When Glorious Grace Shines Forth

WHEN GLORIOUS GRACE SHINES FORTH

An Exposition of Genesis 44:1-45:15

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: July 14, 2024

Series: The Book of Genesis

Note: Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard   Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Holy Scripture says:

44 ¹ Then he commanded the steward of his house, “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, ² and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him.

³ As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys. ⁴ They had gone only a short distance from the city. Now Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good? ⁵ Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this.’”

⁶ When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words. ⁷ They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! ⁸ Behold, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord's house? ⁹ Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be my lord's servants.” ¹⁰ He said, “Let it be as you say: he who is found with it shall be my servant, and the rest of you shall be innocent.” ¹¹ Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack.¹² And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. ¹³ Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

¹⁴ When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there. They fell before him to the ground. ¹⁵ Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination?” ¹⁶ And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord's servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.” ¹⁷ But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go up in peace to your father.”

¹⁸ Then Judah went up to him and said, “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.¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ ²⁰ 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.’ ²¹ Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ ²² We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ ²³ Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again.’

²⁴ “When we went back to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. ²⁵ And when our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,’ ²⁶ 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.’ ²⁷ Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. ²⁸ One left me, and I said, “Surely he has been torn to pieces,” and I have never seen him since. ²⁹ If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in evil to Sheol.’

³⁰ “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, ³¹ 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 Sheol. ³² 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.’ ³³ 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. ³⁴ 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.”

45 ¹ Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ² And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. ³ 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.

⁴ So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶ For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. ⁷ And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. ⁸ So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹ Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. ¹⁰ 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, your herds, and all that you have. ¹¹ 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.’ ¹² And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. ¹³ You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” ¹⁴ Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. ¹⁵ And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him. (Genesis 44:1-45:15)

INTRODUCTION

Twenty-two years earlier, Judah and his brothers had rejected and sold their father’s first beloved son, Joseph. Their father, Jacob, had been led to believe that Joseph had been devoured by a wild animal, and he entered into a deep grief from which he had not yet recovered. But Jacob had one bright spot: his youngest son Benjamin who, like Joseph, was the son of his beloved Rachel. Benjamin was the son of Jacob’s right hand, and the joy of his heart. Benjamin replaced Joseph as Jacob’s beloved son.

Meanwhile, far from being devoured by a wild animal, Joseph had eventually become the ruler of Egypt. Under God’s providential orchestration of events, the severe seven-year famine that struck the Middle East brought Joseph’s brothers to Egypt to buy grain.

Down in Egypt, Joseph recognized his brothers, but his brothers did not recognize him. On their first visit a few months earlier (Genesis 42), Joseph had begun to test them – to see if they were better men than the rascals they were two decades earlier. As their second visit concludes here in the opening verses Genesis 44, Joseph ups the ante considerably in order to bring one final test upon his brothers. Now, twenty-two years after the mishandling of the beloved Joseph, Judah and his brothers will see the beloved Benjamin in grave peril. Will they reject him too?

Let’s walk through today’s passage in three sections.

BENJAMIN LANDS IN SERIOUS TROUBLE (ch. 44, v. 1-17)

First, Benjamin lands in serious trouble. In Genesis 44:1-17, Joseph tests his ten older brothers by putting Benjamin and Benjamin alone in legal peril. What will the ten older brothers do?

In verses 1-2, shortly after the festive meal that was described for us in Genesis 43, Joseph instructs his steward to load up his brother’s travel bags with provisions and to return each man’s money, just as he did on the brothers’ first trip (see Genesis 42:25). Joseph also instructs his servant to plant his special silver cup into Benjamin’s bag as evidence to be used against Benjamin.

At dawn the next morning, the brothers head home. Shortly after the brothers began their trip back to Canaan, Joseph instructed his steward to chase down the brothers, accuse them of wrongdoing, and uncover the evidence (v. 3-4). In verse 6, the steward follows orders, overtakes the brothers, and says to them the prescribed words of verses 4-5:

“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?” (v. 4-5)

The brothers profess their innocence and argue that it is unthinkable that they would do such a thing (v. 7-8). They are so confident of their innocence, that in verse 9 they say that if any one of them has stolen the ruler’s silver or gold, then the thief shall die and the rest of them will become servants of the Egyptian ruler. Little do they know what is tucked away in Benjamin’s travel bag. Although Joseph’s servant may appreciate the brothers’ willingness to all suffer punishment if one of them is guilty, the steward clarifies that guilt will only be imputed to the actual thief, “and the rest of you shall be innocent” (v. 10).

So, each brother lowers and opens his sack, and the steward searched every bag, beginning with the oldest brother’s and concluding with the youngest brother Benjamin’s (v. 11-12). Of course, the evidence – Joseph’s silver cup – “was found in Benjamin’s sack” (v. 12). Upon this discovery, the brothers were distressed and “tore their clothes”, and they all made their way back to the city (v. 13-14). Once they returned to Joseph’s house, the brothers “fell before him to the ground” (v. 14). Then Joseph questions his brothers, putting them on the defensive: “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination?” (v. 15)

Why the reference to divination?

It is unlikely that Joseph actually practiced divination as practiced by pagans, but the references to divination in verses 5 and 15 portray Joseph as an Egyptian ruler who brokers in supernatural knowledge, and this might easily have intimidated the brothers, that they are running into trouble with a man who has access to secret knowledge. As intimidating as it might be to be accused of wrongdoing in the presence of a great man who has insight into mysteries, we should be reminded of the far greater dilemma that every one of us faces:

“And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13)

That is the real problem that we all must reckon with. Joseph is only a man, and yet in these circumstances he comes across as a mysterious figure with great knowledge and insight. The brothers lie fallen before the kingly Joseph, with guilt on their hands – the apparent guilt concerning the silver cup, and the actual guilt concerning their mistreatment of Joseph years earlier. Joseph knows all about their actual guilt, not because of divination, but because he lived through it as the object of their mistreatment. Joseph knows a lot about these men, not because of divination, but because he grew up with them!

Joseph says that only Benjamin will be penalized

By way of reply to Joseph’s questions, in verse 16 Judah speaks up and he acknowledges that they cannot make a defense. It is very interesting when Judah says, “God has found out the guilt of your servants”. But only Benjamin appears guilty, right? Either Judah is referring to the actual guilt concerning their mistreatment of Joseph, which had plagued the brothers on their first trip to Egypt (Genesis 42:42:21-22), or Judah is choosing on behalf of all his brothers to identify with Benjamin and practice solidarity with him: if one of us is guilty, then all of us are guilty; we stand or fall together. Judah then puts himself and all of his brothers, including Benjamin, at Joseph’s disposal, with the preferred outcome that all the brothers share equally in the punishment: “behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.” (v. 16)

Joseph, however, will not negotiate the terms. Joseph, after all, is conducting a test on his ten oldest brothers by putting Benjamin alone in legal peril. Thus he pledges to punish Benjamin only: “Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go up in peace to your father.” (v. 17) Benjamin, the father’s youngest and most loved son, is the only one consigned to servitude. Benjamin alone has landed in serious trouble. The rest of the brothers are free men. And all of this is a test, to see what the ten oldest brothers will do.

JUDAH STANDS IN THE GAP (ch. 44, v. 18-34)

Second, Judah stands in the gap. In Genesis 44:18-34, in response to the devastating news of verse 17 that Benjamin alone shall suffer punishment, Judah pleads with Joseph to let him suffer the legal penalty in Benjamin’s place out of love for his father. Judah’s passionate appeal is one of the tenderest speeches ever given. Moreover, Judah’s speech reveals a heart of repentance – a different heart than the one he had twenty-two years ago when he acted hatefully toward his brother Joseph and his father.

The beauty of God’s redeeming grace shines brightly in today’s passage in two profound ways, and the first place that it shines is right here with Judah and Judah’s repentance. The aim of God’s redeeming grace is not only to bring forgiveness and reconciliation (as we shall see in Chapter 45), but also to transform our hearts. Scripture highlights these two realities over and over again: forgiveness and transformation, pardon and purification, reconciliation and repentance. Often these two concepts are brought together in close proximity, such as when John the Baptist “[proclaimed] a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4).

As we listen to Judah’s speech, we realize that this is not the same man who sold Joseph into slavery twenty-two years earlier. Judah recounts the entire circumstances that had led Benjamin to being brought down to Egypt, and how much Benjamin means to his father, and how he is willing to suffer in Benjamin’s place so that Benjamin can return home.

Comparing Genesis 44:18-34 with Genesis 37:18-35

Let’s put Judah’s speech side by side with his earlier attitudes and actions in Genesis 37:18-35. This side by side is very instructive because in God’s most holy and wise providence, He presented a circumstance to Judah and his brothers in Egypt that was very similar to the circumstance that they faced twenty-two years earlier when Joseph visited them in Dothan. In Dothan, they betrayed and sold their father’s beloved son Joseph, and thereby they trampled on their father’s heart. Now down in Egypt, their father’s beloved son Benjamin is at risk, which means their father’s well-being is also at risk. What will they do?

Just before Judah begins his speech, Joseph had told the brothers that only Benjamin would be taken into servitude, and that the rest of them could “go up in peace to [their] father.” (v. 17) Think about what happened in Genesis 37: these brothers sold their brother Joseph into servitude, and then they returned to their father under the pretense of peace. They deceived their father into thinking that Joseph had been devoured by a wild animal (Genesis 37:31-33). After their father consequently entered into unceasing grief at Joseph’s apparent demise, these same brothers dared to rise up in order to comfort their father, when they knew full well that they had guilt on their hands and that they themselves were the cause of their father’s grief. They gave the impression that their relationship with their father was just fine, when in fact it was not.

But now, many years later, Judah shows great concern for the well-being of his father. In pleading for Benjamin to be spared from servitude in Egypt, Judah highlights the fact that “his father loves him” (v. 20). Judah reminds Joseph of how much Benjamin means to his father, even as they had told Joseph on their first visit and which Judah now recounts again: “We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’” (v. 22) In verse 29, Judah quotes his father’s very own words concerning Benjamin: “If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in evil to Sheol.” Judah continues in verse 30 by saying that his father’s “life is bound up in the boy’s life [that is, in Benjamin’s life]” (v. 30), and that if the brothers return home without Benjamin, their father “will die” and they “will bring down the gray hairs of [their father] with sorrow to Sheol” (v. 31). Judah’s final sentence reveals what is at stake? “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.” (v. 34)

Do you see what has happened? The twenty-year old Judah, back in Genesis 37, did go back to his father without Joseph, having sold Joseph to foreigners. The twenty-year old Judah didn’t fear to see the evil that would befall his father when he found out that his beloved son was gone. But even though he didn’t fear to see it, so as to prevent him from dishonorable conduct, nevertheless Judah saw the great sorrow that descended upon his father, great sorrow that had remained with Jacob for twenty-plus years, great sorrow that made Jacob doubly cautious about Benjamin’s safety. But now, the forty-two year old Judah has sobered up, and he is actually thinking about someone other than himself. Judah is thinking about his Dad, his Dad’s life, his Dad’s gray hairs, his Dad’s love for Benjamin. Judah is considering the interests of his Dad as being of greater importance than his own personal interests. Instead of being so reckless as to trample on his Dad’s heart, Judah wants to safeguard his Dad’s heart, and Judah is willing to pay a steep price to do it. Are you willing to pay a steep price to serve the interests of your loved ones?

Sinful whims (Genesis 37) vs. principled commitment (Genesis 44)

This brings us to the key verses – verses 32 and 33. Judah says, “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.’” (v. 32) This is the promise that Judah had made to his father back in Genesis 43. Judah knew how important it was to make another trip to Egypt to buy grain, and Judah also knew how much his father didn’t want Benjamin to go with them. But Judah also knew that there was no point in making the second trip to Egypt unless Benjamin was with them, for Joseph had told them that if they didn’t bring Benjamin, then they wouldn’t be able to trade in the land. So Judah stepped up and took responsibility, saying: “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 43:9) Now in Genesis 44:32-33, we learn that Judah’s promise to his father was not an empty promise; Judah’s words were not idle words. Judah meant what he had said, and he intended to keep the promise that he had made. It is easy for promises to roll off our tongue as a way of managing the challenges of the present moment. The proof of our character is found in whether we keep the promises when the payment becomes due. It is easy to say, in sickness and in health, but what do you do when your spouse becomes chronically ill? It is easy to say “I will be a pledge of safety” when the seawaters are calm. But what will you do when trouble comes?

With Benjamin in legal peril before the great ruler of Egypt, the time had come for Judah to make good on his promise. The payment was due. And insofar as it depended on him, he offered himself as payment: “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.” (v. 33)

Once again, putting this side by side with Genesis 37 is so instructive. When they sold Joseph into slavery in Genesis 37, Judah and his brothers acted out of unruly emotion, jealousy and hatred. They were impulsive and short-sighted, enslaved to the whims of their own sinful hearts. Now in Genesis 44, Judah is acting out of a principled and covenantal commitment to his family. He is thinking about what is really important. Instead of being mastered by turbulent emotions, he is intent on keeping the good promise that he had made.

The way of sin (Genesis 37) vs. the way of holy love (Genesis 44)

Moreover, in Genesis 37 Judah and his brothers showed us the path that sin takes. The Scriptural mandate is simple: trust the Lord and love your neighbor; die to yourself in order to honor the Lord and seek your neighbor’s good. But sin does the polar opposite. Sin is self-seeking, self-trusting, self-promoting. In sin you seek your own selfish advantage at other people’s expense. In Genesis 37, Judah and his brothers attempted to bring about their own emotional equilibrium, not by repenting of their hatred, but by getting rid of Joseph. They sought their own well-being at Joseph’s expense. And Judah was the one who thought that if they were going to get rid of Joseph, they might as well get some economic benefit out of it – and so they “sold him… for twenty shekels of silver” (Genesis 37:28). This is the way of sin: you pay, I come out ahead; you suffer, I get lifted up; you go into servitude, I get to live my best life now; you are the commodity, I am the beneficiary.

But Judah shows us the better way in Genesis 44. The way of holy love is to seek the well-being of others at your own expense. And this is what Judah does: he is willing to pay the price of servitude in Egypt, so that Benjamin can return home and so that his father can have the joy of having his beloved son by his side. Judah is willing to be a bondservant, so that Benjamin can remain free; Judah is willing to be exiled, so that Benjamin can go home; Judah is willing to suffer hardship, so that his father can be comforted in his old age. Judah has grown up and become a man! This is the way of love: to consider others as more important than yourself, and to be devoted to the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4). When Jesus said that the greatest among us is the one who makes himself slave of all, he meant that we should not have the mindset of an aristocrat who rides high on the back of slaves, but that we ourselves should have the mindset of a slave who willingly serves others for their good. This is the call upon every son and brother, every sister and daughter, every father and mother, every husband and wife, every pastor and elder and neighbor and friend, to have the mindset that says: I pay, so that you come out ahead; I willingly suffer, so that you get lifted up; I die daily and gladly embrace servitude, so that you can flourish.

Jesus is our pledge of safety

Brothers and sisters, let me remind you that our entire well-being as sinners who have been forgiven by God and reconciled to God – our entire well-being depends on the faithful Lord Jesus Christ who became a pledge of safety for us. He brought us back to the Father, by bearing the blame in our place. He went into the exile of God-forsakenness on the cross, so that we could return home to the Father. He offered His own blood as the price of our redemption, so that we could be set free from sin and adopted into God’s forever family. Who is this faithful Lord Jesus Christ? He is the Lion from the tribe of Judah. And if you’ve become a disciple of this mighty Lion, then the only sensible response to His redeeming grace is to live in the contented place of a servant who labors faithfully, diligently, and joyfully for the well-being of other people. This is the Lord’s way. And like Judah, be sure to start with your own family, in your own home, laying down your life for the members of your family. I didn’t say to require servitude of them. Require it of yourself, and see if you don’t build a contagious culture of joyful service in your family and beyond!

JOSEPH DISPLAYS TENDERHEARTED GRACE (ch. 45, v. 1-15)

Third, Joseph displays tenderhearted grace. There is such wonderful grace in Genesis 45:1-15. The blessed man has been waiting for this moment, when the necessary testing would give way to unrestrained tenderness.

As Judah is pouring out his heart in this impassioned appeal to the great ruler of Egypt, who is none other than Joseph, Joseph is completely overcome with emotion. This is now the third time that Joseph has felt deep emotion while interacting with his brothers on their two trips.

The first time Joseph wept took place in Genesis 42. Since Joseph was speaking to his brothers through an interpreter, they didn’t realize that Joseph could actually understand their native tongue. As the brothers were facing distress in Egypt, they sensed that it was their past guilt concerning Joseph that was catching up to them, and so they confessed their sin in Joseph’s presence:

“Then they said to one another, “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. That is why this distress has come upon us.” And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. Then he turned away from them and wept.” (Genesis 42:21-24)

The second time Joseph wept took place in Genesis 43, when Joseph set his eyes upon his brother Benjamin. After saying to Benjamin, “God be gracious to you, my son!” (Genesis 43:29), “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.” (Genesis 43:30)

Joseph had a special place in his heart for Benjamin, as evidenced by his words and tears. Joseph had a special place in his heart for his father, as evidenced by his taking time to ask about his father’s well-being (Genesis 43:27-28). Joseph had a special place in his heart for all his brothers, as evidenced by his tearful response to their confession and by his generosity to them in returning their money, loading them up with provisions, and having them feast with him in his house. And now, all of this comes rushing into one climactic moment as Judah manfully and courageously stands in the gap. It is Judah’s passionate appeal that puts Joseph over the edge. Joseph’s heart was moved profoundly as he beheld a transformed Judah. Joseph loved Benjamin, and now Joseph saw Judah demonstrating love for Benjamin. Joseph loved his father, and now Joseph was Judah demonstrating love for their father.

Moreover, we should keep in mind that every man with a heart for God wants nothing more than to see other people get a heart for God. There are many unredeemed people out there who don’t want the Judahs of this world to be redeemed. They only want the Judahs of this world to get what they deserve. The unredeemed people of this world don’t want past injustices forgiven, past debts erased, past memories forgotten. Never forget! We will never forgive you! You must pay! But do you know what? That was not the perspective of the blessed man, Joseph. Joseph had a heart for God, and in this holy moment Joseph saw Judah, his once stubborn-hearted brother, getting a heart for God, a heart of faithfulness, a heart of honor, a heart of self-sacrifice, a heart of love. The earlier confession from the brothers, now conjoined to a loving repentance from Judah’s lips, and all connected to Judah’s and Joseph’s shared commitment to both Benjamin and to their father – all rushed together in this holy moment, and the waters of redeeming love could no longer be contained beneath Joseph’s godly breast:

“Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from 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.” (Genesis 45:1-2)

Twenty-two years of pain, twenty-two years of alienation, twenty-two years of longing, twenty-two years of God’s faithfulness, twenty-two years of God’s gracious presence, twenty-two years of God’s mercies – all these broke forth in heavy waves of sobbing, with tears – tears of love, tears of joy, tears of gratitude, tears of relief, tears of reunion. The passage continues:

“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.” (Genesis 45:3)

At last, the brothers know that they are standing before the one they once hated, envied, conspired against, stripped, threw into a pit, sold into slavery, then lied about, and had regarded as dead. Guilty of these gross sins, they should have been put to death. But they were spared, and now they stood before the beloved son whom they had rejected and betrayed. They were found out. They were disoriented. The guilty ones were terrified in the presence of the prince of Egypt who held their future in his hands. “[They] were dismayed at his presence.”

And yet, for all their guilt, they get grace. For all their past cruelty, they get kindness. For all their fear, they get comfort. For all their past mistreatment of Joseph, they get heartfelt mercy from Joseph. Although they were truly guilty of gross misdeeds that deserved death, they are not treated according to what their sins deserve. Joseph’s sufficiency was in the Lord, and so Joseph didn’t have a score to settle with his brothers. He only had goodwill and peace for these men; he only had gratitude and joy to savor with them; he only had an abundance of provision to share with them. Grace – amazing, surprising, wonderful grace – grace pays back evil with good! Look at verses 4-8a:

“So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God.” (Genesis 45:4-8a)

As long as you are focused on the actions and agendas of people, whether yourself or others, sooner or later you are bound to be distressed or angry on account of your sins and on account of other people’s sins. Joseph was free of bitterness because his eyes were on the Lord, he understood the Lord’s good purpose, and he enjoyed the Lord’s grace to him and through him. Now Joseph takes this God-centered perspective and applies it to his brothers in order to relieve their guilt, lift their distress and anger, and bring them into the good news that God has exercised His sovereign will in order to preserve their lives amid the years of famine. Here’s the rub: although the brothers are truly guilty concerning their mistreatment of Joseph, the good news of great comfort is that God sovereignly designed the sufferings of Joseph to preserve the very lives of the guilty ones who deserve death. Thus Joseph invites his brothers to shift their eyes from their own shameful actions to God’s gracious action, and in God’s gracious action to find comfort and hope.

In the rest of verses 8-15, Joseph describes the honors that he has received in Egypt; Joseph tells his brothers to convey this wonderful good news to their father; and Joseph promises to take care of the entire family by providing them a dwelling place in Egypt. This glorious moment of reunion concludes with Joseph and Benjamin weeping upon each other’s necks, and Joseph “[kissing] all his brothers and [weeping] upon them.” (v. 15a) Finally, after all these conveyances of grace and affection, the brothers talked with Joseph. Love dawns on the first day of the rest of their lives, and they’re talking again as brothers, as members of the same family.

THE WONDERFUL GRACE OF JESUS

The tenderhearted grace of Joseph points us to the even greater tenderhearted grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Has your heart been softened by the wonderful grace of Jesus? We would have good reason to be dismayed at His presence. What Joseph’s brothers did to Joseph is a window into what all of us sinners did to Jesus. We rejected the Father’s beloved Son. We did not esteem Him. We are responsible for the nails that went into His hands, for the scourge marks on His back, for the thorns that were pressed into His head, for the spit that fell upon His face, for the guilt that was placed upon His shoulders, for the sin that exiled Him to Calvary. And yet, He remained free of bitterness: no grumbling or complaining fell from His holy lips. “[For] the joy that was set before him [he] endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). For His part, He embraced this path as an act of obedience to the Father (Philippians 2:8) and as an act of love to His people (John 10:11). And having traveled the path of suffering, rejection, and crucifixion as the God-appointed pathway to the throne, the risen King might well say to us, after the manner in which Joseph once spoke to his brothers:

Come near to me, please. I am your brother, Jesus, whom you rejected. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you rejected me, for God sent me before you to save life. God appointed my suffering as the means of your redemption. God sent me into exile on Golgotha in order to make a full atonement for your sin. God sent me to the cross as your faithful pledge of safety. Come near to me, and let me show you the Father’s forgiveness perfect and free, let me show you your title to heaven, let me assure you of my love, let me tell you about the promise of the Holy Spirit and my promise to be with you until the end of the age, let me make it very clear that I’m delighted to have you near me, and to share with you the riches and the honors that the Father has bestowed on me. I have longed to be gracious to you. Only trust me, and you will dwell near me and I will keep you safe forever.

Blessed are you if you hear and savor this good news! Blessed are you if you have the eyes of faith to look beyond the actions and agendas of men, including your own, and to see the gracious work of God through His beloved Son. Fix your gaze there, and rest in Him. 

But don’t ever let this basking in the good news stop with you. Here in Genesis 44:1-45:15, God’s wonderful grace through Joseph (and through Judah) was at work putting a broken family back together. Sinful self-serving actions and agendas cause so much pain and friction in our fragile homes. Fleshly willpower will never suffice to undo the pain and friction. What is needed is the breaking forth of God’s grace through a Joseph-like tender heart that longs to bring comfort, affection, and healing to others. So I say to all of you: let the wonderful grace of Jesus melt your heart, and fill it with such forgiveness, warmth, and love, so that you can show forgiveness, warmth, and love to the guilty, dismayed, distressed, and angry people who surround you (even those who live under the same roof). Joseph didn’t accuse, belittle, reprimand, or shame his brothers. “A gentle tongue is a tree of life” (Proverbs 15:4), and a gentle tongue grows out of a heart that is soaking in Calvary’s love. Are you abiding in Calvary’s love?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Steinmann, Andrew E. Genesis (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2019.