The brothers had to return to the city once the silver cup was found in Benjamin's sack. It was found there because Joseph instructed his steward to put it there, but they don't know that. All they know is that Benjamin's freedom or even his very life might be at stake. We are going to see what a long way these men have come, spiritually speaking, when the men try to secure Benjamin's release and when Judah offers himself in his place. At one time they were more than happy to be rid of a favorite son of Jacob's, but now they'd do anything to keep his new favorite son safe.
"Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him." (Genesis 44:14) Joseph hasn't gone back to work after his lunch break because he knows the men are going to return. I believe Moses refers to the entire group of eleven from Canaan as "Judah and his brothers" because Judah is going to take charge of this meeting on behalf of his family. Judah is the one who acts as head of the family in our passage. The man who thought nothing of selling Joseph into slavery over twenty years ago will offer to become a slave if the Egyptian governor will only set Benjamin free. What a turnaround, right? This is the work of Almighty God! How else can we explain such a complete change of character? Over the years the Holy Spirit has brought Judah's sins to his mind time and time again, so much so that his conscience is screaming by now. Judah feels he deserves to lose his freedom as punishment for what he did to Joseph. But God isn't making his conscience burn as a way to beat him down; it's for the purpose of repentance and restoration. The only sins the Lord ever reminds us of are sins we haven't yet repented of. He will never fling in our faces the sins that are already forgiven and forgotten.
"Joseph said to them, 'What is this you have done? Don't you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?'" (Genesis 44:15) We know Joseph didn't find out about the cup through divination. He knows about the cup because he's responsible for its presence in Benjamin's sack. I think he says what a true Egyptian governor would actually say. He's staying in character and playing a role for now.
The men have no explanation for how they ended up with the cup. They know none of them took it but there's no way to prove it to this frightening, powerful man. I can hear the desperation in Judah's voice when I read this next section. At first he's pretty much resigned himself to the idea that all of them will enter slavery in Egypt. He believes it will happen because he knows he and all the brothers but Benjamin deserve it. He hates that Benjamin has been drawn into this mess, but at the moment he sees no way out for any of them, especially for Benjamin since his is the sack in which the cup was found. "'What can we say to my lord?' Judah replied. 'What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants' guilt. We are now my lord's slaves---we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup.'" (Genesis 44:16)
"But Joseph said, 'Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace." (Genesis 44:17) This seems a worse option to the men than all of them remaining together in Egypt. At least if they all remain together in the same country they might be able to watch over and protect Benjamin. I am not sure if I'm right about this, but I've always had the feeling that Benjamin is not as big and hardy as the others. The family treats him like a child even after he's a grown man. I know he's a "daddy's pet", spoiled and not expected to perform much work, if any. But I wonder if perhaps he doesn't also have physical ailments or that he maybe he's undersized and frail. After all, his mother died while giving birth to him, and we don't know whether the complications of his birth affected him physically for the rest of his life.
Judah promised upon his honor (which admittedly was lacking in the past) to bring Benjamin home to his father. He swore to return him to Jacob safely. He vowed to risk his own life if that's what it took. He proposes letting Benjamin go home while the rest of them become slaves. It seems like a better deal to him for the governor; he'd be getting ten slaves instead of just one. To make his offer he approaches Joseph's chair like someone in court respectfully approaching a judge. I don't know whether his brothers can even hear what he's saying to Joseph while he confers with him.
"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. My lord asked his servants, 'Do you have a father or a brother?' 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.' Then you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.' And we said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.' If he leaves him, his father will die.' But you told your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.'" (Genesis 44:18-23) Benjamin wouldn't even be in Egypt if the governor hadn't insisted upon seeing him. Judah doesn't come right out and say that, for it would be offensive to appear to be blaming the man for the current predicament, but the silver cup wouldn't be in Benjamin's sack if Benjamin had never been in Egypt to begin with. And Benjamin wouldn't have been in Egypt to begin with if this man hadn't warned them not to return without him.
Here's what Judah is saying without actually speaking the words: "You will cause the death of our father if you keep Benjamin here. You'll kill an innocent old man in Canaan by holding his favorite son here---the son who wouldn't even be here if you hadn't said, 'You won't see my face again unless you bring him with you.'"
An idea is beginning to form in Judah's mind. If he can make the governor feel sorry for his father, perhaps he will allow not only Benjamin but everyone other than Judah to go home. Maybe Judah can take Benjamin's place. The last thing in the world he wants to do is face his father without Benjamin anyway. He already swore to his father that if he failed to bring Benjamin home, he would stand guilty in his father's eyes from now on. His father will have the right to disown him entirely and cause him to live in exile from the family. Even if Jacob took no such action, the shame and guilt of returning without Benjamin is more than Judah can bear. Likely he'd make a stronger, better, more competent worker than Benjamin anyway. He's worked hard physically all his life and has become an experienced and responsible person. He's going to try to get the governor to let the others accompany Benjamin home, (he appears to have doubts whether Benjamin can see himself safely home), and he himself will work tirelessly and faithfully for the governor for the rest of his life. He continues making his father into such a sympathetic character that the second-in-command to Pharaoh will take pity on Jacob and allow Benjamin and all but Judah to leave.
"When we went back to our father, we told him what my lord had said. Then our father said, 'Go back and buy a little more food.' 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.' Your servant our father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons. One of them went away from me, and I said, 'Surely he has been torn to pieces.' And I have not seen him since. 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.' 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, 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. 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!' 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. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that will come on my father.'" (Genesis 44:24-34)
What an impassioned and moving speech! Judah is displaying a heart like the Lord's. Who does he remind us of when he offers himself in place of others? The Lord Jesus Christ! Judah has been transformed from the inside out. This man who is going to be the ancestor of God's own Son has become a lot like God's Son when he makes his selfless, sacrificial offer. In tomorrow's passage Joseph is going to be overwhelmed with emotion by the time Judah finishes making his heartfelt plea. Joseph won't be able to maintain his role as a stranger to the men any longer. A beautiful, God-ordained reunion takes place, and a family is made whole in a way that it has never been---and never could have been---without the mighty help of the Lord.
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