Genesis 44:18–34

Things were arranged so that the apparent guilt fell on Benjamin. Judah had stood as guarantor for him to Jacob. That brought Judah forward as the spokesman. He had led the way in selling Joseph to the Midianites who were going to Egypt, and he spoke then with a hard heart. Now he has to speak about Benjamin, and what a change is clear! Instead of hardness, great tenderness of feeling, especially for his old father, Jacob. Then it did not matter how Jacob would feel; now it mattered everything to him.

Tell me, what wrongdoing was there over the cup? None; but it served to rouse conscience. It brought up the twenty pieces of silver, and the wickedness of their history in days gone by. The poet said it well: "Conscience makes cowards of us all." They were in a miserable state as they say to Joseph, "and let not your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself." But the truth must come out. And it is a great thing when God reaches the conscience in this way.

Here we have a most earnest pleading, full of touching affection… We see a heart that has been brought right, at the very point where the sin lay. "We said to my lord, We have a father, an old man." Ah, there was no tearing of his heart now! "And a child of his old age, a little one." How little they thought of that once! "And his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother's children, and his father loves him." Can we not feel how far his brothers now were from hating Joseph for their father's love to him!

This indeed is excellent, but these are words and may be only empty profession. Words must be proved by deeds… As a son he pleads for Jacob. He is our father. He is an old man. He loves Benjamin, and "his life is bound up in the boy's life." How can "I see the evil that would find my father"? As a true brother he pleads for Benjamin. He is "a lad," "a little one," "our youngest brother."

There is no attempt on Judah's part to protect himself from the consequences of his crime. There is no attempt to soften his actions or their results. He vividly describes Jacob's grief, which implies their guilt. The account of this is not toned down with a view to improving Judah's current situation.

Judah's appeal is no empty rhetoric; he offers to give himself up to save Benjamin. This spirit of self-sacrifice marks all true intercession. "Blot me, I pray you, out of Your book," said Moses. "I could wish myself accursed," said Paul. "Let me be slave instead of Benjamin" (in effect), says Judah. All these said what they were willing to do: the wounds of Christ show what He has done.

Many find it hard to see why we should need intercession with God at all, when He already stands in perfect love towards us. But look at Joseph. He stood in perfect love towards these forgiven sinners. From the beginning he had fully made up his mind to save and bless them. And yet how natural, how fitting, how beautiful and moving is Judah's noble, generous intercession! It did not alter the final outcome (though it may have hastened it), but it altered everything else.

He came near to Joseph, as Israel will yet eventually come near to the Lord Jesus without realizing who He is. He asks Joseph not to be angry that he speaks again, "for," he says, "you are equal to Pharaoh." In just the same way, Israel in a coming day will confess that Christ is equal to God.

Here indeed we have a most earnest pleading, full of touching affection... "We said to my lord, We have a father, an old man." Ah, there was no tearing of his heart now! "And a child of his old age, a little one." How little they once thought of that! "And his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him." Do we not feel how far all his brothers now were from hating Joseph for Jacob's love to him!

He came near to Joseph, as Israel will one day come near to the Lord Jesus without realising who He is... Judah recounts their answer: their father was still alive and had a younger son, the only remaining son of his mother, since her only other son was dead. Not exactly a convincing statement as far as Joseph was concerned!

Joseph and Benjamin were the only sons of Rachel, the wife Jacob had loved (29:18). Losing Benjamin would be the event most comparable to losing Joseph, whom Jacob loved "more than all his sons" (37:3). Now Benjamin is the most beloved: "and his father loves him" (v. 20). Judah is no longer occupied with how God may act in retribution, but with Jacob's love for his son and his grief.

You can see that Judah's mind has been brought into communion with Jacob's. True repentance brings the mind of the one who has sinned into communion with the mind of God. It leads the soul to appreciate how the Son of God was affected by it, and what grief this caused God. This appears to be a central feature of true repentance.

Judah's touching appeal breathes a pleading love. That love proves how deep the repentance is that has been worked in their souls. The heart of stone has indeed been changed into a heart of flesh. As a son he pleads for Jacob. He is our father, he is an old man, he loves Benjamin (20)... As a true brother he pleads for Benjamin. He is "a lad," "a little one" (v. 20).

Judah presented the whole case about his father and Benjamin with very great feeling, the kind that can only spring from deep and genuine emotion. His closing request proved it was real: he asked to stand in Benjamin's place. He was ready to face lifelong slavery himself rather than see his brother taken and his father's grey hairs brought down with sorrow to the grave. We saw Judah in a very bad light in both Genesis 37 and Genesis 38. Now we see the complete change that real repentance produces.

The youngest son of Jacob by his beloved wife Rachel. She died at his birth and named him BEN-ONI, meaning "son of my sorrow," but his father named him BENJAMIN, "son of the right hand"... A type of Christ both as exalted at God's right hand (Benjamin), and, as rejected, the occasion of Israel's tribulation in the last days (Ben-oni).

Benjamin stands in the place that once had been Joseph's — the youngest and best-loved son of his father. Benjamin is to go into slavery, just as Joseph once filled the place of a slave. The ten brothers are completely free, as they were before, to return to their father in peace. What will they do now? Will they abandon their brother to slavery, knowing he is innocent?

Joseph and Benjamin were the only sons of Rachel, the wife Jacob had loved (29:18). Losing Benjamin would be the loss most like losing Joseph, whom Jacob loved "more than any other of his sons" (37:3). Now Benjamin is the most loved: "his father loves him" (v. 20) and "his life is bound up in the boy's life" (v. 30). Judah is no longer thinking about how God may punish them. He is thinking about Jacob's love for his son, and his grief.

Judah pleads with Joseph: if he comes back to Jacob without Benjamin, the shock for his father would be so great that he would die.

Here we have a heart that has been set right at the very point where the sin lay… "A young brother, the child of his old age." How little they thought of that once! "His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother's children, and his father loves him." Can we not feel how far his brothers now were from hating Joseph because of Jacob's love for him!

You can see that Judah's mind has come into communion with Jacob's. True repentance brings the mind of the one who has sinned into communion with the mind of God. It leads the soul to realise how the Son of God was affected by that sin, and what grief it caused for God. This appears to be a central feature of true repentance.

The offer Judah makes is moderate, and at his own risk: "Send the boy with me… I will be a pledge of his safety." Jacob trusts him at once and lets Benjamin go. Jacob judged his character well, for Judah honoured that pledge when he stood forward in Egypt and offered himself as a substitute for Benjamin.

Judah laid out the whole case about his father and Benjamin with very deep feeling. Such feeling could only spring from something intense and genuine. He proved it real by his closing plea: let him stand as substitute for Benjamin. He was ready to face lifelong slavery himself rather than see his brother taken and his father brought down in sorrow to the grave. We saw Judah in a very bad light in both Genesis 37 and Genesis 38. Now we see the complete change that real repentance produces.

Many find it hard to see why there should be any need for intercession with God, when He is already full of love towards us. Well, here Joseph was full of love towards these forgiven sinners. From the beginning he had made up his mind to save and bless them. And yet how natural, how fitting, how beautiful and moving is Judah's noble, generous intercession. It did not alter the final outcome (though it may have hastened it), but it altered everything else.

The immense change God had worked in his brothers was now made clear to Joseph. Their envy and selfish cruelty had given way to tender love for their father and for his affection toward the younger son of Rachel. The old jealousy was torn up by the roots. The one who took the lead was ready to become a slave to the governor, so that Benjamin might return and be his father's joy and comfort, instead of his father's death if Benjamin stayed a slave.

This is excellent, but these are words, and words may be empty profession. Words must be proved by deeds. So Judah comes forward on behalf of the brothers, and proves the reality of their words by what they are prepared to do. What is more, the pleading love that breathes through Judah's touching appeal proves how deep the repentance is that has been worked in their souls. The heart of stone has indeed been changed into a heart of flesh.

Judah makes no large offers at the expense of his sons; the offer he makes is far more moderate, and at his own risk. "Send the boy with me … I will be a pledge of his safety." Jacob trusts him at once and lets Benjamin go. In doing so, Jacob showed again that he could read character. Judah nobly made his pledge good: he stood forward in Egypt and offered himself in Benjamin's place.

This determination proves that Judah is not trying to protect himself from the consequences of his crime. He does not try to soften what he did or what it caused. He vividly describes Jacob's grief, which implies their guilt — the guilt of Joseph's brothers. He does not tone the account down to improve his own situation.

Judah's appeal is no empty rhetoric; he offers to give himself up to save Benjamin. This spirit of self-sacrifice marks all true intercession. "Please blot me out of your book," said Moses. "I could wish that I myself were accursed," said Paul. "Let me be a slave instead of Benjamin," says Judah, in effect. All of these said what they were willing to do: the wounds of Christ show what He has done.

The last words of Judah to Joseph are refreshing in the way they reach the root of the whole matter. He asks Joseph to let him take Benjamin's place as a slave, and to let Benjamin return to his father. What a contrast to the way Judah had once treated his younger brother Joseph! This was the very end Joseph had been seeking: to see in Judah a genuine repentance that was willing to suffer as he had made his brother suffer. This is the repentance seen in the criminal crucified beside the Lord Jesus. He said that he and the other man deserved the punishment they received.

Here the repentance is tied directly to the rejection of Joseph, and it comes home to the conscience of Joseph's brothers. So it will be in the end with Israel. It is not a question of the law here; the repentance points to the Messiah. … In the end Judah comes into prominence in connection with Benjamin. He takes his father Israel's sorrow to heart — the sorrow over Benjamin and the loss of Joseph — and puts himself into it. Then Joseph, in his glory, reveals himself to them as their brother.

Joseph and Benjamin were the only sons of Rachel, the wife Jacob had loved. Jacob loved Joseph "more than any other of his sons," and losing Benjamin would come closest to that loss. Benjamin is now the most loved son: "his father loves him," and "his life is bound up in the boy's life." Judah is no longer occupied with how God may act in retribution, but with Jacob's love for his son and his grief.

Judah comes forward for the brothers. He proves their words are real by what they are prepared to do… Love breathes all through Judah's appeal. That pleading love proves how deep the repentance is that has been worked in their souls. The heart of stone has indeed been changed into a heart of flesh. As a son he pleads for Jacob. He is our father, he is an old man, he loves Benjamin, and "his life is bound up in the boy's life." How can I "see the evil that would find my father"? As a true brother he pleads for Benjamin.

They had sold Joseph into slavery, and Judah had been the leader in that. They had to face slavery as their own doom, Judah above all. Only then could they know the grace Joseph had for them… Judah, to save Benjamin, volunteers to be the slave in his place. He faces the very doom to which he had consigned Joseph. When this was reached, relief came.

This determination proves that Judah does not try to protect himself from the consequences of his crime. He does not try to soften what he did or what it led to. He describes Jacob's grief in vivid terms, which implies their guilt.

Judah's appeal is no empty speech; he offers to give himself up to save Benjamin. This spirit of self-sacrifice marks all true intercession. "Please blot me out of your book," said Moses. "I could wish that I myself were accursed," said Paul. "Let me be slave instead of Benjamin," says Judah in effect. All of these said what they were willing to do: the wounds of Christ show what He has done.

He wept again as he saw the work of repentance going on in his brothers. In his own way he longed for them deeply. At last Judah's words were too much for him. Conviction of conscience had then ended in restoration of heart. Again and again Judah said "the old man" and "the lad." Those words had an eloquence that prevailed, and Joseph could no longer hold himself back.

Joseph's brothers, in Genesis 42 to 44, foreshadow the twelve tribes of Israel, Judah included. They picture Israel's future restoration, when they will be led to accept the rejected but true Joseph. Their story also brings to light certain principles about the work of restoration and about true repentance.