This Sunday. I want to read the scripture
from Hebrews, chapter seven, I'm going to be preaching from
Genesis 42, 43 and 44, but I'd like to read this passage of
scripture in Hebrews, chapter seven, verse 22. By so much. Was Jesus made a
surety. Of a better testament. Now, keep in mind. That the story that we're now
going to consider. Is going to tell us what that
means. This entire story that we're
going to look at is going to tell us exactly what that passage
of Scripture means. I was talking, I think it was
Clare at some point this week, and he was talking about a statement
Brother Mahan made that's always meant a lot to me, and it means
a lot right now. Brother Mahan made this statement.
He said the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed. And the New Testament is the
Old Testament revealed. And this story that we're going
to look at tonight reveals exactly what that passage of Scripture
I just read means. Christ is made surety of a better
covenant. Look in Genesis chapter 43, verse
9, These are the words of Judah. 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. Now, Jacob had twelve sons, and
two of those sons came from his favorite wife, Rachel. He had four wives, but Rachel
was his favorite. I love that Scripture that says
Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him
but a few days for the love he had for her. Oh, how he loved
this woman. And this woman had two boys.
Joseph and Benjamin, and these boys were Jacob's favorites. Now, you know, the story of Joseph,
his father showed such flagrant favoritism toward him that his
brothers hated and despised him. And when he had those dreams
about his brothers bowing before him and worshiping him, he hated
them. They hated him even the more
they couldn't speak peaceably to him. And all this took place
when he was only 17 years old. Now, they, his brothers, sold
him as a slave. And they took the coat of many
colors that his father had made for him as his favorite child,
and they dipped it in goat's blood and showed it to their
father. And their father just concluded
from all of this, surely he's been killed and attacked by some
evil beast. And oh, the grief. that that
caused Jacob, thinking his son was dead, while all the while
he had been sent down to Egypt and sold as a slave. Now, while
Joseph was in Egypt, he prospered. Oh, how the Lord blessed him
in Potiphar's house. And then he was accused unjustly
of a crime that he did not commit, and he had to go to prison over
that. Now, while he was in prison,
he interpreted some dreams. Perhaps you remember the butler
and the baker of the Pharaoh were thrown into prison, and
they both had dreams, and Joseph interpreted their dreams. He
said, here's what's going to happen. In three days, he said to the
butler, you're going to be restored back to your original service.
And he said to the baker, in three days, your head's going
to be cut off. And in three days, exactly what Joseph said would
happen, happened. Now, the butler who got out of
prison forgot about Joseph. He didn't remember that that
took place. So here Joseph is in prison and Pharaoh has some
dreams. You remember the dreams? He dreamed
that seven skinny cows ate seven fat cows and they stayed just
as skinny. And then seven skinny ears of
corn ate seven fat ears of corn and they stayed just as skinny.
And he came to all the wise men of Egypt and he said, can you
tell me what this dream means? And none of the wise men of Egypt
could tell. All of a sudden, the butler remembers, I remember
my fault. And he told Pharaoh about Joseph,
that one who could interpret dreams. And you remember how
Joseph interpreted that dream. He let Pharaoh know that there
were going to be seven years of plenty, where the earth was
going to bring forth food in handfuls, and it was just going
to be a blessed time. But after that, there would be
seven years of famine. The worst famine the earth had
ever seen. It was going to cover the whole
earth. And he advised Pharaoh to save corn, two-fifths of everything
that was grown. They were to save one-fifth or
two-fifths, I can't remember. But they were to save that corn
and look ahead to that famine. And so Pharaoh took Joseph and
he made him the head over all of Egypt. He became the most
powerful man in the world. Now, you remember that the famine
finally hit the land, that we had those seven years of plenty,
and then the famine hit the land, and if you were going to have
anything to eat, you were going to have to get it from Joseph. He was the most powerful
man in all the world. Now that's where this story picks
up. Now, 22 years have passed. since this had taken place, 22
years. And up in Canaan, where Jacob
and the sons of Israel were, the famine was there, too. So
Jacob somehow heard that there was corn in Egypt. The food is now gone. The famine
is still in the land. And he hears there's corn in
Egypt. And he sends his boys after some of this. Now, let's
pick up reading chapter 42, verse 29. And they're coming back after
they told Jacob what has taken place. They've they've met Joseph,
and they didn't know he was Joseph. And Joseph had asked for the
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 of them, Me, have you bereaved
of my children? Joseph is not, and Simeon is
not. And you'll now take Benjamin away? All these things are against
me. And then Reuben speaks up. Now, remember who Reuben is.
He's the firstborn. Reuben speaks up, and he spake unto his father,
saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee. Deliver
him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. And
look how Jacob replied to him. He said, My son shall not go
down with you. For his brother is dead, and
he is left alone, and it mischief befall him by the way in which
you go. then you'll bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to
the grave. Do you remember what he said
about Reuben? Turn to chapter 49 for just a moment. Now he's speaking of Reuben,
his firstborn son. This is Jacob's prophecy concerning
him. Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might and the beginning of
my strength, the excellency of dignity and the excellency of
power, unstable as water. Thou shalt not excel. Because thou went up to thy father's
bed, thou defilest it. He went up to my couch. Now,
he is not going to send his boy with this man. He's unstable. He said, I wouldn't trust you
to do it for a second. Well, chapter 43, And the famine
was sore in the land. And it came to pass when they'd
eaten up the corn which they'd brought out of Egypt, their father
said unto them, go again, buy us a little food. And Judah spake
unto him, now do you remember who Judah is? Who did the Lord
come from? Out of what tribe did he come
from? Judah. Do you remember how I said Judah
is a lion's wealth? He speaks of the lion of the
tribe of Judah. Now Judah speaks up, not Reuben,
but Judah. And Judas spake unto 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 unto us, You shall not see my face, except your brother
be with you. And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with
me as to tell the man whether ye had a brother? And they said,
the man asked us straightly of our state and of our kindred,
saying, is your father yet alive? Have you yet 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 Judah said unto Israel, his father, 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. Judah says, I will be surety
for him. Of my hand shall that require
him. If I bring him not down unto
thee and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever.
Now here, Judah assures his dad, I'll be his surety. Now, I looked this word surety
up. I looked it up in the Hebrew dictionary in Strong's Concordance,
and I'm amazed as many times as I've referred to this, I've
never looked it up before. And I looked up the meaning of
this word surety when he said, I'll be surety for him. It means
two things. First, the word means. Intertwined. Mingled. Mixed. Let me show you how the word
is used in Ezra, chapter nine, verse two, we read the holy seed
mingled themselves with the peoples of the land. Mingled, mixed,
no, what's that referring to? Well, Judas saying, I'm going
to be so mingled with him that what happens to him is what happens
to me. And what happens to me is what's going to happen to
him. I'm going to become one with him. I'm going to be mingled
with him. The next meaning of the word
is I'm going to take full responsibility for him. That's what the second
meaning of the word is, I take full responsibility for him. If I don't bring him back and
set him before thee, I will bear the blame. I'll bear the blame
forever. And you can see so clearly how
that typifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He came from Judah and
he's the one who bears the blame forever. Judah says, I'll be
braided with him, I'll be mingled with him, we'll be united so
that what happens to him happens to me and I will bear complete
responsibility for him. So they go back down to Egypt.
Judah has already agreed to be the surety and Joseph sees them
and he tells the steward of his house that they would eat with
him. And remember, they still didn't
know who he was. They were just scared to death
of him. He knew who they were. But he said, when they come, you
bring him in my house to eat. Now let's pick up reading in verse
18 of chapter 43. And the men were afraid. They
were scared to death of Joseph 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, or we brought in, that he might
seek occasion against us and fall upon us and take us for
bondmen and our asses. They were so paranoid about what
was going to take place. And I understand that. But now
look down at verse 26. And when Joseph came home, they
brought him the present that was in their hand into the house
and bowed themselves to the earth. And he asked them of their welfare
and said, Is your father well? The old man of whom you speak,
is he yet alive? And they answered, Thy servant,
our father, is in good health. 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. He said, Is this
your younger brother? And who will speak unto me? And he said,
God be gracious unto thee, my son. And Joseph made haste for
his bowels to yearn upon his brother, and he sought where
to weep. And he entered into his chamber and he wept there
and he washed his face and he 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 them by themselves, because the Egyptians might not
eat bread with the Hebrews, for it's an abomination to the Egyptians.
And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright,
the youngest according to his youth, and the men marveled one
at another. They were amazed when they saw
this take place. How does he know the order of
our birth? And he took and sent messes unto them from before
him. But Benjamin's mess was five times as much as any of
theirs, and they drank and were merry with him. So now in chapter
44, he's going to send them back home to their father, but he
plants his cup in Benjamin's sack. Look in chapter 44, verses
1 and 2. And he commanded the steward of his house, saying,
Fill ye the men's sack with food, as much as they can carry, and
put every man's money in the mouth of his sack. And he put,
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 words that Joseph
had spoken. And as soon as the morning was like, 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 unto his steward,
Follow after the men, and when thou dost overtake them, say
unto them, Wherefore have you rewarded evil for good? Is not
this it which my Lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth,
or he can tell into the future, and tell what can take place,
and see the truth? You have done evil, and so do
you. And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same
words, and they said unto him, Wherefore sayeth my Lord these
words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing.
Behold, the money which we found in our sack's mouth, we bought
again unto thee out of the land of Canaan. How then should we
steal out of thy Lord's house silver or gold? With whomsoever
of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also
will be by Lord's bondmen. And he said, and he, the steward
said, now also let it be according unto your words. He with whom
it is found shall be my servant, and you shall be blameless. Then
they speedily took down every man's sack to the ground and
opened every man's sack, and he searched him again at the
eldest and left at the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin's
sack. Then they rent their clothes
and laid it every man's ass, and they returned to the city.
And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house, for he was
yet there, and they fell before him on the ground. And Joseph
said unto them, What deed is this that you have done? What,
enough that such a man as I can certainly divine? 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. Behold, we are my Lord's servants,
both we and he also with whom the cup is found. And he, Joseph,
said, God forbid that I should do so, but the man in whose hand
the cup is found, he shall be my servant as to you. Get you
up in peace unto your Father. Now, you remember the promise that Judah made. He said,
I'm going to be sure for him now he picks up with that look
in verse. Verse 18. Then Judah came near
unto him and said, Oh, 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 servants, saying, Have ye 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, and
he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him. And
thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that
I may set mine eyes upon him. And we said unto 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 it came to pass, when we came up 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 youngest brother be not with
us. Then let us go down, for we may not see the man's face,
except our youngest brother be with us. And thy servant, my
father, said unto us, You know that my wife bade me two sons.
And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he's torn
in pieces. I saw it not since. And if you take this also from
me, and mischief off all him, you shall bring down my gray
hairs with sorrow to the grave. Now therefore, 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. For thy servant became
surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto
thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever. 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. For how shall I go to my father and the lad be not
with me, lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come upon
my father? Now, there we have the story. I read a lot of scriptures, I'm
going to be very brief in what I'm going to say about this,
but that's one of the most touching, powerful stories in all of the
word of God. Regarding the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, there are five principal characters in this story that
I've just read. There's Reuben, the one who first said he would
protect Benjamin, there's Judah, there's Joseph, there's Benjamin,
and there's Jacob. Now, Judah represents the law
of God, the holy requirements of God. I'm sorry, I said that wrong. Judah represents the Lord Jesus
Christ. I don't know how I messed that
up. Judah represents the Lord Jesus
Christ. Joseph represents the law of God, the holy law of God. Jacob is the father. Benjamin is the believer, and
Reuben is man's religion. God the Holy Spirit was pleased
to use Reuben and Judah as a contrast. And we can learn something about
the surety ship of the Lord Jesus Christ by seeing this contrast
between Judah and Reuben. Now, we've already seen through
Jacob's prophecy about these boys, and there was a big difference. Reuben, unstable as water. That means literally he was froth.
He was froth. There was really nothing to him.
He was unstable as water. And Jacob said, you will not
excel. Now, of course, Jacob is not
going to send up his darling Benjamin when somebody like Reuben,
Reuben's going to fail. And he knew that. And you know
what he said about Judah? He said, Judah, thou art he whom
thy brethren shall praise. Oh, turn back to Genesis 49 for
just a moment, let's see what he said about Judah. Shortly
before his death. Verse eight, Genesis 49, Judah,
Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise. Thy hand shall
be on the neck of thine enemies. Thy father's children shall bow
down before thee. Judah is a lion's welt. From
the prey, my son, thou art gone up." He stooped down, he cast
as a lion, as an old lion. Who shall rouse him up? The scepter
shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his
feet until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the
people be." Now that's obviously the Lord Jesus Christ, Judah.
Now who would you send Benjamin with? Reuben or Judah? Now let's look at this contrast
between these two boys. Look back in Genesis 42, verse
37. And Reuben spake unto his father,
saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee. Deliver
him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. And
he said, My son shall not go down with you, for his brother
is dead, and he is left alone. If mischief befall him by the
way in which you go, then shall you bring down my gray hairs
with sorrow to the grave." Now there's the statement of Reuben,
and look how similar Judas is, verse 8. And Judas said unto
Israel his father, 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'll be surety for him, of my hand shall thou
require him. If I bring him not unto thee,
and set him before thee, let me bear the blame forever." And
as you know, Jacob did send Benjamin down with Judah, not with Reuben,
but with Judah. Now let me bring out five or
six things that I think are very interesting when I look at the
contrast between Reuben and Judah. The first thing that I see is
the pride of Reuben. The cocky self-confidence of
Reuben and the humility of Judah. Now notice the way Reuben says
what he says. Reuben spake unto his father,
saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee. Deliver
him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. Now
look at the confidence he speaks with. He says, You give him to
me, I will bring him. But look at the difference in
the way Judah spake. And Judah was a hundred times
the man Reuben was. But look at the way he spake.
And Judah said unto Israel his father, send the lad with me
and we will rise and go that we may live and not die, both
we and thou and also our little ones. I'll be surety for him
of my hand shall thou require him. If I bring him not unto
thee and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever.
He didn't speak with the same confident arrogance that Reuben
did. There's a difference in their
speech. But one of the things that that points out to me, human
religion, man's religion, what it does is it breeds pride. It
always causes pride. It causes an arrogant self-confidence. But the gospel always produces
a true and genuine humility. You know, there's nothing more
beautiful than humility. A truly humble person. Oh, it's so beautiful. That's what the gospel produces.
It produces someone with Judah's attitude as opposed to Reuben's
attitude. Now, another thing that I would notice in looking
at these two men contrasted, Reuben had no true sense of justice. He said, if I don't bring him
back, kill my two boys, kill your grandsons. Would justice be served in that?
In any way, would justice be served? No, I wouldn't honor
the justice of God in any way, would not honor justice in any
sense at all. But look what Judah says. Judah
says in verse nine, 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. Eternally. Forever. Now that word blame quite often
is translated sin in the scriptures. Let me bear the sin forever. Let me be eternally punished
for the sin. Now, there is where justice is
seen. God's justice honored in the
eternal punishment of sin. But Reuben didn't know anything
about that. Reuben showed what he really
thought of his father. Now, don't you think about this,
what he said to his dad. He said, if I don't bring him
back, then here's what I'm going to let you do. I'm going to let
you kill your two grandsons. What kind of monster do you think
Jacob is, Reuben? Now, you think about that. What did he really
think of his father if he thought his father would find satisfaction
in killing his grandsons? I mean, that is utterly vile
to think of something like that. Reuben, man's religion shows
what it really thinks of God. There's no true worship of God.
But Judah loved his father, and he couldn't bear to see him in
sorrow. Look in Genesis 44, beginning
in verse 31. Here's how Judah felt about his
father. It shall come to pass when he seeeth the lad is not
with us, that he'll die, and thy servants shall bring down
the gray hairs of thy servant, our father, with sorrow to the
grave. For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father,
saying, If I bring him not unto thee, I shall bear the blame
forever. to my father forever. Now, therefore, I pray thee,
let thy servants abide instead of the lad abominable to my Lord
and let the lad go up with his brethren. For how shall I go
to my father and the lad be not with me? Lest perventure I see
the evil that come upon my father, how he loved his father. He couldn't
bear to see the sorrow of his father. That's why he was willing
to be the surety for Benjamin, because he loved his father. And look what, look in verse
30. And this is one of the, this verse, I'm still just thinking
about this. Read verse 30 with me in Genesis 44. Now, therefore, when I'm come
to thy servant, my father, he's speaking to Joseph. He still
doesn't know who he is. 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. And you know what that passage
of scripture says? Yeah, it says that Jacob's life
was bound up in Benjamin's life and he could not be happy without
Benjamin. It certainly says that. But listen to me.