Mark’s continuing saga of Joseph’s life and dreams looked at Gen 43:15-44:17 this morning. At this point in the story, Joseph’s dreams seem to be coming true as his brothers do bow down to him, as ruler of Egypt. The true fulfilment is not yet complete, however, as they are still unaware of his identity.
For the brothers, this scenario of returning to Egypt after Simeon has been taken hostage is fraught with danger. They are worried that the unexpectedly returned silver will cause problems when they return, but the severity of the famine at home has left them no further options. Their relief at not being punished for this soon turned to bewilderment, however, as they are invited to dine with Joseph and then seated in age order. They must have wondered how he could have known this and what it meant. For our part, we see that Joseph is greatly moved by the sight of his youngest brother (and gives him extra food!), but still did not reveal his identity to him. Was this due to stubbornness or some sense of wanting payback on his brothers? It is not clear, but at this point, Benjamin has gone from famine to feast and is revelling in the unexpected blessing. God’s grace is such that at times we receive His blessing and are simply commanded to ‘enjoy’!
All does not go well, however, for Joseph lays an elaborate plan to incriminate Benjamin for the theft of a silver cup. This cup was clearly valuable, being made of silver, but its significance seems also connected with divination (something which was forbidden ultimately to God’s people, as Deut 18:9-14 makes clear.) It is not clear if Joseph, whose ability to interpret dreams is clearly ascribed to God in other parts of this story, was actually involved in divination (the process of foretelling the future from the patterns made in liquids in a goblet, rather like ‘reading tea leaves’ today), but certainly after having lived in Egypt for thirty years or so, there was a danger that he had absorbed Egyptian practices and assimilated them into his own behaviour. We have to be very careful what we get involved with on our journey through life. There are things that are acceptable in our culture nowadays which are plainly not acceptable to God, and we need to constantly keep His word before us so that we can remain set apart and holy, a distinct people living for His glory and not by the world’s standards. (1 Pet 1:13-14) Practices which involve the occult, such as horoscopes, seances, visiting mediums to have our futures foretold or contacting the dead are all common nowadays but are part of the culture we should shun as Christians.
Joseph is never presented to us as perfect, however. Whatever mistakes he may have made – and we cannot be sure of his motivation for the delay in revealing his identity to his family – God was able to bring the dream to reality. He is the One who finishes what He starts and who is not daunted or surprised (or ultimately hindered) by our mistakes and failures.
The brothers responded to the accusation of theft with whole-hearted protests of innocence. Imagine their shock and fear when the silver cup is found in Benjamin’s sack! Their promises to have the guilty person killed and the rest of them committed to slavery must have sickened their stomachs as they considered the future. If nothing else, their response reminds us that where words are frequent, sin is often not absent! (Prov 10:19) It is clear from their response that they felt the guilt of their previous actions keenly, even if they were not actually responsible for this current predicament. (see Gen 44:15-16) Admission of guilt is actually the first step towards forgiveness, and maybe Joseph was attempting to see if they would acknowledge their guilt. Confession of sins brings forgiveness and fulfilment (see Ps 32:1-5), and the stage is set for the final reconciliation planned by God…