The Joseph Experience – Reunited And Restored 06 Series

Download Sermon PDF for easy reading:

https://myprayernotebook4life.wordpress.com/sermon-pdfs/

Password: SermonCentral

Homework: Last week’s homework was challenging. I don’t want to get personal, but does someone want to give a quick vague testimony? Or maybe just raise your hand and nod, how you’re trying to find a friend from the 2nd grade that you accidentally stole their jump rope. Making old wrongs right is a powerful testimony, and an easy way to share Jesus! What better way to testify than giving back $10 plus interest you forgot about 20 years ago?

This week we’re going to read one of my favorite parts of this story; a hidden gem, a prophetic reference to Jesus right in the middle of a story about change. It’s exciting, lets jump back in where we left off…

Genesis 43 NKJV

26And when Joseph came home, they (the brothers) brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed down before him to the earth.

God can cause our enemies to bow (yield in our modern day) and be at peace with us. That’s what we should ultimately pursue in life, not having our mind sent on revenge. While we may want to fix things with angry words or a baseball bat, God often has others plans, better plans!

Proverbs 16:7

When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Then Joseph asks about “their father,” if he was alive and well. The brothers answer and bow. Joseph sees Benjamin, leaves to cry, washes himself, and returns for lunch. 33And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked in astonishment at one another.

“According to his birthright,” interesting remark. We can clearly see why Joseph jumping line for birthright was devastating to all the older brothers. We have to realize Rueben and Simeon have to be at least in their early 50s by this time, and they’re still lining up in age order.

34Then he took servings to them from before him, but Benjamin’s serving was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.

It’s possible, when they were growing up, Benjamin was also in the house with Jacob and Joseph; and not involved in selling Joseph. How he treats Benjamin seems to reflect nothing but love.

Genesis 44 NKJV

1And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack. 2Also put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his grain money.” …the brothers leave… “Get up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good? 5Is not this the one from which my lord drinks, and with which he indeed practices divination? You have done evil in so doing.’ ”

Let’s talk about the silver cup, because there are crazy writings out there suggesting Joseph was using divination as well, even “Godly divination!” That’s far from the truth! In ancient Egypt, gold was very plentiful. Silver was not mined in Egypt at that time but rather had to be bought from another county. The ancient Egyptians called it “white gold,” and viewed silver as the “most valuable of all precious metals.” In their inscriptions, silver was always above gold. It wasn’t until around the time of Moses, that they started to have silver mirrors and other silver jewelry. But in the time of Joseph, it was “very rare white gold.”

Regular yellow gold itself was believed by ancient Egyptians to possess magical powers, because they believed gold was “the flesh of the gods.” No one specifically knows what the ancient Egyptians were doing with the cup for divination that Joseph is referring to, but here are some possibilities:

- Mixing the water and adding wax or oil

- Putting a bubbly drink in the cup and reading the bubbles

- Using various reflection techniques

- Finally, flat out drinking hallucinogenic substances which they have found traces of in cups

Silver cups, or “white gold cups,” were highly prized by pharaoh, government officials, and other filthy rich elites. Now that we understand what silver meant to the Egyptians, we have a better understanding of what Joseph was saying and doing to his brothers.

Joseph playing along with the silver cup’s magical divination abilities made that cup extremely important as well as it already being extremely valuable in ancient Egypt. We can clearly see Joseph wasn’t using divination, because of what the steward of his house said to his brothers, “Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money.” Joseph gave the money back! The steward recognized Joseph served the real God of Heaven, wasn’t Egyptian, and didn’t serve their demon gods. That’s why he answered that way. Joseph spoke up to pharaoh and others about God, he wasn’t playing around.