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Now let's get into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.
Now, surety, you see that little word, let me be surety? That's a legal contractual term. It means let me be the guarantor. I will guarantee this. It typically referred to somebody who would guarantee a loan.
And covers somebody's debt. Here it simply means. I'll care for him. I'll care for him, and I'll care for him in that I'll become the substitute if something happens.
Now, just keep this in mind: that Judah is willing to become a substitute for his brothers. I'm going to tie a little end together and connect a couple of dots in just a little bit.
Well, that's what he promises.
Okay, pause for a moment. Think back to last Bible study in Genesis. It was the oldest, Reuben, who made a pledge to his father. Do you remember that? Remember that crazy, stupid thing he said?
He said, look, I'll go down and make it. You know, I'll watch little Benjamin. And if I don't bring him back alive, then you can just kill my two boys. That's what he said. His dad just completely blew it off, disregarded it completely.
Why? Because it was as if he was saying, Reuben, I'll never trust you again. with one of my little sons. You were the oldest. You are the oldest.
You were really responsible for Joseph in the wilderness. Look what happened to him. I'm not going to trust you.
Now here is Judah. And Judah is offering To be sure a T for him. and his dad's going to take him up on that. In Genesis chapter 49, you'll get to it, but here's just a little teaser. When Jacob's on his deathbed, he says of his son Reuben, Reuben, you are my firstborn, unstable as water.
You shall not excel. Unstable as water, you're not trustworthy. You say one thing, you don't follow through. I don't trust you. You will not excel.
That was the prediction. Those are some pretty heavy last words for your dad to say. Judah, on the other hand, he was a scoundrel too. But I submit to you that Judah has changed, or at least is in the process of changing. Twenty-one years have gone since what happened to Joseph happened.
Many years have passed since the incident in chapter thirty four with Tamar. Getting his own Daughter-in-law pregnant, and we saw this guy was a mess. But he's changing. And he's changing in the area of relationships, and I think you'll see it tonight. He's grown relationally.
Verse 11. And their father Israel said to them, If it must be so, Then do this. Take some of the best fruits of the land in your vessels. and carry down a present for the man, a little balm, A little honey. Probably it was date honey, not Honey, like we know it.
It's the extract of dates. They sell it over in the Jordan River area, even to this day. Bring with you spices. And myrrh? Pistachio nuts and almonds.
I'm salivating in my heart, even as I say that. I've never had better pistachios in my life. than the ones that come from the Middle East. Area of Israel and Lebanon. Even Jordan?
Oh man, they're big honking ones like Like Schwarzenegger grew them or something. They're just big and. Juicy.
Now, it would seem there's a famine in the land, but it seems that there are some staple items in Israel that are unaffected by the famine. And he's saying, take some of these as a gift. There's a proverb that that talks about gift giving. That giving a gift opens a door and puts you in front of great rulers. It's just a good thing to do.
You're going to go see someone. Give them a little token. Oh, thank you. Come on in. It just disarms a person.
So go back down and buy grain. But give him a gift as well. Then, verse 12: Take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the mouths of your sacks, if you remember last week's study. Perhaps it was an oversight. Take your brother also, and arise, go back to the man.
And may God Almighty give you mercy before the man. Notice what they're calling Joseph. He'd a man. He's the man. He's the ruler.
That he may release your older brother, that Simeon, who's. Hostage. And Benjamin.
Now, listen to this. If I am bereaved, I am bereaved.
Now he's thinking logically.
Now he realizes: if we sit here and do nothing, we're going to die. If we go down to Egypt, we may die, we may not die. But if we just do nothing, we will die.
So it's worth the risk. This is a necessary risk, it has to be taken.
Something I just want to make a little note of. I don't want to push too much into the text, but just. Just note. What a control freak. Jacob is Tells them what to do, what to take, how to lay it all out.
I mean, you know, these guys aren't little kids, they're older men. They can handle this. They could have gotten this job done sooner. But Jacob is just he wants to control everything. You drive me nuts.
Second thing to notice Is he doesn't say, take my son, he says, take your brother. Why would he say that? Why wouldn't he say, take my son, my favorite son? Take your brother. He's impressing upon them.
The relationship they have, thus, the responsibility to care for him. He's your own flesh and blood. You take care of them. The third thing to make note of is what he calls God. God Almighty, El Shaddai is the word, El Shaddai in Hebrew.
God Almighty, or Almighty God, may He be with you. Yeah. We've discovered already in Genesis that's an important designation. The first time it appears is chapter 17, when God introduces himself to Abram. As God Almighty, El Shadai, man, I can do anything, I can cover you, Abram.
Just trust me. I'm Almighty God. The second time it appears is in chapter 28, I believe, verse 3. When Isaac Says to Jacob, Now, Jacob says it the third time. His father said it the second time.
That's what he remembered. When he was leaving, going to Uncle Laban's. His dad gave him a charge. May God Almighty bless you and cause you to prosper and multiply.
Something you never forgot. And so here's the charge to his sons, calling God the Mighty One. He's going to protect you. And he says, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved. Verse 15.
So the men took that present and Benjamin. They took double the money in their hand. They arose and went down to Egypt. And they stood before Joseph. Yeah.
Now probably Joseph has been wondering. Are they coming back for Simeon? They're going to abandon him? It's been a long time. They abandoned me.
They might just abandon him. And will they bring little Benji back? How have they treated Benjamin? Is he even still alive? Have they?
rubbed him out too like they tried to do to me.
Well, that's the predicament in Canaan.
Now we go to the party in Egypt, verse 16. When Joseph saw Benjamin, That he was with them. he said to the steward, of his house. Take these men to my home. and slaughter an animal.
In other words, let's throw a party and make it a barbecue party. Make ready, for these men will dine with me at noon. Let's do lunch, guys. Then the man did as Joseph ordered, the man being the steward of the house. The man brought the men into Joseph's house.
Mm. Let's connect a couple dots. You see the word steward? It's a synonym with the chief butler. Remember in chapter 38, the chief butler and the chief baker of Pharaoh were kept in prison?
Joseph has his own chief butler. He's the steward. He's in charge of all the finances. He's the confidant of Joseph. He would be a mediator in certain cases.
He was the guy in charge of all of the servant staff. That's the steward. or the chief butler.
Now the men were afraid.
Okay, okay, just now remember last week. Remember last week when Joseph put their money back in their sacks and they opened it up and they were scared to death?
So now again, they come, and Joseph says, Man, am I glad to see you guys? Let's do lunch. Come to my house. Their reaction?
So the men were afraid. Because they were brought into Joseph's house, and they said, It's because of the money which was returned. In our sacks the first time. That we are brought in.
So that we may make He may make a case against us and fall upon us. to take us as slaves with our donkeys.
Okay. A few years ago, I was invited to the White House, several years ago. What an honor. I remember getting the invitation. You're invited to join a group of people and meet with the President of the United States and discuss this issue.
Now, when I got that invitation, I was amped, I was geeked, I was stoked, I was excited. I didn't go, oh no. What could he want? Their response is like they got called into the vice principal's office or something. You've been bad boys.
We're going to do lunch, but not really. That's what they're thinking. Boy, guilt has a way of ruining every joyful experience. It's their guilt. They're guilt-ridden because of what happened with Joseph.
They never dealt with it. Joseph is forcing their hand to deal with it. Guilt ruins, it turns merriment into misery. Miserable bunch of guys. Oh no.
What does he want? What now? What will happen to us? What will befall us? It's not a typical reaction.
Like last week, we saw that. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return to Skip's teaching, what would your life look like if God's fingerprints were all over it? In God Print, The Life of Abraham, Pastor Skip takes you through seven powerful messages on the faith journey of one man who learned to trust God through crisis, fear, and uncertainty. Abraham's life was shaped by God, and so can yours be.
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Now let's get back to today's teaching with Pastor Skip. In ancient times, If you were invited into somebody's house for a meal, It meant something more significant than today. In ancient Middle Eastern culture, for you to be invited into a house meant. That you are now under the complete protection of the house in which you were invited. If there was any kind of an attack on you, they would fight to the death for you.
You're their honored guest. They take hospitality very seriously because they see the meal as becoming one with the person. You see, if I have a A meal, and I eat part of it, and you eat part of it, we're essentially becoming one with each other. I'm eating this and it's nourishing me, and it will break down in my body, and it will become part of my cellular structure. Same with you.
So, in essence, by the meal, we're becoming one. That's what Jesus meant when he said, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man will hear my voice and open the door, I will come in. and have a meal with them. Sup with him, dine with him.
But, as we see, Guilt ruined it. The best thing for your mental health. is to get your guilt alleviated. Guilt will wreak havoc on your mental health. The best thing is to get your guilt alleviated.
That's the purpose of the cross.
Now now guilt is good. I know that there are Leaders today, so-called spiritual leaders today, and psychology experts that guilt is bad. I beg. strongly to differ. Guilt is good.
Very good. If it drives you to the place where you get it alleviated, dealt with, taken care of, and then you move on. If you live under the weight of it, it's not good. If it drives you to the place where you get rid of it, it is good. And so Guilt should drive us to the cross to get forgiveness.
Then we move on. I'm a child of God. I've been forgiven. I confess my sin. I go for it.
These guys are bound by guilt. When they drew near, verse 19, to the steward of Joseph's house, they talked with each other at the door of the house.
Now, in a situation like that, you look for a mediator really quick, because they think they're going to die.
So they're looking for a mediator, and a steward often was a mediator between the ruler and Anyone else? And they said, Oh, sir. We indeed came down the first time to buy food, but it happened when we came to the encampment that we opened our sacks, and there each man's money was in the mouth of the sack. Our money in full weight.
So we have brought it back. In our hand. And we have brought down our their money. In our hands to buy food. We do not know who put the money in our sacks.
So can you picture them? Standing there, sweat beating down their furrowed bodies. Guilt-ridden brows. Trying to smooth the sky and say, look, it's not our fault, man. The money was there, and hey, here it is, and we brought more.
But he said the Stuart said. Peace. Be with you. Do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks.
I had your money. Then he brought Simeon out to them. I have a thought, I have a hunch, I can't prove it, but with this verse, it lends a little bit of weight to my theory. Could it be that Joseph in Egypt, who believed in one God? He was a monotheist.
We see that in his record all throughout, that he even evangelized those in Egypt. And gave glory not to the polytheistic, not to the many gods, not to the pantheon of Egypt, but to the one true and living God. And this Stuart. seems like he was affected, for he said. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sex.
This is God's work. I had your money. Okay, so then also in verse 23, he brought Simeon out to them. Boy. To Simeon those guys Were a sight for sore eyes.
He's sinking. Dim. Why did you abandon me? Why did you wait so long?
So Simeon evidently has been in jail for some time. Question. Did that imprisonment Change Simeon. It changed Joseph, it made him better.
Well I don't think it did. I don't think it did because once again, in Genesis 49, when Jacob, the old man, is on his deathbed and he's talking about his boys, he sums up the life of Simeon. He says, Simeon. And Levi You are brothers. Instruments of cruelty.
Cursed be your anger. And your wrath. For it is cruel. And it is fierce.
Now he was talking about their treachery back in chapter 34. It was those two guys, Simeon and Levi, who killed Hamor and his son Shechem, and then they kill all the Shechemites. Remember that story?
Okay. It seemed that that incident sort of followed him through without change.
So Here's my point. Yeah. It's really a shame. If painful, hurtful times don't serve to change you, Because then all you look back on is, that was horrible. That hurt.
And Well, and um I didn't like it.
Okay. And And it was really bad. No, not the right answer. That's a shame. If you didn't learn something from it and grow through it, if you didn't let it change you, what a wasted opportunity.
See, God wouldn't allow that to come into your life unless He wants to teach you a lesson and change you. What did you learn from it? Do you know, by the way, that's the emphasis of James when he writes about trials? Most people, when they quote the verse I'm going to quote, completely Disregard that. Here's the verse.
James says in chapter one: if any of you lack wisdom, Let him ask God. Who gives liberally? And he won't upbraid. But he will give. You know what that's in reference to?
Hardship. Suffering? Trials Here's the context. Brethren, count it all joy. when you fall into various trials.
Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work. That you may be complete and entire, lacking nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. You see, The context is referring to asking God for wisdom.
when you're in the midst of trials. Lord, what is this about? What are you trying to teach me? God forbid that you wouldn't do that, and it would be an opportunity that is a wasted one. Find out what God's trying to show you.
and learn from it. Verse twenty-four.
So the man brought the man. The man brought the man, that is. The steward brought Joseph's Brothers all ten of them into Joseph's house, and gave them water. And they washed their feet. And he gave their donkeys feed.
Then they made the present ready for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that they would eat bread there. And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed down before him to the earth.
Now that's the second time they bowed. We we saw last week the first time. Again, Joseph would be thinking about those little dreams he had when he was a little kid. And one was, all the sheaves were bowing down. And the brother said, You little whipper-snapper, do you think we're ever going to bow down to you?
Well, this is the second time they bow down. To the earth. Egyptian tombs are filled with hieroglyphics. You probably already know that. Imagery.
And a lot of the imagery shows people bowing down. common people and rulers bowing down to Pharaoh. There's even an inscription in an archaeological dig called the. Amarna tablets from the 14th century BC that shows the protocol for how to bow down to an Egyptian ruler. To a pharaoh, one was to bow down seven times.
facing one direction And then seven times backward, seven times forward, seven times backward when addressing a pharaoh. That was the protocol.
Now, he wasn't the Pharaoh. Joseph was the prime minister, second in command.
So, probably just a common Courtesy bow all the way down to the ground. He was royalty after all. but fulfilling prophecy. Verse 27, then he asked them about their well-being. Isn't that great?
He's the ruler. How are you guys doing? Not like, why have you come? I am the great Oz. Just How are ya?
How's it been going for you guys? And he said, is your father well? How is the old man? Oh, it actually says that. The old man of whom you spoke, is he still alive?
And they answered, Your servant, our father, is in good health. He is still alive. and they bowed their heads down and prostrated themselves. There it is again. Yeah.
Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benji Ben-Yamin, son of my right hand, Jacob called him, his mother's son. and said, Is this your younger brother of whom you spoke? And he said, God be gracious to you, my son. Yeah. See, the last time Joseph saw Benji he was just a toddler.
Now Benjamin's about 23 years old. Been a long time. He sees them. He recognizes them. Benjamin was Joseph's father.
Full brother. The rest of the guys were only half brothers. They were. Brothers of Another Mother, Right? Jacob had four wives.
But Benjamin and Joseph shared the same mother and father. They had full blood relations and. Joseph Long to see him. It's interesting that Joseph remembered well his past. You know, there's a saying, an ancient saying about Egypt.
The Egyptians used to say this. Anyone who comes to Egypt and drinks of the Nile River will soon forget his native land. In other words, it's so beautiful down here, and we've irrigated this, and we've got everything. You won't even want to go back home. Not with Joseph.
Joseph will want to be buried back home. in Canaan. Take my bones up from here, he will say. He remembers his brothers, he remembers his home, and he remembers his God. He's excited to have this reunion.
But As much as he remembered his past, There's something he chose to forget. Remember what that was? He chose to forget the pain of the past. All of the emotional pain, he didn't harbor a grudge, he didn't nurse a grudge, he chose to forget the emotional pain that he had gone through for 21 years. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skiff Heitzik.
Before you go, don't forget to request this month's resource, GodPrint, the life of Abraham. This powerful seven-message study from Skip-Heitzig shows how God's presence shaped one man's life and how he can shape yours. It's our thanks for your generous gift of fifty dollars or more to support this ministry. Call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888.
Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And while you're there, sign up for Skip's weekly devotional email to grow deeper in your walk with Christ. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection like the floor. Of the crossing, cast your burdens on his wood.
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