Jared Schipper - Judah - In His Family - Class 3 - The New Judah

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   Good morning. Thank you. I believe I made a mistake or got a little confused yesterday when I lost my notes at the start of the second session talking about whether Judah had two sons or three sons. Can we be really clear? He had three. Two died, eh? Onan, Sheila, apparently. I couldn’t think of Onan, so forgive me.

2. 0:27

   Just wanted to get that right. All right, where are we up to? Well, between me and our study last night, I think we’re building a little bit of basis or foundation or context to Judah’s life, some of the background to the why he did the things that he did. But between Steve and I, we left Judah wallowing in the prodigal pig food through having to make the decision, Is he going to pick his face up out of it and face a whole new day and a new opportunity and a new life?

3. 1:13

   Or is he going to get bitter and twisted like he has before? And like we can when things don’t go to plan, some of the biggest choices we make is how we respond to situations like this. You know that we are never past the point of no return until you or I choose to be past that point of no return. Just grasp that God doesn’t give up on you. You’re the one that gives up on Him. And then he goes, well, there’s nothing I can do. Get that clear in your mind.

4. 1:51

   We are never past the point of no return until we choose to be past that point of no return. And Judas at that crossroads, he’s got to look up and see the opportunity to move forward, to see a way to deal with his pride, to swallow his pride and all the embarrassment that comes with that.

5. 2:19

   And often there’s two ways that we respond to these kind of situations when God’s Providence brings us to that point where it’s ground us so small that we feel so embarrassed that we feel like we can’t recover. You know, there’s 2 examples that I missed talking about yesterday that I want to make the point clearly to you about. Judah in his past blamed people.

6. 2:42

   Other people blamed circumstances. Samson made jokes of it, and both of those responses to the Providence and the way God works in our life doesn’t help you or me. All Samson’s jokes did was make the problem bigger for him, and all Judah’s response of blaming people and other things did was make him more bitter.

7. 3:12

   Don’t do it. Don’t do it. It’s not the answer. Judith thought about the situation that he found himself in. Thoroughly, deeply reflected on that situation, and as a result, God was able to work with him because he faced the situations.

8. 3:41

   That’s how God works with us. That’s how he develops that character. God breaks us sometimes so that He’s able to then rebuild us through that process. He doesn’t break you for fun. He does not enjoy doing that. He actually breaks the barriers that you’ve built that stop Him working in your life. He’s going to break them down, and He does it so carefully, so precisely.

9. 4:11

   He breaks down that bit of the wall and that brick, just not that bit that needed to remain so that He could rebuild you or Samson or Judah. So when we have major events happen in our life, don’t make a joke of it. I’ve done it. I know it’s a classic thing to do when you’re young is to laugh about an accident you might have had or some event where something went terribly wrong.

10. 4:40

    You make a big joke about it. Don’t go that approach. Think deeply. Let’s learn from Judah, and hopefully we don’t have to fall as far or as deep or suffer as much as what Judah had to to learn this lesson. So how old’s Judah? He’s like 50 now.

11. 4:59

    And it’s ironic to think that Judah has just come crashing down to the lowest point of his life. And guess where Joseph is? He’s coming to the climax of his life. It’s funny how their two lives sort of crossover and go the opposite direction. You can look at your chart, understand the dates.

12. 5:16

    Yes, he’s getting old and get that fine. Learn those lessons before you get to that age, maybe. But when you think about the fact that we’re now going to rush through a number of chapters, we’re going to do the two journeys down into Egypt and the final speech. When you think about Judith’s reaction to this situation, because his first trip down to Egypt, Judas says nothing, He is silent. Why is he silent?

13. 5:47

    Because he’s reflecting. He’s thinking. And I want you to grasp the fact that God hasn’t finished showing him stuff. The learning process didn’t just happen in that one embarrassing moment. The learning process was going to take a little bit longer because remember, Tamar had started to show she hadn’t had a baby yet. That was still going to happen.

14. 6:12

    He was going to learn when he’s like, heck, I’ve got twins, not just one child. And then he’s going to learn a lot in this first journey down to Egypt. And that’s how God works. God works with us, unraveling and showing us more as we respond and as we think about the things that He’s teaching us.

15. 6:35

    What do you think about that? Because Judah is watching, Judah is observing, and Judah is learning from what God is going to show him in these next two chapters. Because this first trip to Egypt is strange. It’s weird. There’s some really unusual confronting things that happen. I’m going to give you 3 examples. There’s a heck of a lot more, OK? These three examples demonstrate the way that God’s refining process continues beyond the moment, beyond that impact moment of when something hits US in life and we realize God’s teaching us something.

16. 7:11

    That’s the time that we need to just shut up and watch. Look, listen, think. This first trip down to Egypt, there was many strange things that happened. The first thing is that this crazy ruler who’s in Egypt is so focused on these men, whether they’re true men, whether they’re honest or whether they are spies that have an ulterior motive. That’s what spies are.

17. 7:45

    They fake it that they are blending with everybody else as a normal person when really they have an evil alternative motive. And that’s what Judy used to have.

18. 7:59

    And that’s why Joseph uses his strategy. It’s in it’s incredible. I genuinely personally believe that God directed Joseph to use this strategy. I can’t prove that I’d love to, but I can’t. But just these genius that Joseph used is is wow.

19. 8:18

    So he proved wants them to prove that they are true men and what better way than to put them on the spot and accuse them of being spots because how do you prove you’re not a spy? You have to tell the truth. More than that, you’ve got to prove the truth. You’ve got to verify the truth.

20. 8:38

    So that was one thing. Truth and honesty was a key issue for Judah. You know, there’s another thing for Judah is that he didn’t really have a healthy fear of God. He didn’t have respect of God. He didn’t appreciate that there is a God who was involved in his life, and he’s going to meet an Egyptian ruler, an Egyptian ruler who has a healthy respect for a God who’s involved in every aspect of his Egyptian life.

21. 9:12

    Now we can go, well, which Egyptian God is he talking about? This rule is incredible. He says. I’m talking about the God of your dad, Judah, and that would have freaked him out. Why is this ruler in Egypt talking about my dad’s God?

22. 9:34

    See, there’s some really unusual stuff. We don’t have time to look at this chapter properly. We just got to gloss through it. It was giving you three things. But this would have just hit judo. And he would have been like, what am I meant to take from that? Why am I being challenged to repeatedly say I’m a true man? I’m honest.

23. 9:56

    I wouldn’t do that. The simple reason is that wasn’t his reputation or his historical way of life. See how he’s really being challenged and God is really keeping the pressure on. I mean, this is almost a year later at best, maybe two to three years. Looking at the time frames. There’s one other thing.

24. 10:23

    This whole trip down to Egypt is full of money issues. And that was a problem for Judah in his life too, because they’d come down to pay for things and then they’d find their money was back in their sacks. But not just that. The the servant would say to them, I’ve got your money.

25. 10:42

    But then he’d say things like, no, God put treasure in your sacks. And Judah would be thinking. And that’s what I’m encouraging you to do to young people when something major happens in your life. Just don’t close that door and move on.

26. 11:01

    Keep watching. Keep listening to what God is showing you because He’ll show you the new path forward. He’ll show you the new way. You’ve got to listen. Don’t make a joke about it. Listen carefully and think about what He is trying to show you. All right, so let’s continue on because I don’t really have time to spend any more time there.

27. 11:27

    Well, no, we do. We’ve got to talk about one more thing because it’s relevant for later. Sorry, Chapter 42, the real lap in verse 16. This is part of his genius. So the way that Joseph works, the first thing he does is he puts these three men, oh, sorry, puts these ten men in prison for three days after accusing them that they’re spies. Why would you do that?

28. 11:55

    You’ve put them on the spot and said you’re dishonest, and now I attract you in prison for three days so you can figure out whether that’s the case. What do you think the conversation would be in that prison for those three days?

29. 12:14

    It would start with, who do you think is the one that we could trust to send back home to the family while all the rest of us stay here in this filthy prison? That’s the first conversation. And that would quickly lead to I don’t trust you. You did that. I don’t trust you because you did that. And we can’t trust those two because they and the blame game starts.

30. 12:36

    And when the blame game starts, what comes next? A bit of anger, a bit of bitterness, all the resentment and all the dirt starts pouring out. And these boys had three days to chat about who amongst the ten of them they could actually trust and be Judah for a second. He’s got to own this moment. He’s got to stand there and go, do you know what? I’ve changed and I want to be different, but I have 0 credibility.

31. 13:13

    I probably could be trusted to go home, but they wouldn’t trust me. And that’s fair. Three days later, Joseph comes down and brings them up out of prison. He says, listen, the rules have changed. You’re all going home, but one of you staying. Why does he do that? Doesn’t even give him a chance to speak.

32. 13:32

    He says if you’re honest, he didn’t even say that If you’re honest, he’s emphasizing this idea. He says if you’re true men, which she’s heard for the last three days. Because I so believe that Joseph would have gone down and just stood around the corner and listened to those arguments. That would have been insightful.

33. 13:48

    Really insightful. Better than what you get. One of my friends left on leave, one of your brothers here while the rest of you go home. Oh, that’s different. The brother you would send home is not the brother you’d leave to languish in an Egyptian prison. That’s the guy you hate, and the one you send home is the one you like. See how he’s just created both emotions to get exposed amongst those brothers?

34. 14:20

    Who do they even have a wedge of faith about in contrast to? Who do they hold bitterness and resentment against? And in that process, Judah opens up and goes, I wish we never actually sold Joseph and Jude’s like, or Joseph’s like. Oh, interesting. And so he chooses to bind Simeon because he’s the next eldest and he knows Simeon’s personality quite well. And so he binds Simeon right there in front of their eyes. Now I ask you, 10 brothers saw another brother bound in front of their eyes 22 years ago.

35. 14:57

    Do you think that came into their mind as he deliberately bound Simeon in front of their eyes and then put him into an Egyptian prison and said you’re good to go guys, enjoy life.

36. 15:19

    Can you imagine those feelings? You’ve got to think about that. Well, Judah would watch as his blood brother Simeon is put in prison. He looked up to that guy in his past, but you know, this time he’s not resentful about it because he knows that sometimes we have to go through those processes to learn. He’s also going to watch his dad trade off Simeon and leave Simeon in prison for well over a year while Simeon’s family’s at home starving without a dad.

37. 15:59

    They’re going to Jacob is going to leave Simeon in that prison for over a year because he’s not willing to send that beloved Benjamin down to release Simeon to come back to his family. And Judah could have got angry. He did last time.

38. 16:15

    He could have got resentful of that, but Judah knows what it’s like to protect your youngest son now because he did that for Sheila and made Tamar wait for a number of years.

39. 16:40

    He knows what it’s like to be on the side of that fence. He has empathy not just for his dad, but for Simeon’s family, for Simeon, because he knows that Simeon needs to learn through that process. And have a look at chapter 43 and at verse one, it says now the famine was severe in the land. Oh, OK, no doubt we know that.

40. 17:06

    Why are we told, in case you miss the fact that life is difficult, that’s what that verse is saying. Life in the land for Jacob was not easy. That’s the food, including the relationship challenges. What were the problems that came to pass when they’d eaten up all the corn and there was a lot that Joseph sent back with them that they’d brought out of Egypt.

41. 17:27

    Their dad says to them, go again and just bias a little bit. What? They’re in a famine. They’re 400 kilometers away from where the food is. Why would you go down and buy a little bit of food? That’s dumb. You need a little bit of food just to get back. What is Jacob doing?

42. 17:53

    He’s delaying. Verse 10 tells us that Jacob is delaying. Judah picks him up on this and says you’re delaying Dad. He’s delaying sending Benjamin because he knows the problem to get more food, I have to send Benjamin. Don’t care about Simeon left in prison, not sending Benjamin. So, So boys, how about if you go like some back door and try and just get a bit, just a little.

43. 18:21

    And that’s what Judah’s dealing with. He’s dealing with a dad that’s Syrian, a dad that’s a little bit willing to bend the rules. And what’s Judah’s response? It doesn’t work like that. Dad where oddest men.

44. 18:43

    And that’s what we’re going to see from Judah. He’s not going to let his dad push him around. Oh, we’re not up to verse 8. Hang on. Sorry. Let’s read the contact. Let’s read the verses, chapter 43.

45. 18:59

    Judah’s response is in verse 3. So circle that because this is Judah taking the lead, right? He said nothing in the first trip down to Egypt, but now we’re just going to see him come to the front constantly. Jacob says go down, buy us a little bit of food in verse 2, verse 3, But Judah steps up in front of all the other brothers and he says, dad, the man seriously and solemnly warned us.

46. 19:22

    That means he repeatedly said you will not see my face unless your brother is with you. So Dad, it’s like this. If you send ow, our brother, oh, not your son, not that guy, not Benjamin our brother. If you send our brother with us, we’ll go down and we’ll buy food for you.

47. 19:54

    See the way he puts that? See, his emphasis, he’s uniting him and his brothers on the same platform but focus or the same level, but focusing on what his father needs. And they’re key things that we’re going to see through this chapter. And then he’s straight verse 5. But in case you missed the point, Dad, if you will not send him, we will not go. Because the man was straight to us. He said it as it is and he said you will not see my face unless your brother is with you.

48. 20:27

    You know, we could have condensed those 3 verses into one verse if I was telling the story. And this is the power of the Bible. You got to read all that double repeated emphasis that’s there and understand what we’re being told. Judas being so clear, respectfully, straight with his dad, here’s the issues, here’s the problem, and this is the way forward, dad. And look at the way Israel responds. Israel, Judah, we won’t go into the Y or Jacob, we won’t go into Y, the different titles.

49. 21:05

    Jacob responds and says why did you bring all this trouble on me by telling the guy that you had another brother? Can you hear him? He’s whinging. He’s going. Why’d you tell the truth boys? Like he should have just lied. OK babe. And that’s their response, verse 7, they all of them and feel this, this is a different person, each saying a statement.

50. 21:34

    They, the man questioned us thoroughly. One person would say and and as about ourselves and about our family, Someone else would say someone else would say, is your father alive? And someone else would say, what about your brother? He answered us this way. How could we possibly know that he was going to say bring your brother down? Can you imagine that these ten brothers all chiming in going, Dad, you just can’t work like that. But who’s the leader in these conversation? Judah started it.

51. 22:02

    They all chimed in when it was easy. See his positive leadership. Now who’s next? Verse 8. Then Judah said to his dad. Judah’s the one who’s taking the lead in this situation and his good leadership is helping his brothers to man up in the process. Stick up on the screen. Judah said to Israel, his father.

52. 22:26

    He says, Dad, send the lad with me. That guy’s over 30 years old. He’s no boy, but he prefers to him in a very loving, caring way.

53. 22:48

    Dad, send the lad, the lad that your whole life is wrapped up in, send him with me and Jacob. But look at him and go.

54. 23:06

    And then he says we will arise and go so that we, Dad, all of us, may live and not die. It’s serious, Dad. We can’t muck around. We’re going to die if we don’t act on this. We’ve delayed for long enough.

55. 23:22

    We’ll go and get food for us and you and the little ones. Who are those little ones? They’re the kids that Judah didn’t want to have, but they play an important part in his priorities now. He didn’t want those twins, he didn’t expect them to come into his life. And now he knows what it’s like to love children that he never intended or wanted to have. Like his dad struggled with.

56. 24:10

    He thought, and now he knows that dad actually didn’t struggle. Dad just didn’t have a life in perspective. Dad was learning too. And Judas growing up and he’s demonstrating empathy in the situation. Can you see that? Just the little details that are written in, he couldn’t, he didn’t have to say that. He could have just talked about we’ll get food for all of us, for all the families.

57. 24:52

    Well, how can a judo respond or so how can a Jacob respond to a situation like that? You know, I imagine Judah stepping forward and being like that doting uncle who would provide for and look after his younger nephew or something like that. There’s quite an age difference between the two of them. Just imagine what it would be like. And Judah says to his dad, he says, I myself, that’s ownership repeating it.

58. 25:25

    I’ll take it personally. I’ll own every bit of this. I’m going to pledge security for him. You can hold me liable if I do not bring him back to you and place him here before you. I’ll bear that blame for the rest of my life. There’s no wheeze in that, is there? He shares it all the other times. I’ll own this one bud.

59. 25:56

    In fact Dad, I will pledge security of my life. You know, last time Judah pledged his identity and his life was for a one night stand and now he’s doing it for the next most loved, favoured brother-in-law and he’s putting his life on the line for him and he’s saying I’ll bear the blame to you Dad, for the rest of my life.

60. 26:37

    What’s the blame? The blame is he knows what he’s done before. He knows what’s happened to the last son. We can prove this context. We don’t have time to do it. We can see that all ten of those older brothers know that this is happening because of what they did to Joseph. They say that themselves.

61. 26:58

    I’ll give you the reference. It’s in chapter 42 and verse 21. We’re being punished because of our brother, but we don’t want to go there. Let’s not get distracted.

62. 27:07

    That’s all talk though. And I want you to think about this. Judas standing there saying that to his dad, and that’s talk. And Judas good at talking. He’s got to act, He’s got to follow through on this. It’s easy to stand there or sit here in these seats and make commitments about how we’re going to respond when we get put in the situation. That’s tough when you’re in the situation, it’s different, right?

63. 27:32

    And that’s what we’re going to see in the rest of our study. So Jacob, in the typical Jacob way, packs up a whole bunch of gifts and says, all right, if that’s what it has to be, then take the gifts and and your brother and go and get us some food. And the rest of the chapters filled out all that story of them packing up, preparing all these gifts, going down into Egypt to face up to this Egyptian rule. And we know the story.

64. 27:58

    The Egyptian ruler welcomes the brothers in and basically rolls out the red carpet for them, provides for their camels and their asses and washes their feet and brings them in for a nice royal meal. Great times. I mean, we’re in the final verses of chapter 43, they sat down and verse 40 or chapter 44 three and a verse 3 spit it out 43 verse 33 says they sat before him, arranged by order of birth, beginning with the first born Reuben and ending with the youngest Benjamin. So when you think about this, why is this happening? Because the men looked at each other at this moment in astonishment, like how the heck does an Egyptian know our age order to see us all in that order? Is this guy magic?

65. 28:58

    Can he divine? Which is probably going through your head that talks about this thing that Joseph says. I can certainly divine. Joseph’s not into black magic, let’s be really clear. But Egypt is. So Egypt talks like that, and Joseph’s using the idea of I know stuff about you to freak these boys out.

66. 29:22

    He’s saying I know your ages, boys. I know where you’ve been, I know what you’re doing, and I know what you’re thinking is what we’re going to see.

67. 29:36

    That’s all he’s doing. He’s not actually saying he can do magic, but what he’s trying to do is show them that he has an all knowing understanding of their life. He’s trying to help them understand what God does in our life. He’s trying to make them aware of an all powerful being that has a powerful influence and control over their life. So by these little events he’s creating his authority for what’s going to happen with the cup. So he lines them all up and there’s a whole load of good food, good wine, and at the end that favoured Benjamin Feller gets five times as much stuff.

68. 30:28

    And 20 years ago all the brothers would have gone typical and had a few words to say under their breath, right? Not this time. And that’s what Joseph was doing. He was watching carefully as that food rolled out and as the five servant loads came and dropped all the stuff in front of Benjamin and kept pandering to him and kept bringing him out some new special release of wine and offering it to him first. He’s watching the rest of the brothers to go. He’s resentful about that.

69. 31:03

    Not a response. But growing up, it’s not just judo, they’re all growing up. The problem is they drink a little bit too much and, and hey, let’s be fair, let’s be real. Joseph hasn’t seen his brothers for 20 something years. He hasn’t had a birthday with his family for 2223, maybe 24 years.

70. 31:28

    He’s been hanging out for this time, but he can’t reveal himself yet. But he just wanted to spend some time with the brothers that he loved. Forgive him. But it was part of the strategy was to just get them a little bit intoxicated so they didn’t quite know what they were saying. And they’d speak their real thoughts and their real mind, and they’d say what was going through their deepest emotions.

71. 32:01

    And if they thought that’s a pretty cool cup should make that no one had taken notice or remember you see his strategy. Joseph is a genius in just the way he orchestrates this event.

72. 32:19

    We know the story 44 verse 1. He instructs A servant put the the silver cup into the sack, the special cup and he packs them all up with all their food and off the boys go. And you can imagine they would be just like such a relief for Judah. There’d be a spring in his steps as he’s like, let’s get back home, We’re done.

73. 32:46

    Benjamin’s safe. We’re loaded with food. This is too good to be true. And it was because there’s the servant chasing them down, bailing them up, saying, what are you boys thinking? Why would you in the world consider to steal from the man who was so kind to you last night? Verse 6, Chapter 44, The man overtook them. He spoke these words to them and they answered. And they said, why does my Lord say these things? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing. Look, the money we found in our sacks we brought back double. Why would we steal silver or gold? If one of us has done it, we’ll all die. Their language is so over the top because they think they’re true men, but they’ve never been proven on that point and their test is about to happen.

74. 33:49

    The cup is found after all. The boys dropped their sacks and opened them all up, and you can imagine Judah was probably the first. He’s like totally confident. Look, it’s not here, so you’re fine. We don’t have it. Not going through every single one of them. All the bags are open, and understandably, Benjamin’s the youngest.

75. 34:09

    He was probably told to do Benjamin’s last. The anticipation would have grown. And there’ll be. No, it’s good. It’s only Benjamin’s. Left, right. Start loading up. It’s only Benjamin’s. It’s good. Oh, stuff.

76. 34:29

    What would you say? You’re standing there with your bags of sack, with your sacks of grain. And that special boy Benjamin, to all intents, to all forms of evidence, proof, is a thief. He stole a silver cup. It’s in his bag. It’s found.

77. 34:55

    What do you do? What can you do? They tore their clothes. Last time those boys talked or saw clothes got torn, it was Jacob over Joseph’s, and each one owned the responsibility. They loaded up their donkeys and they returned to the city and Judah led the procession. Can you feel that? Feel the Bible?

78. 35:27

    So careful. They’re all in, but Judah takes the lead in this situation. Now, I want you to understand what’s going on here because it’s so easy for them at this point to have gone well. Benjamin, it is what it is. Mate. You stole a cup. That was dumb. We’re out. 22 years ago, they would have. They would happily have left Benjamin or Joseph in trouble and walked away.

79. 35:57

    Not now, not now. Let’s continue our story, he says in verbal. We’ve read to verse. We’re up to verse 14. So Judah and his brothers came back to Joseph’s house and he was still there. Well, it’s almost a mute point. Just think about what Judah was doing while those boys packed up and had gone off, while he waited for his servant to do the ACT and to bring them back.

80. 36:27

    What was Joseph doing? We don’t have time to talk about Joseph. You think about that. They come in and they throw themselves down on the ground, all 11 of them. And Joseph would look at that and he’d go, Yep, that’s another one of those dreams. The rest are going to be fulfilled. Not proudly, reassuringly. 10 bad last time, 11 this time.

81. 36:48

    There’s more to go. Let’s keep going. In the process of what we have to do. This is God’s plan and his response is verse 15. What did you think you’re doing? Don’t you know that a man like me can divine? And this is my point. What he’s trying to do is teach these boys that he’s all powerful and he knows stuff about them and learn to live with an awareness of an all powerful being in your life.

82. 37:14

    That’s what we need to do. That’s what he’s trying to teach the boys, his older brothers. Verse 16 and Judah replied, Judah takes the lead and break it down into three sentences or three phrases that show his utter speechlessness. What can we say? What can we speak?

83. 37:47

    How can we clear ourselves? You feel that he’s lost for words. He really is. This is not planned. This is not orchestrated by him like the gift was that they brought last night’s where everything went to plan, everything went well. They’ve just had their rug pulled out from under them and they’re making it up as they go along.

84. 38:10

    This is raw, this is real, and they’re just having to roll with it as it happens. 20 years ago, they would have walked off and not cared that now they’re true men. They’re looking at things differently. They’re realizing that they’ve been given another opportunity. And so they’re all facing up to this situation.

85. 38:28

    They’re standing there and looking this ruler in the eye, and the ruler responds to them. Oh no, sorry, we never finished up here. Three things of his speechlessness. And then he connects the idea that God has exposed the sin of your servants. He’s not just thinking about a silver cup. He knows the real thing that’s going on.

86. 38:55

    They’ve been talking about this. The real sin is what they did to their brother. We are now, my Lord, slaves. We and the one in whose possession the cups found. That’s total overkill. All the ruler wants is the one. And listen to his response. He’s like, no, no, no, no, don’t work like that. I’m the ruler here.

87. 39:11

    You don’t call the shots. You’re the guys that stole from me. I’m the ruler. This is how it’s going to be. Joseph says, to far be it for me to do this. I just want that guy, the man in whose hand the cup was found, He’s the one that’s going to be my slave. And he’s watching their eyes.

88. 39:28

    He’s watching every single one of them’s emotions and responses, and particularly the guy that’s standing there with his arm around Benjamin. Just God, don’t pick on him. And he’s watching his reaction. Because the rest of you, you can go home. It’s all good guys. Don’t worry. You can go home in peace.

89. 39:57

    And Judah’s like, no, no, can’t do that. I can’t go home and I can’t go home in peace, because there’s no peace when you have a guilty conscience for 25 years of your life. There’s not a hope that Judy was going to walk away from that moment.

90. 40:24

    He knows what it’s like to have a guilty conscience to his dad. And so Joseph steps up. He steps up to defend his brother. And he says, my Lord, my Lord, please, please, just please let me explain things. Can you imagine the situation? This speech is incredible. It’s like a masterpiece that’s been compared to Shakespeare as a Hebrew literacy piece. All right.

91. 40:59

    It’s amazing the way it’s constructed. We don’t have time to look at that. But it’s when you feel it, feel him as the appeals to this random ruler in Egypt. It’s raw, it’s uncut, it’s unplanned. It’s just off the the emotions are just rolling unexpected. He’s speaking from the heart and he’s just saying it’s as it is. And he says, please let me just speak a word to let me just approach you and just talk gently, logically to your heart. Don’t get angry with me, your servant. I’m your servant.

92. 41:36

    I’m not trying to challenge you. Don’t get angry with me. You are like God. Pharaoh is God in Egypt. That’s what Joseph was trying to achieve by his whole divination track or technique. He was trying to get them to feel that he knew everything was under control and knew what was going on, like God does in our lives, he says.

93. 42:04

    I understand that you are like God and so I’m going to communicate to you like that. He starts then with the truth. He says it started off with my Lord asked his servants see the plural party. He doesn’t own this party because this is he shares this part that’s humble. He says, do you have a father or do you have a brother?

94. 42:38

    The whole speech started off with a little bit unsure what to say, a little bit speechless. And now he’s going to find a rhythm as his speech goes through in the next 17 verses, 17 verses, the longest speech in all of Genesis, he’s going to find this beautiful rhythm. Why? Why is there a rhythm in what Judah’s going to say?

95. 43:08

    Because he’s telling the truth, and the truth works. The truth adds up, and the truth has feeling, it has emotion attached to it, and it works. You tell one lie, you’re forced to tell another. That makes 2 lies. And then suddenly you’re forced to tell 4 lies and you’ve got a problem. You’ve got this deep hole that doesn’t work. When you tell the truth, it works and has an incredible emotional impact on the person you’re admitting that to. And that’s what he’s about to do. He says, you asked me the truth of the situation of how things are back in our family.

96. 43:49

    And we said to my Lord, with truth, we said we have an old father, He’s an old man. And then there’s a young boy who was born when our father was old. There’s a lot of emotion there, isn’t there? There’s there’s a lot of extra facts. And it’s bringing out the Hebrew emotion about the relationship of an old man to his beloved younger son, that boy’s brother.

97. 44:16

    I like the King James that says he’s not. I don’t know what to say because they know they don’t know. But the implication is he’s dead.

98. 44:30

    He’s the only one of his mother’s sons that’s left, and his father’s life is just wrapped up in the lab. Says that later builds to that. But I want you to think about Joseph, who’s listening to this and going, oh, you think I’m dead? Is that what you told that? Is that what that thinks? Oh, so Benjamin is loved.

99. 44:57

    OK, so that is a good relationship. He’s putting all these details together as he’s listening to this speech that’s unraveling in front of him. It’s for Joseph. There would have been so much information coming out in this moment of just intense emotion. He’s trying not to cry. He’s already cried 7 times. And if I cry, forgive me, Joseph’s cried 7.

100. 45:20

     But this is hard to talk about, right? Because it’s such an emotional story. And in that moment, Judah is telling him things that he doesn’t know, and he’s trying to absorb it all. But what he’s also seeing is a very sincere person, a person who’s sensitive to that awkward relationship of his dad, who’s over the top loving his brother. And he’s seeing a love and a care for other people coming out, and he’s seeing how values or relationships are being valued between the brothers.

101. 45:52

     And Joseph’s receiving all these ideas. And he’s going. You’re not actually angry at Dad anymore. OK, this is interesting. And that beloved Benjamin, you’re actually standing up defending him when actually, to all intents and purposes, he looks like a thief. You’ve been surety for him. Oh, you’re going to stand up for him.

102. 46:18

     You’re going to give your life instead of him. Really, all that is going through Joseph’s mind. It’s just too much for him to grasp. I want you to just think for a second and you read this and I give you one minute. We don’t have a lot of time to summarize this speech into a couple of words.

103. 46:34

     Take 30 seconds. Have a read of the 17 verses. There should be 3 or 4 keywords. Jump off the page to you. If you don’t have them colored in, you need to. It is just so important to grasp this. There’s 3 or 4 keywords in the 17 verses from verse 20 to the end of the chapter. Joseph, who’s copying all this emotion, all this information, What are the key ideas that he’s meant to absorb and take away? I struggled like you’re probably doing too. So I fed it into a word cloud, data-driven. It’s not my opinion, it’s here.

104. 47:37

     There’s the keywords in a word cloud. I picked up the 17 verses, copied, dumped it, paste it straight in. What are the important issues in this speech? Dad, actually God, He’s the real father. What’s next?

105. 48:09

     We will ignore thy servant servants. It’s a bit of a problem. This is how raw it is. That’s actually the same thing. So it should be quite big. It’s equally up there with brother. And who’s this? That’s the brother too. Yeah. Just think carefully about this. It’s all about the father and brotherhood, but not brotherhood, General. There’s one special brother out of all of the brothers, and that’s the lad.

106. 48:49

     And then it’s about service. Service. They’re the key ideas that came out in Judah’s speech. Allow me to summarize that for you. The father Jacob’s love to his beloved son Benjamin is understood, valued, and appreciated so much that Judah is willing to be a servant for his brother’s good. Not all the brothers, one brother in particular, think deeply about that. Think very deeply because that is the point and the purpose of life there.

107. 49:52

     Let’s say it that bluntly, because it is. The purpose of our life is wrapped up in our sincere love of the Father because of his special love to his son.

108. 50:11

     And as a result of that, you and I are willing to lay down our life for our brothers because our Father loves his son so much, but his life is wrapped up in the son’s life.

109. 50:37

     And our life is not worth living if that beloved brother is not alive and the father is not happy. You feel that. That’s why this speech is powerful. It’s incredible, the emotional pull. And I can’t do it. I I’d be an absolute mess to talk about that emotionally as a story and present the story. So try not to do it technically incredible. Let me just show it to you in the last two verses or sorry, verse 32.

110. 51:16

     We’ll pick up from there. Here comes the summary in verse 32. Indeed, this is the truth I’m telling you, Joseph, ruler in Egypt, your servant, me, I pledged security for that boy a few years ago. I was happy to give my life for a one night stand, but not anymore. I said to my dad, if I do not bring him back to you, then I’ll bear the blame before my dad for all the rest of my life. So now please, please, please just let me stay instead of the lad.

111. 52:10

     Just let me be the servant. Just let him go. Why? Why is Judah caring so much? It’s not because he cares just about Benjamin. He cares most of all about his dad. He says. How could I go back to my father and the boy’s not with me? I couldn’t do it, he says.

112. 52:35

     Why? Because I couldn’t bear to see the evil that would come upon my father’s face. I saw it 22 years ago. I can’t do it again. That’s what he’s saying. I saw what it did to my dad. I stood beside my dad and I lied through my teeth to him not doing it again. I can’t bear to see the way his face would screw up in pain. And the fact is, he would die this time because his life is bound up in that boy’s life.

113. 53:28

     Do you feel that? And he’d lift his head, and he’d lift his head up and he’d look into the eyes of that Egyptian ruler and he’d see his face start to contort and twitch.

114. 53:54

     He was clearly, I don’t know, agitated. Something is bothering the ruler that I’ve just appealed to. And he wants to know that rule of emotions. He wants to understand the emotional impact that he had upon that ruler. And that is our exhort for the sake.