The God Of Second Chances

I've already written about Judah recently, and that was because I cheated and got a bit ahead of myself on the lectionary readings. But here I am today again on this moving passage in chapter 44 of Genesis, where Judah pleads for the life of his younger brother Benjamin.

The scriptures never cease to amaze me. I've been reading them for thirty years and the new discoveries keep rolling in. Once again my Study Bible drew my attention to a new facet to this story. New to me, anyway.

Joseph's brothers had despised him because he was "Daddy's favorite." So in their jealousy they sold him as a slave to the Egyptians. So what did Joseph do to his brothers when their paths crossed again? He tested them on this topic — to see if they had grown up any. For starters, he showed them that he knew the pecking order, which really threw them for a loop. How did he know?? Then he proceeded to exhibit tremendous favoritism toward the youngest and most favored son Benjamin.

Genesis 43:33-34
Joseph told each of his brothers where to sit, and to their amazement, he seated them according to age, from oldest to youngest. And Joseph filled their plates with food from his own table, giving Benjamin five times as much as he gave the others. So they feasted and drank freely with him.

The stage has been set. What does Joseph do next? He sets Benjamin up so that his brothers could quite easily "sell him to the Egyptians too." Would they take the bait? As I relayed this new insight to a good friend on Sunday, he laughed and said he was already well aware of it. "It's the first recorded sting operation in history," he noted.

Yes, the bait was there. But the brothers did not take it. Instead of throwing the second favored son Benjamin under a bus, they came to the firm conviction that God was still punishing them for their sins against the first favored son Joseph. The kicker, of course, is that Judah, the one who for his own benefit sold Joseph as a slave to the Egyptians, sought this time to buy Benjamin's freedom — and offered himself as a slave to seal the deal.

...Which leads me to my excited words of hope for today. God was not done with the brothers, and certainly not done with Judah. God is a God of second chances. It is deeply reassuring note also how in this story God accomplished his divine purposes by means of moral failures and acts of righteousness. Is there hope for me too?

Yes.

My mistakes are not going to screw up God's plans. That's an encouraging word there for screwballs like me who keep fouling things up and need seven (or perhaps seventy times seven) at-bats before I even connect with the ball.