August,. 1942
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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ers to one last test. But when Judah had finished, all restraint had been broken down—“Joseph could not re frain himself . . . and he wept aloud” (Gen. 45:1, 2). 2. "Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up. with his brethren" (v. 33). This .is the magnanimous climax of Judah’s great appeal. When accused by Joseph of stealing his silver cup, his brethren, certain of their guiltlessness, declared that the one who had taken it should- be put to death and the others would remain as bondslaves of Joseph. But Joseph ruled that the g u i l t y one should become his bondslave and the innocent would go free. Then the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack, and Judah, facing the dreadful ordeal of returning to the father without his beloved son, says in effect, “Let me give up my freedom and become your bondslave, but let Benjamin return to my father.” Benjamin must have been standing by and thus heard his bro ther Judah make his plea, heard him finally offer himself unselfishly in his stead. And while ,the Genesis rec ord does not state what the effect- was upon Benjamin, the later history of Israel seems to indicate an unus ually close tie between them, one that became hereditary in the two tribes. 3. The way Judah and his brethren dealt with this extremely difficult sit uation proves that they had come a long way in character since the day they sold their brother Joseph into slavery. In that former day, just be cause t h e y h a d resented Joseph’s place of favor with his father, they would not have hesitated to kill hirh had it not been for Reuben’s inter cession. Judah evidently had joined with others in their murderous in tent. But now after the passage of. the years, notice the change in these same men. When the silver cup was found in the possession of Benjamin, they had no reason to doubt his guilt. How easy, therefore, it might have been to abandon the boy to his fate! But there had been a change. God in His providence had been working in the circumstances of their lives, and they show it here. Golden Text Illustration 1 J ohn 3:16 The New Century Sunday School Teacher tells of a chaplain who was speaking to a soldier on a cot in a hospital. “ ‘You have lost an arm in the great cause,’ said the chaplain. “ ‘No,’ said the soldier with a smile, T didn't lose it—I gave it/ " Great sacrifices have been made from patriotic motives, and still more will be made ,in the future. But to the Christian, the highest motive for self-
septi arranged events so that Benja min was now a hostage and delivered, according to agreement, to be Joseph’s slave. Th is; arrangement was some thing the brethren had not bargained for, and the thought of returning to Jacob without Benjamin filled them with dismay. They had all come-to the place where.they were really deep ly exercised .about their father’s feel ings and -were srepentant for what they had done. In apprehension for the father’s sorrow, Judah made his plea. n. T h e A ppe a l (23-31) Judah recounted how he and the others had warned Jacob that there would be no g r a i n brought from Egypt, unless Benjamin was sent, and he recalled how Jacob had grieved at the thought of parting with his be loved youngest son. He repeated what the father had said, that “ if . . . mis chief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with ;sorrow to the grave.’.’ - Judah; and his brethren were now thoroughly cured of their former jeal ousy and were in proper -condition to be forgiven. Judah’s appeal was in troduced by words that spoke of his affection for his father and of his readiness to do anything to avoid bringing further grief to him. Judah declared he did not dare return home without Benjamin, for, he said, when the father, would see “that the lad is not with us, . . . he w ill die.” His implication was that, if this should occur, he .would be responsible. What sorrow and apprehension must have filled his heart! He and his brothers were .still reaping- the harvest which their former wickedness had brought to them, even though . y e a r ,s h a d passed since the initial evil act had been committed. Sin always brings its harvest of sorrow, and sometimes, even though the guilt is removed at the cross, the Sorrows persist through this present life. ni. A ffection (32-34) It had been agreed that the one in whose possession Joseph’s cup was found should become Joseph’s slave, and the other brdthers would be a l lowed to go-free (cf. vs. 1-13). The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack, which meant that Benjamin would be come the slave of Joseph, and .hence not be allowed to return to his father’s home. Before these brethren had left their home, Judah had become surety to Jacob that Benjamin w o u l d be brought home safely, and Judah had agreed to assume the blame if any thing happened to Benjamin. A ll these facts he repeated to Joseph before them all) as he pleaded for his father’s well-being.
B LA C K B O A R D LESSON
ano cue oughtto my DÓuin oun liues for 1 ___________ THE BRETHOEn"! jowl 5:16
Finally, he offered to become Jo seph’s slave in place of Benjamin, saying, “Let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and' let the lad go up with his brethren.” He was now willing to forego,his own return to his home, and to become forever a slave of the supposed Egyp tian, for Benjamin’s sake. At last Judah brought his appeal to an end by speaking of the affec tion he had for his father. He said, “How shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me?” It would appear that he meant that the very thought of facing his father’s grief was too much to contemplate. In Judah are revealed the marks of true repentance. There was self-de nial; he put another ahead of him self. There was self-forgetfulness; he thought only of another’s grief and not of his own. There was self-sur render; he was willing to give his own life in. exchange for another. “ Greater love hath no man than -this” (John 15:13). Points and Problems 1. "Then Judah came near unto him, and said" (Gen. 44:18). The plea ad dressed by Judah to his unrecognized brother Joseph, now Prime Minister over the land of Egypt and exercising all the power of Pharaoh, is one of the greatest speeches of all time. It deserves tp be ranked, even apart from its divine inspiration, among the Immortal utterances of the s p o k e n word. Dr. Jamieson speaks of it as “ consisting at first of short, broken sentences, as if, under the ovefwhelm- ing force of the speaker’s emotions, his utterance were choked, and it be comes more free and copious by the effort of speaking, as he proceeds.” One can almost hear his voice break ing as he begins: “We have a father— an old man—and a child of his old age—a little one—-and his brpther is dead — and he alone is left of his mother—and his father loveth him” (v. 20). It needs no particular sym pathy for Holy Writ to feel the moving force of this brother’s plea. Even un believers have felt it, and have called it great literature. And that we are not imagining this may be seen in the effect upon Joseph, who evidently had steeled himself to piit these broth
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