The Daily Guide. grow. pray. study. from The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Wednesday, 20 2016 - “Joseph knew by this his brothers now were honest men”
Daily Scripture: Genesis 42:1 Now Ya‘akov saw that there was grain in Egypt; so Ya‘akov said to his sons, “Why are you staring at each other? 2 Look,” he said, “I’ve heard that there’s grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us from there, so that we can stay alive and not die!” 3 Thus Yosef’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt, 4 except for Binyamin, Yosef’s brother. Ya‘akov did not send him with his brothers, because he was afraid something might happen to him.
5 The sons of Isra’el came to buy along with the others that came, since the famine extended to the land of Kena‘an. 6 Yosef was governor over the land; it was he who sold to all the people of the land. Now when Yosef’s brothers came and prostrated themselves before him on the ground, 7 Yosef saw his brothers and recognized them; but he acted toward them as if he were a stranger and spoke harshly with them. He asked them, “Where are you from?” They answered, “From the land of Kena‘an to buy food.” 8 So Yosef recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him.
9 Remembering the dreams he had had about them, Yosef said to them, “You are spies! You’ve come to spot our country’s weaknesses!” 10 “No, my lord,” they replied, “your servants have come to buy food. 11 We’re all the sons of one man, we’re upright men; your servants aren’t spies.”
44:3 At daybreak the men were sent off with their donkeys; 4 but before they were far from the city Yosef said to his manager, “Up, go after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil? 5 Isn’t this the goblet my lord drinks from, indeed the one he uses for divination? What you have done is evil!’” 6 So he caught up with them and said these words to them. 7 They replied, “Why does my lord speak this way? Heaven forbid that we should do such a thing! 8 Why, the money we found inside our packs we brought back to you from the land of Kena‘an! So how would we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? 9 Whichever one of us the goblet is found with, let him be put to death — and the rest of us will be my lord’s slaves!” 10 He replied, “Fine; let it be as you have said: whichever one it is found with will be my slave. But the rest of you will be blameless.” 11 Then each hurried to put his pack down on the ground, and each one opened his pack. 12 He searched, starting with the oldest and ending with the youngest; and the goblet was found in the pack belonging to Binyamin. 13 At this, they tore their clothes from grief. Then each man loaded up his donkey and returned to the city.
(A: Maftir) 14 Y’hudah and his brothers arrived at Yosef’s house. He was still there, and they fell down before him on the ground. (S: Maftir) 15 Yosef said to them, “How could you do such a thing? Don’t you know that a man such as myself can learn the truth by divination?” 16 Y’hudah said, “There’s nothing we can say to my lord! How can we speak? There’s no way we can clear ourselves! God has revealed your servants’ guilt; so here we are, my lord’s slaves — both we and also the one in whose possession the cup was found.” 17 But he replied, “Heaven forbid that I should act in such a way. The man in whose possession the goblet was found will be my slave; but as for you, go in peace to your father.”
18 Then Y’hudah approached Yosef and said, “Please, my lord! Let your servant say something to you privately; and don’t be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself. 19 My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father? or a brother?’ 20 We answered my lord, ‘We have a father who is an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one whose brother is dead; so that of his mother’s children he alone is left; and his father loves him.’ 21 But you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, so that I can see him.’ 22 We answered my lord, ‘The boy can’t leave his father; if he were to leave his father, his father would die.’ 23 You said to your servants, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ 24 We went up to your servant my father and told him what my lord had said; 25 but when our father said, ‘Go again, and buy us some food,’ 26 we answered, ‘We can’t go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go down, because we can’t see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ 27 Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons: 28 the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he has been torn to pieces,” and I haven’t seen him since. 29 Now if you take this one away from me too, and something happens to him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sh’ol with grief.’ 30 So now if I go to your servant my father, and the boy isn’t with us — seeing how his heart is bound up with the boy’s heart — (ii) 31 when he sees that the boy isn’t with us, he will die; and your servants will bring the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sh’ol with grief. 32 For your servant himself guaranteed his safety; I said, ‘If I fail to bring him to you, then I will bear the blame before my father forever.’ 33 Therefore, I beg you, let your servant stay as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go up with his brothers. 34 For how can I go up to my father if the boy isn’t with me? I couldn’t bear to see my father so overwhelmed by anguish.”
-------Reflection Questions:
The famine in Egypt hit Palestine, too, and Jacob sent his sons (except Benjamin, Rachel’s other son) to Egypt to buy food. They had to deal with Joseph, Egypt’s famine “czar.” They didn’t recognize him, understandably, but he definitely recognized them. They bowed to him (remember his dreams?). He firmly tested them to see if they had changed. They were no longer “brother-sellers”—they put themselves on the line to protect young Benjamin and aged Jacob.
- Imagine yourself in Joseph’s position. In all of Egypt, a “super-power” at that time, only Pharaoh held more power than he did. What range of choices did Joseph have available when his brothers came before him? On a spectrum from “most vengeful” to “most generous,” where would you put his response? How do you think you would have responded in his place?
- How do you feel about Joseph using his powerful position to create tests for his brothers to see if they had grown in character over the years? Was he just being mean-spirited, or did he have good reason to wonder what kind of men they had become in the years since they sold him to slave traders? In what ways did the brothers show more kindness and maturity than they showed to the younger Joseph?
Lord Jesus, this story makes it clear that Joseph’s brothers grew and changed for the better over the years. Keep me growing more into the kind of person you call me to be each day. Amen.
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Insights from Wendy ChrostekWe shared a post from Rev. Steven Blair on Monday. Since he wasn’t able to write for today, we instead give you a chance to read a post from Pastor Wendy Chrostek, which she first wrote in September of 2009.
In Genesis 43, Israel (Jacob and his sons) comes to the point where desperate times are calling for desperate measures. Their grain is gone, and if they want to get some more…it’s going to cost them. It will surely cost them money, but money isn’t really the issue. They’ve got the money they need to buy the grain, but they can’t buy it unless Benjamin goes to Egypt with them. The real cost here is letting Benjamin go. He is the one thing Israel isn’t willing to give up. He’s already lost Joseph, and he can’t bear the thought of losing Benjamin too.
In the end, he realizes that this is the only way. We can almost feel his pain as he watches his most precious possessions walk out the door–his son Benjamin, and what little bit of food they have left. As I look at this passage, I am reminded just how much perspective changes in times of famine. Money doesn’t have the same charm it used to, because all the money can’t fill their bellies, nor can it replace the ones they love. I think we definitely can learn something about perspective when looking at Israel. When it comes right down to it, what is the one thing you aren’t willing to part with? What are the most important things in your life? What do you need to survive, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?
We could all use a chance to reevaluate our priorities. If we think about what we would give up, and what we would be unwilling to let go of, it gives us a chance to see clearly the things that matter most to us. And even when it looks like you’ve been left with practically nothing, you still have something to hold onto and something to share. Do I think God is going to ask us to give up a child just to put food on the table? No. But I do think God is going to call us to be willing to get down on our knees and offer our whole selves. That might look different for each one of us–-it might look like simplifying our lives so that we can get back to what’s important, or it might look like offering a prayer even when we don’t feel like praying. Whatever that might be for us, I do believe that God wants us to see that no matter what, there is always something left that we can hold onto-–faith that God will be with us through the famine and hope that the famine will end, even if we can’t see the end in sight.
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