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
place 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. There can be no testimony without first
passing a test. 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, whatever the
situation, The Lord God is in control.
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