Joseph Tests His Brothers
Notes
Transcript
When we left Joseph
When we left Joseph
Joseph and his brother were having a nice lunch.
And Joseph made sure Benjamin got a HUGE portion.
The brothers were told not to worry about the money in their sacks from last time.
The brothers had brought gifts to Joseph.
Now Joseph has a test for them.
And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack. Also put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his grain money.” So he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
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Joseph has his steward not only give his brothers grain and their money, but he has him put a silver cup in Benjamin’s sack.
Was this just an extra gift for Benjamin?
Like the extra-extra large portion at lunch?
As we’ll see, this is a setup to test his brothers.
Sneaky.
Do we ever “setup” someone to see how they will react?
Have you ever done something but not said anything to see if your spouse will notice?
Have you ever setup someone at work to see how they will react?
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As soon as the morning dawned, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys. When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, “Get up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good? Is not this the one from which my lord drinks, and with which he indeed practices divination? You have done evil in so doing.’ ”
The next morning, the brothers are off.
Shortly after they leave though, Joseph sicks his steward on them.
The steward knows the brothers were setup,
He did the setting up.
Joseph has them falsely accused of stealing.
Just like he was falsely accused of attacking Potiphar’s wife.
This is part of a plan.
Potiphar’s wife wanted revenge.
Joseph was testing his brothers.
So he overtook them, and he spoke to them these same words. And they said to him, “Why does my lord say these words? Far be it from us that your servants should do such a thing. Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money which we found in the mouth of our sacks. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.”
Dude, how can you accuse us of this?
We brought back the money we found in our sacks from last time.
After bringing back what we thought might have been stolen, why would we steal this time?
Tell you what, check our stuff.
We have nothing to hide.
Who ever has this cup, let him die and we will be your lord’s slaves.
The brothers were pretty sure they were innocent if they were willing to bet their lives on it.
Are you willing to bet your life on your innocence before God?
What are you basing that on?
If it is anything but the free gift of the blood of Jesus, you to may be in for a surprise.
How many people do you know who say their good deeds out way their bad?
As if that would get them into heaven.
And he said, “Now also let it be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and you shall be blameless.” Then each man speedily let down his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack. So he searched. He began with the oldest and left off with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.
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OK, the guilty will be my slave and the rest, blameless.
So they go through the sacks and what do they find?
They find the cup in Benjamin’s sack.
Remember, Benjamin didn’t do this.
The steward who is accusing him is the same one who put the cup in his sack in the first place.
But he’s just following Joseph’s orders.
Benjamin is being “sold” into slavery just as Joseph was.
What are the brothers going to do?
Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city.
So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there; and they fell before him on the ground. And Joseph said to them, “What deed is this you have done? Did you not know that such a man as I can certainly practice divination?”
Then Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; here we are, my lord’s slaves, both we and he also with whom the cup was found.”
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The brothers return to the city and beg Joseph.
The brothers return to the city and beg Joseph.
God has found them guilty.
Of what?
As far as the brothers know, the Egyptian has no idea what they did to their brother.
All the brothers will be slaves.
They’d rather serve as slaves in Egypt than return to their father without Benjamin?
Could it be they could not stand to see what the loss of another son would do to Jacob?
Or is their guilty conscience just to much for them?
But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so; the man in whose hand the cup was found, he shall be my slave. And as for you, go up in peace to your father.”
Joseph says no.
I will not punish the innocent.
He will only punish the guilty.
Of course, if the brothers abandon Benjamin, I wouldn’t expect his life in Egypt to be to bad.
After all, his favorite brother is running the place.
Then Judah came near to him and said: “O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s hearing, and do not let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even like Pharaoh. My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’ And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, who is young; his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’ Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ And we said to my lord, ‘The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.’
Judah recounts their last encounter with Joseph.
Remember, at this point the brothers don’t know that the Egyptian is their brother.
Judah reminds Joseph that the boy is only here because Joseph demanded it.
This very act endangered the life of their father.
“So it was, when we went up to your servant my father, that we told him the words of my lord. And our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’ But we said, ‘We cannot go down; if our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we may not see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons; and the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn to pieces”; and I have not seen him since. But if you take this one also from me, and calamity befalls him, you shall bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.’
Now Judah tells Joseph what transpired when they were home.
How Jacob would not let Benjamin go.
Judah points out Jacob’s favoritism to his two youngest sons.
“You know that my wife bore me two sons”
You know that my wife bore me two sons
What about the other 10?
You know that my wife bore me two sons
Judah again points out that their father’s life is on the line.
The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
The New King James Version. (1982). (Ge 44:27). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
“Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, since his life is bound up in the lad’s life, it will happen, when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die. So your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave. For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father forever.’
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Judah will bear the guilt, not only for the fate of Benjamin, but for his father’s death.
Judah is making quite a case.
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Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father?”
Judah offers to be Benjamin’s savior.
He will take Benjamin’s punishment.
He will offer his life as a slave to save both Benjamin and his father.
Could it be that Judah has learned a lesson?
Or is he just unwilling to suffer what he will see when he returns to his father without Benjamin?
Conclusion
Conclusion
Quite a picture, eh?
We have Joseph setting up his brothers.
Even “selling” his brother Benjamin into slavery.
We have Judah begging for Benjamin’s life.
Even willing to become a slave in his place.
Do we see any parallels here?
Judah is willing to pay for the sins his brother was convicted of.
Just as Jesus was willing to pay for ours.
We also see the sins of the brothers coming back to haunt them.
We even see Jacob’s favoritism coming back to haunt his as well.
The brother’s don’t know it, but this is actually a test from their brother.
Not unlike the test God gives Abraham with his son Issac.
Did you notice Joseph’s first dream fulfilled?
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So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there; and they fell before him on the ground.
This story has built to a crescendo, but we must wait for next time for the rousing finish.
One dream down, another to go.
This story has built to a crescendo, but we must wait for next time for the rousing finish.
How much of the story of your life involves your sins, or your good deeds, coming back to you?
How much are you willing to pay to not see others suffer for your misdeeds?
How often has God put difficult situations in front of you as a test?
And have you passed?
If you think of all that you would give in the brother’s situation, have you considered one thing?
Would you truly give you life?
I don’t mean to die for someone else, but would you give up your right to you life?
To become someone’s slave?
Because that is was being a disciple of Christ means.
He has paid for your sins.
Will you give him what you owe?