[Please excuse any and all typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church, but without the benefit of proofreading.] 

Pre-Introduction

Brothers and sisters, the portion of scripture that we will be considering today is unusually long. I have decided cover Genesis 43 — 45 in one sermon because these chapters form a unit in the Genesis narrative. I suppose it would be possible to divide these three chapters into three sermons, but really they belong together. 

Genesis chapter 42 told us of the first journey that Joseph’s brothers (minus Benjamin) took down into Egypt and back home again. Genesis chapters 43 — 45 tell us of the brothers second journey (with Benjamin) down into Egypt and back home again. Though it is long, I would like to read this narrative in its entirety. I will read rather quickly. After that, I will make three rather brief observations. Hear now the inspired, inerrant and authoritative word of the LORD. 

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Old Testament Reading: Genesis 43 – 45

“Now the famine was severe in the land. And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, ‘Go again, buy us a little food.’ But Judah said to him, ‘The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’’ Israel said, ‘Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?’ They replied, ‘The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?’ And Judah said to Israel his father, ‘Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.’ Then their father Israel said to them, ‘If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man. May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.’ So the men took this present, and they took double the money with them, and Benjamin. They arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, ‘Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.’ The man did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph’s house. And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house, and they said, ‘It is because of the money, which was replaced in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may assault us and fall upon us to make us servants and seize our donkeys.’ So they went up to the steward of Joseph’s house and spoke with him at the door of the house, and said, ‘Oh, my lord, we came down the first time to buy food. And when we came to the lodging place we opened our sacks, and there was each man’s money in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. So we have brought it again with us, and we have brought other money down with us to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.’ He replied, ‘Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your money.’ Then he brought Simeon out to them. And when the man had brought the men into Joseph’s house and given them water, and they had washed their feet, and when he had given their donkeys fodder, they prepared the present for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there. When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present that they had with them and bowed down to him to the ground. And he inquired about their welfare and said, ‘Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?’ They said, ‘Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.’ And they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves. And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, ‘Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!’ Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there. Then he washed his face and came out. And controlling himself he said, ‘Serve the food.’ They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth. And the men looked at one another in amazement. Portions were taken to them from Joseph’s table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him. 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.’ 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.’ Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, ‘Make everyone go out from me.’ So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. And Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. So Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come near to me, please.’ And they came near. And he said, ‘I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.’ Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him. When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, ‘Joseph’s brothers have come,’ it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Have no concern for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’’ The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five changes of clothes. To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, ‘Do not quarrel on the way.’ So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. And they told him, ‘Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.’ And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, ‘It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.’” (Genesis 43–45, ESV)

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Introduction

Notice three things about this narrative that we have just read. One, notice that Joseph continued to test his brothers even after they returned to Egypt with Benjamin. Two, notice that Judah put himself forward as a substitute for Benjamin — a life for a life. And three, notice that it was God who sent Joseph down into Egypt to provide salvation for his people, and through them, the world. 

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The Testing Continued

First of all, in this narrative we see that Joseph continued to test his brothers even after they returned to Egypt with Benjamin. 

When they returned with Benjamin they showed themselves to be “honest” men. Remember, that is what they claimed when they stood before Joseph the first time. They said, among other things, “We are honest men; we have never been spies” (Genesis 42:31, ESV). And it was this claim that Joseph doubted given what he knew about their past. He doubted that they were in fact honest and upright men. And so he put their uprightness to the test, saying, “By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way. Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land’” (Genesis 42:33–34, ESV). Though it took them some times due to their father’s fearful hesitancy, the brothers of Joseph did follow through on their commitment. They returned with their youngest brother Benjamin, who was the other son of Rachel, besides Joseph.   

Notice how Joseph greeted them. Instead of speaking roughly to them as he had before, he welcomed them into his home, he returned Simeon to them, and made them a feast. So great was Joseph’s generosity towards them that the brothers began to fear. It seemed too good to be true. They wondered if it was some kind of trap. They even spoke to the steward of Joseph’s house about the money that they found in their bags when they came to the lodging place on their return trip home. And what did the steward of Joseph’s house say to them? “Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your money.” 

[APPLICATION: Friends, when we repent truly and turn to Christ in faith, this is how he treats us. He receives us into his home. He sets us free from our bondage. He even invites us to his table. This is true for all who turn from their sin and believe upon Christ no matter how vial their sins have been. To repent truly and to trust in Christ sincerely results in the forgivness of our sins, our adoption as son and daughters, and communion with the living God. 

So marvelous is this grace that God has bestowed on sinners that sometimes we find it hard to believe. Sometimes we think, how could it be that God would treat a sinner such as me with such kindness? How important it is for the Christian to hear the gospel again and again and to be reminded that it is actually true. How important it is for the one who has faith in Christ to be comforted the gospel and to hear the words, “Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father[s]” has  forgiven you all your sins and has applied Christ’s righteousness to you.]  

As we return to the Genesis narrative, notice that although Joseph welcomed his brothers into his home, set their captive free, and received them to his table, he was not done  testing them.

It would seem that the reason Joseph requested that they bring Benjamin was so that he might test them with him. Now, I do not doubt that he wished to see Benjamin. Benjamin was his full brother — Rachel was their mother. Undoubtedly, Joseph has a special love for Benjamin. But notice that Joseph did not reveal himself to his brothers until he tested them again. He had heard their admission of guilt the first time they stood before him. His brothers also proved themselves to be upright men when they returned with Benjamin for their brother Simeon. But here he tests them with Benjamin to see if they still have hatred for and prejudice against the sons of  Rachel. 

When the brothers ate at Joseph’s table they were seated according to their birth order. This astonished them. What were the chances? And when the brothers were served, favoritism was shown to Benjamin. “[His] portion was five times as much as any of theirs.” But before the  brothers returned home Joseph “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.’” By this the brothers would be tested again. 

After the men left the city the steward of Joseph’s house overtook them and accused them of stealing Joseph’s cup. The brothers denied it saying, “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.”

What will the brothers do? They returned for Simeon, but would they abandon Benjamin the son of Rachel as they did with Joseph all those years ago? Would leave him  behind, having been provoked to jealousy by the favoritism that was shown to him at Joseph’s table?

[APPLICATION: Friends, may I remind you that when you repent truly and believe upon Christ sincerely, you are forgiven all your sins. You are received into God house, set free from your bondage, and welcomed to God’s table. But that does not mean that God is done with you. In fact, having been justified by God’s grace alone and through faith in Christ alone, the process of sanctification has just begun. God will continue to test you faith to strengthen it. He will continue to test your walk to refine it. You were forgiven the moment you sincerely believed, by chances are your faith was small at the start. In sanctification God works in you to make your faith big. And though you were forgiven then moment you truly turned from your sin and to Christ, your repentance was not finished. Corruption remain in you and in me and must be daily put to death. Having been received into God’s house and at God’s table does not mean that the testing and the refinement that comes as a result of it will end. To the contrary! It has just begun.]

Joseph tested his brothers again. Notice that the test was similar. But this time he got even closer to the heart of it. He tested them, not with Simeon the second born son of Leah, but Benjamin, the second born son of Rachel, who was their father’s favorite once Joseph was believed to be dead. 

The testing continued. 

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Judah The Substitue

Secondly, notice that Judah put himself forward as a substitute for Benjamin — a life for a life. This is very significant. 

It was not once, but twice, that Judah put himself forward as a kind of substitute for Benjamin. First, when the brothers were trying to persuade their father Jacob to let them return to Egypt with the boy, it was Judah who said, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.” And then Judah put himself forward again when it really counted. After Joseph’s cup was found in Benjamin’s bag, and as the steward of Joseph’s house prepared to take Benjamin into custody while sending the others on their way, it was Judah who plead with the him. He explained how heartbroken his father was to loose his beloved son Joseph, how very dear Benjamin was to him, and how it would destroy his father if they returned without him. And then he said, “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” (Genesis 44:33–34, ESV).

It should be remembered that Judah has not been portrayed as a good guy in the Genesis narrative up to this point. The last we heard of him was in chapter 38 in that scandalous story where he lay with his daughter-in-law Tamar, thinking she was a prostitute, and then in a act of great hypocrisy consented to her death when she was found to be with child. She was spared only because she proved his guilt with his staff and cloak. And before that, and more significant to this story, it was Judah who suggested that Joseph not be killed but sold into slavery. After the bothers threw Joseph in the pit, “Judah said to his brothers, ‘What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.’ And his brothers listened to him” (Genesis 37:26–27, ESV).

Here in this narrative Judah takes center stage once again, but he seems to be a changed man as he offers himself as a substitute for Benjamin, being concerned, not about his own prosperity, but for the wellbeing of the boy and for the wellbeing of his father.

There were indications that Judah had changed when he spoke to Jacob saying, “Send the boy with me… I will be a pledge of his safety”, etc. But talk is cheep. Here he proves himself to be changed when he begs to be taken into custody instead of Benjamin out of true concern for his brother and father.

[APPLICATION: Brothers and sisters, we should not forget that Jesus the Christ is called the lion of the tribe of Judah. Jesus descended from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Judah. There was something prophetic, therefore, about the actions of Judah, though he knew it not. When he offered himself up as a substitute for Benjamin he put on display what the Christ would do who would descend from him in the fulness of time. 

Jesus the Christ went further and did exceedingly more than what Judah did. Judah offered himself as a substitute for Benjamin, his father’s beloved son. Jesus offered himself up for all whom God the Father determined to set his love. Judah offered to be taken captive in the place of Benjamin. Jesus the Christ offered himself up in the place of sinners. He bore their sins and shielded them from the eternal wrath of God. Judah was not required to follow through on his offer, but was set free. Jesus the Christ was delivered up to die in the palace of siners. He died on the cross. And in so doing “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13, ESV).

When Judah offered himself up as a substitute he unknowingly functioned as a type of the Christ who would descend from him. Jesus the Christ is infinitely greater. He accomplished infinitely more. But Judah was a type none-the-less. For the Christ who would come from the tribe of Judah would live and die and raise again as a substitute. He lived for others, obeying the law of God on their behalf. He suffered and died for others. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24, ESV). And he rose again for others — “…in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20, ESV). 

I ask you friends, are you in Christ? Have you believed upon him for the forgiveness of your sins? Have you, by faith, had his righteousness inputed to you. Have you, by faith, been washed by his shed blood? Do you, by faith, have hope in the resurrection of the dead. For, as Paul says, “if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:5, ESV).]

It is important we notice that Judah put himself forward as a substitute for Benjamin — a life for a life. Not only is it important to this narrative, but to the story of our salvation in Christ Jesus which will flow from it.  

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Joseph Sent Into Egypt To Provide Salvation

Thirdly and lastly,  let us see that that it was God who sent Joseph down into Egypt to provide salvation for his people, and through them, the world. 

When Joseph finally revealed himself to his brothers, listen to what he said. Verse 1 of chapter 45: “Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, ‘Make everyone go out from me.’ So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. And Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. So Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come near to me, please.’ And they came near. And he said, ‘I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt” (Genesis 45:1–8, ESV).

Joseph saw things most clearly. He knew that it was God who sent him down into Egypt ultimatly. As he considered the wicked actions of his brothers those many years ago, and as he considered his many years of suffering, he was convinced that it was the will of God. 

[APPLICATION: I wonder, do you have the same perspective on the calamities of life that have befallen you? Do you, like Joseph, take comfort in the fact that even the very difficult and unpleasant things in life are from the hand of God? There is comfort in knowing this, for in this we rest assured that the trials and tribulations of life are not without purpose and meaning. If trials and tribulations came upon us merely by chance, then they would be for nothing at all — no higher plan or purpose. But because we believe as Joseph did, that “God the good Creator of all things, in his infinite power and wisdom doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, to the end for the which they were created, according unto his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will; to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, infinite goodness, and mercy”, then we are able to do what Joseph did, and what the scriptures command, and “Count it all joy… when [we] meet trials of various kinds, for [we] know that the testing of [our] faith produces steadfastness. And [we] let steadfastness have its full effect, that [we] may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2–4, ESV).]

When Joseph looked back upon his life and as he considered all of the sorrow, he had this perspective: it was God’s will. Frankly, it is only this high view of God and of the sovereignty of God over all created things that can explain the strength that we see in Joseph along with his willingness to forgive.

[APPLICATION: I have noticed that Christians love to say, “praise the Lord!”, and “God is good!” when “good things” happen to us and when our prayers are answered in a way that seems favorable to us. But I ask you this: will we also say, “praise the Lord!”, and “God is good!” when everything seems to be going terribly wrong and  when our prayers are not answered in the way wanted? I read Job 1 earlier this week and was reminded of how he responded to the Lord when every thing pleasent in this life was stripped away from him in a day. He said, “‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’ In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong” (Job 1:21–22, ESV). Oh, may our love, faith and reverence for God be this strong.]

Joseph made it plain to his brothers that he was able to forgive them because he knew it was God’s will. And Joseph was also able to see what it was that the Lord was up to. “God sent me before you to preserve life”,  he said. And a little later he said, “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.” Joseph was able to clearly see that God’s purpose in this was to, one, preserve life in general, and two, preserve a remnant on earth of the Hebrew people in particular. Israel would be preserved in Egypt, as you know. And this was accomplished through Joseph and his suffering. 

[APPLICATION: Brothers and sisters, God sent Joseph into Egypt to save ethnic Israel from the famine. God sent Jesus into the world to save spiritual Israel from their sins and to reconcile them to God. Both salvations — the physical salvation of physical Israel,  and the spiritual salvation of spiritual Israel — were accomplished trough a suffering servant, first Joseph and then Jesus. 

Speaking of God and of his Christ the writer to the Hebrews says, “For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers…” (Hebrews 2:10–11, ESV). 

Friends, the brothers of Joseph were blessed to have him as brother. They were richly provided for, preserved through the famine, and given the choicest part of the land. But that blessing was all earthly and physical. It is an infinitely greater blessing  to have Jesus as brother. He, being the eternal Son of God come in the flesh lived and dies and rose again to bring many sons, not into Egypt, but to glory. He came to save us, not from famine,  but  from sin and from eternal damnation. Are you in him? Have you believed upon him? Do you his Father as your Father? For that is what he came to do! To reconcile us to the Father! To bring many sons to glory! Do not forget that, “you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:15–17, ESV).

How blessed it must have been for those men to look at Joseph in the midst of the famine and to say, that is my brother! But it is an infinitely greater blessing to look to Jesus in the mist of our suffering and to say, that is my brother! His Father is my Father through adoption! His inheritance is my inheritance is my inheritance! The glory that he has entered into is also mine, all by the grace of God alone, received by faith alone.]

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Conclusion

In 45:24 we read, “Then [Joseph] sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, ‘Do not quarrel on the way.’ So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. And they told him, ‘Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.’ And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, ‘It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die’” (Genesis 43–45, ESV). 

Amen. Let us pray.