The Long Awaited Happy Ending
Genesis 43-44 (read 43:1-15)
March 22, 2015
Well, it’s finally here.
I know I’ve been holding you off for about a month now.
Some wanted to see a silver lining
• When Joseph prospered in Potiphar’s house.
• When Joseph found favor in the eyes of the jailor.
• When Joseph was elevated to #2 in Egypt.
And each time I had to tell you that none of those
Were the “happy ending” that Moses was shooting for.
Yes, each of those did represent circumstances for Joseph
That were indeed better than they could have been,
But none of those were what Moses was driving to.
If you write your “hallmark” ending at any of those points
The whole nation of Israel (and your salvation) are dead in the water.
This story was never about Joseph’s deliverance.
This story has always been about Judah’s deliverance.
Why?
Because through Judah would come the Christ
Who would be the savior of the world.
That is why Moses has taken special effort to make sure you see Judah.
He even devoted a chapter, not only to show you Judah’s sinfulness,
But also to establish Judah’s line.
Moses introduced us to Tamar and the son she had named “Perez”,
Who would become the Great, Great (x7) Grandfather of David,
From whom the Christ would be born.
This whole story has been about the salvation of Judah.
So regardless of how bad or good things go for Joseph,
We don’t get our happy ending until Judah gets saved.
This journey has taught us to look beyond
The all too common prosperity gospel mentality.
We are so accustomed to the prosperity gospel and the hallmark channel
That we have come to expect that the story of suffering
Must always have a happy ending.
And in some respect that is true.
The story does have a happy ending, but not always in this life.
God doesn’t settle all of His accounts in this life,
Most of them get settled in eternity.
This story has routinely forced us to see
That our suffering and hardship may indeed have
A much bigger purpose than we could ever imagine.
I think I can confidently say that
• Joseph probably had no idea why God let him be sold into slavery in Egypt.
• Joseph probably had no idea why God let him be falsely accused and imprisoned in Egypt.
• Joseph probably had no idea why God let him be forgotten for over two years in that prison.
• Joseph probably had no idea why God let him so quickly rise to power in Egypt.
I think Joseph probably walked through his hardships
Like you walk through yours.
And very simply that is that we hardly ever know all that God is doing.
THAT IS UNTIL LAST WEEK.
Last week Joseph had a few visitors.
10 of Joseph’s brothers showed up in Egypt wanting to buy bread.
Moses told us that Joseph
“remembered the dreams which he had about them”
Joseph had an “aha” moment.
And all of a sudden the bigger picture came into play.
Neither Joseph’s suffering, nor Joseph’s rise to power
Were really about him in the least.
He wasn’t suffering as a punishment for some wrong
He wasn’t exalted as some reward for doing right
His suffering and exaltation
Were for the purpose of being a deliverer for his family.
It was bigger than him.
God’s purpose was to save the world, not make Joseph happy.
And we have been learning that.
And so all along I have told you repeatedly
That just because Joseph might receive a little good news,
Don’t go to quoting Romans 8:28 or Jeremiah 29:11
I’ve told you over and over that you have yet to see the happy ending.
WELL TODAY, THAT TIME HAS COME.
Today break out those verses.
In fact, let’s look at them real quickly.
Jeremiah 29:10-14 “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’”
We read the whole passage there because I think now
The context will probably mean more to you than perhaps it has before.
We are all familiar with that great promise:
“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’”
But can I remind you about the suffering
That God promised to go along with that verse?
“When seventy years have been completed for Babylon…”
This verse wasn’t written in response
To hardship that God never intended for His people to face.
This verse was written in regard to hardship that God initiated.
That verse was written in response to the Babylonian captivity.
But what you must realize is that
The “welfare” and “future” and “hope” that God was referring to
Was not all about making life better or easier for Israel.
God’s good was far better than that.
“’Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD”
Yes, God did promise to give back the land
Yes, God did promise to restore their possessions
(after all God is not greedy)
But the good was their spiritual good, not their physical good.
Their suffering was for a bigger purpose, namely the salvation of Israel.
Let’s look at the other one we’ve been dying to quote:
TURN TO: Romans 8:18-30
I want you to read that so you will once again recognize
That we are talking about suffering.
It is primarily all the pain and hardship that is associated with
Living in this “sin-stained” fallen world.
And to those hardships Paul says:
(28-30) “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
There again we are promised that the suffering we face
Is for a greater good and the goal is a spiritual one.
Namely that we will be “conformed into the image” of Christ,
And ultimately “glorified”
Which means to be totally free from sin in our lives.
Those great verses do speak of a happy ending,
But they are not to be quoted every time
Bad circumstances get better.
Those verses speak of hardship that result in glory and salvation.
That is why we couldn’t quote them earlier in the Joseph story.
Namely because salvation and glory had not happened.
Oh sure, Joseph’s circumstances could get a little better,
But nothing had changed on an eternal scale.
Until now…
Here comes the beginning of the happy ending you’ve been waiting for.
It is far bigger than making Joseph comfortable or healthy or wealthy
God was working to redeem Israel.
What I want you to see is that for the first time things are starting to look like they are supposed to look.
In these two chapters we are asked to look at four major players.
1) Jacob
2) Joseph’s Brothers
3) Joseph
4) Judah
Now before we look at them here, I need to briefly remind you about
How “out of whack” each of these four groups has become.
Everything we’ve seen regarding these four groups
Has been terribly wrong for quite a while.
Take Jacob.
Sure we saw all the work God did in his life
To take him from Jacob (fighter) to Israel (God fights)
We saw the long process God put him through
To sanctify him and teach him faith.
Jacob was a self-reliant man whom God had to crush
In order to teach Jacob to let God fight his battles.
But ever since Jacob returned to the Promised Land
We’ve seen much more of the old Jacob than we have Israel.
• He has done a terrible job raising his boys
• Favoritism and neglect have succeeded in losing one son and making thugs
out of the rest.
• Jacob has seemingly quit trusting God to fight his battles and is instead just
trying to hold on to what is most important to him.
Then we get to Joseph’s brothers.
And of course you know about what culprits they are.
Oh sure, they think they are honest men,
But Joseph helped them see otherwise last week.
They don’t have the trust of their father,
They don’t even have the trust of each other.
And there is not a soul among them that will sacrifice himself
For the good of one of the others.
They murder towns, they commit adultery, they sell their brother, they are thugs.
They are not the type of men that God can bless.
Then we get to Joseph.
And of course Joseph is a righteous man,
But his life has been all wrong too.
Joseph has been suffering like no man should suffer,
Let alone one as good as Joseph.
His life has been one of pain and hardship.
And even though he is exalted in Egypt,
He is still a slave of Pharaoh
Living in the land that he calls “the land of my affliction”
And finally we’ll look at Judah.
Who can forget Judah?
• Despising the land
• Despising the covenant
• Despising the seed
Marrying a pagan woman, raising wicked sons,
And then sleeping with his daughter-in-law.
Of course we also remember that selling Joseph was Judah’s idea.
He has been the biggest thug of them all.
In short, what we have seen thus far is a family “out of whack”
Everything has been wrong.
No one would look at that family and say, “There is God’s chosen”
“Those are the people on whom God’s favor rests”
Everything has been wrong…but God has been at work.
And this morning, in these two chapters
I want to show you what God has been up to.
So let’s look at each of those four characters and see what God has been doing.
#1 JACOB’S RETURN TO FAITH
Genesis 43:1-15
Now we read that dialogue and without diving too much into the intricacies of it,
YOU SEE THE BIG PICTURE.
When the 9 brothers (minus Simeon) returned from Egypt with food
Jacob would not let them have Benjamin.
Jacob loved Benjamin, he didn’t trust his other sons,
And Jacob actually chose to sacrifice Simeon to keep Benjamin safe.
Jacob was walking in fear, not faith.
But now they are out of food again and Jacob wants to buy more.
And it is worth noting that at the end of chapter 42 Reuben tried to assert himself as the leader of the brothers, but Jacob rejected him.
Here we see a new leader emerge, it is Judah.
And while Reuben offered his sons to Jacob if Benjamin should be harmed,
Judah offered himself.
(8-9) “Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the lad with me and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones. “I myself will be surety for him; you may hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame before you forever.”
Now certainly you recognized that
Judah has decided to rise up and take control.
But Moses is actually giving you a bigger hint here
As to the main point of these few verses.
(8) “Judah said to his father…Israel”
(11) “Then their father…Israel…said to them”
In chapter 42 Moses was calling him Jacob,
Now Moses is calling Him Israel.
Why?
Because Jacob is once again exercising faith.
(13-14) “Take your brother also, and arise, return to the man; and may God Almighty grant you compassion in the sight of the man, so that he will release to you your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”
Sure we’ve been following Joseph and all his troubles in Egypt,
But do you realize that for the last 13+ years
GOD has also been working on Jacob.
Jacob made it back to Canaan and only became concerned with protecting and holding what was most important to him.
• First it was Joseph (and now you are learning why Joseph was selected)
• Then it became Benjamin.
And Jacob wasn’t interested in trusting God.
But God has been squeezing Jacob with a famine
And now Jacob has no choice but to once again trust God.
And Jacob is having to trust God with what is most important to him.
(Do you see the parallel with the story of Abraham and Isaac?)
God wants Jacob to be Israel, and through this story and this famine God has finally pushed Jacob back to faith.
It is much bigger than Joseph’s comfort,
GOD HAS BEEN AT WORK ON JACOB’S FAITH,
And finally Jacob is starting to exercise it again.
Jacob’s Return to Faith
#2 THE BROTHER’S RETURN TO FAVOR
Genesis 43:16-25
For the last 20 years or so
These brothers have not been the type of people that God could bless.
Oh, they may have been Jacob’s sons,
But don’t think for a second that God is going to bless disobedience.
They may be chosen,
But God has to do some major work on them before He will bless them.
What did the writer of Hebrews teach us?
Hebrews 12:7-11 “It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
It mattered to God that these boys be holy
It mattered to God that these boys be righteous
He is not some “ushy gooshy” grandpa
That just smiles at all sorts of mischief as though it is “cute”
He’s a father who disciplines his sons when they get out of line.
Certainly He longs to show favor to His sons,
But He will not show them that favor if it is to their detriment.
So God had to bring those boys to repentance
So they could once again be the type of men He could bless.
And did we not read how He did that last week with Joseph?
Joseph gave them those two tests and through those tests
Those boys learned two very sobering truths about themselves.
They have no integrity
They have no brotherly love
And do you remember their response to those revelations?
It was remorse and a recognition of judgment.
Genesis 42:21 “Then they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.”
Now you will remember that chapter 42 said
That Joseph understood them and he actually rewarded their remorse.
How?
He gave their money back and put it in the mouth of their sack.
In chapter 43 we find out what that was.
The boys are afraid that they are in trouble and they actually go to Joseph’s house servant to try and explain.
But notice the servant’s answer:
(23-24) “He said, “Be at ease, 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. Then the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys fodder.”
What was the explanation as to why their money was returned?
“Your God, the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks”
God has shown favor on you.
Wow! That must have been a shock to them.
It has been quite some time since they had felt God’s favor.
(Their lives were all about guilt and condemnation)
But God wasn’t just at work on Joseph,
God was also working to shape those boys
Into the type of people who could once again receive God’s favor.
They had to be disciplined to start being the sons God intended.
That is something else that God has been up to.
• He has been returning Jacob to faith
• He has been returning the brothers to a position of favor
This is far more than just making Joseph comfortable,
God has been working out the greater good!
Jacob’s Return to Faith, The Brothers Return to Favor
#3 JOSEPH’S REALIZATION OF FULFILLMENT
Genesis 43:26-34
Now I have told you that this story is not all about Joseph,
But that doesn’t mean that God hasn’t been working for him as well.
Joseph has paid an enormous price for the deliverance of his brothers.
• He has walked a continuous bitter road
• Hatred, slavery, prison
Joseph’s life has been no bed of roses,
But here God brings something amazing to Joseph.
GOD GIVES FULFILLMENT TO JOSEPH’S SUFFERING.
Well didn’t he already have that?
No
Yes Joseph was exalted, but he was exalted in the land of his affliction.
Don’t you remember him giving his sons Hebrew names?
Don’t you recall that he wants his bones to leave Egypt?
If you think Joseph felt fulfilled in Egypt and that all of his suffering was worth it, you are gravely mistaken.
Did you not notice that important piece of information Moses reminded you of in verse 32?
(32) “So they served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is loathsome to the Egyptians.”
• Don’t get too comfortable in Egypt.
• This is not a happy place.
• They hate Hebrews…Joseph could not be at home here.
He was anything but fulfilled.
Until today…
• Today, he saw his younger brother…still alive
• Today, he received news that his father was alive and well
• Today, he knew his brothers had turned a corner in their integrity
And today, Joseph wept tears of joy.
Finally, today, his suffering was worth it.
Today he realized what it had all been for.
His family was delivered and finally the price seemed worth it.
It is like we read of the crucifixion and suffering of Jesus:
Isaiah 53:11 “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.”
The deliverance of His people made His suffering worthwhile. It satisfied him.
And that is true here for Joseph.
God didn’t just throw a little money and comfort at Joseph and say, “There, now don’t you feel better?”
No, God showed Joseph that his suffering was for a great purpose.
Joseph was being used to deliver his family and that was great fulfillment.
God was up to something big!
Jacob’s Return to Faith, The Brothers Return to Favor
Joseph’s Realization of Fulfillment
And here is the big one
#4 JUDAH’S RISE TO FAITHFULNESS
Genesis 44:1-34
Here is the moment we’ve been waiting for…
Now you will notice that Joseph isn’t through with the tests.
There is one more big one.
1) He eats with his brothers and purposely lavishes great abundance on Benjamin.
I think he is baiting the trap to see if his brothers still become easily jealous.
They didn’t like Joseph because he was favored,
Let’s see if they’ll turn on Benjamin too.
2) So Joseph sets a trap and puts a silver cup in Benjamin’s sack and sends them away…then sends his servant after them.
3) The brothers are initially offended, but then wouldn’t you know it, there it is in Benjamin’s sack.
AND THERE IS THE TEST.
They have their grain
And if they haven’t changed,
They’ll let Benjamin go and save their own skin.
But these brothers are different, they return to Egypt with Benjamin
(Do you notice the clear contrast to the Joseph story earlier?)
And the real change is seen in Judah,
Who has now assumed his position as the new head of the family.
(16) “So Judah said, “What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? And how can we justify ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both we and the one in whose possession the cup has been found.”
There are no lies or excuses in Judah now.
He is facing up to his sin and facing up to his condemnation.
And then at the end of his speech, we see Judah’s self-sacrifice.
(33-34) “Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad 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 — for fear that I see the evil that would overtake my father?”
• Judah is honest about his sin…
• Judah cares about his father…
• Judah loves his brother…
• Judah is sacrificing himself for another…
Judah has finally become the patriarchal leader God intended him to be.
DO YOU SEE IT NOW?
• With Abraham it was ventures with Egypt and Abimelech and Hagar and Ishmael, and God used it all to transform him.
• With Isaac it was Abimelech and Rebecca’s barren womb, and God used it to change him.
• With Jacob it was Laban and Esau and all that time tending the flocks and God used it to change him.
• With Judah it was Joseph and guilt and famine and God used it to change him.
This story isn’t about how Joseph suffered
And God eventually brought him to power and made it all ok.
This story is about how God, in His magnificent providence,
Transformed the entire nation of Israel, specifically Judah,
And preserved the line through which Jesus would come.
• The point of this story is not Joseph’s forgiveness
• The point of this story is not Joseph’s exaltation
• The point of this story isn’t even Judah’s salvation
THE POINT OF THIS STORY IS GOD’S PROVIDENCE
TO CAUSE ALL THINGS TO WORK TOGETHER TO HIS GOOD PURPOSE
Don’t claim victory just because Joseph rose to power.
THAT IS SO FAR SHORT OF WHAT GOD WAS DOING.
God’s plan was much bigger!
So now go back and read those two verses a little differently:
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”
Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
• God just restored Jacob’s faith
• God just revived those brothers to a point of favor
• God just revealed to Joseph what his suffering accomplished
• God just redeemed Judah to be the next patriarch
And quite frankly, when Joseph was being led off in chains,
We never even saw that coming.
Romans 11:33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
