find out about them.

And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fil l the men’s sacks with food, asmuch as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth. And put my cup,

the si lver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest , and his corn money. And he didaccording to the word that Joseph had spoken. As soon as the morning was l ight, the men

were sent away, they and their asses. (v1-3)

When the eleven brothers left Joseph’s house they were no doubt inbuoyant mood. They had every natural reason to feel relieved and confidentas both Simeon and Benjamin were with them, they had been fed of thefinest food in midst of a famine, their bags were full of provisions for theirfamilies, and they were on their way back to their loved ones in Canaan.However, they will discover how quickly events can turn on you.

And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off , Joseph said unto his steward,Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore

have ye rewarded evil for good? Is not this i t in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed

he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing. And he overtook them, and he spake unto themthese same words. (v4-6)

If the words of the steward shocked them, then a greater one was in storeafter he began the search.

And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servantsshould do according to this thing: Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths,we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thylord's house si lver or gold? With whomsoever of thy servants i t be found, both let him die,

and we also will be my lord’s bondmen (v7-9)

They plead their honesty based upon their past experience. In theirconfidence they rashly go further than natural justice, as they are willing forall to suffer for the crimes of one. Their consciences are working right inthis particular matter, but not so well yet in regard to their past sins.Deffinbaugh comments of their self-confidence, “Slavery was what thesemen had most feared (cf. 43:18), and yet they were willing to risk it becausethey were certain of their innocence.”

And he said, Now also let i t be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shallbe my servant; and ye shall be blameless. Then they speedily took down every man his sackto the ground, and opened every man his sack. (v10-11)



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We can see this is a wise test that Joseph puts them through. Would they denounce Benjamin as a thief and then abandon him to his fate, as they haddone to him 22 years previously? Would they simply attribute the falsecharge as God’s judgment on Benjamin or would they see their own guilt?

This was a prime opportunity for them to get rid off another of Jacob’s favorite sons. No one would know the real truth and they couldcome up with another false story to confuse their father. After all Jacob hadendured other heartbreaks in the past. This was a defining moment.

And he searched, and began at the eldest , and left at the younges t: and the cup was foundin Benjamin’s sack. Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned

to the city. And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he was yet there: andthey fell before him on the ground. (v12-14)

Their world comes crashing down. The anguish of rending their clothes isheartfelt. When Joseph was declared lost, it was only Jacob who tore hisclothes (37:34). They know the evidence is overwhelming and that theEgyptians had all the power and were merciless. They are under theprinciple of chastisement espoused in Deuteronomy,

And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall thesole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there atrembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy lifeshall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night,

and shalt have none assurance of thy life: (Deut. 28:55-56)

In v7-9, these men were looking for justice, now they are looking formercy. They witnessed that Joseph proved to be a man of integrity and thatfeared God so their only hope is to go there and plead for mercy. They donot abandon Benjamin but demonstrate their unity and care for him by allreturning together. Something has changed in the lives of these men.

And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such aman as I can certainly divine? And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what

shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thyservants: behold, we are my lord's servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is

found. (v15-16)

Doubtless, Joseph was eagerly waiting to see whether they all would turn up. There seemed no real hope now for them from a human perspective. Itappears they all must have now acknowledged and agreed that this blow wasthe Hand of God on them for their previous sins. They are now willing todo the right thing irrespective of the personal consequences.

They now see the truth of Proverbs 28: 13 that, “ He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy .” Thesebrothers knew God was exposing their guilt. God knows where all of our



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skeletons are buried and in His Sovereign timing He will bring them to thelight. As Carr observed,

God knows how to get our attention and He is not afraid to touch or

take what He pleases to speak to our hearts. He has a silver cup thatHe can place in our lives to open our eyes when we have walked away from Him. Sooner or later, the silver cup will end up in your sack!

Judah speaks collectively “ God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants .” They now are convinced that God is allowing them to reap what they hadsown 22 years earlier (incidentally, God always does). This is the first publicconfession of their past and they make no cover up or seek to deflect theblame. They do not blame Benjamin for his failure to check the sack, Jacobfor his partiality to Benjamin or a conspiracy against them. Lewis Johnsonmakes a pertinent application,

Tens of years may pass over your life and like these brethren you may be congratulating yourself that the sin is forgotten and you are safe,and then a train of circumstances, little suspected, but manipulated by divine hand will suddenly bring the truth to light and write God’ssentence in flaming characters upon the walls of the house in whichyou rot in careless ease. The unforgiven sinner is never safe.

The father of the royal tribe begins to look regal for the first timehere. Judah shows his leadership and integrity in this most difficult andtrying of circumstance. He shows humility and courtesy in his approach to

Joseph by using “ my lord ” 9 times and “ thy servant ” 14 times. People canchange by the grace of God. Matthew Henry put it well, “We cannot judge

what men are by what they have been formerly, nor what they will do by what they have done: age and experience may make men wiser and better.”

Did Judah pray on the way? Certainly the Sovereignty, Omniscience,and Justice of God are tied up in his words of confession. Certainly, this is

what Joseph had been waiting for, as he knows they are innocent of thiscrime. It showed him that his brothers were willing to bear the penalty of being guilty of the false charge, in order to show the Lord that they wereguilty of the true charge of their sins of the past.

God had been pursing these men for 22 years to confess their sin andtruly repent. Pride and stubbornness held them back. However, when Godcomes after you eventually men are broken to submission (Num. 32:23. One

very remarkable thing about the Bible is its realism. There is no cover up of the lives of the tribal patriarchs. This is very different from the way in which

we describe human affairs.

And he said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found,



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he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father. (v17)

Joseph does not reveal himself here. He still needs to test their repentance with one final test. It takes discernment to detect when true repentance hasbeen achieved – as soon as that is realized Joseph will reveal himself.

REGRET vs REPENTANCE

Repentance is more than simply expressing regret over your sins. The Greek word literally means “a change of mind.” Repentance is when a man or a woman has a change of mind about God and his sins against God. It is notsimply a regret for the consequences of sin but the sin itself. Also it meansthat you have a hatred of sin and a new course of life is sought. A changedmind and life demonstrates that a person has biblically repented. The Larger

Catechism gives an excellent definition,

Repentance unto life is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of asinner by the Spirit and the word of God, out of the sight and sense,not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of hissins, and upon the apprehension of God’s mercy in Christ to such asare penitent, he so grieves for and hates his sins, as that he turns fromthem all to God, purposing and endeavoring to walk with Him in allthe ways of new obedience.

A classic example of this was the evident changes in the life of the swindlerZaccheus in Luke 19. His desire to repay all ill-gotten gains was fruits of genuine repentance. Sadly today many want to be Christians without having to change their lives. They dabble in religion but ultimately never truly repent. We must return them to a gospel that says “Repent, for the kingdomof heaven is at hand.”

Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speaka word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even

as Pharaoh. My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother? And wesaid unto my lord, W e have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a l i t t le one;

and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him. Andthou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father,his father would die. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother comedown with you, ye shall see my face no more. And i t came to pass when we came up unto thy

servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. And our father said, Go again, andbuy us a l i t t le food. And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us,

then will we go down: for we may not see the man's face, except our youngest brother bewith us. And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons:And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely h e is torn in pieces; and I saw him notsince: And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down mygray hairs with sorrow to the grave. Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father,

and the lad be not with us ; seeing that his l ife is bound u p in the lad’s l ife; I t shall come to



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pass, when he seeth that the lad is n ot with us, that he will die: and thy s ervants shallbring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to th e grave. For thy

servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, thenI shall bear the blame to my father for ever. (v18-32)

Here was a second opportunity for the ten sons of Jacob to walk away fromBenjamin. Repeated temptations are harder to resist. However whenprovided a golden chance to repeat their sin of abandoning their brother forself-interest, they all manifest a significant change of heart and action. Theonce hearts of stone had become hearts of flesh. The brothers who had liedto their father, now plead for mercy on his behalf. They, who hadexclaimed, in their pride, “ shalt thou indeed have dominion over us ” now offerthemselves as slaves.

In this final test, Judah stands head and shoulders above the rest of the brothers. He gives one of the most moving and passionate speeches inall of history. It has humility and simplicity yet tact also considering he ispleading before the second most powerful official in Egyptian Empire. Hebegan his speech in the most respectful manner.

Luther called this speech a perfect model of prayer. H.C. Leupold wrote, “This is one of the manliest, most straightforward speeches everdelivered by any man. For depth of feeling and sincerity of purpose it standsunexcelled.” It truly reveals a new Judah.

22 years previously, the brothers hated the partiality of Jacob to Joseph. Now they wish to protect the favourite of their father and highlight

his special love by their father toward Benjamin.

Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord;and let the lad go up with his brethr en. For how shall I go up to my f ather, and the lad be

not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father. (v33-34)

Joseph knew this offer was not just cheap talk having been a slave himself.He was immediately cognizant of the reality of Judah’s repentance over hispast sins, his faith in God, and his sacrificial love for his father andBenjamin. From being the one who concocted the plan to sell Joseph into

slavery, Judah is offering to be the slave instead of his father’s favourite son.He would rather perish as a slave in Egypt than see the sorrow of his father

Jacob. Once Judah’s relationship and view of God has changed, then hisrelationship to others follows. Steve Cole comments on the change,

The cocky man of Genesis 38 now humbles himself. The greedy manis willing to become a slave so that his brother can go free. The man

who lived a sensual, pleasure-oriented, self-centered life now offers todeny himself any pleasure, any rights, any personal freedom, inexchange for his brother’s freedom. The man who had closed up hisheart against his brother’s anguish and against his father’s grief says



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here that he cannot bear to see the pain that his father would gothrough if Benjamin did not return with them.

This last verse is so full of emotion and love for Jacob. That love

proved its reality when he offers to switch places with Benjamin. In Genesis49:8 his father later paid Judah this prophetic tribute, “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise.” It took many years, but the grace of Godtransformed this hard and stubborn sinner into a praiseworthy brother. Coleadds,

Judah’s appeal is encouraging because it shows us that change ispossible when we are willing to own up to our sin with genuinerepentance. Judah the hardened sinner becomes Judah thecompassionate son and brother, willing to sacrifice the rest of his life,as far as he knew, on behalf of his father and brother. The key element in this change is Judah’s submission to God and hisaccepting full responsibility for his sin.

The sacrificial love shown by Judah was ultimately personified in hisgreatest descendant, the Lord Jesus Christ. The greatest tribute we could pay to Judah in this chapter is that he reflects the image of Christ.

Oh! to be l ike Thee, blessed Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;Gladly I’l l forfeit al l of earth’s treasures,Jesus, Thy perfect l ikeness to wear.

Oh! to be l ike Thee, oh! to be l ike Thee,Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art ;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart .

Genesis 44:1-34 - A FINAL TEST

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