The true test of change cover art

The true test of change

The true test of change

Listen for free

View show details

About this listen

 Have you ever had a moment when your past actions have suddenly caught up with you? When something you thought was buried came rushing back, and you had no choice but to face it? That’s what happens to Joseph’s brothers in Genesis 44.Genesis 44 (ESV)Then he commanded the steward of his house, “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, and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him. As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys. They had gone only a short distance from the city. Now Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good? Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this.’”Joseph sets a trap for his brothers. Now we shouldn’t mistake this as cruelty or because he wants to take out years worth of anger on his brothers. No Joseph does this test his brothers. Actually as we will see, God is testing the brothers and forcing them to deal with their past. The silver cup in Benjamin’s sack would expose whether their hearts had really changed, or whether this was all just for show? Would they abandon young Benjamin, just like they had abandoned Joseph years before? Or would they stand with him? God uses this trap to prick their consciences. They will have to face what had happened in the past. There can be no escape from their sin. When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words. They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! Behold, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord's house? Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be my lord's servants.” He said, “Let it be as you say: he who is found with it shall be my servant, and the rest of you shall be innocent.” Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack. And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.Now this is the critical part of the story. Here is the opportunity for repentance, for accepting their guilt. This is the knife’s edge, which way will they now go? They could leave Benjamin behind. They could have shrugged and said, “Not my circus, not my monkeys.” But they don’t. This time is different. They tear their clothes instead. This is a public outward sign that they were grieving, that they shared in each other’s pain. Instead of just letting Benjamin be taken and imprisoned, they all go back to Egypt together. Just as they entered into the sin of selling Joseph into slavery, so too now they together turn to face the axe. Something truly has changed in these men.When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there. They fell before him to the ground. Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination?” And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord's servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.” But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go up in peace to your father.”Judah says what they all fell. “God has found out the guilt of your servants.” I don’t believe he is just talking about the cup - after all they aren’t guilty of taking the cup. He is talking about the years of hidden sin, the way they betrayed Joseph, the way they lied to their father about what happened to him. Eventually the weight of all this guilt has caught up and it comes crashing down on them. They tried the Adam and Eve trick, of hiding from the eyes of God, but God has caught them. God sees all. God has found out the guilt of all of us. Now we should shudder at this thought. Consider only the last week of your life - consider where you would stand if God called you to account, just for the week you lived. Now what about your whole life? God has found out the guilt we all bear. This is a terrifying position to be in!Then Judah went up to him and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself. My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the ...
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.