I.
The Set-up (Genesis 44:1-12)
a.
Genesis
44:1 – And he commanded the
steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks [with] food, as much as they
can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth.
§
Here again like
the unnamed servant to Abraham who traveled to Abraham’s homeland to take a
bride for his son, here we have an unnamed servant who is carrying out the will
of his master. Could this be another “type” of the Holy Spirit?
§
In the midst of
the 2nd year of famine, drought, foreshadowing the drought of God’s
Word in the end times that we are now living
b.
Genesis
44:2 – And put my cup, the
silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did
according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
§
Here we are
seeing the final act of Joseph’s ruse, what is the purpose of this ruse, why
are we being told this story, what was it executed in this particular way? Is there a dual meaning?
§
Here we see
Benjamin is a key component of Joseph’s plan to bring about repentance and
salvation to the rest of the brothers, and eventually reunite all of the
brothers (including Joseph) with their father.
§
Benjamin is the
youngest, innocent of the deeds of his brothers.
§
Benjamin could represent
another “type” of the “body of Christ” in this particular instance.
§
Cup – גביע gĕbiya`, masculine noun, A larger cup from which
wine is poured distinguished from smaller cups from which it was drunk
o
“The silver cup was a sacred divining vessel, then commonly used in Egypt
§
What was the cup
made of? What did the brothers sell Joseph for?
Silver, to this point Benjamin received none of the silver that the
brothers split between themselves for the sale of Joseph. Benjamin has now innocently and unknowingly
received his share of the price.
§
This was Joseph’s
personal cup, from his cup the wine is poured into all of the other cups. Joseph has a special position of authority in
Egypt
o
Silver is also symbolic of testing/trials/purification:
·
Psalm 12:6 – The words of the LORD [are]
pure words: [as] silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
·
Psalm 66:10 – For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried
us, as silver is tried.
·
Proverbs 17:3 – The fining pot [is] for
silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts.
·
Proverbs 27:21 – [As] the fining pot for
silver, and the furnace for gold; so [is] a man to his praise.
·
Isaiah 48:10 – Behold, I have refined
thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction
·
Zechariah
13:9 -
And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as
silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call
on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It [is] my people: and they shall
say, The LORD [is] my God.
§
So what is the
parallel we can draw between the cup of Joseph and the cup of Jesus?
o
John 18:11 - Then
said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?
o
Matthew
20:22-23 - But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not
what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of,
and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him,
We are able. And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my
cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my
right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but [it shall be given to
them] for whom it is prepared of my Father.
·
In both of these
instances it appears Jesus equates the cup that he has been given with
martyrdom, both of He Himself as the first to die, but also the followers of
Christ who are martyrs and make up the body of Christ.
o
Joseph gives
Benjamin his cup (under the pretense that Benjamin stole it). Benjamin is unjustly blamed for doing
something he did not do. Benjamin will “symbolically”
be judged by Joseph. The other brothers
will be forgiven.
c.
Genesis
44:3 – As soon as the morning
was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.
§
Why are we told
this? Details like this are omitted all
the time but here we are told when they left and it was in the morning when it
was light.
§
I
Thessalonians 5:4-5 - But ye,
brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a
thief. Ye are all the children of light,
and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
§
What day is Paul
referring to in this passage? He is speaking of the Day of the Lord and that it
comes as a thief
§
This day was to
be a “type” of the Day of the Lord for the brothers.
o
Did Benjamin
know?
o
Jasher
54:21-22 – “…and Joseph said
unto him (Benjamin), I am Joseph thy brother, reveal not this thing unto thy
brethren; behold I will send thee with them when they go away, and I will
command them to be brought back into the city, and I will take thee away from
them.”
o
We see here from Jasher
that it is possible that Joseph did reveal himself to Benjamin and told him of
his plan n part.
o
If this be an
accurate representation then the day did not overtake Benjamin as a thief
because he was made aware of the plan.
o
Likewise, we are
made aware of the God’s plan through His Word, and it is revealed in part to
those who seek it.
d.
Genesis
44:4 – [And] when they were
gone out of the city, [and] not [yet] far off, Joseph said unto his steward,
Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them,
Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?
§
A question that
he knew would draw blank stares, for they knew nothing of his plan.
§
People who are
not living for Jesus think that they are good people, but are walking blind
with no redemption. What will their
response be when asked this question?
e.
Genesis
44:5 – [Is] not this [it] in
which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so
doing.
§
Indicates that
the cup was used for divination (not that Joseph himself practiced this)
§
1
Corinthians 11:27 -
Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink [this] cup of the Lord,
unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
o
Permission was
not given for them to take the cup therefore they “took” it unworthily
f.
Genesis
44:6 – And he overtook them,
and he spake unto them these same words.
§
The good servant
always does as he is instructed
g.
Genesis
44:7 – And they said unto
him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should
do according to this thing:
§
They rightly
state the law in that God does forbid stealing even though the law has not yet
been given.
h.
Genesis
44:8 – Behold, the money,
which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan
§
Basically they
are saying…”What you are saying doesn’t make any sense, we brought back to you
the money we found in our sacks in case it was an oversight on your part, why
would we steal a cup? We’ve proven
ourselves to be honest mem.”
i.
Genesis
44:9 – With whomsoever of thy
servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondmen.
§
Shows the
confidence that they had in each other that they were so sure that this could
not be true they pledged themselves
§
Penalty for
stealing from the palace was death according to the code of Khammurabi
§
Here the cup is
aligned with death, to take the Lord’s cup is to die!
o
By taking part in
the Lord’s communion we die to our flesh and blood and take on His flesh and
blood
§
Benjamin, the
only one who is innocent among them, is the one who unknowingly is in
possession of the cup.
§
The brothers make
the same proclamation about Benjamin as Jacob made against Rachel when she
stole her father’s images; however, in this instance Benjamin is innocent.
§
Jesus also
innocent and given a cup:
o
Matthew
26:39 - And he went a little
further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me:
nevertheless not as I will, but as thou [wilt].
§
The guilty
brothers’ words condemned Benjamin to death, but he was innocent. They transferred their guilt to him (though
it was unknowingly). Similarly humanity
transferred all of their guilt to Jesus who was innocent.
j.
Genesis
44:10 – And he said, Now also
[let] it [be] according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my
servant; and ye shall be blameless.
§
Again the
transference of sin upon Benjamin, the one who is in possession of the
cup. What does the cup represent?
k.
Genesis
44:11 – Then they speedily
took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.
§
Matthew 16:27 -
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and
then he shall reward every man according to his works.
§
Matthew 6:20 -
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
§
Every man will
have to “open their sack” and be judged by the Lord, what do we have in our
“sacks”?
II.
Passing the Test (Genesis 44:12-34)
a.
Genesis
44:12 – And he searched,
[and] began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in
Benjamin's sack.
§
With every search
of every sack the brothers were likely gloating in their own righteousness,
then it was found with Benjamin, the worst case scenario.
b.
Genesis
44:13 – Then they rent their
clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.
§
They rent their
clothes and returned to Egypt
§
They all went
down to Egypt
§
Not only do they
show their concern for their brother, but also their father realizing how much
Jacob loves him.
c.
Genesis
44:14 – And Judah and his
brethren came to Joseph's house; for he [was] yet there: and they fell before
him on the ground.
§
Another instance
of fulfilling Joseph’s original dream
d.
Genesis
44:15 – And Joseph said unto
them, What deed [is] this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I
can certainly divine?
§
Of course he
could divine it, he set it up
e.
Genesis
44:16 – And Judah said, What
shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear
ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we [are] my
lord's servants, both we, and [he] also with whom the cup is found.
§
“God hath found
out the iniquity of thy servants” – Judah
o
Judah
o
This is the
confession of sin Joseph that Joseph was awaiting
§
Judah
f.
Genesis
44:17 – And he said, God
forbid that I should do so: [but] the man in whose hand the cup is found, he
shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.
§
Joseph says he
finds no fault in them, they are innocent
g.
Genesis
44:18 – Then Judah came near
unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in
my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou
[art] even as Pharaoh.
§
Judah, who has
pledged himself as a surety to his father for the safety of Benjamin, takes the
lead.
h.
Genesis
44:19 – My lord asked his
servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?
i.
Genesis
44:20 – And we said unto my
lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one;
and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father
loveth him.
j.
Genesis
44:21– And thou saidst unto
thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.
k.
Genesis
44:22 – And we said unto my
lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for [if] he should leave his father,
[his father] would die.
l.
Genesis
44:23 – And thou saidst unto
thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my
face no more.
m.
Genesis
44:24 – And it came to pass
when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.
n.
Genesis
44:25 – And our father said,
Go again, [and] buy us a little food.
o.
Genesis
44:26 – And we said, We
cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down: for
we may not see the man's face, except our youngest brother [be] with us.
p.
Genesis
44:27 – And thy servant my
father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two [sons]:
q.
Genesis
44:28 – And the one went out
from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since:
§
Joseph learning
of what transpired with Jacob after his brothers sold him
§
Now he understands
what they told to Jacob in order to satisfy his desire to know what happened to
his son.
r.
Genesis
44:29 – And if ye take this
also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with
sorrow to the grave.
s.
Genesis
44:30 – Now therefore when I
come to thy servant my father, and the lad [be] not with us; seeing that his
life is bound up in the lad's life;
§
What does this
mean, his life is bound up in the lad’s life?
§
Sometimes people
love someone so much that if that person dies, it brings so much sorrow that
the other dies. We see people who have
been married for 50 years or more one spouse dies and the other dies shortly
thereafter.
t.
Genesis
44:31 – It shall come to
pass, when he seeth that the lad [is] not [with us], that he will die: and thy
servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow
to the grave.
u.
Genesis
44:32 – For thy servant
became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee,
then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.
v.
Genesis
44:33 – Now therefore, I pray
thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let
the lad go up with his brethren.
§
Judah
§
“We cannot judge
what men are by what they have formerly, nor what they will do by what they
have done…” Matthew Henry Commentary
w.
Genesis
44:34 – For how shall I go up
to my father, and the lad [be] not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil
that shall come on my father.
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