Please note that this article is derived from a sermon series on the life of Joseph given in Bermondsey Gospel Hall, the audio of which can be found here.
Two weeks ago, we started into the middle section of the story of Joseph. While the story runs from Genesis 37-50, it quite easily splits into three separate sections. The first, Genesis 37-41, records Josephs roll coaster journey from being the most favoured son of his father and least favoured sibling of his brothers to becoming the Lord of Egypt. It is a record of betrayal, suffering and injustice, which we see God use to further his plans and purposes for Joseph’s, and his brother’s and father’s, good. At first glance, the first section is much more exciting than the second section, running from Genesis 42-45. In contrast to the fast-paced action of the first section, Genesis 42-45 is a detailed record of two journeys that the remaining sons of Jacob take to Egypt. God has caused a famine to take hold of the entire known world, and through the rise of Joseph in Egypt, the only place where food can be found is in the storehouses of Pharaoh. All nations flock to Joseph, the saviour of the world, for the food they need to face the famine. This includes his estranged brothers.
The amount of detail recorded and the space allotted to the two journeys of the sons of Jacob down into Egypt highlight to us the importance of this section of the story. Genesis spent 4 chapters recording the first 37 years of Joseph life, and now spends the same recording the events of at most a few years. This is not the unimportant afterward of the story of Joseph, this is the main event. All that has taken place up to this point was simply an introduction, preparing the way for these chapters to take place.
What do they record that is so important? In the narrative, these chapters record two geographical journeys from Canaan to Egypt. We have already considered the first, and now we turn to the second in Genesis 43-45. However, the geographical journeys are really just the stage upon which a far great journey of the sons of Jacob takes place on. At the start of the section last week we seen the sons of Jacob struggling and starving, facing the famine alone and with little hope of survival. At the end of our passage today, we see the sons of Jacob reunited with their long lost brother Joseph. These chapters record a single journey from famine to family. At the heart of that journey, the way that the fate of this family is transformed, is through reconciliation. A relationship that was broken is being restored and upon its restoration, the salvation that is available through an exulted brother becomes theirs. The first section of the story of Joseph is a movement from fantasy to fulfilment. The dreamer of Canaan becomes the Lord of Egypt. This second section is the journey from famine to family. The endangered and estranged brothers become the saved and reconciled family.
We have already considered the first part of this section together, the first journey that the brothers make to Egypt in Genesis 42. At first glance, it appears to be entirely unsuccessful. They go to Egypt as 10, and return as 9, Simeon being left behind at the command of Joseph. If they are to prove that they are not spies, free Simeon and obtain more food, they must return with their father’s new favourite son, Benjamin. Jacob will not part with his dear Benjamin, and so the brothers end up in a similar situation as before, with their food supplies dwindling their future seems doomed. And yet, we seen that within that first journey, the process of reconciliation had begun. This week we shall see it come to completion.
Last time we considered the Priority of Reconciliation. If we are to be saved, we must be reconciled. Joseph did not immediately reveal himself to his brothers and provide them with the salvation they needed, but tested and tried them in order to bring about the necessary reconciliation. They had to recognise their own guilt, admit their wrongdoing and demonstrate that they had changed. We also considered the Providence of Reconciliation. In our sufferings, we must trust God’s purposes. God seen fit to use a famine to fix a family. When we pass through difficulties and trials, we must be careful not to react like Jacob did, thinking that God is against us, but as Joseph does at the end of our passage today and in Genesis 50, recognising that God is for us. We could continue the same themes this week, for again we see the priority and process of reconciliation in chapter 43-44, along with God’s providence in it in chapter 45. However, instead I want to consider the Person of Reconciliation and the Profit of Reconciliation.
1. PERSON OF RECONCILIATION – THERE IS A SUBSTITUTE WHO SECURES YOUR SAFETY
Not only does the space allotted to aspects of the story of Joseph in Genesis draw our attention to the most important parts. The way the rest of the Bible uses the story of Joseph helps us to understand its main purpose. Perhaps the great mystery in this regard is why so little of the rest of the Old and New Testaments refer back to these chapters. This is particularly true of the New Testament. We have seen how perfectly the first section of Joseph prefigures and prophesises about Jesus Christ. Betrayed by those closest to him, handed over to the Gentiles for death. Seeming perfectly righteous in his conduct despite suffering and persecution. Ultimately he is vindicated and exulted to the right hand of a throne, from which he acts as Saviour of the World. Joseph is perhaps the clearest type of Jesus we have in the Old Testament. And yet, not once does the New Testament explicitly draw on or highlight this.
There is however, an individual within these chapters that is explicitly referred to in the New Testament as a type of Christ. Indeed, the same individual is given prominence throughout the Old Testament. These chapters are as much the story of Judah as the story of Joseph. If it is Judah that receives the prominence throughout the rest of the Bible, we must make sure not to miss this. Indeed, by skipping out the entire chapter about Judah in Genesis 38 in our series, a chapter which is foundational to the rest of the story, we may have already made that mistake. It is Judah who is the person of reconciliation, the substitute who secures safety.
The rise of Judah to this role begins at the start of Genesis 43. At the end of Genesis 42, Reuben, the eldest brother, had attempted to persuade his father to entrust Benjamin to his care in order that they might return to Egypt, save Simeon and obtain the food they need for their ultimate survival. In order to convince his father, Reuben offers the lives of his two sons as surety, as a guarantee. If Reuben does not return with Benjamin, Jacob can kill his two sons. It was a well-meaning gesture, but hardly comforting for Jacob. If his favoured son dies, he is allowed to kill two of his less favoured grandsons. This reckless, albeit well meaning, offer does not move Jacob into parting with this favourite son, and so the family is back where they started, facing the famine with little hope.
At the beginning of Genesis 43 however, we see that were Reuben failed, Judah succeeds. The famine has continued to be severe and their food parcels from Egypt are likely coming to an end. When their father asks them to once again go down to Egypt, it is Judah that speaks up. He uses the same arguments as Reuben, but provides a very different guarantee. In Genesis 38, we are told how Judah has already lost his two sons. What is there for Judah to provide as a guarantee? How can he assure his father of his determination to do his duty? ‘Send the boy with me…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.’ (Genesis 43:8-9) Judah presents himself as a surety, as security for the safe return of Benjamin. Judah is ready and willing to offer up his own life to secure the safety of his brothers.
Not only do we see Judah this willingness of Judah expressed before his father, we see him do the same when tested by Joseph. Last time we seen that Joseph’s actions in these chapters seem harsh, but are motivated by love. In order to reconcile his brothers, to allow them to realise and repent of their guilt, he constructs two tests for them, one on each journey. These tests are essentially a recreation of the circumstances of the brother’s previous betrayal of Joseph. In the first journey they are tested to see whether, having profited from the enslavement of their brother Simeon, the brothers will tell their father the truth and come to his rescue or lie and leave him to his fate. In chapter 43 we see the brothers pass this test. They return to save their enslaved brother, even returning the money they found in their sacks, the profit of their previous journey. The brothers will not profit from the misfortunes of their sibling.
However, in chapter 44, we see Joseph construct another test for them. At the end of chapter 43, the brothers all assembled at a feast in Joseph’s house. Each brother takes up his proper place at the table, ‘they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth…’ (Genesis 43:33). However, the portions of food given to the brothers is in contrast to the positions they sat in. ‘Portions were taken to them from Joseph’s table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs.’ (Genesis 43:34) Joseph reconstructs the much hated favouritism that his father lavished on him before the eyes of his brothers. He deliberately favours Benjamin, the second son of the favoured wife Rachel, in order to test whether his brothers will jealously mistreat him as they once did Joseph.
The trap is sprung when they are returning home and the missing cup from Joseph’s house is found in Benjamin’s sack. They brothers do not realise that it was planted by Joseph to test them and can only assume that they favoured little brother has pinched it. Twice we are told that the cup was the kind that was used for divination, to tell the future (Genesis 44:5,15). Will the brothers treat Benjamin the favoured diviner the same way as they treated Joseph the favoured dreamer? Will they take the food they need for their wives and children back in Canaan and leave this brother behind as a slave in Egypt?
Many argue that what happens next is the climax to the whole book of Genesis. In Genesis 44:18, Judah steps forward and gives what is the longest single speech in the book. Just as he demonstrated before Jacob, he declares to Joseph his willingness to offer up his own life to secure the safety of his brothers. He explains the deal that he struck with Jacob, ‘For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father…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.’ Judah declares himself not only to be a surety, but a substitute, for his brother. He would take the guilt of his brother upon himself, he would suffer the punishment for his crime, he would offer up himself in order to see Benjamin go free.
When you read the speech, you can see that the driving motivation of Judah is not his love for his little brother Benjamin, who for all he knew deserved to be punished, but ultimately his love for his father. It is the word father that dominates the speech, appearing 14 times. His final appeal to Joseph after offering himself as a substitute, is ‘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.’ (Genesis 44:34). It is ultimately his love of the father, not his brother, that causes his sacrifice. Judah is the person of reconciliation. Here we see that there is a substitute who secures safety. As Bruce Waltke summarises, ‘He will offer himself as a slave for his brother for the sake of his father.’
Joseph may be the main character, but it is Judah who is ultimately portrayed as the hero. It is for this reason that when Jesus comes in the New Testament, he is described as the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5), not the Lord of the tribe of Joseph (though within that prophecy (Genesis 49:9-10), we should forever remember that the Lion of Judah is a Lord like Joseph (Genesis 49:8)). For here within these verses we see, over 1000 years before his birth, a clear picture of what Jesus did for us. What Judah did for Benjamin, Jesus did for us. There is a substitute who secures your safety.
We are guilty before God of sin, taking what did not belong to us. Made for God’s glory, we live for our own. Breaking his commandments, we live our lives on our own terms, refusing to acknowledge our God and Creator. And yet, deserving of punishment, there is a substitute who secures our safety. There is one who, because of his love of God the Father, is willing to be punished in our place to bring about reconciliation with God. There is one who, like Judah, is willing to step forward and intercede for our freedom, sacrificing his own. Isaiah continues this theme of a Judah-like substitute, explaining ‘All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all…He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.’ (Isaiah 53:6,12). Peter looks back to the death of Jesus Christ on the cross and explains the fulfilment of that prophecy of Isaiah and the type of Judah, ‘He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you are healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.’ (1 Peter 2:24-25)
The person of reconciliation. There is a substitute who can secure your safety, if you would trust him, by faith look to him as your substitute and Saviour. He suffered God’s wrath so you can go free, returning safely to the Father whom he loves. Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah is the person of reconciliation. For Paul explains, ‘God…through Christ reconciled us to himself…’ (2 Corinthians 5:18).
2. PROFIT OF RECONCILIATION – THERE ARE BLESSINGS THAT ARE BEYOND BELIEF
This act of sacrificial love from Judah demonstrates to Joseph that his brothers are ready to be reconciled. Seeing that they have been transformed from the betraying brothers that he knew in Genesis 37 into the sacrificial siblings we see in Genesis 44, Joseph is unable to keep the secret any longer and reveals himself. ‘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.’ (Genesis 45:3) So shocked by this revelation, his brothers can’t string a sentence together. And not only shocked, but dismayed. What did this mean for them? It was a terrifying experience for them when they realised that the Lord of Egypt, the one who held the fate and future of them and their families in his hand, was the brother they betrayed and enslaved all those years ago. Joseph still hasn’t answered Judah’s sacrificial offer of lifelong slavery. Would he know require Judah to make good on that offer? And what about the rest of the brothers? Could they not expect to receive retribution for their past wrongdoing? The brothers had every right to be dismayed at Joseph’s revelation. Perhaps their best hope was that time had healed the hurt caused and their brother would, for old times’ sake, give them the food they needed and allow them to escape with their lives. That was surely the best they could hope for.
If Joseph’s identity surprised them, what takes place in Genesis 45:4-15 perhaps surprised them even more. Now being reconciled to their brother, they would experience the profit, the benefits of that reconciliation. The profit of this reconciliation, the benefit of this brother to them, is now seen in the blessings he bestows upon them. He draws them near and explains ‘do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.’ (Genesis 45:5) Three times Joseph will explain that God was working their evil for good. Not only does he offer them forgiveness for their sins against him, but he shows that even their past evil deeds have been made fruitful by God.
Not only does he give them comfort about the past, but he cares for them in the present and gives them certainty for the future. ‘God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, and your herds, and all that you have. There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ (Genesis 45:9-11) What blessings their brother bestows on them. Blessings that are beyond belief. Their past is pardoned, their present provided for and their future protected. At the start of this section the brothers were facing poverty, now it is prosperity. Once they were starving, now they can be satisfied. Then they were endanger of fading away in the famine, now they have been invited to dwell in a land of fruitfulness. Once they were alienated from their father, their brother and each other. Now their relationships with each have been restored. The journey from famine to family is complete. And this is all the profit of their reconciliation, these blessings that are beyond belief.
As Christians, we too experience the profit of reconciliation. Like the prodigal son in Luke 15, and the petrified brothers here in Genesis 45, we have come to a realisation of our guilt before God and have come to him for forgiveness. We would be content, like that prodigal son, to simply be given a place as a hired servant in the Father’s house (Luke 15:19). Or perhaps like the brothers of Joseph, be content to escape with our lives. And yet, as we come to the Father we find ourselves adorned with the best robe, with a ring on our finger and shoes on our feet, taking our place at a feast of celebration. Blessings that are beyond belief. Our past is pardoned, all our sins forgiven, our present is provided for, with the power of the Holy Spirit working within us and our brothers and sisters in the church looking out for us, and our future is protected, an inheritance in Heaven, a dwelling place in the presence of God. This is the profit of our reconciliation with him, the benefits and blessings that our elder brother has bestowed on us. Jesus Christ, who purchased the pardon and bought the blessings for us and even now is preparing a place for us in his Father’s house. Once alienated from the Father, an enemy enslaved to sin and destined for destruction, we now can look forward to eternity in his presence. How can we hold back from exclaiming with the Psalmist, ‘Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.’ (Psalm 32:1)
The section closes with a picture of this fractured family being fixed. Joseph ‘kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.’ (Genesis 45:15) This middle section of the life of Joseph is complete. The journey from famine to family is finished. As Christians, we too can rejoice that we have made the very same journey, and have now taken up our place in the family of God, the household of God, the church of God. Having been reconciled to our Father and one another, we can rejoice together and enjoy the blessings bestowed on us by our brother, Jesus Christ, the Lion of Judah who is not only Lord of Egypt, but Lord of all.
ALEXANDER ARRELL