JUDAH’S INTERCESSION – Genesis 44:18-34
from Providence Community Church Hosted by Ken Carlton
Men who once sold their brother into slavery motivated by resentment, now offer one of their own as a servant to liberate their father's remaining favored son from bondage. A dramatic stress-tested example of repentance indeed. In the case of Joseph, he was abused by his brothers in spite of his innocence. In this case, Benjamin is accused of a crime he did not commit and his brothers defend him at the cost of their own wellbeing in exchange for their little brother's freedom. This chapter continues to document the redemptive arc in the story of the covenant family. God is showing great mercy to the household of Jacob albeit through trial and testing. It is clear at the close of chapter 44 that the brothers share their father's anguish and pain regarding the potential loss of Jacob's one remaining (as far as they know) favored son. The vengeful mindset that would take advantage of a sibling for the sake of a personal vendetta is so far removed from Judah's intercessory appeal that it reads as if he is a different person... and in a sense he is. God has changed the heart of these men who had conspired to murder a brother twenty plus years ago. This moment marks the beginning of a Judah/Benjamin relationship that will continue for centuries between their family lines such that the southern kingdom of Israel comprised of these two patriarchal lineages become unified in national interest, geographic proximity, cultural identity, and Messianic purpose.
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