Now then, please let your servant remain here as my Lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father.
Genesis 44:33-34
As Joseph foretold in his dream, his brothers bowed down to him as Lord because he was second in command of Egypt. Now, to be fair, the brothers had no idea who Joseph was because he was many years older and used an interpreter to speak to them. But Joseph, however, knew exactly who they were.
All Joseph wanted was to see his brother Benjamin and his father Jacob, but Jacob was too old to travel to Egypt to get the food that they needed and he wouldn’t allow Benjamin to leave his side. Benjamin had now become the favored son since Joseph had been gone.
As the brothers were leaving on their first trip with food during the famine, Joseph told them they would not be allowed to come back unless they brought their youngest brother to prove they weren’t spies. We all know, that Joseph knew they weren’t spies, but he wanted so badly to see Benjamin and was willing to say whatever was necessary to get him in Egypt.
When the brothers told this news to their father Jacob, Jacob refused to let the brothers go back with Benjamin until they were completely out of food and almost at the point of starving. Judah made a promise to Jacob, however, that if anything were to happen to Benjamin that it would be his life that could be taken instead of Benjamin’s. But when the boys got to Joseph and Joseph saw his brother Benjamin was safe, he wept and yearned to see the face of his father Jacob even more.
So, Joseph tricked the brothers once again, and hid some of his treasures in Benjamin‘s bag. When they were on their way back to Canaan, Joseph sent one of his servants to look for the stolen goods and after finding them, brought Benjamin back to his home.
The brothers were so distraught that they turned back and went to Joseph’s home as well. Judah pleaded with Joseph to take him instead of his brother Benjamin. He begged Joseph not to keep him and to let Benjamin go back to their father Jacob. This all looks like Judah trying to save his father from a bitter ending, but what we are actually witnessing in the passage above is: a changed heart, a lesson learned, and a future transformed. Because when Joseph was sold into slavery, it was actually Judah’s idea.
Judah said to his brothers, “what will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelite’s and not lay our hands on him; after all he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.
Genesis 37:26-27
Judah was a born leader and he led his brothers astray the first time, but this time, after seeing how miserable his father had been over the years fought for the new favorite child, Benjamin. Judah changed. He took the lesson from his past and let it transform him for the better. And this better Judah would change the heart of Joseph as well. His family lineage would be filled with kings, including the Promised King, Jesus.
“This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram,” Matthew 1:1-3
We all have a past. We all can try to live in the past, try to forget it, or try to learn from it. To live in it, we never fully live and get drowned out by sorrow and bitterness. To try and forget it, we become filled with hate and bitterness and never allow for forgiveness. But if we learn from our past we live more fully, more like Jesus, alive and abundantly well. And not only are our lives changed when we learn from our past but so are others who see the change in us.
I don’t know what your past was like, I only know mine, but I know that if you choose to learn from your past your future will look so much better.
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