Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
I wonder if you’ve ever been caught by a scam or an intentional plot to trick you? It’s a terrible feeling that your integrity has been violated, isn’t it? Today, sadly, it’s happening all around us and innocent people are being caught up in these plots and hurt deeply. Let’s take a look today, at one of the greatest scams of all time and see what God was doing in it. That’s right, God was working in the depths of what appeared to be a ‘scam’.
Yesterday I left you walking out of the Egyptian storehouse city with Jacob’s 11 sons, their donkey’s loaded with grain, heading back home, very grateful they had both Simeon and Benjamin with them. I’m sure they felt proud of how well they had handled this their second encounter with the Egyptian official known as Zaphenath – Peneah (Gen. 41:45) who was in charge of the food distribution during the terrible famine that was ravaging not only Egypt but all surrounding nations, including theirs. Oh, but there was so much these men didn’t know.
They didn’t know that Egyptian official was not Egyptian, he was Hebrew, and in fact he was their brother Joseph whom they had sold into slavery more than 20 years before! They also didn’t know what Genesis 44 tells us. They have fallen victim to a scam developed by Joseph and intended to show him the depth of their integrity and their compassion. Joseph was interested to know if they were still as selfish and heartless as they had been when they sold him into slavery. Would they do the same to their youngest brother Benjamin or were they different men now? Would they step up and be truthful and do the right thing for Benjamin and their father Jacob?
The record tells us Joseph had treated them kindly with a meal in his royal home, filled their sacks to overflowing and sent them on their way. They of course had paid for their grain and they didn’t know Joseph had instructed his officials to put their money back into their grain sacks. Nor did the brothers know Joseph had also instructed his steward to put his personal silver cup in Benjamin’s grain sack!
The record says: “As morning dawned the brothers were sent on their way with their loaded donkeys. 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?” (Gen. 44:3-5)
The steward did as he was told and naturally the brothers were shocked when he rode up in his chariot and said these things to them! They responded “Why do you say such things? Far be it from us to do anything like that. We even brought back to you the silver we found in our sacks from our last trip. Why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? If any of us is found to have it, he will die and the rest of us will be your slaves.“ (Gen. 44:7-9) These men were confident they were being falsely accused. Can you see them lowering the sacks of grain from their donkeys, shaking their heads with frustration? They were being delayed in their trip and it was such a preposterous accusation!
May I ask, how do you respond, my friends, when you are ensnared by the frustrating circumstances or ineptness of our world? Traffic jams which prolong your journey / closed offices which should be open when you arrive during normal business hours / government bureaucracy which prolongs a simple process which should be quick and fairly easy / mistakes made by professionals who should know better? I think that’s some of the frustration Jacob’s sons were feeling as they were detained by what seems to them to be a ridiculous accusation.
Look at them standing there with their hands on their hips, as Joseph’s steward begins searching their grain sacks. The record says he started with the oldest brother and worked his way down, one by one, to Benjamin, the youngest. As each grain sack was searched, and he found nothing, and he moved to the next, I assume that brother retied his sack and slung it up on his donkey grumbling that he had been bothered. If you’ve traveled internationally and found customs people rifling through your luggage you understand, especially if you can’t speak their language! Or even if you’ve traveled domestically in recent years and your bag is pulled off the TSA line and they rummage through it asking you questions… you understand the frustration, don’t you?
But Genesis 44:12 reports: “And suddenly Joseph’s silver cup was found in Benjamin’s grain sack. At this the brothers tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys with their grain sacks and returned to the city.” (Gen. 44:12,13) As we walk along with them, what do you suppose they are saying to each other and to the steward? They know they did not take the cup, but they also know the Egyptian official has suspected them of being spies, from the beginning. They have no advocate, no mediator who will plead their case. It will be their word against his and of course he being an Egyptian official and they being foreigners at his mercy… well I can imagine they felt their destiny was sealed. There was no hope for them.
The record says: “Joseph was still in his house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him. 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?’ Judah replied, ‘what can we say my lord? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered our guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves…” (Gen. 44:16) Of course we know Joseph had not resorted to any type of divination or sorcery to find the cup, he is the one who had instructed that it be placed in Benjamin’s sack. But the men laying on the floor in fear before Joseph, they didn’t know that. When Judah said ‘God has uncovered our guilt’ he wasn’t talking about the silver cup found in Benjamin’s sack, Judah was talking about what they had done to their young brother Joseph more than 20 years before, and how they’d lied to Jacob their father claiming an animal must have killed Joseph, when in fact they had sold Joseph as a slave. Once again my friends this is a picture of the moment that you and I, each of us, will stand before God on judgment day, giving an accounting of our lives. God knows everything and it will all be laid bare before Him and us, according to Hebrews 4:13. No hiding, no pretending, no excuses or arguments or even negotiations. Truth will be known, and justice will be executed fairly.
Of course there is one huge difference between the scene of Joseph’s brothers lying prostrate before Joseph without any advocate and the day you and I stand before God in judgment. JESUS is the big difference! 1 Timothy 2:5 says “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men.” And add to that remarkable picture of Jesus as our mediator, this great truth: “There is therefore now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1,2) When you and I, and every person who has ever lived, stand before God on judgment day, JESUS will be standing there with his nail scarred hands.
As the sinful details of our lives are laid bare before God, IF we have repented of our sin and trusted Jesus Christ to be our Savior, then He, the risen Jesus, steps forward and God the Father declares ALL our sin forgiven because Jesus paid our full sin debt price! However, for the person who has NOT trusted in Jesus for their salvation, when the sinful details of his or her life are set out in full view, Jesus will NOT step forward as their advocate, their medicator, for they are on their own, never having trusted in Jesus! And the great judge will declare them guilty and send them to their eternal punishment. So my friends, what will be your experience on your day of reckoning? Have you trusted fully in Jesus? Is He your Savior, your friend, your Lord, your advocate?
Now, let’s rejoin the brothers lying prostrate before the Egyptian official Joseph as they fear they are about to be imprisoned for stealing his silver cup. Joseph’s response to Judah’s honest statement that “God has uncovered our guilt” stunned them. “Far be it from me to do such a thing.’ Joseph said, ‘only the man who was found to have the silver cup will become my slave. The rest of you go back to your father in peace.” Judah stepped forward and pleaded for his brother’s release, explaining how Benjamin was so important to his old father. Then Judah showed the compassion Joseph was looking for as he said to Joseph, “Your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father…now then please, let me remain here as your slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers…” (Gen. 44:33,34)
Let’s pause right here my friends and consider what we are witnessing, and ask ourselves some deeper life questions. How do you respond to injustice, unfairness, misunderstandings which cause unfair accusations? How do you respond when innocent people are being bullied? How do you respond to cover-ups, especially ones which last a long time, and cover up terrible wrong? Are you a peace-maker, a person of grace and mercy and justice?
Are you one who brings hope and help into desperate situations? All over our world right now millions of people feel helpless, hopeless and at the mercy of deceit, injustice, and arrogant corruption. Let’s take a moment right now and ask the Holy Spirit of God to show us if there are dreadful situations God wants you and me to step INTO, bringing hope and help, as we shine the light of God’s truth into those situations? Now that, my friends, is what it means to ‘walk with Jesus’ in our world today!
Today’s Scripture is Genesis 44.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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