Chapter 44

The next time we see Judah is in Egypt before Joseph. Joseph has pulled a nice little plot. He took one of his drinking cups and put it in Benjamin’s sack when they left this time. So the soldiers of Joseph overtook the sons on their return from Egypt and in Benjamin’s sack they found this cup, claming he stole it. This was Joseph’s way of getting the eleven brothers back. It was Judah who steps in the breech at this point.

Verses 14-16, the stabilised believer. In a time of pressure in a crisis a believer who becomes hysterical, who throws a tantrum, who blames someone else, that believer is unstable and miserable and full of self-pity, thinking only of himself. Therefore, he is not cutting it at all in the Christian life. The other brothers are falling apart; Judah speaks right up. Judah sees now that Benjamin is going to be falsely accused of stealing and he didn’t do it, so he now speaks up and stands in the gap.

Verse 17 – Joseph answers right back and says he will make the person who is guilty of this is going to be made his slave. The rest of them can go. Joseph knows what is going on and that they can’t go back without Benjamin, and he knows that they won’t leave without him.

Verse 18 – Judah speaks up again. He is able to intervene to the point of 45:1 where Joseph revealed himself to his brothers.