The entire story of Joseph in the Book of Genesis is so powerful. [For reference, here are the chapters in Genesis in which to find them: 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47] Compared with just about any other event early in Biblical history, this one stands out. While there is no one who is perfect like Jesus (the Bible records times when every other main character had sinned), Joseph comes close. He dared to trust God even when things appeared hopeless and bleak. This history records how God moves, and how He used not only Joseph, but also other people, to ultimately set Joseph up to rule over Egypt during what was then going to be a critical time in that empire’s history.
As I’m reading through the Bible this year, I’m of course coming
across quite a few passages that I’ve read before. One curiosity that
continually comes up is the question of what either will jump out to me this
time as I read, or what God will reveal that I hadn’t seen before (or simply He
wants me to know at this time). As such, out of the entirety of Joseph’s
history as recorded in the Book of Genesis, Judah’s plea to Joseph is that
passage, at this time:
18 Then Judah went up to him and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, let me speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. 19 My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 20 And we answered, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’
21 “Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.’ 22 And we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.’ 23 But you told your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’ 24 When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said.
25 “Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy a little more food.’ 26 But we said, ‘We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’
27 “Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28 One of them went away from me, and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.” And I have not seen him since. 29 If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.’
30 “So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father, and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life, 31 sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow. 32 Your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father. I said, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!’
33 “Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. 34 How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father.”
This whole history is so powerful that, if I could, I would
post it in its entirety. However, it is spread over a few chapters within the
book of Genesis, and I would have to split it into about 3 or 4 blog posts just
to really dig into it. (And, due to how fast the readings go on a day-to-day
basis, doing so is just not possible right now.) But this section, Judah’s plea
to the leader in Egypt who he did not yet know was his own brother, really
speaks, enough for me to comment on at least this part. At least this is what
has jumped out to me powerfully this time reading it.
First, the passage above is a sign of Judah’s growth. [You’ll
notice I omitted Genesis 38 in the link dump at the beginning of this post. That’s because it focuses
on Judah’s story, and not Joseph’s. Click here to read more.] Even though Judah
was among the conspirators to sell Joseph into slavery and deceive their father
into thinking their brother was dead, as the Bible records, it is Judah who
continues the line from Abraham to King David. God saw something in him, and
his story with Tamar, his dead son’s wife, revealed that, unlike his other brothers,
Judah developed and showed good character that proved him worthy enough to God to
be considered for continuing the family line.
Second, Joseph could have chosen to have all his brothers
imprisoned and/or executed. After all, Pharaoh had placed him second-in-command
in all of Egypt, and Pharaoh certainly would’ve allowed the green light for
their execution, if that’s what Joseph so desired. And Joseph certainly dealt
with them harshly! He accused them of being spies, got them to bring Benjamin to
Egypt, and held Reuben captive for only God knows how long while the others
returned to Canaan to eat their food until they needed to purchase more. Upon
the close of the brothers’ second visit, Joseph even refused to return Benjamin
with them, which led to Judah’s plea.
What speaks to me is the depth of Joseph’s anger at his
brothers (save for Benjamin). He had every right to be: they did, after all,
sell him into slavery, and while they weren’t directly responsible for sending
him to jail later, it likely wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t been sold in
the first place. He was angry, and he leveraged it.
Right after I left my manufacturing job (they relocated and
I decided not to follow them), I got a part-time job as a rehearsal accompanist
for a musical production titled “Master of Dreams.” A fellow member of my
previous church whose passion is the theatre, and who makes a living teaching,
directing, performance acting, and composing – and who also is saved – composed
this musical based on Joseph’s history, from the moment Joseph’s father
Jacob/Israel gifted him that coat, to the point when his entire family (including
his father) joins him in Egypt once and for all. It was a fun gig, and a very powerful
story. I still picture the actors’ faces when I think of each of the brothers. Anyway,
the most powerful moment in this musical takes place right after Joseph hears
Judah’s plea to let Benjamin return with them, with Joseph’s line: “help me now
to forgive!” It was most definitely a powerful and cathartic moment in the
musical (right at its climax), but also in Scripture.
Joseph sent all his Egyptian guards and attendees out of the
room so that he could be alone with these strange foreigners, these folks from
Canaan.
[A side note: Just that act in and of itself was considered
huge in Egypt. Like most dominant empires in human history, anyone who was a foreigner
visiting the land of said dominant empire, with few exceptions, was considered
lower or lesser, simply because they were not of the race of that of the empire.
Egypt was no different: in their mind, Egyptians > non-Egyptians. Simple as
that. So for Joseph to send away who his guards and attendees considered “his
fellow Egyptians” so he could be alone with these strange “non-Egyptians” was
unusual, to say the least. But they complied. No idea if they started wondering
if something was up with their leader for him to do that. Fortunately (I think)
we never had to worry about that.]
What jumped out to me about this passage, about Judah’s
plea, is that it answered a question I didn’t realize I had, which was: why did Joseph reveal himself? He knew they were his brothers. And even though, to
this moment, they had complied with everything he had demanded of them, he was
still angry enough to want to punish them by keeping Benjamin for himself. So
why did Joseph finally let go?
Judah’s line about their father, Jacob, is what did it. Jacob, the same man who when he was younger stole his brother Esau’s birthright and blessing and later wrestled with God during the night while on the road, spent thirteen of his older-age years believing that his favorite son was dead and grieved it deeply. Everyone in the family knew that Joseph was their father’s favorite. As such, Joseph surely knew that it wasn’t his father’s fault that he was sold into slavery, plus everything that happened afterward. From what I could tell all these times having read through this history, Joseph was never angry at his father; he was only angry at his brothers, Benjamin excepted.
In his anger, Joseph wanted to repay his older brothers for what
they had done to him. However, he also lost sight of how his actions would
impact his father, Jacob, until Judah brought it up:
30 “So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father, and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life, 31 sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow. Genesis 44:30-31, NIV
If Joseph continued trying to push the edge on how far he
could break his brothers, he would have also caused grief to his father, which,
given Joseph’s next actions, was something that he did not want to cause. As
angry as he was at his brothers, he clearly still loved his father, and as such
did not want to cause him more pain than what he had already suffered. Hence
the line from “Master of Dreams,” “help me now to forgive!”
That’s the beautiful thing about receiving Jesus Christ as
Lord and Savior. One of the prime adjectives ascribed to Him is that He is our
Redeemer. By dying on the cross as a blood sacrifice to God for our sins, He
redeemed all of us, all those who were and are ready to believe Him and receive
Him. Even though Joseph’s history took place centuries before Jesus’ crucifixion,
redemption clearly is still a major theme in this story. I don’t know how God was
able to get ahold of Joseph’s heart in this moment, but He did. And here we get
to see, in the same way that God used Joseph’s circumstances to put him
second-in-command in Egypt, God allowed all his brothers to be restored into Joseph’s
good graces, and to bless them with some of the best homes in Egypt.
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9, NIV