Transcription
We are about to hear the Word of God. This is Genesis chapter 42, verses 36 to 38. This is the holy Word of God. Please listen attentively.
Their father Jacob said to them, "You are making me lose my children. Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and now you want to take Benjamin away. This is all meant to harm me."
Reuben said to his father, "If I do not bring him back to you, then kill my two sons. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back to you."
Jacob said, "This son cannot go with you. His brother is dead, and he is the only one left of my son Joseph. If any harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray hairs down to the grave in sorrow."
Now, Jacob is hearing the report of his sons who have returned. They said, "When we went to Egypt, the ruler of that land accused us of being spies and drove us out. We told him, 'We are from Canaan, and we have 12 brothers. One of them is lost, and the youngest is still with our father in Canaan.' Then the ruler of that land said, 'If you are honest men, then one of you must remain in prison, and the rest of you go and take the grain to feed your families. Then bring your youngest brother to me. This will prove that you are not spies, and then I will release the one held captive.' "
And that is what happened. When we looked in our grain sacks, we found the money. So Jacob was told this, and he saw it. He saw that the money was still in the grain sacks. And now Jacob is lamenting.
The report of all these news and situations, like a thousand troops, has led to Jacob's lament, which is the content of today's passage. Today's message is not simply about a family tragedy. It is a tragedy, but that is not the intention of the passage. Within this passage, three covenant structures are revealed: the covenant before creation, the covenant of works, and the covenant of grace. These three covenant forms are contained and revealed within today's passage.
First, let's look at verse 36. Their father Jacob said to them, "You are making me lose my children. Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and now you want to take Benjamin away. This is all meant to harm me." He is essentially asking why they even mentioned that Benjamin, the youngest, was still alive.
Jacob now views all these situations – the loss of Joseph, Simeon being held hostage in Egypt, and the demand for Benjamin, which means he will be taken away – as cursed. He feels he is on the verge of complete ruin. He sees himself in such a desperate situation. That is why he says in the latter half of verse 36, "This is all meant to harm me."
However, the truth behind the scenes is the exact opposite. Jacob believes all of this is leading to his ruin and that he is in a desperate crisis. But that is not the case. Behind the scenes, God was working in a completely different way. This grand picture of redemptive history is revealed later through Joseph's confession in Genesis 50:20.
He said to his brothers, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." Ultimately, 70 people, or more precisely 75 if Jacob's grandchildren are included, went down to Egypt. They were saved from the famine. They should have died, but they lived. And through these 75 people, the great nation of Israel, God's covenant people, was formed. And today, we, as the spiritual Israel, have had our lives preserved. God works through salvation that is already prepared.
But Jacob cannot see this. He does not understand why Joseph was lost. In reality, Joseph is now the prime minister in Egypt, a person carrying out God's redemptive plan. Simeon is held hostage, and the money was found in the grain sacks, making them appear like thieves. But ultimately, it has come to the point where Benjamin must go down. And all of this was God's work of salvation, already prepared. However, Jacob cannot see this.
The pain that is overwhelming Jacob, the terrible situation that has befallen Jacob's family, is not an accidental disaster. It is never accidental. It is not a randomly occurring event, nor is it a tragedy that just happened. This event is unfolding in history because of the Abrahamic covenant. It is because of the Abrahamic covenant.
What is the Abrahamic covenant? The Abrahamic covenant, which first unfolded in history, is patterned after the pre-creation redemptive covenant. The Abrahamic covenant is the first revealed form of the pre-creation redemptive covenant, appearing structurally as a pattern. This is a covenantal repetition. And it is the first realization and reflection of the pre-creation covenant within history. The Abrahamic covenant is the earliest picture realized in history, reflecting the pre-creation covenant. Therefore, it is not by chance that such a great tribulation is sweeping over Jacob's family because of the Abrahamic covenant.
Have you heard the name Herman Bavinck? Yes, you have heard of him. He is an outstanding theologian of the Reformed tradition. When we went to our seminary, we were required to read Herman Bavinck's "The Greatness of God" as a freshman's required reading. What did Herman Bavinck say about this? He said, "The Abrahamic covenant is the historical unfolding of the pre-creation covenant made between the eternal Trinity." That is, the covenant made between the eternal Trinity – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit – is the covenant of redemption. This is the pre-creation covenant. The unfolding of this covenant in history is the Abrahamic covenant.
Let's turn to Genesis chapter 15. This is the covenant that includes the well-known incident of the torch passing between the pieces of animals. Look at verse 13. The Lord said to Abraham, "Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. But I will punish the nation they serve, and afterward they will come out with great wealth." And then God made a promise of this covenant that would come to pass. In the covenant ceremony, the parties involved should have walked between the pieces of the animals. Instead, a torch passed between the pieces, signifying that they would go to Egypt, stay there for 400 years, for four generations, and then come out with great wealth. This is what God promised. This is the Abrahamic covenant.
What we must see within this Abrahamic covenant is that it is an agreement and covenant made between the three persons of the Trinity in eternal time, before the ages. God the Father decreed to save His chosen people. And the method would be for God the Son to be broken as a sacrifice for atonement, to pay the penalty for sin by dying on the cross. God the Son, Jesus, agreed to this. The Abrahamic covenant shows us the unfolding of this pre-creation covenant in history.
Therefore, the famine Jacob is experiencing, Joseph being sold, Simeon being bound, and Benjamin being taken away – all these events are not accidental or random occurrences. They are God's work to separate Jacob's family from the sin of Canaan and to make them His holy covenant people in Egypt, a spiritual incubator, and to save them. So, the entire picture of them entering Egypt and coming out, as seen within the Abrahamic covenant, is motivated and occurring because of the pre-creation redemptive covenant that God the Trinity had in eternal time. God is working this way. He is accomplishing salvation this way. The Abrahamic covenant shows us the historical execution and fulfillment process of the pre-creation redemptive covenant.
So, what we must see in Jacob's despair is this: "This is all meant to harm me." It is not that it is harming him, but rather that it is a process of God's redemptive plan being executed. Jacob should have seen that all of this was happening according to God's eternal plan for our salvation. But because he could not see it, he said he was being harmed.
In our lives as well, the fragmented moments we are living through – Joseph, whom he dearly obtained through Rachel, is reported dead. He saw the blood-stained robe. Then he faced a famine. When he went down again, another son was captured. Benjamin, whom he cherished as his own life, had to be taken away. How cursed must he have felt? If we consider it only from the fragmented reality we are currently experiencing, Jacob's despair is understandable. This is also the reality that unfolds in our lives.
However, to call ourselves believers and only look at this reality is to fall into the same despair as Jacob. The Bible wants us to see what Jacob is missing. Do you know why you are going down? Do you know why there is a famine? Do you know why you think Joseph is dead, but in reality, where is Joseph now? You don't know. But it is all part of God's plan and work.
Your lives, and my life, are not problems that have occurred by chance, like a chance encounter. God has placed His will and thoughts in these matters, and He has allowed us to face such despair. So, God first tells us, "This is not all meant to harm me. It is not death."
Now, look at the reaction of fallen humanity, the faithless humanity, who cannot see this grand redemptive covenant of God. This is clearly based on God's pre-creation covenant. It is happening because of the Abrahamic covenant. But look at the fallen, faithless, corrupt, and rotten human beings who cannot see the Abrahamic covenant. This is clearly shown in verses 36 and 37.
Look again at verse 36. Their father Jacob said to them, "You are making me lose my children. Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and now you want to take Benjamin away. This is all meant to harm me." Jacob is saying that he has lost Joseph, Simeon is gone, and Benjamin is being taken away. He is losing everything. He is being robbed of everything. Do you see Jacob's self-preservation? Jacob is not clinging to God's covenant and following it. He says, "God's covenant is irrelevant. I have lost my children. My children are gone. They are bound, and now another precious son, my Benjamin, is about to be taken away. So Jacob is in despair." Everything is about Jacob's self-preservation and protection. It is the same as when they ate the forbidden fruit, thinking they would become like God. Jacob is exhibiting the same behavior.
Look at verse 37. Reuben said to his father, "If I do not bring him back to you, then kill my two sons. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back to you." Do you see Reuben's futile oath? The command concerning the tree of knowledge of good and evil is the covenant of works. "If you eat of it, you will surely die. Do not eat of it. You will surely die." But what is the response of these deceitful and futile people? They are deceived by the devil and say, "You will not surely die. I will give my two sons as collateral, so don't worry."
From a redemptive-historical perspective, Jacob and Reuben both reveal the form of the covenant of works. This is the height of humanism. Standing before the powerful historical flow of God's redemption unfolding within God's covenant, they say, "No, I want to keep what is mine. And like Reuben, I will do it. I will take responsibility." This is the form of the covenant of works.
Let's look at Micah chapter 6. This is a representative example of the human covenant of works that God rejects. "What shall I bring before the Lord and bow before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my wrongdoing, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" This is the nature of fallen humanity in crisis and self-despair. It is the attitude of those who do not trust or cling to God's covenant at all. They think that by offering thousands of rams and rivers of oil, God will be pleased. They think, "I will offer something. I will meet the conditions. Then I will please God and be accepted." This is the form of the covenant of works.
The covenant of works, as seen in the actions of Reuben and Jacob today, and in Adam in the Garden of Eden, reveals that this covenant of works cannot save sinners. This is what God teaches us through the command concerning the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He tells us, "You cannot save yourselves. You cannot create any conditions from yourselves to please me." Humans who do not cling to God's covenant, standing in the midst of God's great redemptive work within the covenant of works, are destined for death and despair. This is a demonstration of that truth.
How can the events that occurred in the Garden of Eden be so perfectly re-enacted in history? Just as the pre-creation covenant is revealed through the Abrahamic covenant, the covenant of works also appears, and humans repeat their actions. They place themselves in God's position and try to protect their own lives. They take responsibility for themselves and create conditions, thereby placing themselves in God's position and claiming their own faith. But this leads to death, despair, ruin, and expulsion from the kingdom of God.
Look at Reuben's futile oath. It exposes the complete bankruptcy and powerlessness of the covenant of works. Let's look at verse 38. Facing the utter foolishness and failure of the covenant of works, let's look at verse 38. Jacob remains unmoved by Reuben's oath. Look at verse 38. Jacob said, "My son cannot go with you. His brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If any harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray hairs down to the grave in sorrow."
Still trapped within the covenant of works, Jacob's confession is, "I will go down to Sheol. I am ruined. I am destroyed. I am dead." The explanation of the underworld is for later. What Jacob is referring to as Sheol now is, "Because of this, I am simply destroyed. I am ruined. I have no will to live anymore. I feel no value in living. I am dead." That is what he is explaining.
When you think of Jacob, what do you remember as the highlight of his life? The highlight of Jacob's life. Yes, you probably recall the incident at the Jabbok River in Genesis 32. The wrestling match. Many people consider that to be Jacob's most significant event. But it is not. At the Jabbok River, when Jacob was alone, God appeared in the form of an angel and wrestled with him. It was a real wrestling match. The angel who came in bodily form was Jesus Christ, because Jacob limped afterward, indicating it was a real event. In that event, God appeared, God wrestled, God fought, and then God... Jacob's name was changed to Israel. "You have won."
So, consider this: Jacob did not do anything himself at the Jabbok River. Critically, Jacob did not offer anything to God through that wrestling match. He did not do anything. Jacob's true Jabbok River is this very moment. Think about it. What is the idol that Jacob, like his very life, clung to deep within his being? It is Benjamin. At the point where he must actually give up Benjamin, he says, "I lost Joseph, and now they want to take Benjamin away. If this happens, my gray hairs will be filled with sorrow, and I will die. I cannot live. I have nothing left. I have no hope of living. I have no faith." This is Jacob's true Jabbok River. God came and touched Jacob, making it the morning at Peniel. Then look at chapters 34 and 35. He stayed in Shechem instead of going to Bethel, and the incident with Dinah occurred.
Jacob met God and limped, saying, "God, I like you. What can I do? I am so happy." But he cannot see, and he opposes and resists God's grand redemptive covenant and the historical movement of God. Why? Because God is dealing with Jacob. The love for Rachel, deeply ingrained in Jacob, was everything to him. Joseph and Benjamin came from Rachel, who was everything to him. He lost Joseph. Benjamin became his entire existence. He thinks, "If I lose this, I am nothing. I am Sheol." That is what he is saying now.
Jacob's fear is this: "If I give this up, if I let go, if they take Benjamin away like they took Joseph, I cannot do it. I lost Joseph, and if I give up Benjamin, I will be filled with sorrow. I will die. It is the end." This was Jacob's terror.
But look, you. But look. Who bore the curse of Sheol that Jacob feared? Who tasted the Sheol that Jacob feared? Who took responsibility for that Sheol? Who entered that place? That's right.
Let's look at Hebrews chapter 10. The mediator of the covenant of grace, Jesus Christ, is now revealed as the form of the covenant of grace. Let's look at Hebrews chapter 9, then chapter 10. "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." It is impossible. Reuben's futile oath is impossible. "Kill my two sons." You see, God's pre-creation covenant is not realized by human blood. Salvation is not achieved. God seeks holy blood, and only with that holy blood can God's eternal salvation be executed and completed.
Therefore, in Hebrews 9:12, "He did not enter by means of the goats and calves by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time, securing an eternal redemption." This is the work of Jesus Christ, the mediator and redeemer of the covenant of grace, who bore God's curse of Sheol. It is Jesus Christ who bore Jacob's curse of Sheol. The blood of fallen humanity, as Reuben says, cannot guarantee salvation. It cannot be collateral. It cannot be achieved with two sons. Never. Only by the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross according to the pre-creation covenant, does God accept our salvation. This is how God works.
Let's look at Ephesians chapter 4. "Therefore it says, 'When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train; he gave gifts to men.'" "He led captives in his train." He captured those who were enslaved by sin and by the devil, and then he gave gifts to men. "What does 'he ascended' mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe."
This passage means that "he ascended" implies that "he descended." He descended to this earth. Why did He descend to this earth as the one with all heavenly authority? It is to save us, like Jacob, and us, the church, who should have fallen into the eternal death curse of Sheol. He descended to earth, and then He entered Sheol. This is what the passage is explaining.
In Matthew 12:40, it says, "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." This verse is a direct quotation from Jonah 2:2. The explanation of being in the belly of a huge fish for three days is described in Jonah as follows: "In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me; from the depths of the grave I called for help, and you heard my cry." So, Jesus says that the Son of Man will be in the belly of Sheol for three days and three nights, just as Jonah cried out from the depths of Sheol.
Through the sign of Jonah, what is being explained is who will enter the belly of Sheol? Who will enter and bear the eternal death curse and judgment of Sheol? The explanation is that the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, will enter. Why did the Son of Man descend from heaven? Why was the Son of Man raised back to heaven? It is to bear the curse of Sheol, which we, like Jacob and the church, so fear. He came in a physical body, and on the cross, He experienced the death of Sheol. Jesus entered the death of the cross with great intensity and paid the price. He paid the penalty for sin.
The result is found in Acts chapter 2. "But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." This refers to Jesus Christ. "God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." This is David's confession. "For you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful servant see decay." Through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, He shattered the power of Sheol. And by His resurrection, He gloriously fulfilled the covenant of grace. This is a crucial point. The covenant of grace was fulfilled and completed by Jesus Christ. There is no covenant of grace without Jesus Christ. The covenant of grace shows the utter failure of humans trying to achieve their own salvation through the covenant of works. The covenant of grace means that Jesus Christ bore everything that was required of us. Jesus Christ became God's offering, His death, and His judgment. He fulfilled all the conditions of the covenant of grace and gave the results to the church.
Therefore, because Jesus Christ paid these conditions and bore them, and because He died and rose again, the covenant of God, which He promised in the pre-creation covenant, has been completely realized and fulfilled in history. Within this, we are a people who have received complete freedom and salvation. There is nothing required of us.
But remember, because we are in Jesus Christ, who gave Himself, the first fear of Sheol has eternally vanished from us. We no longer have fear or worry about hell, abandonment by God, or anything like that. It is no longer ours. It is because we are in Jesus Christ, who gave Himself, died on the cross, and rose again. Amen.
However, remember this: before the gospel of the cross, where the power of Sheol was broken according to the pre-creation covenant and the covenant of grace was fulfilled, there is one thing we must clearly decide and believe. We must observe today why God is dealing with Jacob in this way. God has already saved Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as patriarchs of faith within the pre-creation covenant. At the Jabbok River, He broke Jacob's hip and made him limp. But look, until this point, Jacob has held onto Joseph and Benjamin. Since Joseph is gone from Jacob's perspective, he clings to Benjamin as if it were his own life. Remember that God is dealing with this. He is dealing with it.
"If Benjamin is not resolved, then you are saved." The Bible never says that. Jacob is a child of the covenant, a patriarch of faith, and a people of salvation. But the problem is that within the covenant of works, where humans try to fulfill it, Jesus Christ came and became God's offering, His death, and His resurrection. He bore and resolved the fear of Sheol that we should have experienced. If Jacob believes this fact and accepts it as his own, then he must come to the point of offering Benjamin, confessing, "If it comes to it, I will let go." This will happen. It will surely happen. This is the gospel.
Do not be mistaken. The covenant of grace, through Jesus Christ, has received everything that was to happen to us. It has been completed. However, within it, it demands that we let go of our own things, the false and rotten things, the things of this world. It is not that we are saved only by letting go of them. Those who have encountered the covenant of grace of Jesus Christ must train, deal with, and experience letting go of their own things in holiness. Why? Because God is leading us to become holy people of the holy kingdom of God.
This is God's purpose for us. It is not that our salvation is completed by taking away those worthless things from us. Rather, God gave us Jesus Christ. We received Jesus Christ. Because of that, we no longer have attachment to the honor, money, children, or anything perishable that we cling to. We are citizens of the eternal heavens.
Benjamin was the last lifeline that Jacob relied on and clung to more than God's covenant. God is dealing with this. God also loves Benjamin. But He deals with Benjamin, who has become an idol for Jacob, this great idol. The God who deals with this is the God who loves us. The salvation led by the pre-creation covenant is not different. He has already given His Son first. This is the pre-creation covenant. However, humans calculate for themselves. The covenant of works was that this self-calculation would surely fail.
Jesus Christ descended for us, became our offering, and His death became the completion and fulfillment of the covenant of grace. This is being realized. It is being realized in Jacob. Therefore, the famine in the land of Canaan will continue until he reaches the point of letting go of Benjamin. Please remember this. "If you let go of Benjamin, you will be saved." That is not it. The pre-creation covenant is already shown through the Abrahamic covenant. "You will go down. And after four generations, 75 people will become 600,000, then 2 million, and then come out again." God has recorded this irrevocably. He has decided. And it is happening.
But Jacob says, "I lost Joseph, and if Benjamin is taken away, I will die." God says, "Let's see whose will is stronger, yours or mine." The famine will not stop. He will draw out Benjamin and fully plant the holy Jesus Christ within him. When we let go of Benjamin, whom we cling to, God, through the true Joseph, Jesus Christ, who is already in Egypt, gives us the bread of eternal life every moment, every day.
We are in God's grace. Today's Benjamin is God's precious and beautiful work, making us God's children. I pray that this blessed grace overflows to you all in the name of the Lord. Today, the famine that Jacob is experiencing, and all these events of losing and having children taken away, are happening because he is within the Abrahamic covenant, because of that covenant. As long as Jacob insists on his own way within that covenant, and as long as he adheres to his faith based on the covenant of works, Jacob's suffering will not end. The famine will continue, and it will still approach him with fear.
However, the moment Jacob believes in Jesus Christ, who is contained within the pre-creation covenant, and realizes that he has been saved because Jesus Christ gave up everything, and that he is a child of faith in Jesus Christ, then Jacob will let go of Benjamin, whom he has stubbornly held onto. In your lives, God loves us. And because He loves us so dearly, He will not stop taking away the money, honor, children, and your own self that you desperately cling to. I pray that you will all become precious children who can do this before God, having encountered the covenant of grace within us.
Let us consider what we need to repent of today. As we reflect on today's message, let us have a blessed time of confession and decision about what we must let go of to fully enjoy this covenant of grace within us. Let us pray together.
Jacob was Jacob. And while living his faith, Jacob was also Joseph. And now, Jacob is Benjamin. God, God helps Jacob to become Jesus, by removing falsehood from him and placing the true Jesus within him, until Jacob becomes Jesus. God, who am I? Am I a child? Money? Honor? Or my name? God, we have heard today God's word telling us to let go of the false idol Benjamin within us, so that we may become Christians, holy sons and daughters of God in Christ Jesus, and that this may be planted within us. God, grant us obedience, and may our remaining faith be filled only with Jesus Christ as this great idol Benjamin is removed from within us. God, through today's message, you have given us heavenly joy and shown us how to fully enjoy this joy. Grant that all of us may obey the gospel. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.