Genesis
44 – Judah Offers Himself
When
Joseph sends his brothers back to Jacob, they go away thinking all is
well. They have no idea that Joseph’s
divining cup is in Benjamin’s sack. Here
comes a whole troop after them and accuses them of stealing. They were so sure none of them had the cup.
Joseph
was a prophet, he interpreted dreams as we read of the Butler, Baker and Pharaoh.
We must understand that his gift of prophecy was a gift that God had given him,
and this was written before any revelation.
We are not to get a cup and look at tea leaves, nor are we to watch our
horoscope – that is not of God. Joseph
had a gift, and it was not in the cup but from God.
When
the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack which Joseph had instructed his steward to
do to test his brothers, they tore their clothes as a gesture of extreme
distress. They went back and once again
fell on the ground before Joseph. Judah steps forward and makes a full
confession that it is because of their sin that this has come upon them. Joseph wants to see how much his brothers
love Benjamin. Was it more than they
loved him? He says that Benjamin is the
guilty one and must stay behind as Joseph’s slave.
Once
again, Judah steps forward and relates what has happened and how his father
would feel if they left Benjamin behind.
No way were they going to leave him behind! Jacob had been deceived and now Joseph can
see that now. He knows exactly what the
brothers told their father about what happened to him so long ago. They had told Jacob that he “was not” meaning
Joseph was dead. In this all the brothers had passed the test as any one of
them would have offered to stay in Benjamin’s place.
Later
on in history there came one in the line of Judah, the Lion of the tribe of
Judah, who bore the penalty for the guilty.
“God commanded his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8. Christ
took the place of the Guilty.
To
catch up on previous lessons go to: https//sherryasouthard@blogspot.com
J.
Vernon McGee commentary, Nelson Commentary,
NKJ version.
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