Judah’s Concern for His Family

Genesis 44:18-34

GOLDEN TEXT: “How shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me.”—Genesis 44:34

YEARS before the episode recorded in today’s lesson when Joseph’s brethren cast their junior brother into a pit—thinking thus to prevent him from becoming a ruler over them—it was Judah who recommended the least drastic action, although Reuben the oldest son, had hoped to be able to deliver him to his father again. (Gen. 37:21,22) Merchantmen on the way to Egypt were passing nearby and Judah suggested that Joseph be sold to them to be taken as a slave to Egypt. Unbeknown to Reuben, his brothers agreed and Joseph was sold, thus, at least, sparing his life.—Gen. 37:28-30

This recommendation by Judah reveals a sympathetic trait of character which is manifested again in his offer to remain a prisoner in Egypt in the place of Benjamin in order to prevent a heart-breaking experience for his aged father. Doubtless Judah remembered the extended grief of his father when through trickery, he was induced to believe that Joseph had been slain by a wild beast. Remembering this, Judah realized that now additional cause for sorrow might well hasten the old gentleman’s death.

Jacob had never ceased mourning the supposed death of Joseph. When his sons brought Joseph’s coat to him, smeared with blood from a goat which they had killed for the purpose, Jacob said, “I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning.” (Gen. 37:35) That Jacob did continue to grieve over Joseph is clear from his remarks when he was requested to allow Benjamin to be taken into Egypt. 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 the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.”—Gen. 42:38

From this we can see that Judah was not merely “making a case” when he told Joseph that if Benjamin did not return to Canaan it would bring down his father’s gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. And, not wishing to see this additional injury to his father, which Judah realized would be an indirect result of their former wrongdoing, he offered himself as a substitute for Benjamin.

In the light of Christian standards it is difficult to understand some of the incidents in the lives of these ancient people of God. Abraham was willing to lie about his wife Sarah and allow her to be debased in order to save himself. (Gen. 20:2-18) Isaac practiced a similar deception, and, for the same purpose. (Gen. 26:6-11) Then there was the deceit practiced in connection with Jacob’s inheritance of the birthright; and finally the treachery and subterfuge in connection with selling Joseph as a slave.

These matters we can leave to the judgment of the Lord. Underneath their imperfections these chosen people of God possessed true nobility of character. This is beautifully and touchingly demonstrated in Judah’s willingness to become a prisoner in Egypt in order to save his father from further suffering. Here is true family love at last coming to the fore in an attempt to make partial amends for past wrongs. Perhaps it is this, the ultimate triumph of right, that the Lord wants us particularly to note as we study the experiences of His typical people.

The nobility of character which caused Judah to recommend that Joseph be not left in the “pit” to die, and that later prompted him to offer himself as a substitute for Benjamin, probably had much to do with the selection of his tribe as the one from which the Messiah would come. It was at the death of Jacob that the tribe of Judah was prophetically established as the lineage of the promised seed. In blessing his sons, Jacob said of Judah: “Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre 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.”—Gen. 49:9,10

This prophecy was uttered in Egypt, where, at that time, the symbol of regal authority was a couched lion. It is therefore a prophecy of the Messiah, as the King of kings and Lord of lords. The same thought is mentioned in Revelation 5:5, where Jesus is referred to as the “lion of the tribe of Judah.” It is significant that just as Judah offered himself as a substitute to save life, so Jesus offered Himself in sacrifice that the whole world might have life. Thus the “Lion of the tribe of Judah” was, first of all, the “Lamb that was slain.”—Rev. 5:12

God’s love through Christ, for the sin-cursed, and dying world, will ultimately result in a glorious triumph of righteousness. When, during the thousand-year reign of Christ, the divine image and law is rewritten in the hearts of the people true family love will assert itself in human relationships to the everlasting joy of all the willing and obedient.

QUESTIONS:

When did Judah first manifest genuine concern for his family?

Of whom was Judah a type?

When will righteousness ultimately triumph in the earth?

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