Tried and True - Gensis 44:1-34

[0:00] Good morning. We turn to Genesis 44. The title for today's message is Tried and True. We're spending quite a bit of time looking at trials, suffering, and things like that.

[0:13] God is good. The outline, if you remember, we, Joseph and his brothers, he just had this great feast for them, and now we're moving into Genesis 24, and what looked like a good moment, a turn for the worst.

[0:31] Verses 1 through 6 is the trial of the century, and it's where Joseph decides to bring the ultimate trial into the lives of his brothers. Verse 7 through 13 is not true, and they are falsely accused, so they think, of taking the cup that Joseph has accused them of taking.

[0:51] The brothers say not true. Verses 14 through 17 is try to understand, and this is where it's kind of Judah and Joseph go back and forth, like, you need to understand my viewpoint. No, you need to understand mine.

[1:02] Verses 18 through 26 is a true account where Judah, from 18 to the end of the chapter, we're going to see Judah, just this man, where did he come from, just begin to speak and to tell the true account of what happened with his brother back in Canaan, or with his father back in Canaan.

[1:20] Verses 27 through 31 is please don't trifle, it's where Judah is very concerned about the effect he'll have upon his father. And verses 32 through 34, tried and true, we will see a man who's been tried and true.

[1:36] Our theme verse has been, what? Jeremiah 29 11, for I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end, or a future and a hope.

[1:49] But I think for last week and this week, seeing Joseph as the son of favor, seeing Benjamin, the son of the right hand, seeing these two pictures where the father has to willingly send the son, and yet it's the son receiving them.

[2:04] And we looked at John 14 3, and how there's almost that same thought within that verse, And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, you may be also.

[2:16] Right? That's what we're waiting for. We're waiting for that moment when the trumpet sounds and he comes to get us. But the wording is funny. He's going to come and receive us to himself? It's like he's saying, well, I'm going to come and get you, and I'm going to take you back to me.

[2:29] Me's going to get you to bring you to me. And it's like this too, it's very interesting. And you can see that almost with Benjamin and Joseph, each representing in their turn a shadow, a foreshadowing of Jesus. Jesus, each representing the son.

[2:40] It's such a beautiful picture. And so I think our theme verse, kind of, is more John 5 39. When the Pharisees think that they know so much because they know the scripture, and Jesus said, you search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life because of your knowledge of the scripture, because you know so much, because you feel so holy.

[2:58] But these are they which testify of me. And on every page, as we've gone through Genesis, almost every page, there's Jesus. There's Jesus. The scripture testifies of Jesus. When we're in Acts, we see Jesus, the scripture testifying.

[3:11] When we're going to be in Revelation, we're going to see a lot of Jesus. I was reading some of it this week, and just right in the beginning where John says that it's the testimony of Jesus.

[3:22] The word of God and the testimony of Jesus. Jesus is that which is witnessed and believed of what Jesus has done and said. It's not John's testimony.

[3:32] John's like, no, this is Jesus' testimony. And that's what we have in God's word. So I think that's more of our theme as we see here, finishing up Genesis. This view of Jesus, of the Redeemer, of the Messiah, so strong towards the end of the book here.

[3:50] So the last verse of chapter 43, if you remember, it says that he took them, he brought them in, and he seated them. And it's actually the second to the last verse, verse 33.

[4:00] They all marveled. They were blown away because he seated them from oldest to youngest. And I still couldn't find the probability. Anybody know math really well? The probability of what that is to do that.

[4:12] But they marveled. They were astonished. And we said how it's always astonishing to realize how much God knows us. To realize that God knows me down to the nth degree and still loves me. And how astonished they were that Joseph knew them so well.

[4:25] Because they had yet to realize who Joseph was. So verse 1. And now Joseph, he calls his steward. And he commands his steward, the steward of his house.

[4:36] And he said, fill the men's sacks with food. Remember the whole purpose that they're there. The reason they had to convince dad to send Benjamin is, we need food. We've run out of food. And he commanded the steward of his house saying, fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry.

[4:51] And put every man's money in the sack, in the mouth of his sack. So here we have, you know, buy one, get one free sale. Happening again.

[5:03] They don't know it. They think, oh, this worked out great. We're heading back home, not only with Simeon. We've got Benjamin. We've got the food. We just had this great feast.

[5:13] They didn't seem to be too upset about us bringing the money back. Everything is great. Life is fantastic as we head home. But Joseph is setting them up now. He's setting them up for a trial.

[5:25] He's purposely sending them in to this place where they're going to be squeezed. They're going to be squeezed. God uses sufferings to reveal in our lives what nothing else could.

[5:38] Suffering is a spiritual principle. We must, through tribulation, enter the kingdom. God will use suffering to reveal what nothing else could.

[5:49] When he squeezed the lemon, what comes out? Lemon juice, right? We go through trials. And it's like, oh, you get to the other side and you're like, Lord, I don't like what came out.

[6:00] Man, that wasn't very sweet. I wanted orange juice and it came out like lemons. That was bitter, Lord. I don't really like that. You think, well, trials build character. Well, they do.

[6:11] But trials, they reveal character more than anything. Romans 8.18, Paul writes, For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed.

[6:25] Revealed in us. The sufferings we go through now, the point of them is to reveal something. What? Our faith. Even Jesus suffered. Hebrews chapter 5 verse 8 says, Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.

[6:42] So, well, Jesus learned obedience? You mean like if he didn't suffer, he wouldn't obey? Well, that's not true, is it? Jesus was going to obey. What did the suffering reveal? The obedience that was in there.

[6:52] It put Jesus in a situation that he wouldn't have been in otherwise. He was in a place where he suffered. And what came out? Obedience. Every time he was squeezed. Every time he was pressed upon, what came out?

[7:02] Obedience. Obedience. Obedience. It revealed what was in there. It wasn't making Jesus' character. It was revealing it. 1 Peter 1.7 says, That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire.

[7:19] And that was that picture of the slide. The opening slide was gold being refined. Might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

[7:29] The trial of our faith. When you take gold, and gold's in ore, right? It's in the rock. And there's gold in there. How do you get it out? When you put it in the furnace. What happens to the rock?

[7:40] Nothing. It stays the same. The gold melts and comes out. And then you have this gold. Well, you continue to refine it. As the gold continues to refine, the impurities are burned off. And you have more and more pure gold.

[7:53] Now, the end process, that gold, which has been refined and refined, and the beginning process, the gold that's in the rock, is the gold any different? It's the same gold.

[8:04] The process is just revealing the gold that's already there. You're not making the gold. The gold's already there. It's just revealing it. Our faith, it's there. And God puts us in situations so that he can reveal the faith that's there.

[8:19] He's not like, well, I need to do this because you need to grow in your faith. You need to have bigger faith. Remember the disciples came to Jesus. They said, whew, Lord, increase our faith. And he didn't. He almost rebuked them.

[8:29] He said, uh-uh-uh. If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this sycamine tree, be thou removed into the sea. I don't know why you'd want to throw that tree into the sea, but if you need to, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed.

[8:42] But our faith is only as strong as what we have faith in. There's a proverb in Proverbs 25, 19. It says, confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth and a foot out of joint.

[8:54] You can have, you know, people think faith, I've got to have faith, like it's a power. Well, faith only exists if you have faith in something. It's kind of like love. Love has to have an object.

[9:05] You say, well, I'm very, very loving. I am the most loving person. Do you love anybody? No. I don't love anyone, but I am so loving. It's like people say, I've got faith. Do you trust God?

[9:15] No. Well, then you don't have faith. And if your faith is in a broken tooth or a foot out of joint, no matter how much trust you put in it, it's going to collapse. No matter how much you lean upon it, it will collapse.

[9:29] So God allows trials so that we see as we lean upon him, my faith didn't fail. It revealed a faith that was in there. For Judah, he's going to be, and his brothers, they're going to be put through this trial because Joseph needs to see what's in there.

[9:45] He needs to know. And so he put the cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest. Oh, he said, and put my cup. So he's continuing to give instructions to his steward. He says, and put my cup.

[9:56] So put their money in the mouth of their sacks, and now take this, the silver cup, which was his special cup, and put it in the sack's mouth of the youngest and his money. And he did according to the word Joseph had spoken.

[10:08] You see, Joseph had put these men through a bunch of tests. Remember, they first come, and he realizes it's his brothers. What does he do? He says, you're spies. You are all spies here to check the land out, to see our weaknesses, and to come and get all of our grain.

[10:20] So he puts them in prison. And the first test is, he says, hey, one of you choose, and both times he says, choose, pick out one of you to go back home, to get your brother and bring him back.

[10:33] One of you can go back. The rest of you stay. So he's going to see, all right, let's see who they're going to sell out, who they're going to, who's going to be the one to go and sell out the rest of them. None of them came forward. He's like, okay.

[10:43] So he changes it. He says, all right, pick one to stay. One must stay, and the rest of you can go. Who are you going to choose to throw in the pit this time? Which brother are you going to leave? And they wouldn't do it.

[10:55] So he picks Simeon. Joseph has seen that these men would not give up one another to save themselves. But would they give up themselves to save another? It's a big difference.

[11:06] They weren't willing to sell each other out. Man, I'm not going to throw you under the bus. But would I throw myself under the bus for your sake? That's what he needs to know. That's what he's going to find out through this trial.

[11:18] And Joseph is not setting these men up for failure. He's not setting them up to be ruined. He's setting them up for grace. They don't know it, but he's setting them up for an opportunity for grace.

[11:29] And God does the same thing for us. In Isaiah 30, verse 18, there's this beautiful little verse tucked away. And it says, Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you. God is waiting for opportunities to show grace in your life.

[11:42] And therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you. For the Lord is a God of judgment. Blessed are all they that wait for him. God's judgment is an opportunity for God's mercy.

[11:54] God's long-suffering is just an opportunity for more grace. And as soon as the morning was come, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys. They loaded up the truck and they headed back home.

[12:06] And when they were gone out of the city and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men. And when you overtake them, say unto them, Why have you rewarded evil for good?

[12:19] Joseph is setting these men up and he's using something very specific in their lives. He's using their fear. You think, well, wait a minute. God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.

[12:31] Yes. He has. Remember what we said trials revealed? The trial of our faith. And so God brings these things into our lives to realize, I can't lean upon this thing that I was afraid of.

[12:44] I can't allow my faith to direct my life. I need faith that comes out. Joseph is using their fear as an occasion to try their hearts. What was their fear?

[12:55] If you remember the first time, back in Genesis 42, as they're heading back home with their load of provisions, and they stopped at an inn, and they opened up one of the sacks to feed their donkeys, and the one brother that did that, he saw the money.

[13:11] For behold, it was in his sack's mouth, and he said unto his brethren, my money is restored, and lo, it's even in my sack. And their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, what is this that God has done unto us?

[13:23] Joseph is using their fear to try their hearts. The things we're afraid of, the things that press upon us, God is not using that fear to crush us, but he's using it to reveal what's in our heart.

[13:37] In Mark chapter 5, Jesus has got a crowd of people around him, and Jairus, one of the rulers in the synagogue, he comes to him and he says, Master, my daughter lies at the point of death, his 12-year-old daughter.

[13:49] And he said, come to my house and heal her. And Jesus said, I'll go with you. And they're heading to Jairus' house. There's all these people around him. In the meantime, this woman comes, who for 12 years has had an issue of blood. Here you have a little girl, full of life for 12 years at the point of death, and here you have an older lady who's lived 12 years in death, both needing a touch from Jesus.

[14:08] And here she comes and she reaches out and she grabs his garment, right? And Jesus stops and he said, who touched me? Because she's instantly healed. And his disciples go, Master, do you not see the crowd?

[14:19] And you say, who touched me? You know, sometimes, Jesus, I just don't know. And he said, no, no, no, virtue went out of me. Someone touched me. So she comes and she falls down and tells him her whole story. And I think if you're Jairus, you're standing there, you know, my daughter's at the point of death.

[14:36] The desperation for this man to leave his Jewish heritage, the desperation to be like, I don't care about my reputation. My daughter's at the point of death. I'm going to Jesus. And now Jesus is being sidetracked.

[14:49] And at that point, one of the servants from his house comes and says, trouble the master no more. Your daughter's dead. And in Mark 5, verse 36, Jesus hears that.

[15:01] And I don't know if they came and told Jesus that. I like to, I picture in my mind that Jesus is standing there talking with the disciples and the woman. And then the servant comes and just whispers to Jairus, she's dead, don't trouble the master.

[15:11] And Jairus' face sinks. And I picture Jesus just turning right away. And as soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he said to the ruler of the synagogue, be not afraid, only believe.

[15:22] Turning right to him and say, don't act upon your fear. Do not be afraid. Only believe. God was using Jairus' greatest fear to try his heart.

[15:34] What did that reveal for Jairus? Man, Lord, I know you can heal my daughter if you would come and heal her. This trial's too great, Lord. But now he knew that Jesus could raise his daughter. He would not have known that without that trial.

[15:45] And so as the steward comes, oh, I'm sorry, as Joseph continues to give the instructions to the steward, telling him to go, explaining to him what to do, knowing the effect it's going to have upon these men, the fear it's going to instill in them.

[16:02] In verse 5, and to say to them, is not this in which my Lord drinks and whereby indeed he divines, you have done evil, and so doing. And so he's setting them up because he already knows that they're flabbergasted, that he was able to seat them in order of age.

[16:17] So they're already thinking, like, this guy. And so now the steward's going to come and say, oh, he is a magical guy. You know, he does. He can divine. He needs this cup. And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these words.

[16:32] And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my Lord these words? God forbid that your servants should do according to this thing. How can you say this?

[16:43] You know what happened. Behold, the money which we have found in our sacks' mouths we brought again to you out of the land of Canaan. How then should we steal out of the Lord's house silver or gold?

[16:54] If we wanted to keep the money, we would have. Why would we come then, bring the money back, and steal something else? This makes no sense. What we see in these men is what's happening to them.

[17:04] They're being squeezed. They're being pressed. What's coming out? The same thing that's been coming out. It's truth. Last time they prioritized truth. What we see here is integrity is coming out. What is integrity?

[17:16] Integrity is the definition is the entirety of anything. The whole. The fullness. You're not one part over here with this person. You're not a piece over here with this person. It's who you are as a whole.

[17:27] It also means moral soundness or purity, uprightness, honesty, and integrity is coming out of them. Is this trial making their character? No, it's revealing their character.

[17:39] The trial is back when Joseph was 17. What was revealed about their character? Let's throw him in a pit and get rid of him. 20 years later, this trial is revealing a character that God has worked upon.

[17:52] You see, their motivation here was integrity before God. God forbid that your servants should do according to this thing. Their motivation was integrity before God, but their actions were integrity before men.

[18:06] The motivation of their heart resulted in an outward act of integrity before men. They didn't just say, oh yeah, I believe in God. Oh yeah, I'm a Christian.

[18:16] For sure. But I cheat on my taxes and I take advantage of anyone anytime I can. It's got to look out for number one, right? Their motivation was integrity and their actions were integrity.

[18:30] Proverbs 4.23 says, keep the heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. And we see what's issuing out of their heart right now. Then they make this statement.

[18:41] There's another proverb, Proverbs 18.13, that says, he that answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame unto him. In other words, don't speak too quick.

[18:52] And they speak very quick here in verse 9. With whoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die and we also will be my Lord's bondmen. These men are very confident in their integrity, which is great, which is great.

[19:07] But they're also speaking a little rashly here. 1 John 3.21 says, Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

[19:19] That's where these men are at. They knew, hey, I am clean. It doesn't matter what you say. I know the integrity of my heart where I stand. And the steward now says in verse 10, he said, now also let it be according to your words.

[19:37] What were their words? The guy whose sack the cup is found, he dies and the rest of us become your bondservant. Let it be according to your words. He with whom it is found shall be my servant and you shall be blameless.

[19:49] Was that their words? No, it wasn't their words. Theirs was, the guy dies and we're all servants. He says, okay, let it be according to your words. Whoever it's found shall be my servant and the rest of you will be blameless.

[20:03] Proverbs 16.9 says, a man's heart devises his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Thank the Lord for that. So many times my heart devises a way and I move in that way.

[20:15] Before you know it, the Lord directs your steps and you're somewhere else. I can think of examples where I thought that was the Lord and now a couple years later I think, that wasn't the Lord at all.

[20:29] But the Lord used that to direct my steps into another place. But if you remember our steward here, he's unnamed, right? And just as we have that foreshadowing of Jesus in the picture of Joseph and Benjamin and we have the Father sending his son, well we have an unnamed servant acting on behalf of God's people which represents the Holy Spirit.

[20:50] And here you have these men saying one thing and what is this unnamed servant doing? Man, he's taking what they're saying and he's correctly interpreting it to what it should be. He does the same for us.

[21:02] In Romans 8.26, likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities for we do not know what we should pray as we ought. But the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

[21:15] And he takes that and he knows when you say, Lord, just kill me and be done with it. The Holy Spirit goes, Lord, a little grace. Would you just bless them? And then God blesses you and you're like, I don't deserve this blessing.

[21:27] But he knows. He knows what's supposed to be. Grace softens the blow. Hebrews 12.6, For whom the Lord loves, he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives.

[21:39] Man, we think we're going to get it. Grace softens that blow, doesn't it? You think of when the prodigal son came back and he had that whole speech rehearsed. I've sinned.

[21:49] I'm not worthy to be your son. If only I could be your servant. He doesn't even get half of it out and his father's like, he's home because grace supersedes. And then they speedily took down every man his sack.

[22:01] Integrity does not hesitate. They had no reason to hesitate. They knew they were innocent. So they took down their sack and opened every man his sack. And imagine that moment as the color drains from their face as they look at each one and go, our money's in our sacks.

[22:22] And in that moment, I bet they felt like Charlie Brown where Linus says to him, sometimes I feel like life has passed me by. Do you ever feel that way, Charlie Brown? And Charlie Brown says, no, I feel that it's knocked me down and walked all over me.

[22:37] And I think in this moment, that's what these guys must feel like. Man, can't win for trying. Here again. But thankfully, as we open our sacks, no cup. And then they rent their clothes.

[22:52] Oh, I'm sorry. In verse 12, and he searched, the steward searched and began at the eldest and left at the youngest again. And it's not like they're all lined up. I mean, I think probably on the flannel graph in my Sunday school, they probably were always lined up.

[23:05] You know, you put them up there and there's the brothers. But they weren't all lined up. So here the steward goes to Reuben, cuts his sack open. Nothing. And then he goes to Simeon, Levi, Judah.

[23:17] And they're just like, how did these guys know? And then they get to Benjamin and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. Proverbs 20, 24 says, man's goings are of the Lord.

[23:29] How can a man then understand his own way? And when we're in the middle of a trial, when we're in the middle of something where it seems like God is closing the walls in on us, we can't understand that.

[23:40] Man's goings are of the Lord. We have to put ourself in the Lord's hands and trust that he understands the path he's leading us on. And just because we're in the middle of a place that seems tight or that seems like he's squeezing us, his faithfulness is no less.

[23:55] And then they rent their clothes and loaded every man his donkey and returned to the city. And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house for he was yet there and they fell before him on the ground.

[24:08] These men continue to act in integrity. With integrity, there's only one choice in everything we do and it's the decision that always maintains integrity. Right?

[24:18] With integrity, we always choose the decision that maintains that integrity before God. And as they come to Joseph, where has this integrity led them?

[24:30] It's led them to humility, to brokenness, and to surrender. They come, they fall before Joseph. They bow before him in brokenness, in humility, and completely surrendered.

[24:41] And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that you have done? Did you not know that such a man as I can certainly divine?

[24:53] Joseph, the son of favor, is saying, Didn't you know nothing is hid from the sun? You can't hide anything from the sun. Psalm 139, beginning in verse 7, David writes, Where shall I go from your spirit?

[25:08] Or whither shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall I hand lead me.

[25:19] Thy right hand shall hold me fast. Thank the Lord nothing is hid from the sun. And thank the Lord, I can't ever escape that grasp either. These men didn't know it.

[25:33] They don't know who Joseph is yet. But they are firmly in the grasps of the sun. And Judas said, What shall we say unto my Lord? What shall we speak?

[25:44] Or how shall we clear ourselves? The word say there in the Hebrew means like to speak, to speak out. What can we speak out? The word speak means what can we answer? What can we say?

[25:54] What answer can I give you? And then clear ourselves is how can we be justified? I can't justify myself. What shall we speak? What shall we answer? How shall we be justified? You know, Judah, he didn't know if Joseph could divine.

[26:10] But he knew 100% that God could. He says, Look it, God has found out our iniquity. I don't know what's going on. I don't know about you, bro. Literally, bro. But I know that God can divine.

[26:22] The other thing is, there's no such thing as karma. But there is such a thing as consequences. Romans 6.23 says, For the wages of sin is death. Galatians 6.8 says, For he that sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption.

[26:37] He that sows to the spirit shall of the spirit reap everlasting life. There's no such thing as karma, but there is consequences. And the world says, Oh, that's karma. No, that's just stupidity playing itself out over time.

[26:50] If you continue to act in that way, you know, play stupid games, win stupid prizes. These men, standing before Joseph, Judah says, I have nothing I can say.

[27:07] There's nothing I can do to justify myself. This is the best position Judah could be in. Because whenever we try to justify ourselves, what do we do? We remove us from God's hands.

[27:18] Remove us from a place where God can justify us. Romans 5.1 says, Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It's him that justifies.

[27:29] As Judah says, How can I justify myself? Well, you can't. You needed the Son to justify you. Joseph had to justify them. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[27:44] Why does God expose our sin? Why does he go to this great length to bring out the sin of these men? Why is it like God's always putting my sin in front of my face? So that he can get rid of it. So that he can cleanse it.

[27:58] God desires for us to live without the pressure and burden and weight of sin. The only way he can do that is by exposing it. By revealing our sin so that he can then reveal our grace.

[28:11] I mean, his grace in our lives. And Joseph responds to Judah and he says, No, no, God forbid. God forbid. Because Judah's response was, How shall we clear ourselves?

[28:26] Behold, both we and him are your Lord's servants. And he says, God forbid that I should do so. But the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant.

[28:37] As for you, go up to your father's house in peace. Now imagine they return to their house. They return to dad. Can they return to their father without the son? They can.

[28:48] They could not return without the son. The only way they can return to their father's house in peace is with the son. As we're told in John 14, 6, Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

[29:00] No man comes unto the father but by me. Benjamin, the son of the right hand, is a type of the son of Christ. Judah is saying, We can't go up. We cannot return to the father without the son.

[29:11] And now, Judah responds remarkably in verse 18. Remember the last time we saw Judah? We had that chapter, I always say that, I should write it down, I can't remember which chapter it was, where it was Judah's, Judah's life kind of before us.

[29:33] It was 20 years. We saw his kind of arc, his redemptive arc, where he started out leaving the family, living for himself, didn't care what happened to his daughter-in-law, and by the end, he realizes that, okay, I realize God is doing work in my life.

[29:49] But if you fast, or rewind beyond that, when we saw Judah 20 years ago, when Joseph is 17, what does Judah say? After they throw him in the pit, Reuben convinces him not to kill him.

[30:01] He's like, You know what, guys? Let's sell him. Let's get something out of this situation. Let's use his misfortune to our advantage. What did they get? We figured out it was 10 bucks a piece that they each got.

[30:14] But now Judah, coming near to Joseph, is going to begin to speak. He says, O my Lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my Lord's ear.

[30:26] And let not thy anger burn against thy servant, for thou art even as Pharaoh. So Judah comes to seek the favor of Joseph, and he does it through humility. James 4.8 says, Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

[30:39] Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. Come with integrity. Come to God. Become honestly. Judah seeks favor by drawing near to Joseph.

[30:56] Judah's trial has resulted in some interesting results in his life. as they return back to Egypt, and he thinks, it's all over. He doesn't realize what God is doing in his life.

[31:09] Judah's trial has resulted in him drawing near the Son, praying to the Son, seeking the Son's favor, and then as we're going to see as we continue on, confessing to the Son.

[31:21] He doesn't realize this is what God is doing in his life through this trial. As God is squeezing him, as God is putting him in this difficult place, he doesn't realize how God is shaping his life to draw near to the Son.

[31:33] Trials are not meant to break us. Where Judah thinks, this is just it. This is it. It's going to break me. They're not meant to break us, but they're meant to make us aware of God's grace.

[31:47] And Judah says, My Lord, my Lord asked his servants, saying, Have you a father or a brother? And we said unto him, My Lord, we have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one.

[31:57] That little one doesn't mean like Benjamin's a little guy. It literally means just youngest. And his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.

[32:10] Remember, in the last chapter, Judah said to Jacob, I will be surety for the lad. I will bind my life to his. I will anchor my life to his. His life for mine. Our lives are joined. Judah, at one time, jealous of the father's love toward the son, Joseph.

[32:26] No longer jealous, but entering into that love by joining his life with the son. 1 John 4, 15, Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the son, God dwells in him.

[32:39] When we join our life with the son, God dwells in him, and we in God. And we have known and believed that the love, and we have known and believed the love that God has to us.

[32:50] God is love, and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him. As we join our life with the son, we then join into the same love that the father has towards the son.

[33:01] No longer am I, it's not a jealousy thing. It's not like, oh man, God's using that person, and God's not using me. No, we rejoice with those who rejoice. We join into the love of the father towards the son.

[33:13] And Judas says in verse 21, And you said unto your servants, Bring him down unto me that I may set my eyes upon him. And we said unto my Lord, The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.

[33:29] John 5.20 says, For the father loves the son. The heart of the father was bound with the life of the son. We cannot take the son from the father.

[33:40] And thou said unto thy servant, except your youngest brother come down with you, you shall see my face no more. And what does it represent if they did not see the face of Joseph? If they no longer were allowed to see the face of the son of favor?

[33:54] There was no more life, was there? You will not see my face again. God asks the impossible of us, doesn't he?

[34:06] There's time God asks things of us that we're like, how can we do that? The father said to the sons, he said, go and buy grain. It's impossible. We can't. Why would God ask the impossible?

[34:18] That we might understand our need for the son. God puts impossible situations in our life specifically so that we would understand, oh, I need the son. Well, I can't go down.

[34:29] I can't go to Egypt unless Benjamin, the son, goes with me. Hebrews 11.6 says, but without faith it is impossible to please him for he that comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

[34:49] God asks the impossible. Without faith, it's impossible to please him. Without our trust in God, God asks the impossible so that we might believe God to do the impossible. He's not expecting us to do it.

[35:00] Thank you, Lord. He's not expecting me to get up here and figure out how to do this, guys. If I had to, well, I'd be pretty short-lived. It's the fact that he's faithful to do the impossible. And believe me, every week he does the impossible because I have something to say.

[35:15] For me, that's a huge thing to know that I can go to the word and God will speak and that he's called me to do this and he'll be faithful. But God uses the impossible so that we might understand our need for the son.

[35:27] And Judas says in verse 27, and your servant, my father, said unto us, and here we get some more information that Joseph hasn't had from these guys.

[35:38] We're seeing their heart about the situation and this is what Joseph wants to get at. And your servant, my father, said unto us, you know that my wife bear me two sons and the one went out from me and I said, surely he is torn in pieces and I saw him not sense.

[35:54] And if you take this also from me and mischief befall me, you shall bring down my gray heads with sorrow to the grave. I've already lost Joseph.

[36:05] You're not going to take Benjamin. You're not going to take the only son I have left. You're not going to take my beloved son, my one and only son. What would ever cause the father to give up his one and only son?

[36:20] Love. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. You know, in the New Testament we see Jesus going to the cross.

[36:32] We see his suffering. We see him in the garden. We see him getting whipped. We see that from the son's perspective. As we go through Genesis, we've seen that sacrifice through the father's perspective. We saw it with Abraham when God says to him, take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love and take him to the mountain that I will show you of and sacrifice him.

[36:50] There we see the father's heart in giving the son, what that must cost him. And here we see it again with Jacob. The heart that he has, his life being bound with Benjamin, that type of love. And then we look and we see God giving his only son.

[37:04] We see him giving Jesus. And when you realize how much the father loves the son, what would he ever give up for that? And when you find what he would give up the son for, man, then you understand how much he must love that thing that he just sacrificed the son for.

[37:22] Then we understand how much he loves us, that he would give his son. Why would he do that? He has the son. He's bound with him. And why would he give up something he loves so much? It must be because there's a greater love.

[37:36] Now therefore, when I come to thy servant, my father, and the lad be not with us, seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life, that word bound means stronger, means together.

[37:48] If you take a cord, three strands of cords, right? That cannot be easily broken. You bind them together. His life is bound together with him. His life is stronger with him.

[37:58] Life is found in the son. 1 John 5, 12 says, He that has the son has life, and he that has not the son of God has not life.

[38:09] Life is found in the son. It shall come to pass when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die. And thy servants will bring down the gray hairs of thy servant, our father, with sorrow to the grave.

[38:25] for thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father forever.

[38:37] Surety. Surety means a pledge or an exchange. Judah is saying, I became surety for him. I pledged my life.

[38:48] I literally said to him, my life for his, his life for mine. There's an exchange that happened there. And he says, If I bring him not unto you, unto my father, then I shall bear the blame for my father forever.

[39:00] There's only two ways to approach the father. You can come with the son or you can come without the son. If you go to the father without the son, you'll bear the blame of that forever. Judah says, But if I go with the son, man, I'll be blameless and I'll have the favor of my father.

[39:17] Only two ways to approach the father, with the son or without him. There's no other way. But Judah here says, I've pledged my life. I've given my life in exchange for this young man.

[39:29] Now therefore, in verse 33, I pray you, let your servant abide instead of the lad, a bondman to my Lord and let the lad go up with his brethren.

[39:41] And again, if you remember back in Genesis 37, it was Judah that said about Joseph, What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him.

[39:52] to the Ishmaelites. At one point, ready to sell his brother for whatever he can get out of it. Now willing to sell himself so this brother can go free. Judah would take Benjamin's place in death, essentially, to the family so that Benjamin might take Judah's place in life so that Benjamin might go free.

[40:12] Galatians 2.20 says, For I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. As Jesus became our surety, there's an exchange that took place. As he bound his life to ours.

[40:24] Yet not I, but Christ lives in me, so I don't live any longer. For Judah to stay and Benjamin to go, let's play that out and say that actually worked that way. And Joseph says, See you later, guys.

[40:35] And the ten brothers head back home with Benjamin and Judah stays there. Benjamin now lives Judah's life because Judah took Benjamin's death. Benjamin now goes and lives in Judah's place.

[40:48] Judah's family, Judah's responsibilities, they all now fall on Benjamin. It's no longer Benjamin that lives. Benjamin's dead back there in Egypt. Benjamin died with Judah.

[40:59] Benjamin now lives Judah's life. It's no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

[41:10] It's not my life. There's an exchange. 2 Corinthians 5.15, Paul writes, And that he died for all, that Jesus died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again.

[41:26] Because it's not my life. I don't get to decide. My life is in the grave. My life was on the cross. I now have Jesus' life that he gives me. I don't live my life now.

[41:37] It's not about me living my life through Christ. It's about the fact that he lives out his life and I get to partake of that. Surety ensures an exchange. The surety that Jesus took for us, him becoming surety for us, ensured an exchange, an exchange of life.

[41:55] And then our last verse. And Judah says, For how shall I go up to my father and the lad be not with me? Lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.

[42:08] Judah 20 years ago could have cared less. He was part of that whole thing where they ripped up Joseph's coat, threw some blood on it, said, Here, Dad. This was Joseph's. He got killed.

[42:19] Seeing their father, excuse me, broken and crushed. Seeing the hurt that caused, not caring at all. And now he says, I would rather spend the rest of my life apart from my father, apart from my family, I'd spend the rest of my life in bondage to not see harm on my father's face.

[42:39] For how shall I go up to my father and the lad be not with me? Lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father. Judah chose loss that another might gain.

[42:50] He chose bondage that another might go free. And he chose heartache that another might know joy. Judah would have never known that was in there if it wasn't for this trial.

[43:01] He never would have known that he was capable of exchanging his life for another's except for this trial. Jairus would have never known that Jesus was capable of raising his daughter from the dead, that he had faith to believe that.

[43:17] I didn't know I had that type of faith, Lord. Well, that's why I had to put you in this impossible situation. I love to see God do impossible things. I love to see him deliver from impossible situations in your lives.

[43:29] Not mine. Lord, not my life. Can't it be someone else's? How about we pray for them, Lord, and we see you do great things? He's like, no. And there's a reason for that.

[43:43] 2 Corinthians 4.11. Why would I go through this? Why would I allow myself to be pressed and crushed? Why do I need this exchange? No, it's not just for us. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake.

[43:56] Why? That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. Trials are to reveal. To reveal the character that God has built in there. To reveal the life of Christ being made manifest.

[44:09] So then death works in us, but life in you. It doesn't just work in me, but in you. That exchange that took place isn't just about me. It's not just that I see that God has done impossible things in my life, but it's so God might use me in your life, and you in my life, and us in others' lives.

[44:26] That others will look at us and go, wow! It's like death is working in you, but you're alive. What is that life that's in you? Man, if I was in that situation, if you squeezed me like that, woo, you don't want to know what's going to come out.

[44:40] A bunch of bad words, some bitterness, some frustration and anger, some... But what's coming out of you? What's that life that's coming out of you as you die? I don't get that. Well, that's Jesus, and he wants you to know he loves you, and that you can have that life too.

[44:57] Trials had revealed a heart that Judah had no idea was in there. Trials in our lives reveal what we had no idea was in there. That faith that's about the size of the mustard seed, you're like, man, I can't.

[45:09] God, I can't move that mountain. It's impossible. He's like, you're right, but I can, by crying grace, grace, unto it. You just trust me. I'll remove the mountain. And then we see God do the impossible.

[45:20] You know your faith was only that big, and God did that. Other people go, oh, that's, brother, sister, that's amazing what God did in your life. You must have so much faith. You must be such a holy person.

[45:31] You must be so, and you know that your faith was about that big and that if God didn't keep it and if God didn't do it, it wouldn't have happened. At this moment, Judah did not yet know all that his surety had accomplished.

[45:46] Jesus on the cross, he cries out, it is finished, and he gives up the ghost. He dies. In Luke 23, 44, it says, and it was about the sixth hour and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.

[46:00] At that point, mankind did not yet know all that was accomplished by Jesus being surety on the cross. It just seemed like that darkness would stretch on forever. God had died.

[46:11] The Messiah was slain. What did this accomplish? Judah, we're going to leave him here for a whole week until we come back to chapter 45. He doesn't know what's being accomplished.

[46:23] He doesn't know what he's just done, not for himself but for his whole family as well. 1 Corinthians 2, 9 says, But it is written, eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him.

[46:39] Going back to our verse, Jeremiah 9, 11, what is it that God has prepared for us? Peace. Thoughts of peace and not of evil to give us a future and a hope. In Judah's life, he found life.

[46:54] He didn't know it yet in the sun. Life is found in the sun. The trials that God brought into Judah's life, it wasn't to crush him but it was to reveal the sun.

[47:06] In the next chapter, he's going to realize all of this was this culmination. Trials, what do they reveal? Well, they reveal God's faithfulness.

[47:18] They reveal God's grace and they reveal God's sun and life is found in the sun. But the only way to enter into that life is through what? An exchange.

[47:28] There has to be an exchange. 1 John 3, 16 says, Hereby perceive we, hereby know we, hereby is revealed.

[47:40] This is how God revealed his love. Through a trial. Through a great trial. Through great suffering. Through great hardship. Because he laid down his life for us.

[47:52] And we ought to lay our lives down for the brethren. God has revealed his love through a tried and true method. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend.

[48:03] And that's how God reveals his love. So ought we to lay our lives down for the brethren. We also ought to lay our lives down. But we first, before we can lay our lives down for our brothers, we must first take up the life that's been laid down for us.

[48:19] Before I can lay my life down for you, before I can expect that life and that, the life of Christ to work through me, I'll have to first take up his life. I have to first take up the life that was laid down for me.

[48:33] You know, I was thinking about where, how God does not send trials to crush us, but to reveal, to reveal himself and to reveal what he's done in us. Not just to reveal his love to us, but through us, right?

[48:47] I was thinking of Jesus. And Jesus was pressed and he was whipped and he was pierced. And what came out? You know, when they pierced him in the side, what came out?

[48:58] Blood and water. When they put the crown of thorns on his head, what came out? Drops of blood. When they put the nails in his hands and his feet and they whipped his back, what came out? The blood that he gave for us.

[49:09] His life in exchange. Love came out. This would have also been a good week for communion. Every week's a good week for communion. But you know, before man ever inflicted one wound upon Christ, he knelt in the garden and he prayed.

[49:30] And he kneeled down and he prayed and he said, Father, if you'd be willing, remove this cup from me. Remove this thing that's pressing on me. If you'd be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.

[49:42] And there appeared unto him an angel from heaven strengthening him. Think it's over. Jesus, you did it. You did it. You took up the Father's will. You questioned. You said, not my will, but he surrendered.

[49:54] Yours be done. And then an angel strengthened him. For what purpose? Because he had to go back into prayer. Because then the agony really came. So the agony wasn't over doing the Father's will.

[50:05] He's already surrendered to that. What was the agony over? What pressed on him so hard? And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground.

[50:16] What came out before any man put a whip on him? Before any man put the crown of thorns on him? Before any man caused him to bleed? I think it's going to be like this to the end of Genesis.

[50:34] I think I'm going to be able to get through one because there's so much, such a picture of what Jesus did for us. The weight, I think it was the weight of our love. The love that he had for us.

[50:45] It pressed upon him. What he knew it was going to cost, he'd already surrendered to the Father's will. What was the agony? What was it that was pressing so heavy upon him? Man, it was you and me. It was that he loved us so much and what it cost.

[51:02] God does not send trials to crush us. And maybe this morning you feel like, man, I've been pressed, I've been crushed, and I don't think I can go on any longer. Paul felt the same way. You're not alone.

[51:14] In 2 Corinthians 4, 8, Paul says, we are pressed on every side, yet not crushed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. We are persecuted, but not abandoned.

[51:25] We are cast down, but not destroyed. We are always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. That doesn't sound too fun. Oh, but the life of Jesus, that the life of Jesus might also be made manifest in our body.

[51:40] The trials in this life are so that God may manifest himself. So I just want to pray and pray for you. You know where you're at. I mean, I could say, let's all stand. Anyone who's experiencing trial, please stand.

[51:53] And if you're sitting, well, you're probably not acting in integrity. Because we can all stand. We all have trials. God is pressing on us. But he's doing that because he knows what he's going to reveal.

[52:04] He's going to reveal his son through us. He's going to reveal to us that our faith hasn't failed. And Lord, I thank you so much that our faith will not fail. Not because it's so great, but because you're so great.

[52:17] Because we know whom we have trusted. We know who we've put our faith in. And Lord, you will never fail. As you said to Peter, Peter, I have prayed for you. Satan has desired you that he may sift you out as wheat.

[52:31] He wants to prove you're nothing but chaff. But Peter, I've prayed for you. And after you are converted, strengthen your brethren. Peter, your faith won't fail because of me.

[52:44] And Jesus, our faith won't fail because of you. You've made intercession for us. You've sent the Holy Spirit who makes intercession for us. And Lord, every trial you set up in our life, it doesn't come by chance.

[52:56] Who was the one who set up the trial? Who was the one who every step planned out everything that would happen? Who was in full control of the situation? Were Judah and his brethren ever really in danger?

[53:07] Were they ever outside of the Son of Favor's hand? No. And neither are we, Lord. Everything in our life is just one step closer to you being revealed to us, Lord.

[53:22] One step closer to experiencing more grace and more peace and more faithfulness. And I thank you for that, Lord. And Lord, as we sing and close out this with this last song, Lord, Lord, would you just show us that the things that are coming out of our lives as you squeeze us, Lord, as you press upon us, that you've got that, Lord, that you are able to make something beautiful out of something so broken.

[53:55] Thank you, Jesus, for being that beautiful, broken thing for us. And in your name I pray. Amen.