Joseph and his brothers gorge upon a delectable feast as they merrily drink together. Of course, Joseph knows the eleven men dining in front of him are his brothers. The brothers—for all they know—are dining with a strange Egyptian ruler. In the joy of the occasion, they appear to forget all about their problems. Then they ready themselves to depart for Canaan.

They begin their journey very early the next morning. Suddenly, the caravan of traveling brothers is brought to an abrupt halt as Joseph’s servant has chased them down. Angrily, the servant of the Egyptian ruler accuses the eleven brothers of committing great evil, in spite of the fact that the Egyptian leader showed them so much kindness. He alleges that they have stolen Joseph’s silver cup from inside his house. It is indeed a crime to steal—and an even greater crime and mistrust to steal from the home of one’s host.

The brothers know they’ve committed no such crime. They even bring evidence to the table that committing such a crime doesn’t even make sense, because they brought back the money that had been put into their sacks so that they could pay for the grain from the first trip and the grain during this second trip to Egypt. They are very sure of themselves—so much so that they declare if any of them has the silver cup—that brother will die and the rest will become slaves of Jospeh. Brothers and sisters in Christ, I get it. They’re extremely confident of their innocence (which they were, of course; none of them took the cup), but even in times of great confidence, don’t make foolish oaths or vows.

As you know, Joseph’s servant has insider knowledge that one of their bags of grain has the cup, because he put it there! Therefore, he doesn’t hold to their oath, but states the one who has the cup will be a slave in Egypt. Meanwhile, the rest of the brothers would be free to go to their father. Sound familiar!?!

Perhaps not to appear suspicious or maybe to build suspense, the servant checks their bags from oldest to youngest. It’s not in Reuben’s, not in Judah’s, not in Dan’s, or Asher’s, or Zebulun’s. The cup is found in Benjamin’s sack. Woah! Benjamin—the favorite son of Jacob, following the apparent death of Jacob’s beloved son Joseph, is accused of stealing the cup for which he is to be a slave in Egypt. This will crush their father, who declared he would die of a broken heart should he lose Benjamin.

The confused, terrified brothers lose heart. In sorrow and grief and anguish, they tear their clothes. They go back down to Egypt, and for a fourth time—maybe a fifth time—fulfilling the dreams, the eleven brothers bow before Joseph, pleading for mercy.

Joseph harshly chastises them for the crime they committed. He questions their cleverness by declaring that he is in a position to practice divination—a form of witchcraft.

The ancient world had various methods to practice divination—such as reading oil patterns in a cup of water—in order to attain knowledge of the future that was only known by the “gods.” Was it real? Was it fake? I think it was real. Scripture records the abilities of the Egyptians when it comes to dark arts. After all, it wouldn’t be too hard for Satan to infiltrate the superstitious, dark art practices of the pagans. Even today, Satan can use various forms of witchcraft like ouija boards, tarot cards, mediums, voodoo, astrology, horoscopes, and much more to influence and manipulate unsuspecting people. Don’t mess with that stuff!! Just don’t!!!

While it’s possible that Joseph practiced divination, it is very, very, very unlikely. It would be totally out of character for what we know of him. Remember, in front of his brothers he’s not just trying to be a ruler in Egypt, he’s pretending to be Egyptian so they don’t discover his identity. If he could recognize them as he did, then that means in the right conditions at least one of them could recognize him. He must keep up appearances. So, he at least pretends that he could practice divination—and the fact that the Egyptian citizens probably know that he interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams many years before only made this more credible.

Judah is now convinced that the Lord is revealing his knowledge of what they had done to Joseph. They tried to hide it from everyone—their father, their sisters, their brother Benjamin. But Joseph, of course, knows what they did. And God has always known. We can’t hide things from the Lord, try as we might!

Judah is convinced that the looming enslavement of Benjamin is a message from God—which it is, through Joseph. Judah declares that all the brothers are slaves of this Egyptian ruler now. He recognizes their sins deserve present and eternal punishment. Keep in mind that by this time in the family chronology, the brothers—likely including Benjamin—are all married and have children at home in Canaan. Not only is Judah confessing they all deserve a life of slavery, but they would be torn from their families.

But Joseph is not satisfied with simply enslaving them all. He desires to know their attitude toward Jacob’s favorite son. Therefore, he must continue singling out Benjamin until he gets a satisfactory answer. Joseph says, “The youngest brother committed the crime, and the youngest brother will be my slave. The rest of you are free to go home to your father in peace.” Does this sound familiar?

Joseph has put his brothers to the ultimate test. More than twenty years before, out of sinful jealousy and spite, ten of the brothers without any remorse, callously sold Joseph into slavery and then returned home—not caring one bit about Joseph or their father.

They now have the opportunity to do the same thing to Jacob’s current favorite son. They don’t appear to have any open jealousy, anger, or hostility toward Benjamin, but are they willing to totally abandon him to a life of slavery in Egypt if given the chance to save themselves?

That answer is a tremendous “NO!” There have been hints all along in this chapter. The first hint was that after the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack, Judah declared that all the brothers would become slaves of Joseph. None of the others appeared to argue with him. The second hint was that all the brothers returned to Egypt with Benjamin, even though Joseph’s servant said they could go free. The third hint was that when Judah told Joseph they all would be his slaves, again, none of them appear to argue with him. Judah has emerged as a leader among his brothers, he is their spokesman, and they stand in solidarity with what he has said. These are very different men from the men who sold Joseph into slavery.

Judah pleads with the Egyptian ruler, recounting the story of what happened the first time the brothers went to Egypt to buy food and explaining everything that happened afterward. This is the moment we learn for certain that the brothers have had a change of heart—as especially noted in Judah’s prayer before Joseph. It’s a request to Joseph. It’s also an honest prayer before God.

We remember that Jacob desired to marry Rachel, but he was tricked into marrying her sister Leah. Then he was allowed to marry Rachel also. This started a rivalry, as Rachel was clearly the beloved wife. That rivalry extended to the children, and definitely had to be in the background of some of the brothers’ hatred of Joseph.

One source I read helps really put Judah’s plea into perspective. Now after more than twenty years, “Judah, son of Leah, spoke of the special love Jacob had for Rachel and of how, after Rachel’s death, that special love had been transferred to her two sons, one of whom was presumed dead… Throughout Judah’s plea one hears the heartbeat of love for his aged father, whose life was bound up with Benjamin’s life and who would die if that son did not return.” End quote.

To quote Psalm 51, Judah, who with the rest of his brothers, has now repented of his sin against Joseph and his father, is given a new heart and a right spirit by God. He doesn’t have any animosity toward Benjamin or Jacob—only love. Judah expresses humility. The Lord grant that we follow the example of Judah and the brothers in leading lives of repentance—that we may deny ourselves and confess our sins, trusting in the faithfulness of the Lord to forgive us our sins.

Judah’s love for his father and youngest brother is shown in that he is willing to be enslaved in order that Benjamin may go free. He deeply cares about his father’s spiritual, mental, and physical wellbeing, and doesn’t want his father to face the sorrow of losing Benjamin. Judah offers himself as a substitute instead of his brother… and he is the one out of all the brothers who suggested selling Joseph into slavery. What a change of heart!!!

Judah assumes a picture of Christ Jesus, as he mediates with his father and on behalf of his brother Benjamin. In a much bigger way, Christ Jesus mediates with God the Father and on behalf of sinful, fallen humanity. Also, out of love for both his father and his brother, Judah offers himself as the substitute who would suffer the punishment imposed upon Benjamin in his place. In an immensely grander way, out of love for His heavenly Father and His brothers (His fellow humankind), Jesus laid down His life as the substitute who suffered the punishment imposed upon sinful humanity in our place.

Out of love for you, Jesus laid down His life on the cross to save you from sin, death, and hell unto forgiveness, life, and salvation. He gave Himself as substitute so that you may be rejoined to your heavenly Father through the removal of the barriers of sin and death. Being the victor over sin, death, and hell, Jesus could not be contained, and He rose triumphantly, He lives and reigns to all eternity, and He reunites the family of God through His humble service.

Having been redeemed by Christ Jesus, we follow Him in humble love and service to one another. We ought to lay down our lives for one another—meaning that in what we desire, think, say, and do we don’t look to have our own desires satisfied first, but we seek what is godly and beneficial toward one another in the home, in the congregation, and in the community.

Judah offered himself as a substitute for Benjamin, pointing us all to Christ Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world by His substitutionary death in your place, in my place, and in the place of all sinners, that through faith in Him we have forgiveness of sins and the promise of an eternal paradise in God’s kingdom when our work here is ended and the Lord calls us home. Amen.