I've entitled this message, The
Surety. That's a word we don't use very
often, so I want to make sure that we understand as best as
we can what that word means, what it means to us, what it
means about the Lord Jesus, and what it means to God's glory
and our salvation in Him. So let's ask the Lord to be with
us. Dear Heavenly Father, we pray
that you would be with us from your word and you would speak
from your word to our hearts and conscience and convince us,
Lord. By nature, we love our works
and we hate your grace. Lord, we pray you would turn
our hearts, turn our hearts so that we would not have this heart
of stone that we're so inclined to, but a heart of flesh softened
by your grace taught to see and know and love the Lord Jesus
and to look upon him and to look for no other but trust him entirely
and find all of our salvation in him, all of our assurance
and all of your glory in our salvation. Thank you for this
grace and for your word that so illustrates his amazing person
and work in the life of Joseph. In his name we pray, amen. It says in Genesis 42-44, it
gives us a detailed account of how Joseph, if you recall, was
in Egypt. If you remember, God had seen
to it to bring Joseph down into Egypt. He did that by the hatred
his brethren had for him, by their envy. And they conspired
to murder him and actually sold him as a slave to Egypt. And
he went there as a servant to another man and served that man
faithfully. God made everything he did prosper. God makes everything the Lord
Jesus did prosper. He can't fail. He's successful
in all that he did. And so we also saw that while
he was there serving Potiphar, that he was falsely accused and
therefore sent to prison and there in prison suffered. For
crimes he didn't commit, just like our Lord Jesus was accused
falsely and suffered for crimes that he didn't commit. And then
while he was in prison, some of the king's prisoners were
put there, some of the king's officers were put in prison.
And Joseph was given charge over them. And the two officers, the
butler and the baker, had a dream. If you remember, the butler in
his dream saw that he had been released from prison in order
to give the cup back into Pharaoh's hands. So he squeezed the juice
from the grapes and brought that to Pharaoh and Pharaoh accepted
him and he was restored to his butlership. Which from the context
there taught us that we are saved by free grace because of the
blood of Christ. We bring the cup that God has
put into our hand, that cup of faith in Christ, and we bring
the salvation that He put in that cup to Him, and only by
that are we accepted. But the butler, if you recall,
took a basket of pastries that he had made in a basket full
of holes, and the birds of the air ate those pastries because
no man can come to God by his own works. And so, by the interpretation
that Joseph gave of those dreams which God gave to him, He had
proved that God was with him. So when the butler was released
from prison and restored to his butlership, and Joseph had asked
the butler, make sure you remember me and mention me to Pharaoh.
Because I was put here in this place unjustly. And so when the butler got out,
he forgot Joseph. But by God's good providence
and his eternal will, Pharaoh also dreamed, and he couldn't
interpret the dream. It was God's message to him.
But even though it was God's message, he had to have an interpreter. And that was Joseph again. He
didn't know Joseph until the butler remembered his faults.
So the coincidence of all these things came together according
to God's perfect time. where the butler remembered Joseph. Joseph, the interpreter by God's
Spirit, was brought out of prison and interpreted Pharaoh's dream.
Because of that interpretation, we saw that God had foretold
that he was going to bring seven years of plenty followed by seven
years of famine. The famine would be so bad that
the plenty would all be forgotten. And of course, Joseph interpreted
that dream that it would mean seven years of, as I said, seven
years of famine, or plenty then, seven years of famine. But in
the interpretation, we also saw how God has dealt with this world.
Sorry, he has deposited in his son eternal promises. Excuse
me. And in Christ, all those promises
are for the salvation of his people. But after those promises
were given to the Lord Jesus Christ and God created this world
perfect and made man upright, man sought out every evil invention.
And so God plagued the world with the consequences that their
sin deserved. He plagued man's heart with the
corruption of that nature that we now have, which is a sinful
nature. And apart from God's grace, we would die in the famine.
But God even saw a fore before that time and determined that
he would save his people. And so Joseph was not only sent
to interpret the dream, but to be the one who was given the
spirit of God and that wisdom to store up the grain in the
seven years of plenty in order that he might feed the people
and save much people alive during the seven years of famine. And
now, the people of Egypt are in the famine and they're coming
to Joseph. Remember, they went to Pharaoh
and they said, we're hungry. And he told them, go to Joseph.
Go to Joseph. If you're hungry, if you need
something, go to him. Only he can give bread. And his
name was Zaphnath-Paeonea because his name meant the savior of
the world or the one in whom the bread of life is. the one
who interprets dreams, and so he is the Lord Jesus, is the
Savior of all those in the world that he saves, throughout the
world, of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. And they
are the ones who come to him, who take the bread of life, his
broken body, and shed blood, and live upon the Lord Jesus
by faith. But now in chapter 42, Jacob It says in verse one, saw that
there was corn in Egypt. And Jacob said to his sons, why
do you look one upon another? That would be a strange thing
to do. There's nothing to eat and they're looking around at
each other, shrugging their shoulders and asking, what are we going
to do? And Jacob had heard that there was corn in Egypt. And
he said, behold, I've heard that there is corn in Egypt. Get you
down thither and buy for us from thence that we may live and not
die. He had heard that there was corn in Egypt because God
had honored Joseph and exalted Joseph. In order that he might
save a people, much people, alive. Just like God honored his son
and exalted his son. In order that he might give repentance
and remission of sins to Israel. In Acts 5.31 it says that. And
so Joseph's ten brethren, it says in verse 3, went down to
buy corn in Egypt. They looked one upon another.
There was no salvation in them. There's only salvation in Christ.
We must look to the Lord Jesus. So they were told by their father,
go down to Egypt and buy corn. That's where God has given Joseph
charge. And you've got to go to him just
like the Jews after the Lord Jesus went to the cross because
they crucified him. And he was raised from the dead.
The Jews had to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ just as the
Gentiles did. Peter said in Acts 15 verse 11,
So here his brethren go down to Egypt. But Benjamin, Joseph's
brother, verse 4, Jacob sent not with his brethren,
for he said, lest peradventure mischief befall him." He knew
that he had lost Joseph and he didn't want to lose Benjamin
also. So he wasn't going to send Benjamin at this time. Verse
5, And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that
came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. And Joseph was
the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the
people of the land. And Joseph's brethren came and
bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
There's only salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. And when we
confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart
that God has raised Him from the dead, and believing unto
righteousness, then the Lord saves us. And that's the way
He saves, through faith in Christ, faith that He gives. And so these
men were driven by the famine. Remember the famine of the consequences
of our sin. They were driven to Joseph in
Egypt who was the governor over all the land just as the Lord
Jesus Christ has been exalted by God as to be a prince and
a savior and give repentance to Israel and to salvation of
the Gentiles as well. Verse 7. And Joseph saw his brethren,
and he knew them, but he made himself strange to them, and
spake roughly to them, and said to them, Whence come ye? And
they said, From the land of Canaan, to buy food. And Joseph knew
his brethren, but they knew him not. Isn't that amazing? How
would you like to be these brothers? You had hated your brother when
he was seventeen, and envied him. and you conspired to kill
him, threw him into a pit, and in the process of figuring out
what to do, you ended up selling him as a slave to slave traders.
And to the best of your knowledge, he had lost his life in the service
of slavery. And so they really in their hearts
knew that they had killed their brother, but they had suppressed
that guilt. And that sin had laid dormant
in them for a long time. And now they stand before Joseph. God had honored and exalted him.
And now he was the one they had to go to for salvation through
this food God had stored up in him. And then it says they didn't
know Him. They didn't know Him. Because
sinners don't know Christ until God makes Him known to us. Until Christ makes Himself known.
We can't see Him. We're blind. We don't have any
understanding. We won't come to Him that we
might be saved. In fact, in 2 Timothy 2.25 we
actually oppose our own salvation. Because we go about it all the
wrong way. We don't want what God wants,
we want our own rule, we want our own way, our own will, and
we won't submit to the righteousness that's in Christ alone. And so
he says to them, he knew them, he knew what they were, he knew
they were sneaky, conniving, hateful, envying people. And
so what does he do? He actually loves them, but he's
not going to disclose himself immediately. Now what is a spy? A spy is someone
who pretends to be on one mission when he's actually got another
idea in mind. He's trying to discover a weakness
in the land. Egypt had all this corn and bread
and Joseph could easily accuse them of being spies because people
would come to Egypt to see how they could take advantage of
some chink in their armor some place where they could actually
find a weakness and gain the advantage and come in and get
the bread for themselves. So he said, no, you're spies.
You come to see the nakedness of the land because it was a
famine then. Verse 10, And they said to him, Nay, my lord, but
to buy food are thy servants come. We are all one man's sons. We are true men. Thy servants
are no spies. We're not hypocrites. We didn't
come here under pretense. We're true men. Of course, Joseph
knew that wasn't the case, didn't he? Now, in this one thing, they
seemed true. They were sincere in the fact
that they had only come for food. And it was true, they were the
children, the sons of one man. And it's also true that they
didn't come there to be spies. But it wasn't true that they
were all true men. And he said to them, Nay, but
to see the nakedness of the land you are come. Remember when Jesus
sat at the well in Samaria and that woman came to the well and
he asked her for a drink and she said, Why are you asking
me? I'm a woman and I'm of Samaria. And he said to her, If you knew
the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, give me to
drink, you would have asked him. And he would have given you living
water. And of course then this dialogue
ensues where she tries to ask him questions and sort of gets
around who she really is. And he finally puts the finger
on the issue. He says, go call your husband.
And she said, I don't have a husband. It's true, you don't. But you
have had five husbands and the man you're living with now is
not your husband. And so she realized that he was
the Messiah because he made known to her that he knew her. And
so, Joseph is making this known to them, that he knows them,
even though they don't know him. He's going to expose their sin
to them, make their conscience sensitive to it, because this
is the first step in God's saving grace. Verse 13, and they said,
It's interesting that they would say that. One is not. He's no
longer in the land of the living, they thought. And, of course, Benjamin was
with Jacob. Verse 14, And Joseph said to them, That is it that
I speak to you, saying, You are spies. In other words, the defense
you just gave to me that you're all brethren, sons of one man,
one son at home and another out somewhere, maybe dead. He says,
You've left enough suspicion in that reply that your defense
is not going to hold. What I said is the way it is.
You're spies. Verse 15, Hereby ye shall be proved by the life
of Pharaoh, ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother
come hither. The only way they were going
to see him, the only way they were going to be proved that
they were not spies, and that they were true men, is to bring
their brother to Joseph. That's interesting that Joseph
would do that. Because it was the very thing
that they had done against him that proved that they were false
men. They had sent their brother down the river, as it were, to
Egypt. Sold him into Egypt. They had
essentially killed their brother by their conspiracy for their
hatred. And now Joseph is saying the only way that you're going
to be proven that you're true is to bring your other brother
here. That's showing a couple of things. First of all, Joseph wanted to
see Benjamin. And he also knew that in order to bring their
brother there, they would also have to bring their father there.
And he wanted to see his father again. He wanted to see Benjamin.
And he wanted to see them all together. He had a motive here
in his plan. And so he says to them, verse
16, "...send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and
you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved,
whether there be any truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh,
surely you are spies." So he asked them, you pick out someone
amongst you and send him home. I'm going to leave the rest of
you here, and if you don't do this, if you don't prove to me
that you have another brother, that you're all the sons of one
man, Then, by the life of Pharaoh, you're spies. And you know the
penalty for spies. You're going to die. So they
were under the sentence of death. They were under the sentence
of death for a charge they couldn't clear themselves. That they were
hypocrites and they were there on an ulterior motive. They weren't
there as true men, but spies. Verse 17. And he put them all
together into ward three days in the prison. And Joseph said
to them, the third day, this do and live, for I fear God.
So after three days, evidently they couldn't come up with one
of them to send home, so he brought them out of prison in three days.
And he tells them, I fear God. Now, in saying, I fear God, what
is he doing? He's telling them that I'm a
just man. David said in 2 Samuel, he that
ruleth Men must be just, and so Joseph is proving to them
he's a just man. He fears God. For them, this
was amazing that there would be someone in Egypt that fears
their God. But it actually would make them
fear more. Because now here's a man who's
doing justice according to God's rule. And what does that mean
for them? It means that they're going to
have to face the consequences of their sin against their brother
Joseph. And so they knew right away, this does not look good
for us. And he says in verse 19, If you
be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house
of your prison. Go ye, carry corn for the famine
of your houses. So he's showing them that he's
a just man. He's fair. You take this corn,
otherwise I know your families will die. But bring your younger
brother unto me, so shall your words be verified, and you shall
not die. See, there's the punishment for
a spy. You'll die. And they did so.
They left one of their brothers there. Which was going to be
Simeon. It says in verse 21, And they
said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother,
and that we saw the anguish of his soul, and he besought us,
and we would not hear him. Therefore is this distress come
upon us. See what they're doing? They're confessing. They had
heard Joseph crying to them in the anguish of his soul, and
they would not hear him. Who else cried in the anguish
of his soul when there was none to hear but the Lord Jesus Christ? It says in Isaiah 53, he is rejected
of men, despised and rejected of men. He cried but no one heard
him. Reuben, who was the oldest of
Jacob's sons, answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you,
saying, Do not sin against the child, and you would not hear?
Therefore, behold, his blood is required. What is Reuben saying
here? Well, it's true that Reuben told
them, Don't kill him, but put him into a pit, but he was gone,
and then they sold him, and he came back, and he was gone. Reuben
didn't do what he was given to do, which was take care of Joseph.
Jacob had trusted Joseph to Reuben, and Reuben failed. And what is
he doing? He's shifting the blame. Why
did you do that, he said. I told you not to. And now, his
blood is required of us. He's the man of the flesh, always
shifting the blame and looking for a way to get out of owning
his own fault. There's only one way of salvation.
It's to own ourselves as sinners before God. And find that God
in Christ has punished our sins. Verse 23, And they knew not that
Joseph understood them, for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
So Joseph is hearing their conversation. Discussing how they murdered
him, or at least sold him into slavery. And that his blood,
they thought that he had died, his blood is required from us.
And so he turned himself about from them and wept. He wept. You see, Joseph was for them.
But he couldn't be for them in justice. until something else
happened. Joseph could not make himself
known to them until something happened, until a surety was
found. And that's why I've entitled
this message, Assurity. And so, it goes on. Joseph gives
them corn. I'm not going to read all this.
He sends them on their way. On their way, they discover that
the money that they took to buy the corn is back in their sacks.
And they're afraid. And in verse 25, it came to pass
as they emptied their sacks, that behold, every man's bundle
of money I'm sorry, I skipped an important part. It says in
verse 29, They came to Jacob their father to the land of Canaan,
and told him all that befell them, saying, The man who is
the lord of the land spake roughly to us, and took us for spies
of the country. And we said to him, We are true
men, we are no spies. We be twelve brethren, sons of
our father. One is not, and the youngest
is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. Remember,
they had told Jacob, their father, when they came back from selling
Joseph that he was... Do you know whose coat this is?
And he recognized it? They pretended that something
had happened to Joseph and they tried to comfort him with this
false story. These men were deceitful, weren't
they? Verse 33. And the man, they tell Jacob
now, the man, the lord of the country, said to us, Hereby shall
I know that you are true men, leave one of your brethren here
with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and
be gone, and bring your youngest brother to me. Then shall I know
that you are no spies, but that you are true men, so will I deliver
you your brother, and you shall traffic in the land." Simeon,
remember, was in prison now. Joseph was holding him there
until they came back. He had to have something to get him
to come back there. They were going to die because
of the famine. But if they came back to Joseph without Benjamin,
they couldn't get any food, so they're going to die. And they
would be taken as spies. They'd all be put into prison
and die that way. So they were in a pickle. Verse 35, It came
to pass, as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's
bundle of money was in his sack. And when both they and their
father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. And Jacob their
father said to them, Me, you have bereaved of my children.
Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and you will take Benjamin
away. All these things are against
me. It's true, these boys had done
these things. And yet, he didn't see beyond
that. He didn't yet have the sight,
the God-given sight by faith to see that Joseph's dreams would
be fulfilled. And that all this was to bring
him back to Joseph and Joseph to him, to Jacob. Verse 37, And
Reuben spake to his father, saying... Because Jacob was not going to
send Benjamin with these guys. So Reuben steps forward again,
he says, "...slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee, deliver
him to my hand, and I will bring him to thee again." And Jacob
said, "...my son shall not go down with you, for his brother
is dead." In other words, you're the one I trusted Joseph to,
and you didn't bring him back, he's dead. And he is left alone. If mischief befall him by the
way, that is Benjamin is the only one left. If mischief befall
him by the way in the which you go, then shall you bring down
my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. In other words, I
won't have any joy until the day of my death. I'll die in
sorrow because of the loss of Joseph and Benjamin and now Simeon. And so in 43, this is the setup. You see how God is setting it
up? Here's the setup. Here are men who are guilty.
guilty of murder, hate in their heart, murder in their heart,
envy. And their dad knows that they're unfaithful men. They're
not true men. They pretend to be true men,
but they were accused of being spies because Joseph knew them.
And he had to make them understand that in their conscience that
they were guilty and worthy to die. And they had no hope. That's the only way a sinner
will look to Christ. Unless he has no strength and
no hope. But in Christ, we will not look.
And so in chapter 43, God is going to reveal something He
had always ordained. And this is what the next two
chapters are about. The surety. Verse 1, And the
famine was sore in the land, and it came to pass, when they
had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their
father said to them, Go again, buy us a little food. And Judah
said to him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us,
saying, You shall not see my face, except your brother be
with you. If thou wilt send our brother
with us, we will go down and buy thee food. But if thou wilt
not send him, we will not go down. For the man said to us,
You shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. And
Judah wasn't going to go down there and his brothers. We're
going to die for sure if we go down without Benjamin. Now that's
the dilemma. We've got a problem here. No
food, no life, no Benjamin. Can't get food, can't live. Something's
got to happen here. And the solution didn't seem
obvious. Israel said, wherefore dealt
you so ill with me as to tell the man whether you had a brother?
And he said, the man asked us straightly of our state and of
our kindred, saying, is your father yet alive? Have you another
brother? And we told him, according to
the tenor of these words, could we certainly know that he would
say, bring your brother down? And then we see this interjection
of divine wisdom and prophecy in verse 8. And Judah said to
Israel his father, listen to these words so carefully, send
the lad with me. And we will arise and go, that
we may live and not die, both we and thou, and also our little
ones. I will be surety for him. Of my hand shalt thou require
him. If I bring him not unto thee,
and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever."
Assurity. That's an interesting word, isn't
it? What is assurity? Assurity is someone who takes
responsibility to one for another. Judah is taking responsibility
to Jacob for Jacob's son, Benjamin. I'll bring him back. I'll bring
him back. If I don't bring him back, then
I'll bear the blame forever. I will bear the blame. Not your
two grandsons. Not my two sons. I will bear
the blame. Because we cannot live unless
we bring Benjamin down. The only way that Jacob would
release Benjamin and the only way Joseph would give them food
is if there was a surety to allow Jacob the assurance that his
son would be returned and the surety would be able to stand
before Joseph. and plead Benjamin's release.
That's what the surety is doing here. On the one hand, he's taking
full responsibility to Jacob for Benjamin. I'll bring him
back. And this assurance he gave to his father was enough to allow
Jacob to let Benjamin go with him. And on the other hand, he's
going to stand before Joseph for Benjamin again. He's a surety.
A surety is someone who takes full responsibility for another.
I'll do whatever it takes, whatever the law demands, whatever it
requires, whatever justice demands, I'll provide it. Whatever the
payment laid on him, I'll pay it. And so he's going to do this
as a surety for his brother. These are the most precious words
in all of scripture that God would find and appoint and provide
and accept a surety. One man for all of his people. A surety for his son. for his
sons by adoption. This is speaking of a much greater
and much more eternal truth than the simple historical account
here. This is speaking about the eternal
transaction that took place between God the Father and God the Son
before time began. When God the Father, considering
his sons by eternal adoption, they had not yet been created,
knowing they would fall into the mischief of sin and under
the consequence of their sin. would not allow his sons to stand
before justice without a surety. And then the Lord Jesus Christ
approached his father and engaged his heart and offered himself
to God for his people to be their surety to bring them again to
God. And he says, I will be surety
for the lad, for them, for God's lads, for his sons. That's why
God entrusted his people to the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father
trusted his sons of adoption to his Son as our surety, our
mediator. He stood before God when we weren't
there and couldn't stand. And he spoke for us as our surety.
In Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse 21, it says, I will cause him
to draw near, this is God speaking in prophecy, and he shall approach
to me. For who is this that engaged
his heart to approach to me, saith the Lord? I know who it
is, the Messiah. The mediator, the one who made
himself a surety by obligating himself in full responsibility
under the law for his people. I'll be surety. And Judah said
in Genesis 43 verse 10, For except we had lingered, surely now we
had returned this second time. And their father Israel said
to them, If it must be so, now do this. Take of the best fruits
of the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present,
a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds,
and take double money in your hand, and the money that was
brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in
your hand. Per adventure, it was an oversight." Did Joseph
want the present, the balm, the honey, the spices, the myrrh,
the nuts, the almonds, and the double money? Did he want that?
No. He only wanted his brother Benjamin. He only wanted his father. He
only wanted his brothers. He wanted to save them alive.
Verse 13. Take also your brother and arise,
go again unto the men. You see how there was this agreement.
Judah made an agreement with his father, Jacob. And Jacob
accepted his pledge. What did Judah pledge to his
father? I will bring him to you or I will bear the blame forever.
He pledged himself and Jacob accepted that pledge of Judah.
This is what God the Father did in eternity. He took the pledge
of his son for his people, and in that pledge, that word of
Christ, he allowed his people to be created in Adam, the Lord
Jesus did create all things by himself, for himself, created
in Adam, they fell in Adam, and then they were brought again
to him in Christ. And this is what God knew, that
by that one pledge, which Christ made voluntarily and willingly,
That he would do, he would fulfill. He couldn't fail. He's the son
of God. None could stop him. His love compelled him. His faithfulness
upheld him. God's own spirit was with him.
And he did it. And so Jacob says, take also
your brother and arise and go again to the man. And God Almighty
give you mercy before the man. You see, where's the mercy found
from God? It's found from God through the
surety. And then he goes on, that you,
that he may send away your older brother and Benjamin. If I be
bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. Here we see Jacob's
unbelief again. And the men took that present
and they took double money in their hand. And Benjamin rose
up and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. And when
Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house.
You know, you could almost feel the excitement when Joseph saw
Benjamin. How long it had been, I don't
know. It had been probably, who knows, a long time. As long as
that grain he had given them last time lasted. And when Joseph
saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring
these men home, and slay and make ready, for these men shall
dine with me at noon. And the man did as Joseph bade,
and the man brought the men into Joseph's house. And the men were
afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house. And they
said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks, at
the first time we are brought in, that he may seek occasion
against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen and our
asses. Joseph showed them kindness,
and they could only think that it was retribution. That's the way guilt does. We
know that we're guilty, so we think all of God's goodness is
somehow leading up to the big hammer. But they didn't know
that Joseph, as governor and judge, would be merciful to them
as Jacob prophesied. God Almighty give you mercy because
of the surety. And so in verse 19, And they
came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with
him at the door of the house, this is Joseph's servant, and
said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food,
and it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened
our sacks, and behold, every man's money was in the mouth
of his sack, our money in full weight, and we brought it again
in our hand, and other money have we brought down in our hands
to buy food. We cannot tell who put our money
in our sacks. And he said, Peace be to you. Fear not. Your God and the God
of your father hath given you treasure in your sacks. I had
your money. That's what the servant told
them. And he brought Simeon unto them. The steward of Joseph credits
Joseph's God for the blessing on them. You see that? He said,
I had your money, but God, the God of your father, has given
you treasure. Because of Joseph's command.
And verse 24, And the man brought the men into Joseph's house,
and gave them water, and they washed their feet, and he gave
their asses provender. And they made ready for the present,
against Joseph came at noon, for they heard that he should
eat bread there. And when Joseph came home, they
brought him the present which was in their hand into the house,
and bowed themselves to him to the earth. And he asked them
of their welfare, and said, This is Joseph talking to his brothers
now, through an interpreter still. He says, Is your father well,
the old man of whom you spake? Is he yet alive? You can see
Joseph is very concerned about his father. And they answered,
Thy servant our father is in good health, and he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads
and made obeisance. And he lifted up his eyes and
saw his brother Benjamin. his mother's son, and said, Is
this your younger brother, of whom you spake unto me? And he
said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. And Joseph made haste,
for his bowels did yearn upon his brother, and he sought where
to weep. And he entered into his chamber,
and wept. And he washed his face, and went
out, and refrained himself, and said on bread, Can you see? You can feel it, can't you? The
love of Joseph for Benjamin. God the Father loved his son,
and God the Father loved his people because of his son. And
yet, here, the governor, over all the land, loves the same
ones as God the Father. The justice of God, the will
of God, the grace of God, they're all in concert and in agreement
together on God's eternal will to save His people. But nothing
can happen without the surety. In verse 31, "...he washed his
face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Sit on bread. And they sat on for him by himself,
and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians which did eat
with him by themselves. Because the Egyptians might not
eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the
Egyptians. And they sat before him, the firstborn according
to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth. And they
then marveled at one another." Because somehow Joseph knew their
birth order. And they sat before him, I'm
sorry, in verse 34, and he took and sent messes unto them from
before him. But Benjamin's mess was five
times so much as any of theirs. Gave him five times more food
than the rest of them. And they drank and they were
merry with him. So they're all relaxed. And then he commanded
the steward of his house saying, Fill the man's sacks with food,
as much as they can carry. And put every man's money in
his sack's mouth. Somehow Joseph is going to keep
Benjamin. Gotta have him. And then he said, Put every man's
money in his sack's mouth, and put my cup, the silver cup, in
the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did
according to the word that Joseph had spoken. As soon as the morning
was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses. And
when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph
said to his servant, Up! Follow after the men, and when
thou dost overtake them, say to them, Wherefore have you rewarded
evil for good? Is not this it in which my Lord
drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? You have done evil
in so doing. Divineth, it just means I can
see as God sees. I can know things that God knows.
This cup is representative of the fact that God has put me
in this position. And I know I have an understanding
from God. Verse 6, So Joseph's servant
overtook them, and he spake to them these words. And they said
to him, Wherefore saith my Lord these words, God forbid that
thy servant should do according to this thing, Behold the money
which we found in our sack's mouths, we brought it again unto
the out of the land of Canaan. How then should we steal out
of thy Lord's house silver or gold? With whomsoever, now they're
very bold in their righteousness. With whomsoever of thy servants
it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my Lord's
bondmen, we'll be slaves. That's a very brazen thing to
say. Their confidence is in their own innocence, isn't it? We didn't do this. In fact, we're
so confident that you will find us innocent, we will say whoever's
sack you find the cup in, let him die and we'll be all your
slaves. That was a very foolish thing
to say, wasn't it? But that's what they trusted.
They trusted their own integrity. Just like sinners trust their
own righteousness, and on the Day of Judgment all sinners who
trust their own righteousness will be sent away, and the Lord
Jesus will say, Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never
knew you, unless they have a surety. And so he said, Now let it be
according to your words. He with whom it is found shall
be my servant, and you shall be blameless. Then they speedily
took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every
man his sack. And he searched, and began at the eldest, and
left at the youngest, because he knew where it was. And the
cup was found in Benjamin's sack. Then they rent their clothes,
and laid at every man his ass, and returned to the city. And
Judah and his brethren..." Now notice, it's Judah and his brethren. Remember, Judah said, I will
be surety. "...Judah and his brethren came
to Joseph's house, for he was yet there, and they fell before
him on the ground." Just like they planted their faces in the
dirt. "...And Joseph said to them..."
This is Joseph the governor talking. What deed is this that you have
done? What ye not, that such a man
as I can certainly divine? I can see as God sees. Don't
you know that? That would put fear in them,
wouldn't it? And Judah said, What shall we say unto my Lord?
What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity
of thy servants. You see what Joseph had done?
That was his point. All of this was to find out their
iniquity. God has to convince sinners of
what they are never going to be convinced of until God does
it. And the first thing is their sin. Behold, we are my Lord's
servants, both we and he also, with whom the cup is found. And
Joseph said, God forbid that I should do so, but the man in
whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant, and as
for you, get you up in peace to your father. Now listen to
this. These are the most precious words.
Then as all of his brothers were standing there and Judah was
in the crowd, but now Judah steps out of the crowd of his brothers
and comes near to Joseph. He alone comes near to Joseph. The surety by himself, while
the brothers are not coming near, he draws near. Because the surety
is the mediator. The mediator between God and
men is the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone can draw near to God
as our surety. And he alone can come near to
justice as the surety and plead on our behalf. Because that's
what Judah is going to do. He's going to plead for the sinners. For Benjamin. And then Judah
came near unto him and said, O my Lord, let thy servant, I
pray thee, speak a word in my Lord's ears, and let not thine
anger burn against thy servant, for thou art even as Pharaoh.
Now listen to the way that Judah pleads. This is the advocate
for Benjamin. This is the one who's going,
his assurity, obligated himself, taking full responsibility to
Jacob for Benjamin and now he's taking responsibility to Joseph
for Benjamin. The one was the father, the other
is the governor. The one represented God our father,
the other the justice of God in the judgment of the governor.
Judah came near, and he said, O my lord, let thy servant, I
pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine
anger burn against thy servant, for thou art even as Pharaoh.
My lord asked his servant, saying, Have you a father or a brother?
And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and
a child of his old age, a little one, and his brother is dead.
Joseph is the one he's talking to. His brother is dead. They
were convinced of it. My father's son is dead. And he alone, Benjamin, is left
of his mother. And his father loveth him. Do
you see this? The son of the father had died. And this son is left alone. The
surety is pleading to the judge. Verse 21, And thou saidst unto
thy servants, Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes
upon him. And we said to my Lord, The lad
cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father,
his father would die. And thou saidst unto thy servants,
Except your youngest brother come down with you, you shall
see my face no more. And Judah goes on, he says, And
it came to pass, when we came unto thy servant my father, we
told him the words of my Lord. And our father said, Go again
and buy us a little food. And we said, We cannot go down,
if our younger brother be with us. Then will we go down, for
we may not see the man's face, except our youngest brother be
with us. And thy servant my father said
to us, You know that my wife bare me two sons, and the one
went out from me. And I said, Surely he is torn
in pieces, and I saw him not since. And if you take this also
from me, and mischief befall him, you shall bring down my
gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. Now therefore, Judah is
talking to Joseph. Now therefore, he tells Joseph,
When I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with
us, seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life, it shall
come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that
he will die. And thy servant shall bring down
the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the
grave. What's he doing? What is the surety pleading?
He's pleading his father's love for Benjamin. The one that the
law and the justice in Joseph is demanding, he's the one that
the surety is pleading for. And he's pleading for the love
of the father, for the son. So much love he has that his
life is bound up in the lad's life. Because the purpose, the
eternal purpose of God and his eternal love in Christ is so
bound up in the life of his people that if God doesn't fulfill that
purpose of love in Christ for them, he staked himself to it
in this eternal covenant with his son, then God ceases to be
God because he loses the ones he set his love on in his eternal
purpose, and God's purpose can't fail, or God fails. Verse 31,
"...it shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not
with us, that he will die, and thy servant shall bring down
the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the
grave." And now listen, that was the first plea. Judah didn't
plead the innocence of Benjamin, did he? You would think that
he would have. I would have. No, he didn't do it. They had
already tried that. We're true men. We didn't do
anything. We're not spies. He didn't plead Benjamin's innocence. He pleaded his father's love.
And then look, in verse 32, he pleads something else. For thy
servant became surety for the lad unto my father. In other
words, Judah is saying, I myself, pledged myself to take full responsibility
for my brother to my father. I became surety for him. So not
only the love of his father, but Judah's own love for his
father. That he would bring his brother back. I became surety
for him. He said, if I bring him not unto
thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father forever. This is
what the surety pleads. First his father's love, then
his own suretyship, his engagements with his father, and how he would
bear the blame forever if he didn't bring him back. And then
in verse 33, he pleads himself as a substitute. Now therefore
I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad, a bondman
to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brethren. Take me
instead of the lad. Take me and let the lad go free. That's what the surety says.
I took responsibility for him to pay all obligations, to fulfill
all requirements for his release. He died the just for the unjust
to bring us to God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then in verse
34, for how shall I go up to my father and the lad be not
with me, lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my
father? Do you see the gospel here? This
is the gospel. This is God's gospel. The Father
from eternity loved his people in Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ
pledged himself as a surety to make them sure to God, to bring
them back again. And then the surety went and
stood before justice. And all that justice required,
the surety made a plea. He pleaded his father's eternal
love. He pleaded his own eternal engagements
with his father as surety to stand for us, his people. And
then he pleaded himself as substitute. He answered justice with himself. Because he pledged himself to
God from eternity. The Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. It was an agreement. An everlasting
covenant. And it was made in his blood.
And Joseph could not refrain himself. And that's when we see
the effects of this pleading surety. All those for whom Judah
stood as surety were set free. All of them. All those for whom
Christ stood as surety were redeemed and set free. How do I know if
I was one of those? Doesn't that question come to
your mind? Do you see what's going on here? There's one surety,
isn't there? The Father trusts the surety.
Justice is satisfied, even delighted, in the pleadings of the surety.
And Benjamin is released because of the surety. What is this telling
us? Trust the surety. How do I know
if I'm one of those for whom the surety died? Look at this.
In Hebrews chapter 7, in verse 19. For the law made nothing
perfect. Our own personal obedience to
all that God requires didn't accomplish anything. But the
bringing in of a better hope did, and that better hope is
what Christ did. By the witch we draw nigh to
God, and inasmuch as not without an oath, Christ was made priest. For those priests were made without
an oath, but this, this man, the Lord Jesus, with an oath
by him that said to him, The Lord swear and will not repent
thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. By
so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. Not the
Old Testament. Not the testament that depended
upon man to give man life for man's obedience. Or curse man
for man's disobedience. Do this and live or fail to do
it and die. Not that testament. A better
testament. A testament made between God the Father and God the Son
on behalf of God's elect people. And they truly, verse 23, were
many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason
of death. Those Old Testament priests all died, and they had
to have a new one every year, or every time they died. But
this man, the Lord Jesus, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable
priesthood. Listen to these words very carefully.
How do I know I'm one of God's elect? How do I know that the
surety stood for me? Wherefore, he Our Lord Jesus
Christ is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
What does the surety do? He makes intercession to God
for his people before the judge. And he obtains the release of
the bound prisoner, the one who was guilty and charged. To bring
him back to his father. How does he do this? With his
own pleadings. By answering God's justice with himself. According
to that eternal pledge. And how do I know I'm one of
his? Because I come to God by him. Benjamin didn't do anything,
did he? We never hear a peep out of Benjamin.
Because it was the pleadings of his surety that made the difference.
Not Benjamin's performance. And so it says in Ephesians 2.8.9,
by grace you're saved through faith. And that, that faith,
not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. Faith is not a condition
we meet in order to be saved. It's the gift of God that He
meets in order to give us grace to see Christ and Him crucified. And so seeing, we trust the surety,
don't we? Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we pray
that we would see that you have made yourself a surety for your
people. You've offered yourself to God
for us, and you've answered every charge, cleared us of all guilt,
clothed us in your righteousness, justified us by your blood, took
away the wrath of God. Now you rose from the dead and
are seated in glory. You've answered every charge,
and there you make intercession for your people. Not one of them
will be lost. not one of them. Justice will
not twice demand first at the bleeding surety's hand and then
again at mine. The Father has received you and
with you has received your people and we pray Lord that for your
sake we would be received according to your grace and mercy and the
answer you gave in Jesus name we pray. Amen.