Genesis 43:16-44:34 - Confession & Repentance

The Upper Story in a Broken World

If you have your Bibles, we are going to go to work in Genesis chapter 43.

There is no question, as you look at our world around us, as you watch world events, look down the street, next door, or even in the mirror, that there is all kinds of brokenness in our world. Amen? We are just capable of the darnedest things. Just about the time you think human depravity has reached its zenith, something else happens, and you realize that left to ourselves without the intervention of the Spirit of God in our lives, we are capable of doing all sorts of awful things.

Yet, I find great hope that in the midst of that, there is still an upper story. An upper story means that God is at work, God is redeeming, and God is doing something. Oftentimes for those who are in the midst of the darkness—I had a couple of phone calls this week, a couple of crises that happened, and you just realize the awfulness of sin—I find myself praying, God, by your grace, would you just do a work in the lower story? God, would you let your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven? Because we know you are good and awesome, but this world is not. Lord, would you do a work?

I am thankful when we read through stories like Genesis and find biblical characters like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and now Joseph. It gives me hope that if God, by His grace, could intervene in the lower story of the characters in the biblical text, then maybe God is able to intervene in the stories of our world today.

Last week, we learned two things from the life of Jacob—Joseph’s father—in that “meanwhile back in Canaan” moment where God was doing a work in his life. God seemed to be dealing with him on two fronts. First, He had to get him to let go of his son Benjamin, who affectionately became “the precious” as Sunday went on. That Lord of the Rings thought got into my head around the 10:00 gathering, so for the rest of the day, Benjamin was “the precious.” God, by His grace, was lovingly trying to get Jacob to let go of the one he loved more than the others.

Second, as the brothers had to go face Egypt and the wrongs they had done, they brought what looked at first to be appeasement. They went to Enzo’s, stocked up, and brought an offering of the best of their land. But it was not only appeasement; it was something more. We looked at the concept of amends. When you have wronged somebody, what does it mean to not only ask forgiveness, but to make right what you have wronged? My assistant always gives me a hard time because she can tell what I taught on based on the number of phone calls and emails she receives during the week. That message stirred some things because people were being honest about what they were holding onto and what amends they needed to make.

We finished last week with Genesis 43:15, where the brothers took the gifts, double the money, and Benjamin, and went down to Egypt to stand before Joseph, still completely unaware of his identity.

Genesis 43:15 (NASB)

So the men took this present, and they took double [the] money in their hand, and Benjamin; then they arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

The Mysterious Hospitality of Egypt

Looking out the window as the boys arrive, Joseph sees Benjamin with them and speaks to his house steward. You are going to see a lot of this house steward; he is a fascinating character. Joseph says to him, “Bring these men into the house, slay an animal, and make it ready, for they will dine with me at noon.”

Genesis 43:16-17 (NASB)

When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his house steward, ‘Bring the men into the house, and slay an animal and make ready; for the men are to dine with me at noon.’ So the man did as Joseph said, and brought the men to Joseph’s house.

This steward is Joseph’s right-hand assistant, making all the arrangements. But the brothers are terrified because they are brought into Joseph’s personal home. They remember leaving Egypt last time with both the grain and their money. So they approach the steward at the entrance of the house and explain the situation.

Genesis 43:18-22 (NASB)

Now the men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, ‘[It is] because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, that he may seek occasion against us and fall upon us, and take us for slaves with our donkeys.’ So they came near to Joseph’s house steward, and spoke to him at the entrance of the house, and said, ’Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food, and it came about when we came to the lodging place, that we opened our sacks, and behold, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full. So we have brought it back in our hand. ‘We have also brought down other money in our hand to buy food; we do not know who put our money in our sacks.’

They tell him, “We came down the first time to buy food, and when we opened our sacks at the lodging place, all our money was there in full. We brought it back, and we brought extra money to buy more food. We have no idea who put it in our sacks.” Basically, they are asking, “Are we good? Are we cool?”

Look at how the steward responds in verse 23:

Genesis 43:23 (NASB)

He said, ‘Be at ease, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money.’ Then he brought Simeon out to them.

He says, “Be at ease. Do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money.”

What a fascinating comment! Egyptians did not worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They worshipped many gods—the sun, the Nile, and countless others. Yet here is Joseph’s personal assistant saying, “Your God, the God of your father, has restored your money. I had your money.”

That had to be utterly confusing for these boys. They must have wondered, How do you know about our God? How do you know about the God of our father?

Well, who is this guy’s boss? Joseph. What has Joseph done for over twenty years in Egypt? He has told everyone about his God. Do you think this assistant saw Joseph living differently than other Egyptians? Do you think he saw Joseph caring for people differently? No question. He saw something so special in his employer that he asked questions and learned about this God.

Then Simeon is brought out of jail. Keep in mind, Simeon has been locked up for six to eight months waiting for them to return. You have to wonder what that reunion conversation was like!

The brothers expect wrath, but everything flips on its head. That is often how God works when we approach Him with our expectations.

Genesis 43:24-26 (NASB)

Then the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys fodder. So they prepared the present for Joseph’s coming at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat a meal there. When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present which was in their hand and bowed to the ground before him.

The steward washes their feet, gives fodder to their donkeys, and they prepare their gift for Joseph. When Joseph arrives, they bow to the ground before him. They are treated with Middle Eastern hospitality—not as enemies, but as honored guests.

Genesis 43:27-28 (NASB)

Then he asked them about their welfare, and said, ‘Is your old father well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?’ They said, ‘Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.’ They bowed down in homage.

Joseph inquires about their father: “Is your old father well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” They bow again and say, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” In verses 26 and 28, they bow in homage, fulfilling the prophetic dreams God gave Joseph over twenty years earlier in Genesis 37. The upper story and the lower story are colliding.

Then Joseph locks eyes with Benjamin, his full brother.

Genesis 43:29 (NASB)

As he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, ‘Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?’ And he said, ‘May God be gracious to you, my son.’

He says, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” You can feel the wave of emotion. This is his only full brother, who lost his mother at birth. Benjamin grew up without a mother, raised by his father and three other women in the home, living as the new “precious.” And we know what happened to the previous favorite son—sold on ancient eBay! This was a dysfunctional family. Joseph’s heart breaks for him, and he is overcome with emotion.

Genesis 43:30-31 (NASB)

Joseph hurried [out] for he was deeply stirred over his brother, and he sought [a place] to weep; and he entered his chamber and wept there. Then he washed his face and came out; and he controlled himself and said, ‘Serve the meal.’

Joseph has to run out of the room because this is part of an unfolding plan. He weeps in his private chamber, washes his face, regains his composure, and orders the meal to be served.

Genesis 43:32 (NASB)

So they served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is loathsome to the Egyptians.

The Egyptians sat by themselves, Joseph sat by himself, and the Hebrews sat by themselves, because eating with Hebrews was loathsome to the Egyptians. That cultural separation will actually serve God’s purpose later when Jacob relocates his family of seventy to Egypt.

Then something extraordinary happens in verse 33:

Genesis 43:33-34 (NASB)

Now they were seated before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment. He took portions to them from his own table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they feasted and drank freely with him.

They seat the brothers in exact birth order: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin. The brothers look at each other thinking, How does this Egyptian stranger know our exact birth order? This is next-level creepy!

Then Joseph sends portions from his own table, giving Benjamin five times as much as the rest. It is a massive breach of social decorum and another unmistakable clue about what is really happening.

The Final Examination

Now comes chapter 44—the final test. This is the final exam to see if the brothers have truly changed.

Genesis 44:1-3 (NASB)

Then he commanded his house steward, saying, ’Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack. ‘Put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his money for the grain.’ And he did as Joseph had told [him]. As soon as it was light, the men were sent away, they with their donkeys.

Joseph commands his steward to fill their sacks with food, put every man’s money back in his sack, and place his personal silver cup into Benjamin’s sack. At dawn, the brothers depart, relieved and loaded with grain.

Genesis 44:4-6 (NASB)

They had [just] gone out of the city, [and] were not far off, when Joseph said to his house steward, ’Up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ’Why have you repaid evil for good? ‘Is not this the one from which my lord drinks and which he indeed uses for divination? You have done wrong in doing this.’’ So he overtook them and spoke these words to them.

As soon as they clear the city outskirts, Joseph sends his steward after them to say, “Why have you repaid evil for good? Is this not the cup my master drinks from and uses for divination? You have done wrong.”

Genesis 44:7-9 (NASB)

They said to him, ’Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing. ’Behold, the money which we found in the mouth of our sacks we have brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? ‘With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.’

The brothers are indignant: “Why does my lord say these things? We brought back the money we found in our sacks before! Why would we steal silver or gold? If you find it with any of us, let that person die, and the rest of us will become your slaves!”

They should have thought that offer through before making it.

Genesis 44:10-13 (NASB)

So he said, ‘Now let it also be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and [the rest of] you shall be innocent.’ Then they hurried, each man lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack. He searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. Then they tore their clothes, and when each man loaded his donkey, they returned to the city.

The steward says, “Only the one with whom it is found shall be my slave; the rest will be blameless.” They quickly lower their sacks, searching from the oldest to the youngest. The tension mounts with every open bag—Not me, not me, not me… please don’t let it be Benjamin.

And sure enough, the cup is found in Benjamin’s sack.

They tear their clothes in agony. They load up their donkeys and head back into the city in stunned, heavy silence.

The Breakthrough of Conviction

God has been working in Joseph’s heart to bring forgiveness. God has been working in Jacob’s heart to surrender his favorite son. But what about these brothers? Is God doing something in them?

Conviction has been building. It was never really about the grain money or the silver cup. Deep down, they know what they did twenty years ago that has remained a dark secret: We lied about our brother, and we trafficked him into Egypt. They have carried that unconfessed sin for two decades.

Genesis 44:14-16 (NASB)

When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there, and they fell to the ground before him. Joseph said to them, ‘What is this deed that you have done? Do you not know that such a man as I can indeed practice divination?’ So Judah said, ‘What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? And how can we justify ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both we and the one in whose possession the cup has been found.’

They fall to the ground before Joseph. When Joseph confronts them, Judah speaks for all of them: “What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? How can we justify ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. We are all my lord’s slaves.”

For the first time in their lives, they do not spin the narrative. They do not manipulate. They are caught dead to rights. When Judah says, “God has found out our iniquity,” he isn’t talking about the cup—they didn’t steal it! God has unearthed the buried sin of their past. They drop the facade of being “honest men” and confess their guilt.

Paul writes about this reality in 1 Timothy:

1 Timothy 5:24-25 (NASB)

The sins of some men are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their [sins] follow after. Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident, and those which are otherwise cannot be concealed.

You can put on a charade of honesty, but the real you will eventually surface. You cannot con everyone forever.

Joseph tests them one last time:

Genesis 44:17 (NASB)

But he said, ‘Far be it from me to do this. The man in whose possession the cup has been found, he shall be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.’

Joseph says, “Far be it from me. Only the man who had the cup will be my slave. The rest of you can go home to your father in peace.”

This is the ultimate test. They could walk away, save their own skins, and leave the new favorite son behind in Egypt, just like they did to Joseph twenty years earlier.

Genesis 44:18-31 (NASB)

Then Judah approached him, and said, ’Oh my lord, may your servant please speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are equal to Pharaoh. ’My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’ ’We said to my lord, ‘We have an old father and a little child of [his] old age. Now his brother is dead, so he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.’ ’Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me that I may set my eyes on him.’ ’But we said to my lord, ‘The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ ’You said to your servants, however, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’ ’Thus it came about when we went up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. ’Our father said, ‘Go back, buy us a little food.’ ’But we said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ ’Your servant my father said to us, ’You know that my wife bore me two sons; and the one went out from me, and I said, ‘Surely he is torn in pieces,’ and I have not seen him since. ‘If you take this one also from me, and harm befalls him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.’ ’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, when he sees that the lad is not [with us], he will die. Thus your servants will bring the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow.

Judah steps forward. He recounts how difficult it was for their father to let Benjamin go, explaining that Jacob’s life is bound up in this boy’s life. If they return without Benjamin, their father will die of grief.

Then Judah makes an astonishing offer:

Genesis 44:32-34 (NASB)

’For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him [back] to you, then let me bear the blame before my father forever.’ ’Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad 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– for fear that I see the evil that would overtake my father?’

Judah says, “I pledged my own life for the boy. Let me stay as your slave instead of the boy, and let him return to his father. How can I go back and see the misery that would overtake my father?”

Judah offers substitutionary sacrifice: Take me instead. Punish me. Enslave me. Let him go free.

We have never seen this kind of heart from these men. God has done a transformative work in Judah’s soul. We see the clear shadows of confession and repentance.

The Power of Confession

Let’s connect the dots of what God has been teaching us over these past few chapters.

In chapter 42, we saw forgiveness. Joseph released resentment and bitterness toward those who deeply wounded him.

Ephesians 4:32 (NASB)

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

In chapter 43, we saw amends. When we harm others, we seek to make things right whenever possible.

Romans 12:18 (NASB)

If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

Now, in chapter 44, we see confession and repentance.

What is confession? Confession is admitting to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our sins. If you have been through 12-step recovery, you know that phrase well. It means coming clean with the whole truth—no spin, no self-preservation, no image management. You don’t just reveal the tip of the iceberg; you expose the whole thing.

James 5:16 (NASB)

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Sin is not unique to a few people; it is our shared human condition.

Psalms 51:5 (NASB)

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.

Romans 3:10 (NASB)

as it is written, ’THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;

Romans 3:23 (NASB)

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

If you came in here thinking, If I go to church, I’m going to get struck by lightning, relax—you are sitting in a room full of lightning rods! We are all in the same boat.

Many people live in denial, thinking, I’m basically a good person. Good compared to other sinners? Perhaps. Good compared to a holy God? That is a hard no.

Isaiah 64:6 (NASB)

For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

We spend so much energy managing, hiding, and minimizing sin. We tell ourselves:

• Nobody needs to know.
• It was a long time ago.
• It won’t happen again.
• I’ve got this under control.
• It’s not hurting anyone else.

When we live with unconfessed sin, it robs us of life.

Psalms 31:10 (NASB)

For my life is spent with sorrow And my years with sighing; My strength has failed because of my iniquity, And my body has wasted away.

Psalms 32:3-4 (NASB)

When I kept silent [about my sin], my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away [as] with the fever heat of summer. Selah.

You can’t sleep. You turn to another glass of wine, another sleep aid, or another distraction. You become irritable and stressed. Hiding unconfessed sin is like trying to hold a beach ball underwater—it is exhausting, awkward, and eventually, it is going to pop up.

Proverbs 28:13 (NASB)

He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes [them] will find compassion.

1 John 1:5-9 (NASB)

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and [yet] walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

There is immense relief when you bring the secrets you swore you would never tell anyone into the light of God’s grace and find that you are still loved and accepted.

The Freedom of Repentance

Once we confess, the next step is repentance. Repentance means to change your direction, make a U-turn, abandon the old way, and turn toward God. It is becoming entirely ready to turn away from sinful patterns and pursue what is right.

Judah could have manipulated his way out of the crisis, but instead, he turned and did what was right. The great theologian Jim Sweeney used to say, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always be what you’ve always been. So if you don’t like the way things are going, change the way you do things.”

Biblical repentance is turning away from old patterns and turning toward God, by God’s help, in community with others.

2 Timothy 2:22 (NASB)

Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love [and] peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

God is not surprised by your sin. Jesus did not come for the self-righteous; He came for the broken.

2 Corinthians 5:17-19 (NASB)

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, [he is] a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all [these] things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

When Jesus died on the cross, He was not merely providing an inspiring moral example. He served as the propitiation for our sins, satisfying God’s holy justice. A divine exchange took place: our sin was placed on Jesus, and His perfect righteousness was credited to us. When God looks at you, He does not see your sin; He sees the righteousness of Christ.

Are you tired of managing your sin? Hear Jesus’ invitation:

Matthew 11:28-29 (NASB)

’Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. ’Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.

Acts 3:19-20 (NASB)

’Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,

Come to the Well

Real life is found only in relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ—not through religious performance, moral self-improvement, or hiding behind an image. That faith is expressed through confession and repentance: bringing our hot mess to God and hearing Him say, “I love you as you are, but I love you too much to leave you as you are.”

Years ago, when we started The Well, people often asked about the name. Once, when I was much younger and didn’t have gray hair, about thirty of us went down to The Price is Right. We were told that rowdy groups get on the show. Bob Barker came over with his microphone and asked, “The Well—what is that, a bar?” We shouted, “No, it’s a church!” He didn’t look at us for the rest of the show!

Why did we name it The Well? Because in John chapter 4, Jesus intentionally went across cultural boundaries to meet a broken, outcast woman at a well at noon.

John 4:7-18 (NASB)

There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink.’ For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, ‘How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?’ (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, ’If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.’ She said to Him, ’Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? ‘You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?’ Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.’ He said to her, ‘Go, call your husband and come here.’ The woman answered and said, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ’You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.’

She came in the heat of the day because of her shame. Jesus treated her with dignity, looked at her broken history, and offered her living water. He met her right where she was, but invited her into something far better.

As someone who relates deeply to the woman at the well, I need that savior. I need the One who meets me in my brokenness and offers true joy and redemption.

If you can relate to the brokenness of humanity, come as you are. But don’t stay as you are. Step into the redemptive collision where God’s upper story transforms your lower story for His glory and your good.

Prayer

Father, thank you for the work of Jesus, for your unfailing love, and for being a redeeming God. If we find ourselves hiding and managing sin, give us the courage to step into the light. Help us confess our sins to you and to one another so that we may experience your healing.

Make us a confessing and repenting church. Keep us humble, continually turning away from our old patterns and running toward the life and refreshment found only in Christ. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.