The Final Test from Joseph
a commentary on Genesis 44
Welcome back to another Biblit! Thanks for dropping in! Again, sorry for the confusion with posting the last two out of order! Hopefully, it’s all cleared up now.
This week we are going to dive right back into Genesis 44 as we continue the story of Joseph and his brothers, Part 2. Last we saw them, Joseph had tested his brothers by giving Benjamin 5 times the food that they got. His brothers happily passed the test and they all ate and drank and were merry together. This week we get to witness the last and final test that Joseph has for his brothers. To see once and for all if they have selfless hearts or selfish hearts. Let’s jump in and see what happens.
Context
This passage picks up with Joseph having a conversation with the steward of his household. He tells the steward to fill the brother’s sacks with food and to return their silver again. However, he adds an additional request this time. He asks the steward to place his special silver cup in Benjamin’s sack.
This silver cup is later claimed to be a divining cup, a practice used widely in Egypt. The belief was that diviners would mix some ingredients together in water and depending on the way they aligned they could predict the future. We learn elsewhere that Joseph always gives God the glory for prophesying the future, not a divining cup. I do not believe Joseph actually used the cup for divination, but rather added the detail for emphasis on the cup’s potential importance.
Anyways, back to their conversation.
Joseph asked the steward to track his brothers, overtake them, and chastise them for stealing.
So the steward took off without question and found the brothers. He yelled at them for stealing Joseph’s special cup, but the brothers denied it. They were so confident they promised that if the steward found the cup in one of their bags, then that brother would become a slave in Egypt. The brothers knew no one stole the cup, but of course the steward had a secret himself.
They find the cup in Benjamin’s sack and the other brother’s tear their clothes out of anguish and venture back to Egypt.
When they returned to Egypt they went to see Joseph again. Joseph chastises them as well, saying, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination?” (Genesis 44:15 ESV).
Judah stands up to address Joseph on behalf of the brothers (taking the role of firstborn again). He tells Joseph that they are all willing to become slaves alongside Benjamin. Wow, that is some brotherly dedication!
Joseph denies this offer and says that only Benjamin will be the slave since the cup was found in his bag.
Judah closes the chapter out with one of the longest speeches ever. He recaps all that has happened over the past couple of chapters. He talked about how when they first arrived in Egypt, Joseph found out they had a younger brother, Benjamin. How Joseph told them they couldn’t return unless Benjamin came with him. Judah then explains to Joseph that Benjamin is the only son left from his father’s favorite wife, and that their father will die if they return without him.
He ends his massive speech with a final pleading request to swap places with Benjamin. I can almost imagine him falling to his knees in tears begging Joseph to take him as the slave and let Benjamin go back to his father. Such a powerful scene to end the chapter on.
Then the chapter closes. Almost like it’s a TV show… “will Joseph free Benjamin or keep him as his slave sending his own father to ruin? Find out next week on Biblit!”
Interpretation
As I read this passage there are two big things that get my attention. Both have to do with the amazing spiritual growth we’ve seen in Joseph’s brothers.
All the brothers sincerely care for Benjamin and their father. They all tear their clothes in anguish when they find the silver cup in Benjamin’s sack. I don’t know if they thought it was planted there or if they thought Benjamin stole it, but either way they are in great distress over it. When the steward said he’d bring Benjamin back to Egypt but the rest were free to go, they did no such thing. They pleaded for Benjamin’s release, showing care for their youngest brother. They also pleaded for his release because they knew how much anguish it would cause their father.
How much different are the brothers now than when they sold Joseph into slavery? They wanted to kill Joseph back then! Not once did any of the brothers talk about how it might affect their father either. Instead, they devised a devious plan to lie to their father about what happened. I think it’s clear how much God has grown these selfish brothers over the past decades into men who have selfless hearts.Judah offers to trade places with Benjamin. This is similar to the above point, but I think it’s worth reiterating how powerful this is. If any of the brothers were ever faking their feelings for Benjamin or their father, it certainly would have come out here. This whole situation proves that their feelings are true and they care for their brother and father. This is doubled if not tripled with Judah willingly offers to become an Egyptian slave in the place of Benjamin.
Application
We are being sanctified too. John 17:16-19 says this:
“They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” (John 17:16-19 CSB).
This is a prayer Jesus prayed to God the Father on our behalf as disciples of Jesus Christ. We are being sanctified and made whole day by day. Ephesians 5 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible as it gives an applicable example of what it looks like to walk in Christ. It’s not there as a thermostat or guide so whenever we see our life out of line, we know how to fix it. Rather it is there as more of a thermometer. It tells us something is wrong and we need to go to our source to fix it. We need to go to Jesus. We use a thermometer to tell us if we should go to the doctor, and Jesus is the great physician; the one who sanctifies.
Jesus took our place. My favorite part of Judah’s speech is that he was willing to take on the punishment that Benjamin was due (even if he didn’t deserve it). Years and years later, Jesus, the descendant of Judah, took on the punishment that we are not only due but wholeheartedly deserve. How incredible a picture to see and a hope to hold onto!
I will end us with one last passage of scripture. I believe 2 Corinthians really sums both of these points up in a beautiful way:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19 CSB).