I had a dear friend long ago that said, “Tell me rules of the game and I will play it, but stop changing the rules without telling me!”  He said this in frustration as he told us of his dysfunctional workplace as a computer tech.  He was charged with the repair and maintenance of computers for a larger government facility. He loved his work but the security systems and processes, guided by power hungry people who were asserting their translation of the rules and procedures daily made him anxious, to the point of anger. He didn’t like being angry. It became so hard in fact; he went looking for a way to retire early and got a new job that had nothing to do with governmental oversight. 

All of us who have jobs in workplaces of this kind understand the frustration of wondering what the rules are from day to day depending on who’s in charge. 

We come to the part of the God’s story in Joseph that completely confuses his brothers.  What is Pharaoh’s second in charge doing to them?  They did all he told them to do. They obeyed all the rules of the game. The Second in charge served them in the palace quarters where he lived.  He provided for their all their needs, sent them home with the goods, and all the brothers; but now they have been stopped on the journey home to realize they have been caught in a trap.  What is going on?

Genesis 44

A Silver Cup in a Sack

44 Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house: “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man’s silver in the mouth of his sack. ² Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” And he did as Joseph said.

³ As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys. ⁴ They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, “Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil? ⁵ Isn’t this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done.’”

⁶ When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them. ⁷ But they said to him, “Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that! ⁸ We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? ⁹ If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.”

¹⁰ “Very well, then,” he said, “let it be as you say. Whoever is found to have it will become my slave; the rest of you will be free from blame.”

¹¹ Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. ¹² Then the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. ¹³ At this, they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.

¹⁴ Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him. ¹⁵ Joseph said to them, “What is this you have done? Don’t you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?”

¹⁶ “What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants’ guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves—we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup.”

¹⁷ But Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace.”

¹⁸ Then Judah went up to him and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, let me speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. ¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ ²⁰ And we answered, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’

²¹ “Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.’ ²² And we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.’ ²³ But you told your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’ ²⁴ When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said.

²⁵ “Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy a little more food.’ ²⁶ But we said, ‘We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’

²⁷ “Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. ²⁸ One of them went away from me, and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.” And I have not seen him since. ²⁹ If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.’

³⁰ “So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father, and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life, ³¹ sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow. ³² Your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father. I said, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!’

³³ “Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. ³⁴ How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

PLOT TWIST—All is not what it seems to be.  Is Joseph testing his brothers’ sincerity before revealing himself to them?  Will he realized that they were genuinely sorry for their sinful plot to get rid of him over twenty years earlier? Oh, there is much more to this story!

Consider this truth:  Relationships don’t thrive because the guilty are punished but because the innocent are merciful.  Jesus, the innocent, demonstrated God’s love, mercy, and grace as he willingly laid down His life for ours—the guilty—so that our sins could be paid for in full by his death on a cross.  Jesus bore our sins, the shame, and the humility of those sins upon his shoulders in excruciating pain so the we could be set free from the punishment we deserve.  “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” so that our sins could be removed as far as the east is from the west—to be remembered no more!!  (2 Corinthians 5:21; Psalm 103:12; Hebrews 10:17-20)

Jesus taught us to forgive as we have been forgiven—completely and without conditions.  We pray for those who hurt or offend us.  We pray for their lives, like ours, to be saved for eternity because of God’s love in us who changes they way we think and transforms our behaviors.  We forgive them before a “sorry” is uttered from their lips.  Forgiveness is a character trait of God that was excellently and lovingly demonstrated by His Son, Jesus.  Forgiveness is the trait God wants us to develop withing us.  And God gives us the power of His Holy Spirit living in us to achieve it.  We have no excuses.  We must forgive others like God has so generously and completely forgiven us.

Prayerfully think about God’s forgiveness—

What person seems impossible for you to forgive? What keeps you from fully forgiving the one who hurt you? God’s love outweighs any harmful experience.  God’s word teaches His “love covers a multitude of sins,” so will you obey God and forgive?

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8

Warren Wiersbe writes;

“For twenty-two years, Joseph’s brothers had carefully covered their sins. They hadn’t told the truth and apparently had reaped no serious consequences. Furthermore, they weren’t afraid of being exposed, because the only person who could witness against them was Joseph, and they were sure he was dead. But the truth had to come out, both for their good and the success of God’s plan of salvation for the world.

When the eleven brothers left Joseph’s house, they had every reason to be joyful. They hadn’t been arrested for stealing the grain money, Simeon had been released, Benjamin was safely traveling with them, and they were going home at last.

But their joy was only a mirage. Authentic joy and peace can never be based on lies; they must be founded on truth. To build on lies is to build on the sand and invite certain judgment. Apart from righteousness, there can be no real peace, but only a fragile truce that eventually erupts into war. “The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever” (Isaiah 32:17). God’s way may be narrower and harder, but it leads to peace.” –Wiersbe Study Bible

One last thought—

May we remind ourselves that Jesus Christ is our blessed assurance for all who trust Him. (Hebrews 7:22). He has assumed the responsibility for us to make sure that we will come to the Father (John 14:1–6) and live forever with God in the rooms He is preparing for us to live. Jesus is bringing “many sons and daughters to glory” and He will see to it that each of them arrives safely.  To God be the glory!  Thank you, Jesus!

“In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.” Hebrews 2:10

Stay tuned for the wrap up tomorrow!  What will Joseph do next?

Lord,

Thank you for reminding us the forgiveness is your habit that must become ours if we are to become more like You in every way. It all begins with your love in us, guiding us to forgive.  Thank you for forgiving me.

In Jesus Name, Amen