MJ and Precious looked at each other and they did not know what to do. They had arrived at Professor Ooops’ lab and found that he was sound asleep. Should they wake him up or should they just sit there and wait for him to wake up on his own? They decided to wait for a while, but then it happened! Precious had to sneeze! She tried to hold it in, but she could not! It was a loud sneeze and the Professor woke up! He jumped to his feet, tripped over his feet, did a complete summersault as he fell and bounced back up on his feet as if nothing had happened! Precious said, “Ooops!”
The Professor pretended that he had not been asleep and got right down to business. He told MJ and Precious that today they were going to have Judah visit them. Judah was one of the 12 sons of Jacob. The Professor turned the dial on the time machine to Judah, and MJ pushed the button. Nothing happened for about 30 seconds, then the booth began to shake like a mosquito who had too much caffeine, there was the sound of thunder, and the air was filled with…nothing! In a minute a sad-looking man wandered out of the booth and sat down with a sigh. He said, “Hello, my name is Judah, and I am a loser!”
The Professor, MJ, and Precious were shocked! This man was different from everyone else they had met from Bible times; he looked like he had no purpose in life and had given up! He did look like a loser! Precious asked Judah to tell them his story, and Judah told them this story.
“I am the fourth son of Jacob, and my whole life it seemed like I could never do anything right. I did not mean to do the wrong things, in fact I would have liked to do the right things, but every time I ended up making big mistakes! My brothers and I were all jealous of our younger brother Joseph. He was our father’s favorite, and he had some dreams that told him that someday we would bow down to him. He could be very annoying, and we hated him! One day Joseph came to us while we were watching the sheep, a long way from home, we beat him up and threw him in an empty well. My older brother Rueben was planning to rescue him at night and take him back to our father, but I suggested that we sell him as a slave to some traders who were going to Egypt! Can you imagine that? I came up with the idea of selling my own brother!
After that I moved away from the family for a while and started my own family. I was not a good father. I did not teach my children about God; in fact, my two oldest sons were so wicked that God put them to death! After those two sons died, you would have thought that I would have turned back to God and lived the way my father Jacob had taught us, but I did not. Instead, I sinned against God even more and really messed up my life!
I eventually moved back home to my father’s family, but things were not good. There was no rain, no food had grown, and there was very little to eat! We heard that there was food in Egypt and our father sent my brothers and I down to Egypt to buy food. My father kept our youngest brother, Benjamin, with him because he was the favorite now that Joseph was gone (my father thought Joseph was dead). It turned out that Joseph was the man in charge of all the food in Egypt. He recognized us, but we did not recognize him.
Joseph decided to test us to see what kind of men we had become. He asked us questions about our family, and we told him about our father Jacob and about our youngest brother who did not come with us. We felt very uneasy talking to this man. We talked among ourselves (in our own language) and said that we were being punished because of our guilt in selling Joseph. We did not know that Joseph could understand every word we said. Joseph did sell us some food but said that he would not sell us anymore food unless we brought our youngest brother with us next time!
When we ran out of food our father Jacob told us to go and buy some more, but we told him that the man in Egypt would not sell us any more food unless we took Benjamin with us! We begged and begged our father to let us take Benjamin with us. I finally did something right! I told our father that I would personally take care of Benjamin, and that if Benjamin did not come back safely, I would be guilty the rest of my life! Jacob finally let us take Benjamin to Egypt.
When we got to Egypt Joseph met us again (but we still did not know who he was), and he tested us again. He accused Benjamin of being a thief and wanted to put him in jail! I stepped forward and told Joseph that if he would let Benjamin go free, I would stay there and be his slave for the rest of my life. When Joseph saw that I (who had come up with the idea of selling Joseph into slavery) was offering myself as a slave for the rest of my life, he could not keep his secret any longer! He told us who he was, and he forgave us. Joseph told us to hurry home and move the whole family down to Egypt so that he could take care of all of us!
Life was good for a while, but then my father started to get weak, and we knew that he was very old and would die soon. Jacob told all his sons to come to his room so that he could give each of us a blessing from God. The things that Jacob said to my three older brothers were not very good at all, they seemed more like curses than like blessings. When my turn came, I was scared! I had done so many wrong things in my life! I was sure my father would curse me forever! I was so wrong! My father gave me an incredible blessing from God. My father told me that my family would be royalty! That’s right, the kings of the nation of Israel would be my descendants, and the promised Savior would be my descendant! I could not believe it! I did not deserve this, but for some reason God chose me for this special honor!”
They were all quiet after Judah finished his story, and then the Professor quietly told Judah that God often chooses people with messed up lives, and once they turn to Him, He uses them in a great way! One of the strongest leaders of the early Church was the Apostle Paul. He traveled to many countries to tell people about Jesus, and he wrote (with the Holy Spirit’s help) many of the books of the New Testament of the Bible. Before he turned to Jesus and asked to be forgiven, Paul was one of the worst sinners of that time! He used to go around looking for Believers so that he could put them in prison and get them killed! When Paul turned to Jesus, then he was changed completely!
In the Bible in I Timothy 1:15-17 Paul says:
This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” – and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of His great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in Him and receive eternal life. All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; He alone is God. Amen.
No matter what you have done, you can be forgiven and saved by Jesus. He loves you and He paid the price of your sins when He died on the cross and then rose from the dead. If you have never given your life to Jesus, please turn to Him today!
Judah was still shocked that God had chosen to use him in such a special way! He got up slowly and walked into the booth. MJ closed the door and Precious pushed the button. Nothing happened for about 30 seconds, then the booth began to shake like a mosquito who had too much caffeine, there was the sound of thunder, and Judah went back to his own time.