This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us for today's program. At Connect with Skiff Heitzik, we're all about connecting you to the timeless truth of God's Word through verse-by-verse teaching. That's why we make messages like this one today available to you and others. Before we get started with the program, we encourage you to check out connectwithskip.com, where you'll find resources like full message series, weekly devotionals, and more.
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Now let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. You've all heard of Murphy's Law, yes? Murphy's Law says if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. Example If I wash my car yesterday, Surely it's going to rain today. Which is interesting because I did wash it on Monday.
And today it rained. If I ride my bicycle I bet I'll get a flat tire. If it can go wrong, it will go wrong. I mentioned those two things because this morning I was riding my bicycle with my computer over my shoulder to Starbucks. And it rained, and I got a flat tire.
I'm thinking, what's up with Murphy? But then There's another law. Let's call it Joseph's Law. If something can go wrong, And it does go wrong. God is always behind the scenes making it right.
It's the Romans 8.28 principle. What R. A. Torrey called a soft pillow for a tired heart. All things work together.
And we know there's conviction again. And we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are the called according to his purpose. Murphy's law is for the pessimist. Joseph's law is for the believer. The first views life on the horizontal plane.
The second views life but takes the vertical. into perspective. God. But what about God? What could God's plan be in the midst of it?
That was always Joseph's perspective, amazingly so. The more I studied this. Young man's life. The more amazed I am at his faith in the Lord. Taking care of it all.
So my Turn the page. In verse 16, Judah is speaking to Joseph. And if you remember There were three tests that Joseph gave to his brothers. The first test was the test of sincerity. Do these guys really mean what they say?
Is this real? Is this authentic? Second was the test. of jealousy. Will they be jealous if I lavish upon the second favored son, Benjamin, all sorts of love and attention and favor?
What kind of jealous reaction would that be in the heart of my Older brothers. Will it be the same as it was toward me, or could they have changed? They passed both of those tests. The third. Was the test of charity?
Do they really love their father and do they really love Benjamin? And that's the test we're in the middle of. Joseph will reveal himself to his brothers. He knows them. They don't know him.
He's got the Egyptian garb on, the fake beard I told you about, lacquered horsehair, shaved head. Beautiful robes. He was so much younger, like seventeen when they were. Selling him to the Ishmaelites.
Now he's thirty eight, thirty nine years of age. He's grown up. He doesn't look like What they remember. But they. Though they don't know him, he recognizes them.
And he's going to reveal himself to them, but he doesn't do it. For a while. And the reason being is because Mm-hmm. Though he loves them, They're not ready. He wants to make sure they're ready before he reveals himself to them.
What if he were to just say the first time, hey guys, it's me, Joe. Joey, remember Joey? He wouldn't have known. How they would have received it. He wanted to make sure by those three tests.
That they were ready for him to reveal himself to them. He loved them, but were they ready?
Now Joseph has been criticized. for these three tests.
Some, in looking at Genesis, say, boy, this kid is risking an awful lot by sending his brothers back to Canaan, and then they would come back to Egypt, and then perhaps have to go back and then come back. Because after all, Jacob The father is an old dude by this time. He's playing with time. Jacob may have died during this whole test. And so he's criticized because of it.
Don't criticize him. It's not right to criticize him. He knew what he was doing. Besides that, God gave him a dream that not only would his brothers come and honor him, but his father as well. And he believed that that was a revelation from God.
So he knew that his father would appear before him alive one day. It's interesting that We're in a very similar predicament. We know that Jesus loves us. He said that. He demonstrated that two thousand years ago, but.
Man, it's been 2,000 years. We've been waiting a long time for him to come and reveal himself to us. And with successive generations, as the world seems to get worse and worse and more vulnerable. From time to time, we might be tempted to say, if he loves me so much. Why doesn't he just show himself?
Why doesn't he come back? Why doesn't he reveal himself and take us home to heaven and fix all the bad stuff on the earth?
Well, here's partially the answer. We're not ready yet. He's readying us for the future. Jesus did say. promised to his disciples in John chapter 14.
I am going to prepare a place for you. But that's only half the story. Not only is Jesus been preparing a place for you in heaven? Have you ever think about that? 2,000 years ago, he said that.
If he's been preparing a place for us for 2,000 years, you know that place has got to be decked out. If he can pull this off, the creation of this earth in six days, and he's been working on those digs for 2,000 years. Can't wait to see it. But not only is he preparing a place for us, He's preparing us. for that place.
And when you're ready. You will be in his presence and enjoy what he has prepared for you. Forever. Until then. Enjoy the process of being readied.
Until he reveals himself. Judah said, verse 16. What shall we say to my Lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves?
We're about to read in this last portion of the chapter A speech by one of Joseph's brothers. Second born. Name Judah. An intercessory speech.
Now I gotta tell you.
Some authors have ditched this speech or at least this chapter. Did you know that Martin Luther Couldn't understand why the Holy Spirit would preserve his words, preserve Such a trivial 34 verses. as in this chapter. He called it trivial. Why would God waste so much time?
describing this.
Well, they may have been trivial to Martin Luther, but they certainly were not trivial to Joseph nor his brothers. In fact, Many people have marveled at this as one of the best pieces of literature ever penned or speeches ever given. One of them was Sir Walter Scott. The Scottish poet. and author.
I mentioned that to you last week. Also, the German scholar Leopold said these verses, these words by Judah are unmatched in Old Testament literature. It is interesting that the Spirit of God seems to hover. over certain sections of what he would consider important and we might not consider important. For instance, God doesn't spend a whole lot of time describing creation.
We wish he would have sometimes. Especially those in the scientific community, I wish God would have just given more revelation of how He pulled this off. Such little information is given as to the creation, the origin. of the heavens and the earth. And yet, He spends 14 chapters dealing with Abraham.
And One fourth of the entire book of Genesis devoted to Joseph. This is not trivial. Paul the Apostle said, All of these things were written aforetime. For our instruction or our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world have come. God knew what he needed to preserve, and as we study the life of Joseph, We find some excellent lessons.
and how to forgive people who have wronged us.
So Judah speaks. How shall we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. This is a confession. Here we are, my Lord's slaves.
Both we and he also with whom the cup was found, that is, little Benji. But he said Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup was found this is Joseph speaking. He shall be my slave. And as for you, Go up in peace to your Father.
Then Judah came near and said, O my Lord. Please let your servant speak a word in my Lord's hearing. And do not let your anger burn against your servant. For you are even like Pharaoh.
Well, it seems that Joseph's act has Worked. He was talking roughly to them. And perhaps they thought, oh man, he's really mad at us. In reality, he loves them. But he knew how to Pull off a good act, and it worked.
So they're begging, please don't be angry, be merciful. He wasn't angry, he was filled with compassion, as you will see. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return to the message, consider this. Abraham's life was full of ups and downs, but God was in every moment.
In God Print, The Life of Abraham, Pastor Skip unpacks seven engaging messages from the book of Genesis to show how God shapes the hearts of those who trust him. Through trials and triumphs, Abraham learned what real faith looks like. And this powerful seven message series will encourage you that you can too. This resource is our thanks for your gift of $50 or more to help reach more people with God's Word through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
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Now, let's rejoin today's teaching. My Lord asked his servants, saying, Have you a father or a brother? And we said to my Lord, We have a father, an old man. And a child of his old age who is young. His brother is dead.
Who would that be? It would be Joseph.
Now they're talking to Joseph. And they're saying, Yeah, that brother of ours is dead. You know, this reminds me of that little passage in Hebrews 4. If you remember it, some of you in the King James Bible, he's speaking about Abel. And Cain killed Abel, and yet Abel's blood was crying out from the ground.
And the writer of Hebrews said, He, being dead, yet speaketh.
So they're talking about Joseph and boy, you know, he died. He being dead yet speaketh. It's the very one you're talking to, boys. And he alone, that is Benji. is left of his mother's children.
And his father loves him. Then you said to your servants, Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him. And we said to my Lord, The lad cannot leave his father. for if he should leave his father, his father would die. But you said to your servants, Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.
So it was when we went when we went up to your servant, my father. That we told him the words of my Lord. And our father said, go back and buy us a little food. But we said, we cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down.
for we may not see the man's face unless our youngest brother, is with us. Jacob and Rachel. Remember, Jacob had two wives and two concubines. Really, we would say a total of four gals. that birthed him all these kids.
His favorite wife, the wife that he really loved, love at first sight, was Rachel.
Okay. And with Rachel Jacob had two boys. Joseph? And Benjamin.
Now, you got to remember when Joseph is listening to Judah tell the story, remember that Joseph also has two sons. If any story would touch his heart, touch the heart of a father. It would be a story about Two boys. He's understanding that from a parental point of view at this juncture.
So Verse twenty seven Then your servant, my father, said to us, You know that my wife bore me two sons. And The one went out from me. And I said, surely he is torn to pieces, and I have not seen him since. Stop there. Did you get that?
Judah is saying what his father said because this is what his father always believed. His father always believed that because that's the lie Judah and the rest of the boys told their dad Jacob.
Well, this is the very first time Joseph ever hears what his father has been told about his disappearance.
Now he gets it. Oh, you guys told him that I was torn. By wild animals. That's the lie you told him when, in reality, you sold me to make money off me to the Ishmaelites. But verse twenty-nine This is Jacob speaking, continuing.
But if you take this one also from me, and calamity befalls him, you shall bring down my gray hair with sorrow. to the grave.
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, but that he will die.
So your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father. With sorrow. to the grave.
Look at that descriptive phrase of the relationship. that Jacob And Benjamin have. His life is bound up in the lad's life. The Amplified Bible adds, and his soul is knit with the lad's soul. They are inseparable.
Because of the loss of one, the only one to remind Jacob of the love that he had for the wife Rachel is young Benjamin. He's the only one that reminds. That's part of that link. in that love relationship. His life is bound up with the life of that lad.
It's a beautiful phrase.
However, You would think that after 21 years, the father would be able to move on. And we saw the last couple of studies, he wasn't. The way he talks about Joseph after 21 years. is unhealthy. Sure he should miss him.
I miss my brother. My brother died. I miss my mom and my dad. But I can talk about it and I can have fond memories of it. Every time Joseph was brought up, he made everyone miserable, Jacob did.
By how he treated it. I've watched people who don't recover from the loss of a loved one. I've seen the torment and the pain in their lives. You can talk to them and pray with them and counsel with them, but... It seems that they never went through all of the right stages of grief.
Maybe they stuffed it down and they refused to grieve at the time, never shedding a tear, trying to be strong. That's a mistake. Typically, there are stages of grief, and there is something called good grief. Usually, when somebody is informed that their loved one has died. The first stage is typically denial.
No. It couldn't have happened. It must be a mistake. You must be thinking of somebody else. Surely this couldn't be happening to me.
That's the normal response. Second, there's shock. Followed by anger. Anger at God for letting it happen. Perhaps even anger at the person who died.
I told them not to do that. I told them they shouldn't go there. or anger at oneself. Why didn't I prevent this or that? That's typically followed by another stage, deep depression.
Person is coming to grips with it. They're in utter despair because of the loss of life. They don't know how to move on. But eventually, as they follow through the stages, they'll learn how to cope with it. All of that is normal.
It's typical human emotion. It's the way we're wired. I don't know what stage Jacob skipped, but He hadn't dealt with it in a healthy manner. And so, thus, the phrase, Jacob's life, is now completely bound up and intertwined with the only son of his. marriage that he really loved.
And that is Benjamin.
So He lays it out, verse 32: became surety or collateral. for the lad to my father, saying, If I do not bring him back, then I shall bear the blame before my Father for ever. 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. Yeah. 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. Wow. What a switch. What a switch from chapter 37. When Judah said, I got an idea.
Why should we kill him? We can make money off of this creep. Let's sell him.
Now Here's Judah. pleading for the life Of Joseph's younger brother, the favored brother, Benjamin. Not jealous, but sticking up for him. Not only that. but willing to be the substitute himself.
and let everybody else go free. I'll be the substitute. The punishment will fall upon me, everybody else, especially that boy. Let him go home.
Okay. That's a change. Not only is it a change, but I see it as a prefiguring. of somebody else doing that.
Somebody else giving a substitution of his life so that others could go free. Very interesting. At the very end of Jacob's life, when he's giving those blessings, we'll get to it in chapter 49, but I've sure been alluding to it through this whole study.
So by the time we get there, it's familiar ground. He says to Judah his son, Second born, Judah is a lion's whelp. A lion's whelp. That's how he describes his son: a lion's whelp, a cub of a lion. Yeah.
Now it's because of that that Judah, the tribe of Judah, will be typified in the wilderness wanderings when we get to Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, et cetera, as a lion. And that is why we find a reference, since Jesus is of the tribe of Judah, we find him referred to in the book of Revelation, chapter 5, as the lion of the tribe of Judah. of Judah. Here we have Judah, the forefather in the tribe of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving himself as a substitute. Foreshadowing what Jesus Christ, the lion of the tribe of Judah, would do for the whole world.
Giving himself In substitutionary atonement, or the theologians call it vicarious atonement, they like fancy words. Substituting His life So that we could go free. It's a beautiful picture.
Now There's a lesson to be learned before we jump into chapter 45 and get lost in some of the wonderful details there. I suppose the lesson in all that we have studied so far is be careful. How you handle Your relationships. You all have them.
Some of them are great and some of them aren't so great. And some of them are downright bad. with other people. I say be careful as possible because relationships, though they're precious, they can be very fragile. One incident.
One word. Spoken in wrath or anger. One action can sever a relationship, and the consequences can last. For generations. Do you understand that concept and that principle?
Relationships. R incredibly precious and very fragile.
So it would help. If we could think before we speak or act. James said. Oh. Every man should be swift.
To hear. to wrath, slow to speak. God gave us two ears and one mouth, at which we would function. in that equation, listening twice as much as we talk. If we would think through what will this action or these harsh words do to this relationship in the long run.
Think of this relationship. Think of Judah and his brother Joseph 21 years, over two decades. Of suffering through the guilt, not dealing with reality, telling lies, cover up pain. That's what Judah and his brothers have been dealing with. We're so glad you joined us for Connect with Skiff Heidzig.
Before we go, we want to remind you to request this month's featured resource, GodPrint, The Life of Abraham. This seven-message series from Pastor Skip traces Abraham's walk with God and invites you to discover how faith can grow even through fear, doubt, and delay. It's our gift to you when you support ConnectWithSkip Heitzig with a donation of $50 or more. Call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888.
Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. Thanks for spending time with us today. And we'll see you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
