God uses strange ways to speak to the hearts of people. The Bible is filled with story after story in which God used unusual methods and means to get the attention of certain people.
In Ex.3:10 we see Moses – God used a burning bush to speak to this disgraced prince.
In Numbers 22:28-31 in the case of Balaam – God used a donkey to speak to this pagan prophet.
1st Sam 15:14 King Saul – God used the bleating of some sheep to speak too this wayward king,
1st Kings 17:9-24Widow Of Zarephath – God used an empty meal barrel and a dead son to speak to this poor widow.
1st Kings 19:1-18 Elijah – God used a touch, a meal and a small still voice to speak to this discouraged prophet.
2nd Kings 5:4 Naaman – God used an Israelite slave to speak to this great general.
Come here Matthew and tell us what happen, well I wrote in Matt. 26:69-75 about Simon Peter and how God used a rooster to speak to this fallen preacher. God will use some strange way to get our attention.
This list could go on for quite a while, but those few instances are a few points of how God will use whatever means necessary to penetrate the heard heart of humanity with the message He wants a person to hear.
This passage teaches us the same truth. As the story of Joseph and his brothers continues to unfold, God uses a simple silver cup to open the door to forgiveness and reconciliation. After all these years, God brings the guilty brothers of Joseph to a place of repentance through the ministry of Joseph’s silver cup.
This chapter unfolds like a mystery, and I want you to see how God uses a simple silver cup to soften the hearts of Joseph’s brothers. I want you to notice that this incident involved a Conspiracy, a Confrontation and a Confession
In verses1-9, Joseph and his brothers had just enjoyed a time of celebration, and his brothers still do not know who Joseph is, but he is dropping hints trying to tell them. For instance, when he seats the brothers at the table, they are seated in birth order, Gen. 43:33. Also, Benjamin, Joseph’s only whole brother, is given five times as much as the rest of the brothers during the meal, Gen. 43:34.
Now, the meal is over and the next day has dawned. The brothers are feeling pretty good about things. They have convinced the Prime Minister of Egypt that they are not spies. They have rescued the brother Simeon from prison. They are about to return home with more grain for the family, they have all of their money and, most importantly, they are returning home with Benjamin, just as Judah had promised his father that they would in Gen. 43:3-10.
As they prepare to leave there they are filled with excitement about going home to their families and their children. They are congratulating themselves over their successful mission to Egypt. But, what they don’t know it that God is working behind the scenes to bring them face to face with a sin that is at least 22 years old. And I believe that these brothers has some cousins still living right here in Jackson, who has some sins that are 5, 10, 15 and 20 years old.
While the men are preparing to leave, Joseph tells the steward of his house to prepare them the grain that they need. He said give them as much as they can carry, v. 1. Then He tells the steward to give them their money back also.
Then, Joseph tells his steward to do something very strange. He tells the man to take his personal cup, the one that he uses and place it in the sack that belongs to Benjamin, and he does it v. 2. Now the men set out toward home. When they have been gone awhile, Joseph sends the same steward after them to stop them and to confront them about the cup in Benjamin’s sack.
The steward follows them and accuses them of doing evil for good. He accuses them of stealing Joseph’s silver cup, v. 6. The brothers deny the charges and seek to defend their honor, v. 7. They tells the steward, look man we have plenty of money, why would we steal a cup, v. 8. As a matter of fact they were so sure of their innocence that they make some strong promises. They swore that if the cup is found among them, the guilty brother will die and the rest will become slaves to the Egyptians, v. 9.
I thought that this was a strange way for Joseph to treat his brothers. But in this passage, God uses Joseph as His instrument to draw these men to a place of repentance and restoration. Because if you remember, years before, these men had conspired against Joseph in an effort to get rid of him, Gen. 37, they conspired to harm Joseph, but now, the tables are turned and Joseph conspires against them. And my brothers and sisters we might-ought to be careful how you treat somebody, and how we treat our God because one day what you have done will come back to you. But, unlike his brothers, Joseph is not conspiring in an effort to harm them. He is conspiring for their good.
I think I need to tell somebody in the room that we need to be careful how we live in sin because, when we allow sin to abide in our lives, after awhile we can grow used to sins presence to the point where it no longer bothers us. Or, we think that we have gotten away with it so long that no one notices, but I think I need to tell you that we need not forget that one day we have not faced judgment and God knows exactly when, what and how we have lived our lives. When the time is right, He will touch all the right buttons to humble us and to bring us to a place of repentance. Let me prove my point, if you remember when Absalom had killed his brother Amnon because Amnon had raped their sister Tamar, 2 Sam. 13. This murder in the family had created a rift between David and Absalom. David banished Absalom from his sight for 2 full years, but in 2 Sam. 14:24. Absalom, in an effort to reconcile with his father, he approached David’s general Joab, but Joab refused to answer Absalom’s calls to come to his house. So, Absalom commanded his servants to set Joab’s barley fields on fire. They did and it got Joab’s attention and he came to see Absalom, 2 Sam. 14:28-33.
I need to let somebody know that there is something in your life that, if God were to touch it, or even take it, it would get your attention. For Joab, it was his barley field. For David, when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, it was their infant son. For Abraham, it was his son Isaac. My question is what will it be for you, what will God have to touch to get your attention?
And baby please know that God knows how to get our attention and He is not afraid to touch or take. He has a silver cup that He can place in our lives to open our eyes when we have walked away from Him.
And if we’re not careful sooner or later, the silver cup will end up in your sack.
And some of us have come to believe that we can get away with sin. Like Adam and Eve, we think we can cover it up our sins with the flimsy fig leaves. But I’m here to tell you that God knows, and he will settle for nothing less than total confession and repentance. God knows where all of our skeletons are buried, and He will uncover them in His time.
Proverbs 28:13 says He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. The best thing we can do with sin is hate it, forsake it and confess it to Him. We may not understand it all, but that is what is happening in these verses. God is in the process of burning the barley fields of these brothers of Joseph. God is in the process of getting their attention. He is preparing to bring them back to Him. New Galilean what is it going to take for God to get our attention.
The sacks are opened and searched. These brothers know that they haven’t done anything wrong. I can see them standing there with smug expressions on their faces. As each sack is opened and the silver cup is not found, they grow more and more confident.
But, all of a sudden when they get to Benjamin’s sack, the sunlight hits the polished metal. To their disbelief, there in Benjamin’s sack is Joseph’s silver cup.
This is the moment of truth. This is Joseph’s final test of his brothers. All this time, Joseph has been testing them to see whether or not they have changed.
They have already passed several tests already.
They brought Benjamin as Joseph had requested, Gen. 43:15-16.
They returned for their brother Simeon, Gen. 43:23.
They even returned all of the grain and money when they thought it was a mistake. Gen. 43:20-22.
BUT….
This is the crucial test. 22 years earlier, they had hated Joseph so much that they had attacked him, cast him into a pit and sold him into slavery. They had broken their father’s heart by lying to him about what had happened to Joseph. They had maintained that lie for all these years. Now, they have the opportunity to get rid of the other son of Rachel. And it is clear from the text that Jacob loves Benjamin. It seems clear that Benjamin had replaced Joseph as his father’s favorite son. and all they have to do is allow Benjamin to be arrested and taken back to Joseph. And then they could’ve simply gone home. These men do not know it, but they are about to reveal to Joseph what kind of men they have become.
These men pass the other test. They don’t know how the cup got into Benjamin’s sack. And at this point it really doesn’t even matter. But, they are determined to face whatever comes together. They tear their clothes as a sign of grief and they go to face the music as one.
They didn’t make any accusations at one another. There are no compromises. There is simply a unified resolve to stand by their brother.
What we see here is a picture of ten men who are finally ready to do the right thing. Here are ten men who have finally grown up and who are willing to face whatever consequences there are. These men have grown to the point that they can see beyond themselves. They have a desire to do right, regardless of the cost.
And that’s the place God wants us to reach.
He wants us to come to the place where we stop making excuses for our behavior.
He wants us to come to the place where we are willing to own up to our sins.
God wants us to stop pointing the finger at others.
Your sins are not your parent’s fault.
I can’t blame my evil on my wife or on my surroundings.
And if I am going to be cleansed and forgiven, then I have to deal with my sins openly and honestly.
If I am going to have the power of God on and in my life, then I have to do the right thing.
If this church is going to have God’s power, we need to stop waiting on others to get right, and do right. You must know that it’s up to you to do right and get right! Point to yourself and say its time for me to get right.
And I don’t know about you, but I want to get there. Because I know that God is not afraid to confront us at the very point of our sins. These brothers are facing what they are facing because God is determined to get their attention and bring them back into a right relationship with Him.
So when the brothers arrive back at Joseph’s palace, they find him still there, v. 14. No doubt Joseph was waiting to see who would show up. Would it be Benjamin alone, or would the rest of the brothers be with him.
When the brothers appear before Joseph, they bow themselves to the ground before him. And by the way this fulfills the dreams Joseph had as a young man, Gen. 37:5-11.
So Joseph confronts his brothers about the silver cup. He leads them to believe that he was able to see what they had done because of his ability to be able to look in their lives.
At this point Judah steps forward and delivers one of the most profound and speeches in the Word of God. A careful examination of this speech reveals just how far Judah had matured.
Judah confesses their sin. He doesn’t name names, but he does confess the fact that they had sinned and that God was punishing them for their sin. So He offers himself, along with all the rest of the brothers as Joseph’s servants.
But it is said that Joseph refuses Judah’s offer and tells him and the rest of the brothers to go home. He also tells him that Benjamin will have to stay as a slave.
However, Judah did not let it rest, and so he gets to the heart of his speech. He reminds Joseph that the only reason Benjamin had come with them was because Joseph demanded it, Judah get bold and then tells Joseph that my Daddy will die if anything happens to his youngest son, so then he offers himself in Benjamin’s place. He offers to stay in Egypt as Joseph’s slave so that Benjamin can return home.
This is the moment that Joseph has been waiting and working for since his brothers showed up in Egypt.
He sees that they have changed.
He sees that the brothers are willing to stand together as one man.
This is a major turning point in the story. When Joseph hears Judah’s confession and sees his love for the family in action, it is more than he can stand. Joseph breaks down before his brothers and reveals his identity to them.
And I believe just like Judah, we need to come to the place where we confess our sins and get them out before the Lord and before those we have sinned against.
And when we do God will open up the doors a blessing.
But before I go I need you all to check your bags and make sure that you don’t have the cup in your in your bag.
