Instead of the lad
Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers (Genesis 44:33).
We read about the treatment of Joseph by his brothers in Genesis 37. I once heard someone from the platform rationalising the hatred of Joseph on the grounds of him being a very annoying younger sibling! I understand difficulties arise in large families, and jealousy is a common one. But agreeing to kill your youngest brother, and then changing your mind and selling him into slavery is extreme. No, the real facts are that the brothers of Joseph demonstrate what we are all capable of when consumed by hatred. It was Judah’s idea to sell Joseph as a slave (vv. 26-27).
Joseph’s life teaches us about what can be in our hearts and what is in God’s heart. In Genesis 39 verse 1 we read of Joseph being bought as a slave by Potiphar. Joseph is one of the earliest illustrations of the Lord Jesus in the Old Testament. He is also a powerful example of a man of faith living in the most unjust and adverse circumstances. In verse 2 we are told “The Lord was with Joseph” and blessed all that he did. Joseph is a remarkable example of a theme that runs through the lives of men and women of faith in the Bible. They had the spiritual ability to embrace the circumstances they were confined in as a means to glorify God. It is a theme that has impressed me during lockdown. God blessed Joseph in such circumstances. But when all was going well, Joseph faced an unexpected problem in the form of Potiphar’s wife. He addresses it in terms of his responsibility towards God, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (v. 9). Notice how he takes the challenge to his own heart. The world mocks such thinking. But how much damage, ruin and bitterness have been caused by refusing to take responsibility for our actions before God. Job’s wife told her husband in his sickness, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9). Some would argue that Joseph had every right to ignore the God who had allowed him to be enslaved. But Joseph never lost faith in his God or used his circumstances as an excuse for sin. And it cost him. Instead of being a slave, he became a prisoner. But in prison, “the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper” (v. 23).
From prison, Joseph was raised up by God to rule over Egypt. Later, in this exalted position, Joseph skilfully acted to convict his brothers of their hatred of him. He found it hard to control his emotions when Reuben reminded his brothers of what they did to Joseph (Genesis 42:22-24). In chapter 44 Joseph insists Benjamin remains as a slave in Egypt and the others return home. Then Judah, who was the cause of Joseph’s slavery, appeals to Joseph and offers himself as a slave in place of Benjamin. At that moment, Judah understood his sin and sought to redeem his young brother. God worked in his heart, and his action opened the floodgates of Joseph’s love for his brothers.
Judah became the tribe of kings, and ultimately the Saviour came out of Judah as the Great Substitute. Joseph resisted sin, and God blessed him. Judah was convicted of his sin and was received in love. May God help us not to give way to sin and also to know, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9).
