Part Three: Waiting on God—The Cup in the Bag, Judah’s Plea, and Real Repentance

Join us for another Word on Wednesday with the Simons. In tonight’s episode, we dive into Genesis chapter 44 (verses 1–34) and follow the next turn in Joseph’s story as he tests his brothers by placing a silver cup in Benjamin’s sack. We open with prayer, then walk through the text as the brothers are accused, searched, and forced to face what it would mean to return home without the son their father can’t bear to lose. The conversation highlights how God’s providence and sovereignty can be working even when circumstances feel unfair, and how trials expose the heart—revealing integrity, repentance, and sacrificial love. We also discuss the difference between forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration, and why “the cup in the bag” can be part of God’s strategy to transform us and prepare us to help others.

00:00 Welcome and Prayer

01:24 Genesis 44 Setup

03:59 Josephs Silver Cup Test

06:26 Lessons on Fear and Faith

15:06 Search and Cup Found

18:15 Back Before Joseph

20:57 Only Benjamin Stays

25:10 Judahs Plea for Jacob

32:15 Benjamin’s Special Place

33:36 Judah Offers Himself

34:12 The Sacrifice Test

34:43 Who Is My Neighbor

37:44 Repentance Proven

39:30 Forgiveness vs Reconciliation

41:40 Judah Points to Jesus

43:05 Nothing New Under Sun

45:08 Restore or Separate

50:02 Providence Through Testing

52:48 Gideon Moments and Trust

55:55 Cancel Toxic Influences

01:00:01 Cup in Your Bag

01:02:36 Final Charge and Blessing

Pastor Tony and Laura Simon live in Orange County, California, and are the founding pastors of New Covenant/Covenant City Fellowship, a wonderfully colorful congregation of vibrant members who love Jesus, food, fellowship, and fun.

Laura is an award-winning author and passionate speaker who serves pastors' wives, ministry leaders, and women seeking to live authentic lives within church culture.

Together, Tony and Laura have two young adult daughters and sons. They'd love to hear from you and can be reached at newcovenant007@yahoo.com.

Transcript

[00:00:00] How's everyone doing tonight? We hope Everyone is well, this evening. We thank God for you and thank God for his grace and mercy towards us. We're gonna pray and then we're gonna get started.

We're in Genesis chapter 44 versus one through 34. In the continuing saga of Joseph, as his family discovers him, we're gonna start praying and then we're gonna get into the lesson in the text. Let's pray.

Father, how we thank you for this day. God, we thank you for all those that are. With us. God, we thank you for those that are continuing to come in and God, those that will catch the rebroadcast. God, we pray that wherever this seed of your word falls, we pray that it will be blessings to those that will hear this lesson.

Then God, we pray for our family and we pray for our church family. God, we just thank you for being who you are in our lives. God, we thank you for what you are doing in spite of what it [00:01:00] may look like and stuff that we don't understand. God, we thank you that you are in control bless us as we spend this time in your word that you may get the glory out of our lives, that we may be edified, studying your word and that the devil will be horrified and God that you will be glorified.

Now, God blesses, I pray in these moments. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

For today. We are in Genesis chapter 44 verses one through 34, and I'll be reading out of the English standard version.

In review we know that, there's been a second return, to the land of Egypt. In chapter 41. They went out to Egypt for the first time because there was a famine in the land. They go out and they, come to the house of Joseph not knowing that it is Joseph.

And they ask for food. They give their [00:02:00] monies, for food. And then when they come back in the middle of chapter, 42, they discovered that their money is in the mouth of their sacks. And so they are panicked. But they return back home to tell their father what has happened.

Joseph asked them about, his dad and their baby brother. They gave a honest report not knowing that Joseph was going to ask for them to bring Benjamin back with them. And that's in chapter 43. He goes back with them, Israel or Jacob is all up in arms because he's already, thinking that he's lost one son in Joseph and he does not want Benjamin.

To, feel the same fate. And Simeon has been held captive by Joseph in the Egyptian jail. So he's, fit to be tied as a father, but he sends them anyway. And we went through, chapter 43, where they are, now in Joseph's house. [00:03:00] And he is serving dinner to them.

They think that they're going to be ambushed, because they are in the palace and they think that something sinister is going to happen to them. But yet and behold, they are served. And Joseph lines them up all in, chronological order according to their ages, in chapter 43. And then they feast, but he gives, Benjamin the baby brother.

More of shares than he gives the rest of his brothers. That could be significant. Number one, because he's the baby, but also because he's the one that did not do any harm, to Joseph. He returned Simeon back to his brothers, and then he sends them back out to go between Egypt and back to the land of Canaan.

And that's where we sit right now in chapter 44, verse number one, for those of you that was not familiar with the story, that is the Cliff Notes version of it. And then we [00:04:00] go into Genesis chapter 44, verse number one, and it reads, then he commanded the stewards of the house, fill the men's sacks with food.

This is after their feast. And he's commanding his stewards to take care of their sacks as much as they can carry. Put in each man's money, put each man's money in the mouth of their sacks, just like last time, whatever they gave, put their money in back in their individual backs. But then he adds on there, put my cup, the silver cup in the mouth of the sack of the youngest with his money for the grain.

And he did Joseph's stewards or servants did, as he said. Verse number three states this, it says, as soon as the morning was like the men were sent away with their donkeys. Verse four says they had gone only a short distance from the city. And now [00:05:00] Joseph says to his steward, to his servant, up, follow after the men.

And when you overtake them, say to them, which. Have you repaid evil for good? Is it not from this that my Lord drinks? And by this he practices divination. You have done evil in doing this. So let's just get this out the way. Get this broke down. He puts his brothers to a test. In verses one through five, he commands the steward or the servant, his head servant of the house to fill their sacks with as much food as they could carry for their families.

He tells each of one of them, put their money in the mouth of their sex. Now remember when they returned? Back to Egypt. They returned back with the money that they had bought to them the first time and did with a double portion and with goods and with [00:06:00] almonds and with pistachios. That's in chapter number 43.

So they came and said to the steward of the house that we found this money in our bags. And the steward of the house told them in chapter 43 that the Lord has blessed you with the treasury. And they did not catch on to the fact that it was God's, doing that they were able to be where they were. So here they're still in the same frame of mind and how many of us can really, state and say it the fact that a lot of us don't recognize when the Lord is blessing us.

We don't recognize that as God that is playing a part. What is happening in our lives, and we get all discombobulated and all, frozen with fear and all this. And God is saying, this is the same scenario that played the same record and it's just in a different place. And as my cousin [00:07:00] is saying now Joseph is playing mind games with his brothers.

It's somebody would say, if you look at it from one angle or another, that this is how he is exacting his payback for what they did to him when he was a youngster. They're exactly in the payback. He's exactly in the payback with them on playing these mind games. And some others will say that he was just doing what.

He, it's a raw get back at his brothers, for them being who they were, and it's in his DNA for him to do back to them what they've done to him. Either way it goes, it becomes a test for his brothers. He played with their emotions. He made them panic on purpose.

And here, just so that you understand, sometimes, the enemy knows our weaknesses and he will pray on our emotions. He will pray and see if we will [00:08:00] react, for lack of a better word, in a way that is either inappropriate or does not show us as godly in what we're doing and what we are and what we're professing.

Has there ever been anybody that you've made a statement and when you've made the statement, you get challenged immediately by the statement that you make. You may say, you know what, we can trust God.

Even when things are bad, you, lose your job or something. A bill doesn't get paid. Or you have to be, have a challenge with your health and then you lose your mind because you do not understand what is happening is what God is orchestrating for your good and for your benefit and for his glory.

Same thing is happening there because I, that Joseph, is a type of Christ. He is a TYPE, a representative of the [00:09:00] characteristics and the actions of the coming Christ that's coming in New Testament. So we see glimpses of Jesus' personality in Joseph. All right, so let's get to that.

So it, and we're at verse number four. They've gone only a short distance away from the city. At least they were smart enough not to get halfway to discover that their stuff in their bag, they'd only gone, short distance from the city. And Joseph then says to his steward, you go follow them and then overtake them.

Go pull 'em over and ask, why have you repaid evil for good? They're gonna sit there looking what happened? And is it not from this cup that my Lord drank? By this, he practices divination. You have done evil. In doing this, he accuses them of being thieves and taking the silver cup from Joseph's house.

[00:10:00] Here they've been treated like royalty, and then they are being accused. Once again, Joseph accused them the first time of being spies. This time he accuses them of being thieves and they're overtaken. So when they get to chapter verse number six. When he overtook them, he spoke to them, these words, and they said to him, why does my Lord speak such words as these?

In other words, what are you talking about? What are you doing? What do you mean? And verse seven says, for, they said to him, why does my Lord speak such words as these far be it from your servants to do such a thing? And they said, behold, in verse number eight, behold, or look, the money that we found in the mouth of our sacks, we brought it back to you from the Atlanta Canaan.

How could we steal silver or gold from your Lord's house? Whichever of your servants found with [00:11:00] it shall die. And we shall always also be my Lord's servants. They're thinking that they're in the clear. They're thinking that they have nothing to worry about, that this is, they're being falsely accused.

Then they come to the fork in the row because in verse number 10, he says to them, let it be as you say, they've made the statement, how many times have we made the statement and then get challenged? We get challenged by the statements that we make. We make the statement. I know in the old school, the Lord will make a way somehow, but yet we, when we get to the test, we get challenged by the test.

We forget the statements that we made. They thought they were so in the clear that they made brash, bold statements to let whoever be found with it. Because we don't, we know that nobody has this. Let whoever be found with it in verse number. Let him or let them die. And we will also be my lord's servant [00:12:00] servants.

Understand the the psychological significance of what they're saying. Because of the fact that they made a promise to their father. They said to their father, that, look, we'll take responsibility for the boy. If he doesn't come back, you can charge it to my hands. Now they're in a position to where they are thinking that they're without blame.

Yet we gonna see in the latter part of the text that they have made a state a, a statement without being able to back up what they're saying. Jamal says, this is the moment of truth is being set for them to let God reprove and redeem them for the situation Dad incurred.

Exactly. He is letting them know without letting them know and them being tested by him through their brother and through the ruler of that particular [00:13:00] time. Joseph, that, look, I'm still with you. I'm still, is this still gonna work in your favor? Because at this point they have been mistrusting of all that has happened to 'em, but yet all that has happened to 'em has benefit benefited them?

It has kept them. It has. They've been in the palace. They've ate as much as they wanted to eat. They've gotten, more than enough grain. Everything is showing them that God is in their favor, but yet they don't act like God is in their favor. I don't know who I'm talking to today, but has there ever been a time in your life where, when everything is going good, you are waiting for something terrible or horrific to happen?

When the test is, you have to praise God in advance for no matter where there is good or bad. And that way you will know that God is still with you no matter what the situation is. And that's where we are in [00:14:00] this text. They're now getting to the point to where they're speaking boldly now that, look, let's let, we already, we've already been found innocent.

We know that last time was an accident. Last time, we didn't do it last time. The money was in the mouth of our sacks. By our own actions, we came back to you. We brought Benjamin, we came back to you. We brought the gold, and

the first time we bought the silver Plus we bought pistachios and we bought gov and we bought nuts and we bought myrrh. We bought all the common, goods to show you that we are good guys. And yet we're still sitting here at the same place that, in verse number 10, that we, are being accused of something that we did not do.

So he says to him, let it be as you say, he who is found with it, talking about the Silver Cup, Joseph Silver Cup that he planted on them. He planted it on them on purpose. He who is found with the silver [00:15:00] cup shall be my servant, and the rest of you shall be innocent. Then each man, verse number 11, each man quickly lowers his sack to the ground and each man opened his sack.

And as he search, watch the text. Put this in your spiritual imagination. Everybody's opening their bags and they're finding nothing. But as he searched the eldest to and the ending with the youngest, the cup was found in the youngest sack. It's found in Benjamin's sack when it's found in Benjamin's sack because again, he's checking one bag at a time.

Benjamin, because he's the youngest. It's also going to be the one that's gonna get his bag checked. Last, what is the stress and drama? He's also the one that his father in chapter number 43, his [00:16:00] bereaved four. He's also the one that, that Israel, AKA Jacob, does not want to be, touched. He's also the one that causes the trauma or the triggering of Jacob because of Joseph.

So if pulling up old wounds and old scars, and it's causing him to react the same way he did when Joseph disappeared. And here's the thing about it. The enemy will toy with our emotions because he will pull up the last failure. He will pull up the last time me thing went wrong, and he'll put that in the forefront of your mind and you will give in if you're not careful so they got to the point to where they opened all the sacks. They were all confident, including Benjamin. And he searched from beginning to the eldest. And in the [00:17:00] ending with the youngest, the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. They all reacted by tearing their clothes. The Bible says they tore their clothes.

The King James version says they rented their clothes. All that means they ripped their clothes off of them. Every man loaded his donkey. And then they returned back to the city. They were broken up because now Benjamin is now being held in custody and the promise was to their father that we will bring him back.

So when we are looking at that, Audrey saying, she said, the cup was found in Benjamin Sack. Yeah, it's found in Benjamin Sack and Benjamin and Joseph have, it's the one thing they have in common is they're the blood brothers. They're the full brothers, Benjamin and Joseph. That's where they have in common and that's what made him, put it in his [00:18:00] sack, plus him knowing and God navigating things, knew that this was going to be the only way that they would be able to get everybody in the end, back in place.

Okay, so verse 14. When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there. They fell before him to the ground. By now, they got a hundred thousand thoughts going through their mind. Benjamin has been, for lack of a better word, caught with the cup in his bag.

He's caught with the goods. They have all bragged about how they returned stuff and brought the initial stuff back, and then brought gifts and ate at the table. They're all just devastated by what has happened. So when Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there.

They [00:19:00] fell before him to the ground. Joseph says to them, what deed is that you have done? Did you not know the man like me, can indeed practice divination?

He says, I want you to understand, in this text, he says that, Joseph makes them believe that he is God-like he isn't. But he still puts, he presents that to them. Joseph says to them, do you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination? And Judah says back to him, what shall we say to you, my Lord?

What shall we speak? What can we say or how can we be? How can we clear ourselves? God has found us out. Found out the guilt of your servants, they're back hooked up on what they did to Joseph. They're back hooked up on why they feel God is [00:20:00] punishing them.

God has found out the guilt of your servants. That's what they're referring to. Behold, we are my lord's servants, both we and also he who has, whose hand the cup has been found. They're saying we surrender. And here's what Joseph needed to know about them. That they, there was no fight. There was no, they were repent of what they did and what they, were accused of doing.

And so they surrendered themselves. God has found out the guilt of your servants. Behold, or look, we are my Lord's service. Both we and he, who is also whose hands also the cup has been found, we're guilty, we're caught. We give up. What basically what they're saying, it's a done deal.

But he says to them in verse [00:21:00] 17, be it far from me, be it far from me, that I should do so watch how he plays the other psychological trick on them. He says, only the man in whose hands the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for the rest of you, go and peace to your father. Joseph is completely cold blooded in this text because of the fact he, not only is he keeping Benjamin, which they dreaded.

He's also said, now go back to your daddy and tell him who dreaded him coming here, that he has been captured because of what you all have done. So he plays these my game. I was having the conversation, with my son, this morning, and a clip of a sermon that I forgot the preacher's name, but he was talking about Judas and [00:22:00] Peter and by and the fact that Judas, was never forgiven.

He could have asked for forgiveness, but he chose not to be forgiven. And even though he could have been forgiven, Peter was forgiven and reconciled. Judas. Wasn't forgiven because he didn't ask for, and then he killed himself and he said, Judas could have been forgiven. And then it's up to the party for reconciliation, which I was telling them, look, there's, you can forgive folks, but the reconciliation part is a choice.

He said they can be on the May. Lord watch between me and the list, or they can be put on the re the restoration list. Here's where this looks and comes into being. He decides to put them on the, look, I'm gonna reconcile this thing, but now [00:23:00] I'm gonna send you back to your dad and I'm gonna have you thinking that you're on the May the Lord watch between me and the list.

Same list that Jacob is familiar with, because he was the one that gave that the prayer between him and Laban. So everything is coming full circle. And so they are dreading this. Imagine you being one of the other brothers. Imagine you being Judah, being Simeon, being, one of the other brothers.

'cause Dave's not coming in my head right now. And you got to go back and tell your daddy that the one that he did not want captured is the one captured. The one that he could not part with is the one that he has to part with. He becomes a slave of the government. So Judah says to him, so Judah says, what shall we say to my Lord?

What shall we speak? He says, we're guilty. But Joseph says, okay, I get it. Y'all are guilty, but I don't want you all [00:24:00] because you already paid your penance. I don't want you all. He says in verse 18, he says, but the one who 17, be it far from me, that I do so the only man in whose hand the cup was found.

That's who I want to be. My servant. I want you the one that's guilty of the task, to be the one to pay the price. All of you were guilty of put me in a pit, which then put me in Potiphar's house, which then got me to the palace and got me to where I am. All of you are guilty of that, of doing wrong to me.

He said, but I want you to feel some of the pressure. That you weren't feeling when you did what you did to me. Go back to your dad. Because if all of you are my servants, then you won't know how he's feeling. But if I send you back and keep Benjamin, [00:25:00] you're gonna feel some of what I felt you're gonna feel some of the pain that I felt.

Then Judah went up 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. Ask his servants saying, have you a father or a brother? And we say to my Lord, we have a father, an old man, and a young brother.

The child of his old age, his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother's children, and his father loves him. He's going over the scenario, we told you this, we told you that he's the only one of that set and that the other one is dead. [00:26:00] Then he says, do you have a father That's a old man. A brother that's young in his age, of his age. Do you have someone, and his brother that is dead and he is alone and left of his mother's children and his father loves him? Then he says, verse 21. Then you said to your servants, bring him down.

I may set my eyes on him. They're going over their scenario. And we said to my Lord, meaning Joseph, the boy cannot leave his father for if he should leave his father. His father would die. Then he said to your servants, unless your youngest brother comes down, which is what Joseph said to him, to to come down with you.

You shall not see my face again. And then verse 24, when we went back to your servant's father, we told him the words of my Lord and our father said, go again. Buy [00:27:00] us a little food. We said, we cannot go down. If our youngest brother, doesn't go with us, then we will not go down. For, we cannot see the man's face unless our younger brother is with us.

Then your servant, verse 27. Then your servant, my father, says to us, you know that I have born me two sons. One left me. And I said, surely he has been torn to pieces. I have never seen him since. Talking about Joseph, he's replaying the trauma of what has happened. And he says to him in this text, if you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you'll bring down my gray hairs in evil to shield.

You gonna take me through hell if something happens to you is basically what he saying. Mike says, was the oldest brother. The one to be [00:28:00] held responsible. Judah stood up and made the promise for his brother or the recompense for his brother to his father. You would think that the oldest one would've been held responsible, but God does not play the usual scenarios.

He plays a card that we don't necessarily understand. The younger brother held the weight of this scenario. Benjamin was the one who he revered over all the sons because he was the baby of the woman that he loved along with Joseph. So he plays, Joseph knows this, and so he plays into the the scenario of what would be the greatest pain in my opinion.

To, his family. He exacts it, psychologically. Can I say it that way? He's gonna make them feel [00:29:00] it, a different way. Yes, you are right. God's ways are not our ways. God's not gonna take you down the normal path of where you think everything should be to Jacob. Jamal says to Jacob, it would've been a death sentence for him.

And he absolutely correct. That's what he said. You gonna cause grace to fall upon me In she owe. Wherever we see sheeo, SHEEO represents hell, but hell represents the grave or death is what it represents. And so when he says, I'm gonna go to my grave, a old man, I'm gonna go to my my, my grave revy, or the word that he used in last chapter, bereaved.

I'm gonna go bereave. There's some things that's gonna worry me to death. There's some things that is going to weigh heavy on me that if you took, I don't want you to take none of my boys, but [00:30:00] you definitely can't take Benjamin 'cause he's the last of my love. Okay? And so he carried the weight. He carried the weight, he carried the significance of the family.

And Joseph, who understood, because he had sat in that position before, understood what it meant to his family. That's why they're preaching to him, the whole scenario. Look, if you had an old man back at home and they took the only baby boy and he was grieved when we had to take him away from us.

And now you're telling us we gotta go back and tell my dad that he's been held captive over some circumstantial evidence was not circumstantial. You don't know he cut the cut, but he's caught with the goods. And now we've got to go back to face him when he's already told us in verse number 29 that if you take this boy from me and any harm happens to him, [00:31:00] you will bring down my gray hair in evil to she hall.

Now verse 30. Therefore, as soon as I came to you, to your servant, my father and this boy is not with us. Then as his life is bound up in the boy's life. So he says, now, therefore, as soon as I came to you, your servant, my father Jacob, and the boy is not with us. The boy's not with us, Benjamin.

His life is bound up in the boy's life. Jacob and Benjamin are synonymous. He's wrapped up in Benjamin. As soon as he sees the boy not with us, what's gonna happen? He will die. He's gonna die soon as he see, because his life is wrapped up around Benjamin.

Benjamin means life to Jacob. And so he says if [00:32:00] we go there and Benjamin's not with he ain't looking for us. He's looking for Benjamin. In the end, Jacob will lose both his children by his first love, Rachel. He's gonna lose the boys of his love.

The rest of 'em. I ain't saying he don't love them, but they are not in the specialty category of Joseph and Benjamin because they belong to Rachel. And being pursued in the desert by Esau, he holds Jacob, and that part of the family back on the other side of the river.

And he sends Leah and her family or her servants up front first so that they would be destroyed. Then his family that he loves would not be destroyed. So they had a significant, weight to them that was not carried by the other one. [00:33:00] So even they understood that if we go back without this boy, our father's gonna die.

You have just sealed his death sentence because he is looking for Benjamin Verse 31. As soon as he sees that the boy's not with us, he will die. And your servants will bring down the gray hairs, of your servant, our father, with sorrow to shield. He'll go to his grave grieving verse 32. For your servant became a pledge.

Look what Judah says. I became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, if I do not bring him back, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life. Now therefore, please let your servant, that's Judah talking remain instead of the boy as a servant to my Lord. And let the [00:34:00] boy go back with his brothers.

So now they're talking a swap. Now they're talking about, I'm gonna make a sacrifice. Here's the test. The test is, are we still selfish enough or jealous enough of our brother that we won't sacrifice ourselves? And again, are you willing to serve other gods?

Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for what you say is the true God? Are you, when it comes down to it, will you sell out yourselves at the, for the price of another? Are you willing to make a sacrifice? We had this conversation, on Sunday. Who is my neighbor? Are you willing to sell out for your neighbor?

Who is my neighbor? My neighbor is one that needs help. That needs to be cared for, that needs to be nationality. Does not make 'em your neighbor address. Does not make 'em your neighbor. Kindred does not make 'em your neighbor. Hairstyle doesn't make 'em your [00:35:00] neighbor.

Fandom doesn't make 'em your neighbor. Being in the same church doesn't make 'em your neighbor. Your neighbor is anyone who stands in need of help. And I'm willing to make a sacrifice. Look what the what? The what? The the Samaritan says about the one that was on the road that got beat up.

He poured wa wine and oil, found his ws, took him to a lodge. I spent the night with him, told the innkeeper, gave him the, money in advance, and it says, whatever is due when I come back, I will repay the, we There's a servant heart to Judah.

Judahs makes the sacrifice because he said, I made a pledge to my father. I made a promise to my father that I would bring this boy back. He says, and I want you to understand what I'm saying to you and what it means to us as a family unit that, that, that was not how those boys were talking [00:36:00] prior.

When they got ready to ship off Joseph, they could care less. They made up a story and ripped up his clothes outta jealousy and put it in the blood of a lamb or animal, to make up a lie and then perpetuated it by not following up to even see where he was or what had happened to him.

And now he's making sure that they don't have the same attitude when it comes to this boy. They're willing to make sacrifice. Somebody said, what needs to be tested? What needs to be tested is their loyalty. Their loyalty is going to be tested. Your loyalty is going to be tested if you're gonna stand up for God, or if you're going to cower down because you jealous about somebody else.

Jealous about their blessings, jealous about how they've been elevated, jealous about, what they wear, what they do, how they look there are folks in the house that are jealous [00:37:00] about their own families. And God has said to you, the test will come to, if you will, sacrifice yourself for somebody else that is sitting in a position that we don't feel is necessary for them to sit in.

I'll sacrifice myself. I'll take one for the team. That's what Judah was saying. Judah was saying, I will take one for the team because my father and my brothers and my family mean more to me than us going back to face my father to tell him that Benjamin has been captured. Okay. Lemme see what Jamal, Jamal says.

For us today, this shows us about true repentance. God uses the trial to transform the hearts of people and bring accountability, also mature love to cultivate of others. He makes sure they're not the same set of guys when they were dealing with [00:38:00] Joseph.

They've come to the conclusion that we don't wanna do that again. That was part of their, that's part of their prayers and repentance in the earlier chapters because of the fact they kept saying, this stuff is happening to us because of what we did to our brothers.

Some of us can sin against our brothers and sisters and never think about it. Never look back. Some if you, we are dealing with my daughter today. If you can do a sin or a crime against a person that you say you love air quotes that you say you in love with and not repent, then you are not.

You are in the May the Lord Watch category. You reconciliation is not a part. Of our relationship. In the text, the their reconciliation or their ability to wanna make up for their brother was the test that Joseph needed to see [00:39:00] in order for himself to be able to reveal himself or feel comfortable revealing himself to them.

Because if he reveals himself and they have the same hearts and minds, they're going to be ultra jealous of where he is. He told them in the beginning, I'm y'all gonna bow down to me. And when he tells them that, they're jealous. They're jealous of the relationship.

There's a lot of people that are in relationships with, that we shouldn't be in relationship with. And everybody tells you if you can forgive, I don't have no problem with that. But some folks are not worthy of reconciliation. Reconciliation. If you look at that word, is the ability or the cause to make up.

You can't make up with folks that will keep putting you in debt because you are always owing them and they're always hurting you because they make you feel as [00:40:00] though I did this to you, out jealousy, but you owe me because I'm your friend. And those are toxic relationships. I'm telling you, get out the toxic relationship.

You don't owe the ministry of making up to folks that don't wanna make up. Some folks just want war. They don't want peace. And when they don't want peace, you trying to make them want peace is not gonna happen. There's some folks that just don't like you because they don't like you, and I'm good with that.

If you don't like me, I'm great with it. Don't like me all you want to because you are not the one that is going to cause me to be blessed. God is the ultimate one that causes me to be blessed and therefore causes me to move with you or without you. I love you because I have to love my enemies, is part of what God requires, but the [00:41:00] reconciliation of love, I don't have to do because you don't wanna make up with me.

You want war because you want war. I'm a man of peace. I don't have time for that. So I'm not gonna make up. I'll go when I wanna go, and I'll deal with you how I wanna deal with you. It doesn't mean that I don't love you. It do. It means that you don't love me. So he says the verse, 32, your servant became a pledge.

Look what Judah says. I became the sacrifice pledge for safety for the boy to my father. What, how does that lend to the gospel message? Jesus says, I became the pledge of safety to my father, for my people. And if I do not bring them back to you, I will bear the blame. I will bear the blame.

Before my father, Jesus came down [00:42:00] from heaven. To bear the brunt of our sins to reconcile, make us up to be perfect in the sight of God. We're not perfect in what we do. We are redeemed, but then there's also a ministry of reconciliation, which means somebody's gotta pay the tally of what we have done.

Somebody's gotta pay the price. Somebody's gotta give the gift, the penance, for lack of a better word, for what we have created. Somebody's gotta pay the bill. And if we understand that, then we see that, when Judah, the appraiser makes up, the tally or says, take me in his place.

Take me in his place, I will step up, and become the sacrifice for what has happened. Because I told my [00:43:00] daddy, I'm gonna bring this boy back. Mike says, what do you contribute to The fact that there were was a lot of games. Games, game playing or word mixing, even back in biblical days too.

Mike, nothing's changed. There's nothing new under the sun. We have been, tricked and tricking folks, all of our lives. And then you're seeing the law, of recompense, recompensing. The law of what goes around comes around, okay? The recompense, somebody's gotta pay for it. Jacob, who is Israel?

Tricked his dad with his mom come by God, pay that laben, tricked Jacob. By giving Leah, somebody's gotta pay for that. Then the boys tricked their dad by saying, Joseph Joseph died and was rent by a wild animal. Somebody's gotta pay for that. So [00:44:00] here we see nothing's changed. There's nothing new under the sun.

Folks are still playing and tricking and playing mind games and mind words. And again, I'm saying to you, there is a difference between I'm gonna put it, matter of fact, if you go to the church page, I'll send, I'm gonna put on the same, the same post that I sent to my kids, so that you can understand what he was saying.

Forgiving, reconciliation, forgiving, I forgive you. Reconciliation means there's a payment that is due in the ministry of making up that somebody has to make up. And if they're not bothering to make it up. Here's how you can judge. If they're not bothering to make it up or if they're playing games, you always gonna be chasing them.

You are always going to be looking for the, they'll give you the apology, but they won't give you the progress, if that makes sense. So we need to [00:45:00] understand that. So yeah, the contribution and biblical days, there ain't nothing change. Okay. Jamal says you can still reconcile, but you don't have to restore, reconcile of making up and restore.

Same word, restore. In order to restore it, I've got to do something to get it back to his original form or original shape or original relationship. That's what I'm saying. We trick ourselves into thinking we have to for I can forgive, but but the but forgiving, I have to do reconciling and restoring is a choice.

And some folks, that's why and Jacob could not even when they tried to come together, their herbs mens were feuding. They had to separate. There's some folks in this life. You have to sep separate from, otherwise you are gonna end up being abused.

And when [00:46:00] abuse, when the purpose is unknown, be abuse becomes inevitable. When you don't know the purpose of your relationship, you're gonna end up abusing it. And again, I don't know who this is for, but I tell my daughter, forget the things that you lost. You can replace those. What you can't replace is a life you gotta understand there's some things that's not worth chasing after and going after and dealing with.

So yeah, you can reconcile but you don't have to restore. So again, and I'll put it in the most basic form I can, to restore a classic car, you have to get the original parts or fact assemblies of the original parts that restores the car to its original state. Otherwise, what you did was that you created a clone of a car.

It's not the car, [00:47:00] but it looks like the car, and they're supposed creating clothes. Christian relationships. It looks holy, but it isn't. And that's why you're never able to get on the same page and reconcile. Okay, I hope I made that make sense. So yeah. So we're here, he says, Judah says, for your servant, became a pledge.

When is the last time you can say, I became a pledge for somebody else on God's on on, on their behalf to God. When is the last time I laid down my life, for a friend when last time you made a commitment that I'm gonna continue to pray, for my friends until they get through, whatever it is they're going through.

Or do we just do everybody else and just completely, I'll ride the ride and then I, when I get tired, I'm gonna get off the ride there. There's no such thing. She, Ms. Pru says, I heard that because [00:48:00] some people are jealous. Yeah. There, there's some people that are jealous and you, it's nothing you can do.

There's some people that don't like you because of who you are and what God has done for you. That was the case with Joseph. And Joseph had to have a test. Joseph is testing the fence to see if their hearts have been cured from what they were dealing with when they were younger and he has the right to do so because he was the one that got dogged and Joseph's I'm not selling, I'm not signing up for no more abusive relationships with my brothers in the name.

Of God, or in the name of Jesus. I'm not doing that. If you decide to denounce what you say you believe, it has nothing to do with me. I can only pray for you. If you decide to disagree with what we believe has nothing to do with me. I'm not raising [00:49:00] up on Facebook or any other book to have a theological discussion in front of the world.

I'm not. I'm just not. That's me. I'm going to rigorously defend the faith and be an apologist for the faith. But I'm not gonna have if you wanna have a discussion, we can do that, privately and understand again, and I ain't saying you have to agree with it. I'm just saying that's what I, that was the way I decided to which to deal with it.

They're trying to get a swap out. They're wanting, Benjamin not to be held captain. So he says, now, therefore, please take your servant, let your servant remain instead of the boy. Let the boy go back home to his brothers for how can we go to my father if the boy is not with me?

I fear to see that evil would find my father. He's now think, they're now thinking about their father. [00:50:00] They're thinking about the other person. They're thinking about, what's gonna happen on the end. And sometimes it's hard, especially, now for us as a family with what we're dealing with my mother-in-law, I have to ever keep in front of me.

It's not about me, but it's about what the grace of God that he's given and what he's given. I can't lean into my own emotions or understanding, but lean into what God is saying. And again, it took a while for me to get to that point.

Even as a father, it takes us a while to get to these points. Even as believers, it takes us a while to get to these points. It takes Joseph even in his rise to power. A while to understand that even in this place, and even in this testing and in even in this [00:51:00] transformation of his brothers, that the divine providence and sovereignty of God is still demonstrating itself, is still showing his providential hand.

That everyone that's involved in this chapter and in this story has to trust God on in their own terms and in their own circumstances, even when the circumstances seem unfavorable, even when the circumstances seems to be bouncing against you. That means when I've done all that I can do in Bible, in, in book of each Ephesians, it says, when you have done all that you can do, you stand.

Just stand. You can't stand naked, you gotta stand girded. 'cause if you go in there with no equipment on, you're gonna get dogged out. And so he again, that we see all this. We see grace, we see forgiveness, we see providence, [00:52:00] we see sovereignty, we see integrity. We see repentance. We see all this taking place.

All in the matter of this chapter. Everything has changed. Their brothers are longer talking about being jealous. They're now talking about we will sacrifice for our brother Benjamin, because we didn't do it for Joseph on behalf of the father. And Jamal says God used Joseph to bring out the truth, to see the change of the brothers.

Correct. I believe God already showed Joseph what would happen, but he wanted Joseph to settle his art. Exactly. He wanted Joseph, he showed him what was gonna happen. Joseph knew they were gonna bow down to him. He knew all that. But every now and then, there's gotta be some tangibility until what we believe God's gotta, we gotta have a Gideon moment where we go, okay, God, make the fleece dry and make the ground wet.

Okay, God, make the ground wet [00:53:00] and the fleece dry. And even in all that, Gideon still did not trust God because God had to tell Gideon, you have too many folks. I don't know who this is for you the problem with us as believers is we put too many people in our business, and I'm gonna say it I notice I did not say as Christians as believers.

We let too many people influence what God has told us by ourselves. If he wanted them to be involved, he'd have told them to be involved. But he did. He didn't tell them to be involved. He told you, you go through it. David doesn't say Yay though. We walked through the valley. He said, yay, though I walked through the valley.

It's a singular, some of these things that we're going through are for us to be a benefit for those that will follow behind us. And so in seeing this, and going into this, these things we don't wanna do, but we have to do, we have to walk it again, it wasn't my idea. [00:54:00] I didn't study to do a solo act on these chapters, but I have to do, and God said here's what I'm gonna show you how sovereign I am.

I, Laura's supposed to come on with you, but I'm gonna make it where she doesn't. So at first it was like okay, I ain't gonna be mad. You just hung me out the drive. And I'm like going, no. God says no. This is a time that it's called, I called you for it. It's time for us to stand up and go to the place to, if we're gonna be a part of reconciliation, we have to know how to do it ourselves.

We can't ask folks to reconcile us to somebody else. I'm facing that test even right now as we speak, because there's some folks in ministry that have hurt our feelings and God is now sending them back. And God say let me test your heart. Let me see how your heart's gonna react. Are you gonna react like them?

Because you can't repay evil for evil. Okay. But c [00:55:00] says there had to be peace and reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers. There had to be, but Joseph also, somebody had to make it up. Somebody had to do it. Okay. If Joseph would've said I'm not gonna see him. Joseph said, no, I'm gonna, I you're going to have to sacrifice something.

You are gonna have to give something for me to see where you are. And then he had to test, like Jamal said prior, he God had to show him through the series of tests because of his insecurities, that they are legit in where they are. Okay. And they were able, and we'll see that later on in the latter chapters, that the reconciliation becomes the glue or the building block.

Mike says, this says sometimes, you have to start canceling people. That's a great one. There is a place in faith [00:56:00] where we can, ill afford to keep anyone around that doesn't believe God as much as we do. Exactly.

Sometimes you have to start canceling because they're not in the ministry of making up. They're in the ministry of pulling you now, so you gotta get away. You got, there's gotta be a separation, like I said before, between lots, herdsmen and Jacob serviceman and then lots boys who had nothing to do with the deal.

If you remember back then, jump in and say, you know what? You're stealing from my dad. Because God keeps increasing you and we keep getting thinner and thinner. So there was no making up. That could be, you called me a thief. You already said, I did this to you. It sometimes it's not about what they do, it's about what our reaction is to what they do.

And when there's no reaction, they don't know what to do. [00:57:00] Always keep 'em guessing. Guessing and again, make more watch is not for folks that are friends. It's for folks that know that, look, we're gonna go our separate ways, but while we're going our separate ways, God's gonna watch the both of us. 'cause I don't trust you.

That's literally what that prayer is about is I don't trust you to do what you said or hold your end of the bargain. You already showed me that you can't. So when we start looking at that, we need to start looking at the point that it wasn't folks I trusted PO and they stole my money. No, the part is you reconcile with somebody that you wasn't supposed to reconcile with.

And because you allowed them in and you gave them the key, they were able to then take advantage of you and Joe, and Joseph was not going to allow that to happen with his brothers again. He had already been burned by him, but then there was his [00:58:00] integrity and then there was repentance. The brothers responded to the test and they revealed their integrity and their repentance by stating that will sacrifice ourselves, I'll sacrifice myself so that my brother can go back to my dad.

Okay, and now we gonna see how this plays out. In the latter chapters, we are gonna see how it plays out, and again, for those of you that are in the place shall I trust this? Shall I not trust this? Ask God about what it is that you're dealing with and the people that you're dealing with.

One of my prayers is God, you send me, and that's what I told them in, in, in asking for wisdom. You send me the people that will be able to help me get to where I need to go. You send them to me. And there's some that will come as sheep in wool clothing, but I got a detector that now tells me they sound like the one look, like the one, but there aren't the one.

And when they're not the one, then you're not [00:59:00] obligated for reconciliation. If they beat you up, don't let 'em beat you again. All right. Any other questions or any other comments as we end this in this particular chapter? Again, understand the reconciliation and the restoration, the integrity and repentance of the brothers, the providence and the sovereignty of God and Joseph's rise to power 'cause Joseph, and here's the killer part.

If Joseph doesn't go, what he goes through, they're not gonna be spared in the end. So it wasn't what they did or didn't do. It was God's divine providence and sovereignty over Joseph's life. And then graces and forgiveness, and then know, there's gonna be a testing that is going to transform us. The test is going to give us knowing our knowledge to what it is that we are to do.

I don't know why I marked this down. But if you are looking for the, key verse in, [01:00:00] this particular chapter, I would say it's verse number 12. And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

If the cup is found in your sack and you didn't put it there, it's part of the test. If the cup is in your bag and you didn't put it there, it's part of the test. So don't gripe when the cup falls in your bag, God's got the divine providence. He told the servant, put it in his bag.

Divine strategy for divine promise for divine providence. That's why God chose you, because he knew you could handle what you're going through. Sheree. He put the cup in your bag so that you could go through what you go through so that you could know what to tell somebody else while they're going through.

Jamal, that's why he put the cup in your bag. That's [01:01:00] why he put the cup in your bag so when you get tested and it's going to happen and you're not gonna the accusation, you're not, Benjamin is like going, I didn't do that.

They're like we don't like being called thieves. This is the second time we've been called ths. But then at the end they're like, look, just I'll take the brunt, let my brother go back. That needs to be our focus. Let my brother go back. Who is your neighbor? Who is your neighbor? I don't know why I'm on that.

Who is your neighbor? If you wanna grow, you got to know who is your neighbor? Who is God sending you after? Who is God telling you needs your help? 'cause who we're making up to, don't need us. They don't need to be made up to. I'm not apologizing 'cause I'm not kissing the ring of nobody.

[01:02:00] I'm not bowing down to nobody. But I will humble myself If I can sacrifice myself for somebody that's gonna sacrifice, or at least the love. God gave to me on my behalf. That needs to be our moniker. Put the cup in my bag. Put the cup in my bag. I know we don't wanna say it, but just put the cup in my bag.

God put the cup in my bag. And so that, that's what I have for you. I pray that you, were blessed by the lesson. I'm a little bit over time and, lay the Lord may be back with me. It's fluid now because she's dealing with her mom and y'all pray, for a mom 'cause there's gonna be good days and bad days. Continue to pray for us . God bless you, God keep you is our prayer. Y'all have a great night.