Genesis

Joseph was 28 when Pharaoh's cupbearer and doomed chief baker departed his company in the jail. He had been a prisoner in the jail by then for two years. Before then, he had served in Potiphar's household for almost ten years. Even though the chief jailer favored him (39:21), and he had been by Potiphar (39:4) before that, Joseph had been away from his family for a long time. He trusted in God, but he was still in a pit (40:15, 41:14). He stayed in the pit for two more years (v1) before someone else remembered him (v9). When brought out from the pit to Pharoah and proclaimed an interpreter of dreams (vv14-15), Joseph's first words are to testify directly to Pharoah about God's work, not his own. Fourteen years in exile and now able to be exalted before the ruler of the greatest kingdom in the world, yet Joseph says, "It is not in me; God will answer" (v16). Because Joseph still trusted God. Yahweh's response? Read vv40-45. By the time Joseph is installed as the de facto king of Egypt, he is 30. While there was yet prosperity in the land of Egypt, God blessed Joseph with yet another gift - He allowed him comfort from the trouble and loss of missing his family in Canaan (v51).

Simeon was the oldest of Joseph's brothers, save Reuben. Yet Reuben had spoken in defense of Joseph on the day they sold him into slavery (v22). So binding Simeon before his brothers to keep him imprisoned while the rest returned with food to their families likely appeased a representative justice for the sins of the other ten (v24). Jacob's response to the returning brothers, without Simeon, bereaves him and reminds him of the loss of the favored son he still thinks is dead (v36). In declaring that only Benjamin remains (v38), Jacob is not declaring his other sons worthless but is further lamenting the loss of his beloved wife, Rachel, the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, lost during childbirth. "He alone remains" of the love Jacob traveled to Haran to capture, the love he worked under his uncle Laban for 20 years to take for his own, and the love he lost nearly as soon as he returned to the land of the covenant. The emotional bonds in this family remain strong despite the continued relationship fractures. Jacob still longs for his lost son. Joseph still mourns the loss of his family (42:24; 41:51), and even the brothers who sold him into slavery continue to refer to themselves as "twelve in all" (vv13, 32), never forgetting their guilt (v21). Even though Joseph disguised himself from his brothers (v7), there was one thing he still would not hide. Representing Egpyt, a land of many gods, Joseph declared, "I fear God." But he didn't hide which God he meant. He declared "I fear אֱלֹהִים Elohim."

By the time Jacob (Israel) concedes to allow Benjamin to go with his brothers to Egypt, he has already discussed the need (v2), the circumstances (vv3-5), his lament (v6), the justification (v7), the guarantee (v8-9), the urgency (v10), his resignation (v10), the compensation (v11), and the restitution (v12). After all this, Jacob finally says, "And take your brother also, and arise, return to the man" (v13). "The man" he is referring to with apparent disdain is unbeknownst to him, the son for whom he is truly mourning. Then after one more thing - asking for God's compassion (אֵל שַׁדַּי El Shaddai - God Almighty), he finally acknowledges that Simeon, another of his sons, is still being held captive in Egypt - "so that he will release to you your other brother" (v14). When Jacob says, "If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved," this is utter resignation. Bereaved (שָׁכָֽלְתִּי šǎk·kûl) is the word his mother Rebekah used in Genesis 27:45 to lament the possibility of becoming childless. In verse 14, Jacob asks El Shaddai for compassion. In verse 15, the son Jacob treasures so desperately (Benjamin) is standing before the son he is mourning, but who is, in fact, alive (Joseph). Only God could orchestrate such a beautiful reunion. The astonishment only builds from there (v33).

Our heavenly Father knows our fallen state and the condemned nature of man by which we are bound to sin. Yet in Christ, we are free from sin and able to demonstrate His likeness in the sacrificial service we render to and on behalf of others, as He also did. This is His desire for us. He will test us to prove and perfect us, confirming in us the transformation from our past nature. When we surrender to His majesty, in His timing, He perfects and proves us. Only He knows our hearts and can judge us. Throughout the later chapters of Genesis, the Lord uses Joseph to demonstrate the likeness of Christ in many ways. Here in Chapter 44, Joseph is not being cruel toward his brothers or Judah by setting them up to be discovered with his cup and their money in their bags (vv1-5). This is a test. Joseph knows of their former nature when they had despised him and sold him into slavery. He knows, too, that they have spoken words seemingly repentant of their sins. This final test before revealing himself will serve not only to prove the truth of their words but also affirm in them the transformation in their hearts toward their brother. Joseph desperately desires the outcome of his brothers sacrificially coming to the defense and rescue of his youngest innocent brother Benjamin. Judah, with one of the most beautifully compelling speeches ever spoken or written (vv18-34), demonstrates compassion, love, sacrifice, and repentance. In the next chapter, Joseph's response is just as we would expect from a merciful and loving judge. This is God's heart towards us when we repent and surrender to His majesty.