PROCLAMATION
“… Fill the
men’s sacks … And put my cup, the silver one, in the sack’s mouth of the
youngest one … Joseph said unto his servant, ‘Up, follow after the men; and
when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil
for good?’ … And he overtook them, and he said unto them the same words.” Genesis 44:1-6 (KJV)
EXPLANATION
These are
the words of God which were revealed to and written by Moses under the
influence of The Holy Spirit of God. Early the following morning after
the feast they had eaten, Joseph had his servants to fill his brothers’ sacks with
grain and silver for their return to Canaan.
However, he had them placed a silver cup in one of Benjamin’s bags. After his brothers had left, he sent a
servant after them, and he caught up with them and as instructed he accused
them of stealing the silver cup. (Genesis 44:1-6) The brothers denied stealing the silver cup, but
a search of their bags revealed that the silver cup was in one of Benjamin’s
bags. Seeing this they tore their
clothes and returned to Egypt. (Genesis 44:7-13) When they came before Joseph they fell on the
ground before him. Joseph claimed to
know what they did by divination. As
punishment they agreed to be his slaves, but he only wanted to keep Benjamin
with him. Then Judah reasoned with him
and told him that would kill his father if they left Benjamin behind and he
offered to stay in his place. (Genesis 44:14-34)
APPLICATION
Most Bible
scholars agree that Joseph did this to test his brothers’ affection for
Benjamin since years earlier they had sold him into slavery. In this life we will be tested. People will test us, and the Lord God will
test us. We need to maintain our
faithfulness and our resolve and recognize that most of our trials and
temptations are just tests. Our tests
will help to produce patience within us. (James 1:3) We need to be mindful of the fact that what
is important is our response to the situations which we face. Fear not, The Lord God is in control.
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