Transformation…
…is a popular word, a good word, a word describing a kind of improvement of the soul that many seek after. Many chase after various kinds of transformation in the world today. Whether it’s transformation in physical health through rigorous exercise or diet, transformation in mental health through therapy or counseling, transformation in family life through learning and applying the right principles in the home, or transformation at work in our vocations through continued education or a more disciplined effort, and more. Virtually everyone has an answer to the question of what they would like to see transformed in their lives. But, while everyone is all in with the reality of transformation, few embrace the way genuine transformation comes about. We’re always looking for a quick fix or for an easy formula to adopt to be transformed. Yet, is it often true that the deepest transformation takes place through a severe testing, suffering, or trial. John Bunyan, the author of The Pilgrim’s Progress, once explained this by saying, “It is said that is some countries trees will grow, but bear no fruit because there is no winter there.”
It’s crucial to keep these things in mind as we come to our text this morning. Because in Genesis 44 we come face to face with both the beauty and severity of genuine transformation. You could say the whole trajectory of Joseph’s life, along with his brothers and his father, has been one big episode of severe trial. And that would be true. Due to their own sins and due to the wise providence of God, they have endured much in life. But the end of it all is stunningly beautiful. We’ll see some of it today.
The chapter before us begins very smooth and easy and cheerful as Joseph’s brothers all wake up from the merry feast they enjoyed the night before. Yet unknown to them, they are about to face the most severe test and trial they’ve faced so far. Chapter 44 comes to us in two clear dramatic movements, see first…
Joseph’s Test (v1-17)
“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, 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. As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys. 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? Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this.’” When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words. They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! 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? Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be my lord’s servants.” 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.” Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack. And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city. When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there. They fell before him to the ground. 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?” 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.” 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.”
We left Joseph’s brothers in their joyful merry making at the end of chapter 43, but it appears as they were busy feasting Joseph was busy preparing for the next day. We see this in v1-2, where Joseph has his steward do three things: 1) fill their sacks with as much food as they can carry, likely more than they paid for, 2) give each man back his money for the food, and 3) put the silver cup in Benjamin’s sack. Initially we might believe Joseph to be overflowing with generosity here in v1, but as v2 unfolds and we see the silver cup coming into play, we know Joseph is up to something.[1] You might remember, how Joseph was sold into slavery for 20 pieces of silver, now he intends to test his own brothers with silver.[2]
v3 lets us know that morning has dawned and a rested and content group of brothers gathers their belongings and heads out of town to go back home. At this moment these guys have got to be feeling good. They not only got the food they needed, but they still have Benjamin with them, and they even got Simeon back. Perhaps they’re thinking that all the drama of Egypt will soon be in the rear view and life as they knew it could resume once again. But as wonderful as that might seem to them at this point, God had better plans in store. Plans that won’t initially be very enjoyable, but plans that will lead to a far better outcome.
v4-5 begins this process as we see Joseph send out his steward with a message about the silver cup. The steward is to catch up with the brothers on their way out and ask why they have repaid such kindness with evil by stealing the cup Joseph not only drinks from but uses for divination. Now I ought to say here I don’t believe Joseph actually does divination. It was a common practice in this time that many would’ve been well aware of. But I think its included here in this speech (and later on) to stress the guilt of them taking the cup, as well as increase the sense of the divine regarding Joseph, that he is a man who knows far more than meets the eye.
Anywho, in v6 the steward goes out and meets them, says these words, and in v7-9 the brothers object and proclaim their innocence. That they would never do this, that they honestly brought back the money from last time when they didn’t have to, so why would they steal again this time? They are so convinced of their innocence they make very radical remark in v9, that if anyone has the cup they will die, which is very similar to Jacob’s remark to Laban back in chapter 31 about the theft of Laban’s idols. The steward responds in v10 saying no one needs to die, but if anyone has the cup they alone will become a slave while the rest can go free. In v11 the brothers lay down their sacks to be searched quickly, because they truly believed they were innocent, even though the steward knew better.[3] In v12 the steward searches all the sacks, from the oldest to the youngest, and the cup is found in Benjamin’s. Now the brothers are faced with a choice. A choice Joseph orchestrated, clearly, to see what they would do. To see if they were the same old brothers they were long ago or to see if they had changed in anyway. And this choice is a dire one, but one they would have been familiar with. You see, the brothers do have an opportunity to save their own lives and escape. All they would have to do is forsake young Benjamin as they once forsook young Joseph. Will they? Praise God the answer is no. Somewhat ironically it was only Jacob who tore his clothes after hearing the news of Joseph in chapter 37, now in v13 all the brothers tear their clothes in great grief over Benjamin having the cup, and they all return to Egypt.[4]
v14 begins with “When Judah and his brothers…” highlighting the prominent role Judah will the play in this moment.[5]So here they are before Joseph once again, and for the third time they all bow before him (42:6, 43:28, 44:14). Joseph responds as you would expect royalty to in v15 asking why they have done this, and once again including a mention of his ability to divine knowledge to increase the sense of the brothers guilt and his own power. And in v16 Judah humbles himself saying, “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.” The guilt Judah refers to here does have the cup in view certainly, but it likely also refers to their guilt regarding Joseph from long ago. Joseph, though, isn’t quite sure if his brothers have changed so in v16 he offers them a way out once again testing them again saying that only Benjamin must stay while all the rest are free to go in peace. We pause and wonder, will they do it? Will they abandon a younger brother again and bring grievous news to their father?
This test of Joseph is indeed a masterstroke, and again I say, praise God for what follows.[6] Joseph’s test pierced the brothers deep, hit them in the exact right spot, and brings forth from Judah the longest and most compassionate speech in the whole of the book of Genesis.[7] Let’s see it now…
Judah’s Plea (v18-34)
“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. My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ 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.’ Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again.’ “When we went back to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. And when our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,’ 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.’ Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. One left me, and I said, “Surely he has been torn to pieces,” and I have never seen him since. If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in evil to Sheol.’ “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, 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. 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.’ 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.”
I don’t think we need too many words to explain Judah’s plea. It’s compelling, compassionate, humble, and honoring both to Joseph and to Jacob. The main word in this plea is ‘father’ which is used 14 times and shows us how deeply these brothers care for their father Jacob. It also clearly shows repentance over their former sins and a heart change in that they will not do the same thing over again. Irony is once again present here. Over twenty years earlier it was Judah who thought up the idea of selling Joseph into slavery, now its Judah who offers up himself as a slave so that the other son of Rachel can go home free. Over twenty years earlier Judah silently watched his brothers bloody Joseph’s multi-colored robe and bring their father to deep grief, but now Judah is willing to do anything so that Jacob doesn’t suffer in the same way again.[8]
Thus, the brothers have truly passed Joseph’s test.[9] They will not abandon Benjamin, they will protect him at any cost, which reveals that they have truly been transformed into different men through the severe testing and humbling of these many trials.
Conclusion:
Well this chapter does end on a bit of a cliff hanger, with a great moment coming in the early verses of chapter 45 as Joseph finally makes himself known to his brothers. But as we finish this chapter today, Lord willing to pick back up next week, there are two enormous realities to see that come straight to us in chapter 44.
First, substitution.
Judah’s words here are beautiful to see. Did you notice them as we went by them earlier? As he pleads with Joseph to let Benjamin go and to keep him in Benjamin’s place, we see a vicarious act. Do you know this word, vicarious? It’s a word that describes something that is done for someone by someone else.[10] So in Judah’s request, he’s asking to be the substitute for Benjamin, to be taken as a slave in his place, so that Benjamin can go free and Jacob won’t die of grief. What love is this? It is indeed a noble act to be willing to sacrifice yourself for your brother.[11] John’s gospel tells us as much when it says, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (15:13). This moment when Judah does this is the first explicit moment in Scripture when a human act of vicarious substitution occurs.[12] And of course, this would not be the last would it? In His own work of substitution Jesus came to be the Lamb of God that takes away our sins by bearing them Himself. In our place, as our substitute He bore the wrath of God that we deserved. This act of substitution brought satisfaction to God’s righteous requirements, and brought reconciliation between God man, that whoever now comes to this Son of God in faith, goes free.
Second, transformation.
By offering such a vicarious act of substitution, Judah and his brothers reveal that they were now truly transformed men. They once did all they could to rid themselves of their brother at great benefit to themselves, now they do all they can do to save their brother at great cost to themselves. How did this come about? How were they transformed so wonderfully? Did they just wake up one day and begin thinking more positive thoughts? No. Did they learn some quick fix to solve all their family problems? No. Remember what we said earlier, ‘The deepest transformation takes place through a severe testing, suffering, or trial. Or as John Bunyan once said, “It is said that is some countries trees will grow, but bear no fruit because there is no winter there.” So slowly but surely, God made these men into different men through many trials over many years. Having to face the consequences of their former sins time and time again, they have now been humbled. This is how Joseph’s brothers were transformed.
And Church, this is what the gospel does to us. Upon facing Christ, and beholding His great love in bearing own sins for us, we’re changed. Paul says if anyone comes to Christ they become entirely new. The old is gone, and the new takes over. This is transformation. And once the transformation occurs, transformation continues as the God the Spirit takes up residence in the soul and begins the work of renovation.
And more, being made entirely new is not only what the gospel does to us, being further transformed is what we’re to commit ourselves to, it’s what we’re to pursue, and seek out in our lives.[13] Romans 12:2 tells us this, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Or I could say, in His grace God will take us where we are not willing to go in order to make of us what we could not become on our own. This is what He did with Joseph’s brothers, and this is what He does with us through the gospel, again and again.
[1] Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 16-50, WBC (Waco, TX: Zondervan, 2000), 424.
[2] John D. Currid, Genesis 25:19-50:26, EP Study Commentary (Holywell, UK: Evangelical Press, 2015), 310.
[3] Wenham, Genesis 16-50, 425.
[4] R. Kent Hughes, Genesis, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), 511.
[5] Wenham, Genesis 16-50, 425.
[6] Derek Kidner, Genesis (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008), 216.
[7] Bruce K. Waltke, Genesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2001), 561.
[8] Robert Alter, quoted in Wenham, Genesis 16-50, 426.
[9] Currid, Genesis 25:19-50:26, 320.
[10] R.C. Sproul, Joseph (Sanford, FL: Ligonier, 2023) 143.
[11] Currid, Genesis 25:19-50:26, 321.
[12] Waltke, Genesis, 562.
[13] Hughes, Genesis, 516.
