LESSON XXV.—JOSEPH MAKES HIMSELF KNOWN.
- WHAT was the result of the search that was made for Joseph’s cup? Gen. 44:12.
- What did the brethren then do?
- When they presented themselves before Joseph, could they make any excuse in regard to the cup?
- What did they offer to become?
- What reply did Joseph make?
- What did this call forth from Judah?
- What did he plead? Verse 33.
- Of what did he remind Joseph?
- Repeat verse 20.
- What had they told Joseph, when he asked them to bring Benjamin to Egypt? Verse 22.
- What reason did Judah give for his father’s unwillingness to let Benjamin go to Egypt? Verses 27–29.
- Why did Judah claim the right to remain a bondman instead of Benjamin? Verse 32.
- Why should this appeal of Judah be studied?
- What may be said of its language?
- When Joseph heard this appeal, how was he affected? Gen. 45:1.
- How did he manifest his feelings? Verse 2.
- What did he say to them?
- How did they feel?
- What did he beg them to do? Verse 4.
- What did he say about their selling him into bondage? Verse 5.
- How did he manifest his affection for his brethren? Verses 14, 15.
- What did he tell them to do? Give reference.
- Why would it be necessary for them to do so? Reference.
- What did Pharaoh order, when he knew that Joseph’s brethren had come?
- Why did he assign them the land of Goshen?
When search was made for the cup, it was found in Benjamin’s sack. At this, the brethren rent their clothes, and returned at once to the city. They presented themselves before Joseph, and offered to become his bondmen. He said that Benjamin should be his bondman, but the others should go home to their father in peace. Then Judah made one of the most touching and eloquent appeals ever recorded. He pleaded that he might remain a bondman in place of Benjamin. He reminded Joseph that when Joseph had inquired of them at first concerning their family, they said to him, “We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one, and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.” And that when he had asked them to bring Benjamin to Egypt, they had said, “The lad cannot leave his father; for if he should leave his father, his father would die.” He told Joseph the reason why his father had been so unwilling to let Benjamin come to Egypt, and how probable it was that if Benjamin should be kept a bondman it would cause his father’s death. Judah claimed the right to remain a bondman in Benjamin’s stead, because he had become surety for Benjamin to his father. This appeal should be studied, not only for its appropriateness and pathos, but for its beauty and simplicity of expression. The language has been admired by the best scholars. When Joseph heard this appeal, he could no longer restrain his feelings, but cried, “Cause every man to go out from me.” So Joseph was left alone with his brethren, and he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. “And Joseph said unto his brethren, ‘I am Joseph, doth my father yet live?’” And they were afraid of him, but he begged them to come near him, saying, “Be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither; for God did send me before you to preserve life.” And he embraced Benjamin, and wept on his neck, and kissed all his brethren. He told them that they must go and bring their father, and their little ones, and all that they had, down to Egypt; for the famine was to continue five years longer. When Pharaoh knew that Joseph’s brethren had come, he ordered wagons to be given them, that they might go and bring their families and all that they had. At their request, he let them dwell in the land of Goshen, for that was the most favorable part of the country for raising cattle.