Pastor Allan Kircher
Shell Point Baptist Church
March 9th 2014
Gen. 44 Joseph series #10
THE CASE OF THE MISSING SILVER CUP
Intro: God uses strange ways to speak/hearts of people.
• Bible/filled/story/story/God used unusual methods
• Unusual means/get/attention of certain people.
God used:
• burning bush/speak/this disgraced prince/Moses
• donkey to speak to this pagan prophet/Balaam
• empty meal barrel/dead son/speak/poor widow/Zarapheth
• Israelite slave/speak great general/Naaman/2 Kings 5
• Rooster/speak to this fallen preacher/Simon Peter
• Whale/speak to Jonah
List could go on…few instances…enough…prove my point.
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God/uses/necessary to penetrate/hard heart of humanity with the message He wants a person to hear.
• Passage teaches us/same truth.
• As story/Joseph/brothers continues to unfold
• God uses/simple silver cup/open/door/ forgiveness/reconciliation
After/years, God brings/guilty brothers/place/repentance through the ministry of Joseph’s silver cup.
• Preach/events/chapter/few minutes today
• I want you/keep/truth in mind
• God also knows how to speak to you and me.
• Chapter unfolds like a mystery.
Want you to see how God used a simple silver cup to soften the hearts of Joseph’s brothers.
• Incident involved/Conspiracy/Confrontation/Confession.
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I. v. 1-9 IT INVOLVED A CONSPIRACY
• Joseph/brothers/just enjoyed a time of celebration
• still don’t know/Joseph is/he/dropping hints here/there
• seats/brothers/table/birth order
• Benjamin/only full brother/five times/rest/brothers
• meal is over/next day has dawned
• Brothers are feeling pretty good about things
• Convinced/Prime Minister/not spies
• Rescued/Simeon/prison
Returning home/more grain/family/All their money
• most importantly/returning/Benjamin
• Judah had promised his father
No doubt/filled/excitement about going home/families/children.
Congratulating themselves over their successful mission to Egypt.
What they don’t know/God is working behind the scenes/face to face/sin some 22 years old.
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• Brothers get ready/leave Egypt..
• Joseph tells/steward/house/prepare/grain they need
• V. 1 “as much/can carry”/give/money back also
Then, Joseph tells his steward to do something very strange.
• V. 2 Personal cup/place/sack that belongs to Benjamin
v. 3-5…now/brothers/gone far way
• Joseph/sent/steward/stop them/confront them/about cup.
Accuses them:
• Of “rewarding evil for good.”/stealing Joseph’s silver cup,v. 6
• V. 7 brothers deny/charge/seek to defend their honor
• V.8 remind/steward/plenty of money
• Why would we steal a silver cup?
• So sure/their innocence/make some strong promises.
V.9 swear/cup is found among them/guilty brother will die
• Rest will become slaves/Egyptians
• Strange way for Joseph to treat his brothers.
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In this passage, God uses Joseph as His instrument to draw these men to a place of repentance/restoration.
Years before/men/conspired against Joseph/effort/get rid of him.
• Conspired to Joseph’s harm.
• Now/tables/turned/Joseph conspires against them.
• But, unlike his brothers
• Joseph/not conspiring/effort to harm them.
• He is conspiring for their good.
• Need/remember there are no accidents in life.
If you/child of God, every event in your life is a product of divine providence, Rom. 8:28.
God is working out His will in your life in ways you and I cannot begin to comprehend, Isa. 55:8-9.
• Even includes the way God deals with our sins.
• There/times when we allow sin/abide in our lives.
• After while we can grow used to sins presence
• To/point where it no longer bothers us
• Come/think we have gotten away/sin
Because we have not faced judgment/chastisement over that sin
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• God knows exactly when and how to speak to our hearts.
• When/time is right
• He/touch all the right buttons to humble us
• bring us/place/repentance.
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Absalom/killed/Amnon/raped/Tamar, 2 Sam. 13.
• Created/rift/David/Absalom/banished 2 full years
• Absalom/reconcile/father/approached/Joab
• Joab refused/Absalom’s calls to come to his house.
• Commanded/servants/set Joab’s barley fields on fire
• got Joab’s attention and he came to see Absalom
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Point of my sharing that story with you
• Something/your life/God were to touch it/take it
• would get your attention
• Joab, it was his barley field.
• For David/committed adultery/Bathsheba/infant son.
• For Abraham, it was his son Isaac.
• God knows how to get our attention
• Not afraid/touch/take what He pleases/speak to our hearts.
God has a silver cup/place/our lives
• Open our eyes/walked away from Him.
• Sooner or later, the silver cup will end up in your sack!WHY
Come to believe that we can get away with sin.
• Adam/Eve/think/cover/flimsy fig leaves/own making.
• God/settle/nothing less/total confession/repentance.
Like Achan, we think/hide our sin
• God knows where all of our skeletons are buried
• He will uncover them in His time,
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Best thing:
• Believer can do with sin is to get it out into/open/soon as possible, Pro. 28:13.
• We can do with sin is hate it, forsake it and confess it to Him 1 John 1:9 When we confess our sins…………
When we refuse to, there will be a high price to pay for our disobedience, Heb. 12:6-11; Pro. 13:15.
We may not understand it all, but that is what is happening in these verses!
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God is in the process:
• Burning/barley fields of these brothers of Joseph
• Getting their attention/conspiring to bring them back to Him!
II. v. 10-13 IT INVOLVED A CONFRONTATION
• sacks/opened/searched/knew/they done nothing wrong.
• Can/see them standing/smug expressions on their faces?
• each sack/opened/silver cup/not found
• They grow more/more confident.
• opened Benjamin’s sack/sun glints off/piece/highly polished metal.
• To their disbelief/Benjamin’s sack is Joseph’s silver cup.
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Moment of truth!..........Joseph’s final test/brothers.
Been testing them/see whether/not they/changed.
• Have passed tests already/This/ultimate test!
• 22 years earlier/hated Joseph so much/attacked him
• Cast/pit/sold him/slavery/broken/father’s heart
• Maintained/lie for all these years.
• Now, they/opportunity to get rid/other son of Rachel.
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• Clear/text that Jacob loves Benjamin
• Benjamin/replaced Joseph/father’s favorite son
• All/have to do/allow Benjamin/arrested/taken back
• They can simply go home/ultimate test.
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These men pass the test/flying colors!
• Don’t know how/cup got into Benjamin’s sack.
• At this point/fact doesn’t even matter!
• determined to face whatever comes together
• Tear their clothes/sign/grief/they go/face the music as one.
No accusations thrown at one another/no compromises.
• picture of ten men who/finally ready do/right thing
• Finally grown up/willing to face whatever consequences
• see beyond themselves
• Have a desire to do right, regardless/personal cost!
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That’s/place God wants us to reach as well!
Wants us/come/place/we stop making excuses/our behavior.
Come/place where we are willing to own up to our sins.
• God wants us to stop pointing/finger at others.
• My sins are not my parent’s fault!
• Can’t blame my evil on my wife or on my surroundings.
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If/going/have/power/God/my life/have/do/right thing.
• Church is going to have God’s power on it
• I need to stop waiting on you to get right and do right
• Up to me to get right and do right!
• God wants us to reach the place where we are willing to do the right thing regardless/personal cost.
• Have you reached that place? Have I reached that place?
We can, with His help! I don’t know about you, but I want to get there.
God is not afraid to confront us/very point of our sins in order to open our eyes to our need of repentance.
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III. v. 14-34 IT INVOLVED A CONFESSION
V.14…Brothers arrive back/Joseph was waiting to see….
• Benjamin alone? Or everybody?
• They bow/fulfills dreams Gen. 37.
• Joseph confronts/silver cup
• Leads them/believe see “divine”……
Point Judah steps forward/delivers one/most profound and eloquent speeches/Word of God.
• Judah has matured.
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v. 16 – Judah confesses their sin.
• Confess/fact they had sinned
• God/punishing them/their sin
• Direct result of their unconfessed sin.
• Offers himself, along/rest/brothers as Joseph’s servants.
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v. 17 – Joseph refuses Judah’s offer
• Rest/brothers to go home/Benjamin/stay as a slave.
v. 18-34 –heart of Judah’s speech
• Reminds Joseph/only reason Benjamin/come/Joseph demanded it
• Jacob will die if anything happens to his youngest son
• Judah offers himself in Benjamin’s place
• Offers/stay/Egypt/Joseph’s slave/Benjamin can return
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Moment/Joseph has been waiting/working for since his brothers showed up in Egypt.
He sees that:
• They have changed
• Brothers/willing to stand together as one man
• chance to turn their backs on Benjamin, but they didn’t
Judah stands up and puts his father, Benjamin and the rest of the brothers ahead of himself.
• Major turning point/story
• Joseph hears Judah’s confession
• Sees his love/family in action, it is more/he can stand.
• Joseph breaks down before/brothers/reveals/identity/them
• Look/moment in our next study.
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Today/lesson/we need to take to heart.
• Judah shows us how sin/to be handled.
• His actions remind us/very nature of sin.
Sin, by its very nature, is a very selfish thing
• Sin entered/world/because Eve/selfish.
• She chose herself over the Lord, Gen. 3:1-6.
• Every sin we commit/rooted in selfishness, 1 John 2:16.
• Our sins are all about us!
We are saying, “I want what I want and I do not care about the consequences!”
• Sin is a very selfish act!
• When we sin we/choosing ourselves over God
• Over His will/church/families/everything but our own selfish wants, desires and wishes.
• Sin is rooted in selfishness!
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Conc: in 3 John verse 4, John says, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”
• John/saying/greatest joy/preacher/see/people he ministered to growing and walking in the truth he had taught them.
• I know how he felt!
Same feeling/must/gripped/heart of Joseph saw
• Judah’s broken heart and heard his heartfelt words.
• Brothers/Joseph/finally grown up/ready/make things right.
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As I bring these thoughts to a close today, let me ask you a couple of questions.
Are you growing in the Lord? How would you know?
• when you begin to hate sin
• Willing to tell the truth about your sins
• Reach/place/more concerned others/you are about yourself.
Are their sins in your life that need to be confessed?
• get before the Lord today/deal/sin in your life
• need/go/someone you have hurt/confess/hurt to them.
• Things will never be as they could be until you do.
Are you afraid that there may be a silver cup in your future?
• Know areas/life not with the Lord.
• Fear God might resort to drastic measures/attention.
Did you know that, if that sin is on your mind today, it is the Holy Spirit calling you to come to God to deal with the matter?
In my opinion, it is far better to come before the Lord in humble repentance than it is to wait for Him to burn your barley fields.
