Or, Joseph’s Final Test of His Brothers
Scripture: Genesis 44:1-34
Date: April 23, 2017
Speaker: Sean Higgins
Repentance takes many forms. When a man repents from lying he should tell the truth. When a man repents from stealing, he should restore what was stolen and add some to it. When a child disobeys her parents, she should ask for forgiveness and then do what she was told. Repentance turns away from the sin committed just as a doctor prescribes exercises for the hurting part of the body.
Joseph’s brothers were in need of repentance and, while Joseph couldn’t recreate the exact scene, he does create a similar opportunity to see what was in his brother’s hearts. A silver cup becomes a crucible for testing.
Joseph’s ten older brothers hated him. Resentment toward his side of the family started before he was born since their father loved Rachel more than Leah, though Leah gave birth to Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Jacob’s first four sons. There were six more sons born to Rachel’s servant and Leah’s servant and Leah all before Rachel bore Joseph and Benjamin. So the brothers grew up in a household of favoritism before Rachel died, and then a husband’s doting turned to a father’s doting on Joseph.
It got to the point where Joseph’s older brothers “could not speak peacefully” (Genesis 35:4) to him because he was loved more than them. When he told his dreams about reigning over them “they hated him even more” (Genesis 35:8) and “were jealous of him” (Genesis 35:11). So “they conspired against him to kill him,” but while making their plans Judah saw a caravan of traders and got the idea that there was more “profit” in selling him as a slave than killing him. All they had to do was lie to Jacob, but what would be so bad about that? It’s not like their dad cared about them.
The scene in chapter 44 is a little more complex, namely because they didn’t know how long the famine would last, so they didn’t know how long they would need to keep dealing with “the man” in Egypt who seemed to be concerned about their younger brother. The older brothers have the opportunity handed to them to get rid of the new favored son, an opportunity that required nothing from them but to tell the truth. More than getting rid of Benjamin, here was their opportunity to get rid of Jacob, to get out from under the burden of his erratic headship, and to take hold of the inheritance coming to them.
Not only do they not do any of those things, they, at least through Judah’s leadership, show that true repentance had taken place.
Joseph and these eleven Hebrew men feasted together (Genesis 43:26-34) and, most importantly, “Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs” (Genesis 43:34). But they all “drank and were merry with him,” so it seems that they aren’t peeved at this preferential treatment. That was a good sign to Joseph, and now Joseph frames his brothers by recreating a similar scene as a final test.
Joseph clearly trusted his steward. His steward was in on the setup again. The first time these Hebrew men visited Egypt to buy food Joseph had commanded the steward to put their money back in their sacks (Genesis 42:25). When the men came to get Simeon and buy food the second time, the steward said, “Your God and the God of your father has put the treasure in the sacks of for you” (Genesis 43:23). He did it, but he said that God did it.
After the party was over Joseph gives instructions again to fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry and also to put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack . The steward was especially trusted when Joseph said, put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest . It was silver, not gold, so the point isn’t about the costliness as much as it is about the uniqueness. This was Joseph’s cup, easy to identify as his, and he had likely just used it in front of everyone at the banquet.
After sleeping off the night’s merriness, as soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys . That knock on the door came early, and it was pushy; “It’s time to leave.” Yet from their perspective, this was great, they could go home! But the upbeat was about to come down.
Though they had only gone a short distance from the city Joseph put the next part of his plan in play. Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men, say to them, ‘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.’” The steward won’t even need to say the word “cup.” Thieves know what they thieved.
But, as we know, and more importantly so does the steward, these men aren’t thieves. He overtook them and confronted them, but they said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!
They deny that they are guilty and they make a case for their innocence. ”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? This is a greater to lesser argument. They had to do more work to be honest in bringing back the money, and they did that work. Why would they take something of lesser value? Besides, they have to guess what the steward is talking about, silver or gold .
They are so confident of their innocence that they make an (foolishly) excessive vow. ”Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be my lord’s servants.” This isn’t necessary, either the extreme nature of offering the death penalty or by making a group penalty. It’s a drastic offer to show that they have nothing to hide, similar to Jacob’s claim to Laban that “anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live” (Genesis 31:32).
The steward accepts their terms, but only sort of, since he changes them. ”Let it be as you say: , but actually instead, he who is found with it shall be my servant, and the rest of you shall be innocent.” He may not have accepted the terms “as is” because he knew that in doing so he would be agreeing to kill Benjamin.
The men are still confident so each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground and each man opened his sack . They help the search. He searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. This also sounds like the suspense of Laban starting the search where the search would take the longest. The steward knew it would be, but he saw the scheme through.
Here is the first part of the final test. Would the brothers abandon Benjamin? According to the steward’s terms they were free. They didn’t take the cup. Maybe Benjamin really had. The steward wanted him, not them. They had already abandoned one younger brother to slavery in Egypt, would they do it again?
They don’t accuse Benjamin, at least not that Moses narrates. Here is the first sign of repentance: Then they tore their clothes in united grief, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city . They were a family even if one of them was favored.
Judah pleads to take his brother’s place, and not for his gain alone. It’s for sake of a son’s love to his father, a filial response.
Back at Joseph’s house , Joseph was still at home. He hadn’t gone to work yet, presumably waiting to see the outcome of the steward’s errand. He said, ”What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination?” It’s as if he asks, “Did you really think you could get away with this?” Joseph is also keeping up the appearance of an Egyptian, one with supernatural powers. There’s no reason to assume that he has started to take up Egyptian mystical practices in addition to depending on the LORD for interpretations. But he wanted them to think that they couldn’t hide from him anywhere in the world.
Judah steps forward. He was the one who successfully persuaded their father to let them bring Benjamin back to Egypt. Now he speaks for the family to Joseph. ”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.” They have no defense. There are no words. Proving their innocence is not possible. He does not say that they stole the item, but he knows, as do the rest of the brothers, that they are guilty of something. Here is the second sign of repentance: they stop fighting and they accept the consequences. ”Behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.”
But Joseph pushes one more time to see if the repentance will hold. He’s going to give them an out. ”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.” It would be just for them to leave their brother behind. “The man” made the rules, what else could they do?
The rest of the chapter is the longest speech by any individual in Genesis. Judah, on behalf of his youngest brother, on behalf of all his brothers, on behalf of his father, tries to persuade Joseph to change his mind. Judah demonstrates the third sign of repentance: he offers himself as a substitute for Benjamin. He bases his pleading on three parts about the possible death of his dad.
Judah knows that he is stepping out onto a limb, let not your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself . There is no higher appeal than to “the man” himself. He couldn’t say, “Can I talk to your manager?” The pleading begins by retelling the story of their first visit. Judah avoided blaming “the man,” yet it was the man’s initial set of questions that got them into this current spot. ”My lord asked…’Have you a father, or a brother?’” Judah didn’t realize at that point how closely related the questions were. He still doesn’t realize why it’s so important to Joseph because he doesn’t realize that he’s talking to Joseph. The point is, they already told the man that if this younger brother came and didn’t go back to his father, his , that is Benjamin’s, father would die . Maybe it seemed as if the men were exaggerating. They weren’t.
Judah’s pleading continues by describing to “the man” how the conversation with Jacob went. They told their father the terms immediately upon return to Canaan, and acted like they were crazy. They told their father the terms again, as if he was crazy, when he wanted them to return to Egypt without Benjamin. And, as they suspected, their father, overly dramatic or not, claimed that he would die if something happened to Benjamin. He had already lost one son of his favorite wife and, ”If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in evil to Sheol.” He threatens that he will die a miserable old man.
Judah recapped what has happened and finishes his plea by offering a view of what may happen and also by offering himself in Benjamin’s place. If they get back to Canaan ”and the boy is not with us, then, as his life life is bound up in the boy’s life, as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die.” Jacob will die from shock. This will be the fault of the brothers and, by implication, the fault of “the man.”
Judah takes responsibility. ”For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy,” being willing to ”bear the blame before my father all my life.” So he offers to be the substitute. ”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. 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.” In other words, “Take me instead.” He already put his father into sorrow over Joseph, he didn’t want to put him in that place again.
Presented with the opportunity to ditch the favored brother and stick it to his old man, provided with a royal excuse from the “lord” in Egypt and the presumed guilt of Benjamin, Judah demonstrates that his heart is nothing like it had been before toward Joseph. For the first time in Scripture one man offers to be the substitute for another man, to take that man’s penalty instead of him. Judah does it for sake of his father, not because his father showed favored to Judah, but because his heart desired to honor his father anyway.
Joseph’s response comes at the beginning of chapter 45, and we’ll have to wait another week for a sermon to narrate the next events. Spoiler: it’s a happy ending!
The brothers don’t ask Joseph for forgiveness because they don’t know it’s Joseph, they think Joseph is dead. But their behavior shows that their hearts have changed.
“No more moving example of true contrition and repentance is to be found in Scripture, unless it be the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15).” (Wenham)
Three signs of repentance:
Judah especially embodied these changes.
All three of these are most visible in Judah’s offspring, the son of Joseph, Jesus. Though He didn’t need to repent, He did what was right, which is what happens when a man turns from sin to obedience. First, Jesus aligned Himself with our need, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things” (Hebrews 2:14), “he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17). He didn’t see us in our need and stay away, He identified with us to save us. Second, though He truly was innocent, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:22–23). And third, “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18, see also 2 Corinthians 5:14–15).
These are the right actions that Judah and his brothers demonstrate that make it clear to Joseph that their hearts have changed. These are the things we can look for in others, as well as the things that ought to be true when their is true repentance in our hearts.