Total Surrender – Miketz – Dec. 20

There was a time in my life when I had more than enough physical provision, including three vehicles; a regular car, a work van, and a motorcycle. Wanting to be a good steward with my resources I decided to sell the car and just use the van for work and then use the motorcycle for getting around town and recreation. I sold the car. A week later the engine block in my van cracked and it wasn’t worth replacing the engine. I sent the van to the junkyard. I was thankful that I still had the motorcycle. A week after this the motorcycle stopped working. I went from abundance to poverty in three weeks.

Where was God in all of this? Why would God allow me to sell my car if He knew that this would occur?

I started searching for a replacement vehicle right away but the day after my motorcycle stopped running I was going away for the weekend to attend a youth conference and since I was bringing a group I didn’t have any free time until after the weekend. Soon after I arrived at the conference I started talking with a friend in the hotel lobby. While we were talking two young ladies approached us and asked if we had any prayer requests. They didn’t know us and we didn’t know them, however, the situation of having all of my vehicles taken from me within three weeks was weighing so heavy on me I couldn’t help but tell them the story and ask them to pray for a car for me. They said that they’d pray and they left.

The friend that I was talking with then turned to me and said, “Do you need a car? My wife and I have an extra car and have been looking for someone to give it to. You can go home with me after the conference and the car is yours.” And that is exactly what I did.

God hadn’t abandoned me. God was with me the whole time, however, He needed to get me to a place of total surrender and complete helplessness so that He could show me His power and His provision.

The Process of Surrender

None of us desire the place of total surrender. We like to be in charge, to plan our future, to have everything in our control, and to be the one who makes the decisions. The walk with God, however, demands complete surrender of ourselves and complete dependance upon Him.

This is one of the main themes from this week’s Torah Portion (Gen. 41:1 – Gen. 44:17). Joseph is still in prison. He was rejected by his own family, sold into slavery and considered dead to his family. As a slave in Egypt he was falsely accused and sent to prison for an unspecified number of years. We know that Joseph continued in prison for a full two years after he correctly interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s two servants (Gen. 41:1). The chief cupbearer to Pharaoh forgot the kindness that Joseph had shown to him. Joseph could do absolutely nothing to change his situation, however, the circumstances in the kingdom of Egypt would soon demand the presence of Joseph.

“The mind of man plans his way,
but the LORD directs his steps.”
Proverbs 16:9

Pharaoh had two dreams that troubled him. He told it to all of his wisemen and magicians but no one could make sense of these strange dreams. Finally, the cupbearer to Pharaoh remembered Joseph and explained to Pharaoh how Joseph had correctly interpreted the dreams for both himself and the chief baker two years prior. Pharaoh had Joseph pulled out of prison (the pit) and had him brought before him.

When Joseph came into Pharaoh’s presence, Pharaoh explained to Joseph that he had had a dream and that no one could interpret, however, he heard that Joseph could interpret dreams. Joseph responded to Pharaoh and literally said, “It is not in me ( בלעדי – without me), God will answer peace to Pharaoh” (Gen.41:16). Joseph knew that he wasn’t the source of interpretation. After thirteen years of being refined, Joseph knew his place in this world and understood that God ruled it all and he was simply God’s servant. Joseph learned to walk in total surrender to God.

I believe Joseph’s response was very purposeful in that he wanted Pharaoh to clearly see that it was God and only God who has power over the future. Joseph also spoke in faith that God would show peace (literally “shalom”) to Pharaoh, which would have calmed Pharaoh of any fears. Joseph’s words were peace to Pharaoh.

Pharaoh told Joseph his dreams and Joseph gave Pharaoh the interpretation; there would be seven years of abundance and seven years of famine. Joseph then explained to Pharaoh the best way to handle the situation. Pharaoh recognized the Spirit of God in Joseph and made him the second most powerful man in all of the kingdom, second only to Pharaoh (Gen. 41:38-44).

The Hand of Providence

Over the course of the next seven years there was great abundance in Egypt just as Joseph had foretold. Then the seven years of famine began. The famine was widespread throughout the known world at that time and it eventually forced Joseph’s brothers to come to Egypt to buy grain. Jacob sent ten of his sons to Egypt but kept Benjamin close to his side as he was afraid to lose him. The scenario of Joseph and his brothers is powerful and prophetic as the brothers literally came and bowed down to Joseph as Joseph had seen in his dreams some 20 years earlier, however they did not recognize Joseph (Gen. 42:1-8).

The tables were now turned. The ten brothers, who thought they ruled the world, were at the mercy of this “Egyptian” ruler. Joseph, the rejected one, was now in the place of the king of Egypt. The slave had become a king and the dreams of a boy were coming to life (Gen. 42:9).

Joseph accused his brothers of being spies and told them that the only way he would believe that they weren’t spies is if they would prove to him that they actually had a younger brother. Simeon was put into prison as a ransom while the other 9 went back to their homeland. Joseph’s brothers returned to their father and told him the story but Jacob would not let them take Benjamin back to Egypt as he feared for his life. In the mean while, Simeon sat in prison.

The Rejection of Reuben

At one point Reuben tried to persuade his father Jacob to send them back to Egypt and entrust his son Benjamin to him. Reuben told his father that he could put his own two sons to death if he didn’t bring Benjamin back. Jacob said NO! as he didn’t trust Reuben and for good reason. Reuben slept with his father’s concubine (Gen. 35:22) and Reuben obviously didn’t even care enough about his own two sons’ lives to protect them but rather was willing to have them put to death. Reuben’s character and the lack of a surrendered life kept him from a place of responsibility and trust.

When the grain was running out again, Jacob asked his sons to go back to Egypt to buy more. Judah stepped up at this point and told his father, “not without our brother!” He explained to his father the harshness with which the ruler of Egypt spoke to them and swore that they would not see his face without their younger brother. Judah then asked his father to entrust Benjamin to him and send them on their journey. Judah pledged his own life (אערבנו – “ehravonu”) for the sake of Benjamin and told his father Jacob that he will bear the shame if Benjamin did not return. Jacob agreed (Gen. 43:8-11).

The Acceptance of Judah

Why did Jacob decide to trust Judah? Judah had come to a place of complete surrender in his life. Years earlier Judah had married and had three sons. His older son grew up and married Tamar but God killed him because he was wicked. Then Judah gave his second son to Tamar but he was also wickedness and God killed him also. Judah was afraid to give his third son to Tamar and sent her back to her father’s house. Time went by and Tamar played the harlot and got pregnant by Judah but Judah didn’t know that his daughter-in-law was the harlot. When Judah found out that she was pregnant he ordered her to be burned to death, however, she showed the pledge (ערבון – “ehravon”) he had given to her when he came into her and he repented and declared that she was more righteous than he (Gen. 38). Tamar lived and bore him twins, including Perez who was in the line of the Messiah.

Judah was ready to have his daughter-in-law killed for breaking the moral code of the day, however, when he saw the pledge (“ehravon” in Hebrew), he realized that he was the guilty one and declared her righteous (Gen. 38:24-26). He bore the shame of his own sin and showed her mercy. Through this act Judah proved that he was willing to keep his word no matter what it cost him. Judah lived a surrendered life!

Now Judah was telling his father that he was willing to put his own life on the line for Benjamin. Judah would be the pledge (ehravon) for Benjamin. Judah was not offering someone else’s life but his own. Jacob knew that he could trust Judah and Jacob sent Benjamin with him to Egypt.

The Surrendered Life

The ten brothers, with Judah at the lead, journeyed back to Egypt and were invited to dine with Joseph. They were frightened at this gesture to dine with Joseph but agreed to his invitation. After the meal Joseph had his servants fill their bags with grain and sent them on their way but not without first putting their money back in their sacks and Joseph’s silver cup in Benjamin’s sack. The eleven brothers began the journey back to their father Jacob and were surely rejoicing that they were all together, including Simeon and Benjamin. Judah was leading the brothers and everything was going as planned.

Then Joseph’s servant caught up to them and accused them of having stolen his master’s silver cup. They denied it but the cup was found in Benjamin’s bag. Joseph’s servant brought them back and they all fell prostrate before Joseph (Gen. 44:1-17). Judah was at the head of the brothers and would not abandon Benjamin as he had abandoned Joseph 20 years earlier. Judah then spoke these words to Joseph: “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” (Gen. 44:16)

Judah was totally broken and would not give up his younger brother. Judah recognized that God is the Almighty One and that He was revealing the sin of their past from twenty years earlier. Judah was in a state of total surrender!

Living in Total Surrender

How are you and I living our lives? Are we living a life of brokenness before God? Are we acknowledging His Sovereign Hand in the daily routine or are we fighting for our rights and manipulating circumstances for our own benefit? Are we seeking the good of others and sacrificing our own lives for them or protecting ourselves and selling them short?

“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the LORD of hosts” (Zech. 4:6)

The surrendered life is not in words alone but in every aspect of life; our attitudes, our actions, our words, and our relationships. I invite you today to consider the surrendered lives of Joseph and Judah and how God used them for His glory on this earth. What can God do with our surrendered lives today?

Shabbat Shalom!

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Torah Portion: Gen. 41:1 – Gen. 44:17

Hafatara: Zechariah 2:10 – Zechariah 4:7

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