A humbled and open heart is fertile soil for God’s seeds of wisdom to be planted. Deeper Roots is focused on analyzing God’s word to discover truths, values, and lessons for application to our lives. Periodically, a scripture or passage calls for further exploration, like Genesis 44:14-34.
When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there. They fell before him to the ground. 15 Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination?” 16 And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.” 17 But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go up in peace to your father.”
Genesis 44:14-34 ESV
18 Then Judah went up to him and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself. 19 My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ 20 And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’ 21 Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ 22 We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ 23 Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again.’
24 “When we went back to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. 25 And when our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,’ 26 we said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother goes with us, then we will go down. For we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ 27 Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28 One left me, and I said, “Surely he has been torn to pieces,” and I have never seen him since. 29 If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in evil to Sheol.’
30 “Now therefore, as soon as I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy’s life, 31 as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. 32 For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.’ 33 Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. 34 For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.”
Our Deeper Roots passage in Genesis shows us that maturity allows us to easily maneuver situations. Our scripture selection begins with Joseph’s brothers returning to Eygpt to stand alongside their brother, Benjamin. Benjamin had been accused of stealing a silver cup from Joseph as a test. Judah stood as the spokesman for his brothers and began recounting the events that led them to that moment; the journey from their homeland, the request to bring Benjamin along, and the reluctance of their fatherIsrael. He ended by describing the dilemma he faced. How could he return without Benjamin? It would surely cause Israel more heartbreak.
Judah had succeeded in ways that his older brother, Reuban, had failed. He laid his own self on the line to protect Benjamin (Israel’s youngest child by his favorite wife), secured provision for the family to save them from famine, and interceded on behalf of Benjamin. He volunteered himself to be enslaved for his brother’s freedom. His petition showed his concern for his brother and father. This was a far cry from the Judah who came up with the idea to sell Joseph into slavery (Genesis 37:25-28). Over the course of years, Judah experienced a transformation. He had experiences with the loss of his sons, making false accusations, and understanding shame/guilt from his interactions with Tamar. He shed selfishness and embraced sacrifice. He matured and was able to maneuver these new challenges easier than if he had encountered them in previous seasons. As we look through Jesus’ earthly lineage, he came through the line of Judah. We see Jesus sacrificing himself for us, securing eternal life for those who believe, and interceding on our behalf at the right hand of our Heavenly Father.
God takes us through seasons of refining that make absolutely no sense to us until time passes. As we’re faced with new challenges, we are able to demonstrate how much God has done in and through our lives. We walk through new trials with the wisdom of previous seasons. When you look back do you see how far God has brought you? Can you see how differently you navigate your current challenges in comparison to 1 year ago? or 5 years ago? or even 10 years ago? That’s growth! That’s maturity! If you honestly cannot see any changes, that’s an opportunity to get in God’s presence to illuminate why your maturity has stagnated because God calls for us to be refined (matured) into His image.
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