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"Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24

Text: Genesis 44:1-34

WITH GREAT AND TENDER FEELINGS

Israel did not express a whole lot of tender love to his children, with the exception of Joseph and Benjamin. For that matter neither did Judah or the other children express any great respect for their father. Judah actually went away from the family for a season. Yet, when it came to a crunch, the children loved their father, especially in his old age. With great and tender feelings, Judah begged for compassion to be shown to an old man. Could not the problem of the silver cup be overlooked? Could not mercy prevail over this inexplicable problem of the cup being found in Benjamin’s sack?

“Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father,
and the lad is not with us, since his life is bound up in
the lad’s life, it will happen, when he sees that the lad is not
with us, that he will die. So your servants will bring down the
gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave.”
GENESIS 44:30-31

Deep down, Judah and his brothers loved their father. It is amazing the number of times Judah made mention of the word “father”. Was he appealing to the fact that Joseph was himself a father? Would there not be a pinch of pity for an old man? How eloquently Judah pleaded with Joseph!

A LIFE FOR A LIFE

Did it really matter who was enslaved? Would it be possible for one of the brothers to take the place of Benjamin? If that was possible, then Judah would like to replace Benjamin as the slave to be detained.

“For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying,
‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame
before my father forever.’ 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. For how shall I go up to my father if
the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come
upon my father?”
GENESIS 44:32-34

Judah had indeed promised his father that he would be surety for the safety and well-being of Benjamin. He was prepared to honour his word to his father even if it meant that he would become a slave in Benjamin’s place. Judah had a family and he was prepared to be separated from his kith and kin, if that could secure the release of his brother Benjamin.

Foremost in his mind was the thought that his aged and frail father would go to his grave sorrowing over the death of his two special sons, Joseph and Benjamin. No, there was no more resentment against Joseph or Benjamin as Israel’s favourite children. They had matured well in this respect. There was only love for their father and Benjamin.