The Silver Cup

On their way back to their father from Egypt, Joseph's brothers were stopped and accused of stealing. Of course, they claimed to be innocent.

But that proved to be a rash decision on their part because they weren't as innocent as they claimed. Welcome to the Saturday edition of Renewing Your Mind. I'm Lee Webb, and every week we return to Dr. R.C. 's role series on the life of Joseph. And today, the brothers' web of deceit only entangles them further.

Here's R.C. We continue now with our study of the life and times of the patriarch Joseph. Today, we begin our story at chapter 44 of the book of Genesis, where we see the plot thickening that after Joseph had treated his brothers to a sumptuous feast, now he makes provisions for their departure from the palace, and he continues this work of subterfuge designed to lead them to full repentance. Chapter 44 begins with this narrative, and 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.

Also, put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his grain money. Now, this is the second time that Joseph has resorted to a kind of devious trick to ensnare his brothers. The first time he had returned their money that they had given and purchased for the original grain that they bought, and we know the consequences of that move, and now he does it again.

Only this time, he adds a little twist that wasn't present initially. Not only does he return their money, each man's money, to his sack, but he instructs his steward to put his own personal silver cup in the bag of the youngest, which would be in the bag of Benjamin. Now remember, all of the consternation that assaulted Jacob in the decision to even send Benjamin on this journey, and now Joseph is setting up the brothers for the worst of all possible circumstances, that is, getting Benjamin into trouble. And so we read in chapter 44 this account. So he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. As soon as the morning dawned, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.

And when they had gone out of the city and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, Get up, follow the men. And when you overtake them, say to them, Why have you repaid evil for good? Is not this the one from which my Lord drinks and with which He indeed practices divination?

You have done evil in so doing. And so he overtook them and spoke to them these same words. And they said to him, Why does my Lord say these words? Far be it from us that your servants should do such a thing. Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money which we found in the mouth of our sacks. How then could we steal silver and gold from your Lord's house? With whomever of your servants that is found, let him die, and we will also be my Lord's slaves. So as Joseph had directed the steward, the steward pursued the brothers, stopped them on their journey, and said, Why have you stolen anything from Pharaoh's house, from the hand of Joseph who has benefited you? Now listen to their protests. The first thing they do is remind the steward that they had not done it the first time, and they had just returned that money.

Why on earth would they be inclined to steal anything from Joseph? And notice what they said, Far be it from us. Let me just comment on that for a second. It's a very difficult thing for any human being to be falsely accused of something. I remember when I was in a tenth-grade biology class in high school, and I was seated behind the fellow who was the valedictorian of the class, and I was not exactly the world's greatest genius in biology. And I was taking an exam one day and fidgeting in my seat, and the professor glared at me and said to me, Sproul, keep your eyes on your own paper.

And I was mortified. He said that in front of the whole class, and I was indignant that he would accuse me of cheating on this test by looking on the fellow's paper in front of me. And in my protests against it, I was saying to the teacher, How could you accuse me of doing this when I didn't do it? Now, have you ever been falsely accused of something?

Of course you have. And I wanted to say, just like Joseph's brothers, Far be it from me for doing this. However, I also had another class with this fellow that was very bright in another subject that I was having great difficulty with. And I can remember going to him during study hall periods and asking him if I could copy his homework. And he let me copy his homework, and I copied his homework, and I cheated.

And so I was not caught in doing that. But when I was falsely accused for doing something that I actually had been doing elsewhere, I still was beside myself in indignation. That's the heart of darkness. That's the heart of the sinner. These guys have done things in their lifetime far worse than stealing the cup from Joseph. They had stolen his whole life. And yet they had the audacity to say, Far be it from us to do such a thing. They didn't do it. But the doing of the deed was really not all that far from them.

They were more than capable of that kind of treachery. And then from this denial and with this protestation against the charge, they make they make a singularly rash vow. They said, How could we steal silver or gold from your Lord's house? With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my Lord's slaves. If you can prove this charge against us, then whoever took your silver cup, let him be executed.

And if it's true, we all will be your slaves. That was a pretty foolish commitment to make at that point, particularly since the cup at that very moment was hidden securely in the bag of Benjamin. Well, let's look at what happens. And so the steward said, Now also let it be according to your words.

Notice that the steward doesn't come up with an alternative plan of punishment. He said, All right, if those are the terms you want, those are the terms you will get. Let it be according to your words. Oh, a little digression. I had a student once in college who was an extremely gifted student. He went on to medical school, became a physician, and then went on and did graduate work at Harvard in an analysis of the structure of the brain. And to this day, he works in that last threshold, that last frontier of scientific inquiry, namely the functioning of the human brain. And I had a conversation with him a few years ago where he was extolling me with news of the research that he was involved in, and he was like a child in wonder and awe at what he was learning about how the human brain works and functions. And he said, Do you realize, R.C., that every single experience you ever had is recorded in your brain? Every sensation, every image, every word that you hear, every word that you spoke is recorded there.

Now, we can only recall an infinitesimal fraction of what really is contained in the memory bank of the brain, according to this researcher. And this man is a Christian, and he said, You know, I'm fascinated that in the Scriptures, when the discussion concerns the last judgment, that the description that is given of guilty people who are assembled in the divine tribunal and brought before God for their final judgment, that the image that is used to describe the response of those who are hearing the verdict of God is always one of silence. There aren't any protests, nobody standing before God and saying, Far be it from me to have done this or that. And we are told by Jesus that every idle word will be brought into the judgment, not just the idle words but how much more the serious words that we speak will be placed before the scrutiny of Almighty God. And the Scripture says that when God renders His verdict against us, every mouth will be stopped.

It will be stopped because, on the one hand, it will be futile to argue with God. And we know that His judgment will be flowing from His own omniscience, from His perfect knowledge of everything that we've ever done or thought or said. Well, as this scientist was talking about this, he said, You know how I envision the last judgment?

And I said, No. He said, Sort of like in terms of a sci-fi film. He said, I see God taking the brain out of the skull of human beings, putting it on a table.

This is somewhat macabre, I have to say. He puts it on the table and plugs it in. And he gets a feedback response like a computer where the brain then reveals the complete record of everything that a person has done or said because it's all in there. And he said that's the image that he conceives of at the last judgment, and so that God will say, Your own words will condemn you. Now, obviously, Joseph is not about to send his steward out to do a lobotomy on the brothers and to remove their brains and put them on the table and execute them accordingly. But the steward does say, Let it be according to your own words. It gives us pause about some of the things we have a tendency to say. He with whom it is found shall be my slave, and you shall be blameless.

So he said, Okay, I'm even going to not take you as far as your own words. You said you'd all be slaves if I could find that cup and that I could execute the person in whose bag I found the cup, but here's what we'll do. I'll let everybody else be blameless, but whoever has that cup that cup will become my slave. Then each man speedily let down his sack. They couldn't wait to open their sacks. They were so sure that the opening of the sack would vindicate them.

Now, that's a little bit strange, isn't it? Given that they had already been surprised once in the past when they opened their sacks and found their grain money contained within it, you would think that by now these fellows would have some idea that there's some chicanery going on and that they would be terrified to open their sacks. Maybe that is why they opened them speedily, that the suspense was killing them. But in any case, we're told that they let down his sack to the ground and opened the sacks. And so the steward searched, and he began with the oldest and left off with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city. Now again, what we find in these narratives in the Old Testament is a kind of terse economy of speech where highly dramatic moments are passed over all so briefly.

Just one sentence it said. They tore their clothes, and they took their livestock and donkeys, and they started back to the city. Try to imagine the pathos of the moment when after they went through each sack, and each sack did not contain the silver cup of Joseph, they're beginning to feel more and more relieved, more and more comfortable, more and more convinced that the charges against them were false. They get down to the very last sack, and of all places, they open the sack of Benjamin, and there is the silver cup of Joseph. Now when the Bible says they tore their clothes, that was an indication of a paroxysm of grief and terror and mourning that came upon them. Oh, no, they're crying, not Benjamin. And they tear their clothes, and immediately all of them direct their steps back toward the palace. So, Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and he was still there, and they fell before him on the ground.

This is beginning to be a habit. Not only did they bow down before him once, but this is at least the third time that the prophecy of the dream that Joseph had as a boy is fulfilled when they fall down before him on the ground. And Joseph said to them, What deed is this you have done? Did you not know that such a man as I can certainly practice divination? Now what's he saying here? Not that he's engaged in magic, but what he's saying to them? Don't you know that a man as I am in my position, that I have insight, that I have knowledge that is transcendent, that you think that you could fool me by secreting away my prized cup and try to make off with us?

Do you think I wouldn't realize that, why it was the very cup I use in the exercise of my divine gifts? And Judah said, What shall we say to my Lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? What else do you say when you don't know what else to say but to say, what can I say? I mean, how many times have we fallen back on that particular expression?

When we're guilty, we're caught red-handed, and we've run out of excuses, we've run out of opportunities to cover up our crime. You just say, What can I say? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? Then Judah comes to this conclusion. God has found out the iniquity of your servants.

Here we are, my Lord's slaves, both we and He also, with whom the cup was found. Now, don't you wonder what Judah has in mind when he says this? Is Judah now persuaded that Benjamin indeed stole the cup? And he is taking part by filial relationship in his brother's guilt and asking Joseph to spread the blame around, not just to Benjamin but to all of them.

Or is something deeper going on here? I suspect that what Judah is recognizing here finally is the hand of God in all of this. And he's realizing that even though he wasn't guilty of this particular crime, that this has befallen them because God was aware of the profound guilt that they had been carrying around all these years. So, he said, Here we are, my Lord's slaves, both we and He also, with whom the cup was found. But he said, Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup was found he shall be my slave, and as for you, go up in peace to your father.

The game continues. Joseph is saying, I don't want you to be my slaves. You're innocent. I'm not going to punish the innocent with the guilty. I'm only going to exact punishment on the guilty one, on Benjamin. On Benjamin, he stays. He shall be my slave.

You fellows, go on back to your father. Don't you understand that Judah and the brothers would have preferred to stay in Egypt, slaves to Joseph, than going back to Jacob without Benjamin? And that's the worst thing they could conceive of befalling them. And Joseph is making them feel the weight of their dilemma with the full measure of intensity. Now, what follows heightens and increases the drama, but since our time is up today, like this old Western serials, we're going to have to wait until the next session to see what transpires. And Joseph's story sort of reminds us of those old Western serials. Intrigue and deception have brought the brothers to the end of their rope, but forgiveness and redemption are just around the corner. Thanks for joining us as we continue the life of Joseph here on Renewing Your Mind.

While this is a dramatic story, it is not fictional. These events happened, and they're chronicled for us in the final chapters of Genesis. We learn about God's faithfulness and His sovereign control over every event in life. It is an encouraging series, and we'd like to send you all 20 parts. We bundled it with several other teaching series, including the parables of Jesus, Knowing Scripture, Ecclesiastes, Galatians, and Knowing Christ.

There are eight series in the set that we call the R.C. Sproul Teaching Collection, and you can request it with your gift of any amount when you call us at 800-435-4343 or when you go online to renewingyourmind.org. Sometimes when we study the Bible, we can come across passages that are more difficult to understand. Have you ever read and have you ever wished that someone could explain those passages in a way that doesn't require a degree? Well, that's our goal with Ask Ligonier. Team members are waiting to answer your biblical and theological questions in real time. Perhaps you're teaching a Sunday school class or a small group, and you're stuck on a particular verse.

Just go to ask.ligonier.org Monday through Saturday, and you'll have an answer in minutes, and I think you'll enjoy the interaction with my colleagues on this team. Well, let's listen to a final thought from R.C. before we go today. These men that we have heard of today and have been watching over the past several messages, the brothers of Joseph, are men whose whole lives have been lived under the cloak of intrigue and of deceit and of covering up a gross and heinous crime against their father, against their brother, and against God. And yet, when they are accused of far less a crime, they exclaim in protest, far be it from us. Now, we look at that from the distance of thousands of years, and our righteous indignation against them burns for their hypocrisy, forgetting that what they are doing is what we do. What do you do when the policeman pulls you over on the highway and says you were going 5 miles an hour, 10 miles an hour over the speed limit, and you protest your innocence? What would you do if the policeman said, well, maybe this time you were innocent, but how many times have you exceeded the speed limit and gotten away with it?

Are you going to say to the policeman, far be it from me? But that's the way we think. We like to think that sin is far from us when it is near at hand. It's close to our bosom. It flows from our hearts. Well, all the half-truths and deceptions will be revealed next week as we continue Dr. R.C. Sproul's series on the life of Joseph. I hope you'll join us here on Renewing Your Mind.