Genesis 44

Genesis 44:1

44:1-13 When the brothers were leaving to return to Canaan, Joseph commanded his silver cup to be hidden in Benjamin’s sack. It was not only the cup from which he drank, but also the one which he used in divinationprobably referring to his interpretation of dreams. Later God’s people were forbidden to practice divination (Deu_18:10-12). But even at this early date, it is unlikely that Joseph practiced the Egyptian forms of fortune-telling. His intuition and foresight came from the Lord, but perhaps by using the cup as a prop, he wished to confirm in his brother’s minds that he was an Egyptian. Afterwards, when Joseph’s brothers were accused of stealing the cup, they protested their innocence, rashly offering the life of anyone who was found with it. Joseph’s steward agreed that the guilty one would be his slave. When the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack, the brothers were crushed and returned to the city. 44:14-17 After Joseph had reproached them, Judah suggested that they all become his slaves, but Joseph said that Benjamin would do and the rest could return home. His action in hiding the silver cup in Benjamin’s sack and in detaining Benjamin was purposely designed to bring his brothers to acknowledge their bloodguiltiness. George Williams writes: He acted so as to bring their sin to remembrance, to make them confess it with their own lips . . . . His detention of Simeon, and afterwards of Benjamin, was skillfully designed so as to find out if they were still indifferent to the cries of a captive brother and the tears of a bereaved father. His plan succeeded admirably; his sternness and his kindness both conspired to disquiet them; and his goodness helped to lead them to repentance. The whole scene foreshadows that coming day when the remnant of Israel will confess its guilt in connection with the death of the Messiah and will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son (Zec_12:10). 44:18-34 Judah stood near Joseph and gave a detailed review of Benjamin’s involvementhow Joseph had demanded the presence of the youngest son, how their father, still grieving over the loss of one son, had protested against Benjamin’s going to Egypt and how Judah had offered himself as surety for Benjamin’s safety. Judah said that their father would die if the brothers went back without Benjamin, so he offered to stay in Egypt and serve as a slave in the place of Benjamin. What a change had been worked in Judah! In chapter 37 he ruthlessly sold Joseph for profit, without concern for his father’s heartbreak. In chapter 38 he was involved in deception and immorality. But God was working in his heart, so that in chapter 43 he became surety for Benjamin. Now in chapter 44 he pours out his heart in intercession before Joseph, offering himself as a slave so as not to bring upon his father the crushing sorrow of losing Benjamin. From selling his own brother into slavery to becoming a slave in his brother’s stead; from callousness toward his father to sacrificial concern for his well-beingthis is the progress of the grace of God in the life of Judah!