Good Morning.
“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. 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 44:33-34)
At this point, Judah argues that to return to Canaan without Benjamin would result in Jacob’s death because, as he said, “His soul is bound up with the lad’s.” Thus it became evident that Judah was genuinely concerned about Benjamin’s future, so much so, that he offered himself as a slave in the boy’s stead. More importantly, what is revealed in this statement, and what must have certainly occurred to Joseph, is that Judah — and by extension, the rest of his brothers — loved their father as much as he did. Again, those who betrayed their own flesh loved the father just as much as those who had been betrayed. And so it is that a common love for their father is what brought the estranged brothers back together.
Prophetically, I believe this speaks to a future time when Judah (our Jewish brethren) will find themselves in a precarious situation and in desperate need of help. They will come to the nations seeking assistance only to find themselves standing before their deliverer, “Joseph.” While Joseph is ultimately a picture of the Messiah, I would also contend that Joseph is a picture of the Messiah’s body, especially those who do not appear to be Hebrew outwardly but who appear to be of the nations, at least as far as “Judah” is concerned.
If this is true, it would appear that God will position the Body to be in a place to help our Jewish brethren in their time of great need. At the same time, the crisis will reveal to Christians that many of our Jewish brethren love the Father and those that He loves (“Benjamin”) just as much as we do. When this becomes evident, centuries of animosity between the two will fade away and a great restoration will occur.
The point today then is that we, as followers of Messiah, must do what we are supposed to do now so that we can be in the right place at the right time. It is imperative that we prepare to play our role in God’s great purpose for the last days. There is, indeed, coming a time when the world will be cast into great trial, and in the midst of it, God will orchestrate an encounter between the two groups of people who call upon Him but who have been alienated from one another. This reconciliation will be one of the greatest miracles of the last days and will initiate other events culminating in the return of the Messiah. And so, if restoration is what is in His heart, it must also be in ours. If we are more focused on our Father and His purpose, then it will be harder to focus on the failures of our brethren.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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