HealingStrong's Around the Word

Episode 15 - The Joseph Series: Soul Wounds (Genesis 44 NIV)

• HealingStrong • Episode 15

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We explore Genesis 44, where Joseph tests his brothers by planting his silver cup in Benjamin's sack, revealing profound lessons about soul wounds, transformation, and Christ-like sacrifice. When we hold onto past hurts, thinking we're punishing others, we're actually just hurting ourselves.

This quick episode covers:

• Soul wounds cause us to hurt ourselves while thinking we're hurting others
• Joseph's elaborate test reveals whether his brothers have truly changed
• The brothers' torn clothes demonstrate their genuine distress when Benjamin is accused
• Judah steps forward to offer himself as a sacrifice in place of Benjamin
• Judah's sacrifice foreshadows Christ (the Lion of Judah) and His redemptive work
• Speaking up boldly yet respectfully in difficult situations can change outcomes
• "We have not because we ask not" – sometimes we must advocate for ourselves and others
• Personal transformation is possible, as demonstrated by Judah's changed character

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Suggested Resources:

BIBLE PLAN - Trusting God's Plan in the Waiting: Lessons from the Life of Joseph

PODCAST - Genesis to Revelation Bible Reading

TOOLS - Refresh Your Spirit through God's Word




Speaker 1:

When you have soul wounds, you're holding on to something that somebody did to you because you think you're hurting them, but you're not. You're hurting yourself.

Speaker 2:

Hello, my name's Cheryl and you're listening to Healing Strong's Around the Word. We are friends sitting around the table who love God's Word and we love learning from it. Each day you'll hear me read a Bible passage in the podcast and then you'll hear us discussing what we're learning from it. I'll be reading Genesis chapter 44 today from the NIV version of the Bible. So join us Around the Word, genesis, chapter 44.

Speaker 2:

Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house Fill the men's sacks with as much food as they can carry and put each man's silver in the mouth of his sack. Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one's sack, along with the silver for his grain. And he did as Joseph said. As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys. They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, go after those men at once. And when you catch up with them, say to them why have you repaid good with evil? Isn't this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done. When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them. But they said to him. Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that. We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master's house? If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die and the rest of us will become my lord's slaves. Very well then he said Let it be as you say. Whoever is found to have it will become my slave. The rest of you will be free from blame. Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. Then the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. At this, they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.

Speaker 2:

Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him. Joseph said to them what is this you have done? Don't you know that a man like me can find things out by divination? What can we say to my Lord? Judah replied what can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servant's guilt. We are now my Lord's slaves, we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup. But Joseph said far be it from me to do such a thing. Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you go to your father in peace. Then Judah went to him and said pardon your servant, my Lord. Let me speak a word to my Lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though. You are equal to Pharaoh himself.

Speaker 2:

My Lord asked his servants do you have a father or a brother? And we answered we have an aged father and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead and he is the only one of his mother's sons left and his father loves him. Then you said to your servants bring him down to me so I can see him for myself. And we said to my Lord the boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves him, his father will die. But you told your servants, unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again. When we went back to your servant, my father, we told him what my Lord had said. Then our father said go back and buy a little more food. But we said we cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.

Speaker 2:

Your servant, my father, said to us you know that my wife bore me two sons.

Speaker 2:

One of them went away from me and I said he has surely been torn to pieces and I have not seen him since.

Speaker 2:

If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery. So now, if the boy is not with us, when I go back to your servant, my father, and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy's life, sees that this boy isn't there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow. Your servant guaranteed the boy's safety to my father. I said if I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life. Now then, please let your servant remain here as my Lord's slave in place of the boy and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me. You just heard our Bible reading for today, so now let's listen in on the discussion that Susie, angie Maren and myself had all around the Word.

Speaker 1:

Susie, angie Maren and myself had all around the word. First thing I have to point out is Joseph has them put the cup his cup on the top of Benjamin's sack. So he's got a plan here. What do you think that plan is?

Speaker 2:

I was only do you think he even knows? I mean, I'm not sure. Oh, I think he does, I think he even knows.

Speaker 3:

I mean I'm not sure. Oh, I think he does. I think he full well knows that he's gonna catch him and he's just, I think he's just stringing them along. I think he is. He's trying to hurt them even more. I think he's just, you know these wounds that he has and he's just playing games with them. We see it as he talks about, um, the use of divination, and don't you know that I can find out by divination, when you know that that's not what he's doing? It's like he's just playing games with his brothers, I don't know. Again, we talk a lot about soul wounds and I think that this is his way of just getting back at them. I think he knew full well that Benjamin was going to be. The whole plan there was to bring Benjamin back and to keep.

Speaker 1:

Benjamin with him. So that's a really good point, because when you have soul wounds, you're holding on to something that somebody did to you because you think you're hurting them. But you're not, you're hurting yourself. That's so true. So verse 9 says if you find his cup with any one of us, let that one die, is what they say and the rest of us will be slaves. Ok, so they set the stage of what was going to be the punishment. But then, on verse 12, as he goes down from the oldest down to the youngest, they're seeing, the cup's not here, the cup's not here, the cup's not here, the cup's not here. Oh no, now they find the cup in their youngest brothers. They are beyond themselves, I'm sure, because they just said let that person die and the rest of us will be slaves. And now their father's not going to get any of them back.

Speaker 2:

Maybe too. I wonder if he's testing them to see how much they care about Benjamin. I mean he sees when they show up again they've torn their clothes, all of them. So it's not like they went and got new clothes before they went to see joseph. They are visibly messed up now. It's like he can see what he's done to him is jacked him up because they have torn clothes now and he knows that's a sign of their culture of of great grief, so he knows he's got them where he wants them.

Speaker 1:

And they even say themselves verse 16, god is punishing us for our sins. They feel it.

Speaker 2:

So then, who steps up to the plate at this point?

Speaker 4:

Judah offers to be the sacrifice. Judah says let me be the one to stay.

Speaker 2:

And, of course, Judah is known as the Lion of Judah and our Jesus comes from the Lion of Judah, and Jesus offered a sacrifice for all of us. He was the sacrifice.

Speaker 4:

So we're getting to see a little teeny foreshadowing. All of it's a foreshadow, but that's a big one. It jumped out at me, and the first of the chapter says I love how it said that Judah stepped forward. He stepped forward to speak up, and that's what Jesus did for us. He stepped forward.

Speaker 2:

Judah's a changed man too, because, if you have time, if you go back to Genesis 38, there is a tale of Judah that happens where Judah himself was truly humbled about some of the mistakes and sins that he had committed against his daughter-in-law, and I think that incident probably really profoundly changed his heart and humbled him, and so now he's willing to own up for his mistakes, and then some at this point.

Speaker 3:

Well, Judah, too. What's so beautiful is even just okay. Put yourself in the story as well and learn from what Judah did. Judah stepped up, but he also asked for favor. He asked for something. He didn't just accept the words of what was said, and this is what's going to happen. I mean, Judah stepped forward and he pleaded on behalf of his family. I love that for us. How oftentimes do we just, you know, get in a situation that we know is unfair or we know is happening around us and we don't speak up on behalf of ourselves or our family? And it's important that we do that.

Speaker 1:

He said be patient with me for a moment, for I know you can doom me in an instant as though you were Pharaoh himself.

Speaker 2:

I love that he was bold for such a time as this. You might as well go and be bold.

Speaker 3:

We have not because we ask not.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I love that from Susie we have not because we ask not. Isn't that so true? Especially when God has all the resources in the world, why would we not ask? Why would we not ask? Well, I hope you got a lot out of our discussion today and thank you so much for joining us on Healing Strong's Around the Word podcast. We hope you were encouraged to dig deeper into God's Word. Take a sec and visit us at healingstrongorg, where you can find out more about our mission and our community groups. They are amazing, by the way. Until next time, remember faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.