05 November 2022
Youth Worship 5th November 2022 : “A slave to my lord”
Youth Worship 5th November 2022 : “A slave to my lord”
Text: Genesis 44:1-34
- Speaker:
- Rev Benjamin Quah
- Series:
- Focus on Faith
Message Notes
INTRODUCTION
1. The Meal at the home of the Governor
a) It had gone well
b) To be able to have a meal in the house of the Governor was amazing
2. The fears seemed to have disappeared
a) To be charged
b) To be arrested
c) To be enslaved
They seem to be remote now!
THE PLAN OF JOSEPH
1. To fill the sacks of the sons of Jacob with food
2. Their money was to be returned to them
3. The silver cup of Joseph was to be planted
into the sack of Benjamin Genesis 44:1-3
THE RETURN JOURNEY TO CANAAN
1. The sons of Jacob left Egypt the first thing in the morning
2. They had just gone out of the city Genesis 44:4
THE STEWARD OF JOSEPH WAS SENT TO THE SONS OF JACOB
4 Joseph said to his steward, “Get up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good? 5 Is not this the one from which my lord drinks, and with which he indeed practices divination? You have done evil in so doing.’ ”
6 So he overtook them, and he spoke to them these same words.
Genesis 44:4-6
1. The steward had been carefully instructed
2. He was to confront them with stealing the silver goblet of the Governor
THE RESPONSE OF THE SONS OF JACOB
7 And they said to him, “Why does my lord say these words? Far be it from us that your servants should do such a thing. 8 Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money which we found in the mouth of our sacks. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? 9 With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.”
Genesis 44:7-9
1. They were certain that they had stolen nothing
2. They protested their innocence
3. Their words
a) The one who steals would be executed
b) All would be slaves of the Governor
THE SEARCHING OF THE BAGS
10 And he said, “Now also let it be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and you shall be blameless.” 11 Then each man speedily let down his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack. 12 So he searched. He began with the oldest and left off with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13 Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city.
Genesis 44:10-13
1. All the sacks were searched
2. The money was returned but no one said a word
3. The silver cup of the Governor was found in Benjamin’s sack
4. The brothers tore their clothes in grief
5. They returned to face the Governor
FACING THE GOVERNOR
14 So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there; and they fell before him on the ground. 15 And Joseph said to them, “What deed is this you have done? Did you not know that such a man as I can certainly practice divination?”
16 Then Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; here we are, my lord’s slaves, both we and he also with whom the cup was found.”
17 But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so; the man in whose hand the cup was found, he shall be my slave. And as for you, go up in peace to your father.”Genesis 44:14-17
1. The brothers prostrated themselves before Joseph again
2. Joseph accused them of stealing
3. Judah makes a strong plea to the Governor
a) He could offer no explanation
b) He believed that this was God’s way of punishing them for their iniquity
c) He and his brothers would be slaves together with Benjamin
4. The Governor rejected this plea
a) The brothers are free to leave
b) Only Benjamin would be enslaved
c) Would the brothers accept this offer?
AN IMPASSIONED PLEA OF JUDAH
18 Then Judah came near to him and said: “O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s hearing, and do not let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even like Pharaoh. 19 My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’ 20 And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, who is young; his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’ 21 Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ 22 And we said to my lord, ‘The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ 23 But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.’
24 “So it was, when we went up to your servant my father, that we told him the words of my lord. 25 And our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’ 26 But we said, ‘We cannot go down; if our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we may not see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ 27 Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons; 28 and the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn to pieces”; and I have not seen him since. 29 But if you take this one also from me, and calamity befalls him, you shall bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.’
30 “Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, since his life is bound up in the lad’s life, 31 it will happen, when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die. So your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave. 32 For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father forever.’ 33 Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. 34 For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father?”Genesis 44:18-34
1. Judah stepped up further
2. He sought to explain the whole context
a) Remembering the demands of the Governor to bring Benjamin with them
b) Their father’s sorrow at this demand
c) If Benjamin did not return with them, their father would die from sorrow
3. Judah’s offer
32 For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father forever.’ 33 Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. 34 For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father?”
Genesis 44:32-34