Purging Sin from our lives. Genesis 44:1-34.
Joseph, the Pharaoh’s number one man, had successfully made his brothers, of another, mother into humble men. Without recognizing Joseph, he met with them, ate with them, and set them up so that they would bring his blood brother Benjamin to Egypt so that he might see him again.
Now Joseph needed to finish his business and give the family the attention they needed so they may no longer oppose themselves and be safe from the famine that had gripped the land. He did this without his brothers knowing who he was, or what he was up to. Joseph did this for their own good.
And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, “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. Also put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his grain money.” So he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. As soon as the morning dawned, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys. When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, “Get up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good? Is not this the one from which my lord drinks, and with which he indeed practices divination? You have done evil in so doing.’” Genesis 44:1-5(NKJV)
Joseph was so cunning and so intelligent when dealing with his brothers. If you remember at one time, Joseph peered up from a pit, listening to his brothers plot his demise.
He heard their cold heartless words as they spoke of killing him and finally, reluctantly, sold him to a slave trader. Now unbeknown to his brothers, Joseph had turned the tables and though they treated him with such coldness in the past, Joseph had a warm heart for God and was going to do what was right in honor of God’s greatness. Joseph was going to teach them a lesson and save them from themselves.
So he overtook them, and he spoke to them these same words. And they said to him, “Why does my lord say these words? Far be it from us that your servants should do such a thing. Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money which we found in the mouth of our sacks. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.” And he said, “Now also let it be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and you shall be blameless.” Then each man speedily let down his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack. So he searched. He began with the oldest and left off with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city. Genesis 44:6-13(NKJV)
Great remorse gripped the brothers and instead of arguing with each other, they ripped their cloths as a sign of complete anger. The anguish they felt was intense and now their trial was not over, but back to where they began. This nightmare was never ending.
They had no idea of how the cup got into Benjamin’s sack. Could their younger brother have stolen it? They were out of reason, fearful to the core; for when they were safe to go, they again became targets for terror.
So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there; and they fell before him on the ground. And Joseph said to them, “What deed is this you have done? Did you not know that such a man as I can certainly practice divination?” Then Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; here we are, my lord’s slaves, both we and he also with whom the cup was found.” But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so; the man in whose hand the cup was found, he shall be my slave. And as for you, go up in peace to your father.” Genesis 44:14-17(NKJV)
The journey back to the house of the Egyptian leader must have been like marching down death row. As they walked it became plain to the men that God was repaying them for the iniquity and wickedness of their past. Thoughts of their sin flashed in their minds and the faces of those they murdered or dealt treacherously with live again.
It was God that was holding them accountable and now they were going to pay for every sin they committed. However, they willingly walked to their punishment for each person knew they deserved exactly what they were about to receive.
This time, standing before the Egyptian leader was no longer fearful; the men were ready to face their demise, they were sinners and their sin stood before God and God was holding them accountable. They deserved to be punished.
When they thought it could not get any worse and that they had reached the end of their lives, it got worse. The Egyptian leader let them go free and kept their youngest brother Benjamin as a slave. The meek lad, who had not committed great sins before the Lord, was going to be taken from them and he would suffer for the sins of the brothers.
Then Judah came near to him and said: “O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s hearing, and do not let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even like Pharaoh. 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 child of his old age, who is young; 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.’ And we said to my lord, ‘The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.’ “So it was, when we went up to your servant my father, that we told him the words of my lord. And our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’ But we said, ‘We cannot go down; if our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we may not 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; and the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn to pieces”; and I have not seen him since. But if you take this one also from me, and calamity befalls him, you shall bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.’ “Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, since his life is bound up in the lad’s life, it will happen, when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die.
So your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave. For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father forever.’ Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father?” Genesis 44:18-34(NKJV)
The wretched man that Judah was has now taken the roll of trying to be a savior. Judah had thrown off his family values, married Canaanite women, worshipped other Gods, and raised his own two sons to do evil. The scriptures tells, did so much evil that God had to kill his sons. Now this act of selflessness was a new attitude for Judah; therefore, we know that even the hardest heart can be turned back to God.
The trials they faced were extreme. It was only by facing such trial that they could be saved from their own selves. The sin they allowed into their life had made them into despicable men, who lied, cheated, and even killed. Yet, now through trial, the men were shedding their sin, coming to the end of themselves, and crying out to God for help.
For some, this is what it takes; trials so great, so insurmountable that they see the truth about their life and they realize they deserve punishment.
Are you a person who has yet to turn from your sin? Is your heart still hard and do you choose wickedness over Godliness? Let this be a warning that God loves you so much that He will reach out to you like Joseph did to his brothers to turn you from your wicked ways.
Yes, we have forgiveness in Jesus Christ; but we have to want it so that we turn from our wicked ways and live life new. Judah was ready to give his own life to save Benjamin; He was starting to sacrifice; God was changing his heart.
