Genesis 44 - Joseph's Cup

December 11, 2023

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.

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.

As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.

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?

Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.

And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words.

And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing:

Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold?

With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondmen.

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.

11 Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.

12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

13 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.

14 And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground.

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?

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.

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.

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.

19 My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?

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.

21 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.

22 And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.

23 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.

24 And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.

25 And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food.

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.

27 And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons:

28 And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since:

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.

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;

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.

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.

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.

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.

Events:

1. Joseph’s steward fills the sacks and puts Joseph’s cup in Benjamin’s sack.

2. The brothers leave but are soon overtaken by Joseph’s servants.

3. The servants search the sacks and find Joseph’s cup in Benjamin’s sack.

4. The brothers return to Joseph’s house and plead for mercy.

What does this passage teach us?

Verses 1–12. Unlike other religious writings, the Bible presents realistic stories of sinful men doing sinful things. This is bothersome to the unbelieving mind. Natural man does not want to face his sinful condition. But these stories should humble us, because our lives are also filled with gross mistakes, unwise decisions, and sinful actions. Therefore, we need to be careful not to justify every action taken by the characters in the stories. Nor should we rush to judgment concerning their standing with God. Every man’s life is a journey. If you judge a man by his most sinful moment, when a proud and envious spirit has taken the upper hand in his life, you would make a poor judgment of him. But how does the rest of his life go? Does the man humble himself and seek mercy? Before you draw the verdict on the characters represented in the story, you need to read the whole story! Often, you will find reconciliation, humble repentance, and true faith in God. This is the case with Joseph and his brothers.

In this chapter, Joseph prepared an elaborate test for his brothers so that he could determine once and for all if their hearts had changed towards the sons of Rachel (Benjamin and himself). Had their hearts really and truly softened since they had thrown Joseph into a pit on the plains of Dothan and sold him to slave traders? The brothers had come into his house, already disturbed about the money found in their sacks. Now, Joseph upped the ante by placing his own special cup in Benjamin’s sack. He wanted to test their love for Benjamin. Previously, they had no regard whatsoever for Joseph’s life. Now, to what measures would they go to protect Benjamin from imminent harm?

In order to make the test look real, the servants referred to Joseph’s use of a silver cup in “divining.” Apparently, magicians would fill the divining cup with water and try to “see” into some future event. This is a difficult passage. There is not enough evidence here to convict Joseph of the sin of witchcraft. It is possible that Joseph lied concerning the divining in order to seem like an Egyptian to his brothers. Or, he may have used the cup as the Urim and Thummim were used by the priests in the Mosaic era to receive God’s revelation. We do know that, from his earlier testimony (Gen. 41:6), Joseph attributed all prophetic insight to the only true God, the covenant God of Abraham.

Verses 13–34. The servants caught up with the brothers and searched the bags. When the cup was found, the brothers immediately displayed heart-felt repentance in their love for Benjamin. They tore their clothes in an expression of sadness and horror. They begged for Benjamin’s life in front of Joseph, and Judah offered to substitute his life for Benjamin’s. All of this was exactly what Joseph was hoping to see—a complete change of heart regarding the sons of Rachel. Beyond any doubt, their reactions demonstrated true love and sincere concern for their brother Benjamin.

Throughout these proceedings, Judah acted as the head of the family. There are reasons for this. First, it was Reuben the eldest who had previously dishonored his father by taking his father’s concubine. Also, Simeon and Levi dishonored their father by their unwarranted mass execution of the men of Shechem. By their actions, the first three sons had forfeited their right to serve as representative head for the family.

The exchange between Joseph and Judah is instructive. First, Joseph presented himself as one who “knows,” or one who can “divine.” All knowledge concerning future, past, and present events resided with God Himself. There was truth to this claim. Clearly, Joseph had received from the Lord a special gift of knowledge concerning future events. He may have been able to discern when others would steal “divining cups.” But this was of little concern to Judah. He was far more concerned with the all-seeing, all-determining counsels of Almighty God. It is impossible to miss the humility and faith in Judah’s testimony to Joseph. He says, “God hath found out the iniquity of your servants.” Of course, he speaks of another sin committed twenty years earlier. This was preeminent on his mind. His concern was not that he had offended this high official in the Egyptian empire. He had offended the God of heaven! And this was much more serious.

While maintaining their innocence in the matter of the cup, Judah took the opportunity to recognize the real issue, the glaring problem in the lives of Judah and his brothers. In the midst of this dramatic confrontation, Judah recognized the hand of God in all of it. God was getting their attention, and Judah discerned the message. God preached by these acts of providence in his life. It is most astonishing to find that Judah took this moment to bring this up in the presence of an “Egyptian” prince! But what else could he do? He finally understood the real issues at stake. It wasn’t about the cup and the money in the bags. It was about a dreadful sin committed twenty years earlier. Now Judah could clearly see the hand of God working. This was the time to acknowledge God’s hand and submit to it in humble confession. It was time to address the “elephant in the room” and come clean about what had happened when they sold their brother into slavery.

How does this passage teach us to walk with God in faith and obedience?

1. God is always at work in our lives. He may use civil trials, illnesses, and tragedy to send a message. He speaks to us through His Word and by His many acts of providence. But are we listening? Can we discern what He is saying to us, and will we respond with true confession and repentance? The Scriptures provide the standard by which we interpret all of our experiences, dreams, and thoughts. But our hearts must be in the right place to rightly receive what God is teaching us.

2. While it is important to seek reconciliation for broken relationships, we must rely on God to humble the hearts of those involved. We should root out all bitterness in our own hearts and be always willing to grant forgiveness. Yet it may still be difficult to restore trust in the relationship. If a friend has broken confidence and proven himself malicious and untrustworthy, it may take some time to restore that trust. Just like Joseph, we should be willing and eager to see this trust restored. That is why Joseph put his brothers to the test.

We may wish to test the waters of our relationships in various ways. Generally, it would not be prudent or appropriate for us to repeat the same elaborate test that Joseph used. Joseph was a civil magistrate and had more leeway in how he dealt with his brothers. Moreover, Joseph’s brothers had previously committed the capitol offense of kidnapping, and they had even contemplated murder.

If we truly desire to restore relationship, we will do our utmost to confess our own faults, offer forgiveness, and restore trust. Usually, peacemaking is a process that takes concerted time and effort. But peacemaking is worth it! “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God” (Matt. 5:8).

Questions:

1. What are the themes of Chapters 1 through 44?

2. How did Joseph test his brothers in this story? Why did Joseph submit his brothers to this test?

3. Why did Judah speak for his brothers?

4. What were the Urim and Thummim? What evidence do we have that Joseph would not have been involved in witchcraft?

5. How can you tell that the brothers were repentant of their evil treatment of Joseph?

 Family Discussion Questions:

1. What are some good ways to restore trust in a broken relationship? How much time can it take to restore a relationship?

2. Are you willing to lay down your life for your brother(s) or sister(s) as Jacob’s sons were willing to sacrifice themselves for Benjamin? Or does self-centeredness and pride create bitter feelings towards your siblings? If your father gave your brother a beautiful new bicycle (but somehow didn’t give a gift to you), could you rejoice with your brother? When there are two slices of cake available, do you let your sister have the bigger piece?

3. Has God ever brought something to your attention by creating a unique circumstance in your life? What sorts of things does He teach you through His providences