Gen 44:1 And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth.
Gen 44:2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
Gen 44:3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.

Joseph wasn't about to just let them go yet but contrived a plan to test the brothers further to see if they had changed from the men they were before.

Gen 44:4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?
Gen 44:5 Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.
Gen 44:6 And he overtook them, and he spoke unto them these same words.
Gen 44:7 And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing:
Gen 44:8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold?
Gen 44:9 With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondmen.

They had no idea that any cup was in any of their sacks or they wouldn't have said as much.

This reminds me of the time when Rachel stole her father's images and hid them in the camel furniture. Jacob had said the same to Laban not knowing Rachel had taken the images.

In this case though the brothers were innocent. Perhaps this is a reminder of how they once sold an innocent person to slavery when he had done nothing to deserve this by his brothers. As we read these passages we can see Joseph's motive is to test them.

This also is a good example of salvation. We can't be saved from sin if we never admit that we need to be saved from sin. Before one can be truly born again by God's spirit, he or she must acknowledge their need to be born again. We have to see that we need someone to save us before we can be saved. These brothers had to be reminded of their sins of the past before they could acknowledge that they were wrong. They may have done that by now but Joseph would have no way of knowing that so he had to see how they would react if their brother, whom their father loved best had his life in jeopardy.

Gen 44:10 And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.
Gen 44:11 Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.
Gen 44:12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

Had these brothers been the same as when they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites, they would have just let them take Benjamin and not care. We see their reaction was altogether different from how they was before. This probably made Joseph rejoice in his heart when we saw that they did care for Benjamin's life.

Gen 44:13 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.

Tearing at one's clothes in despair was a sign of grief and mourning. They did not just allow the men to take Benjamin but was willing to die in Benjamin's place if it was necessary to save his life.

Gen 44:14 And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground.
Gen 44:15 And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? know ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?
Gen 44:16 And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord's servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found.
Gen 44:17 And he said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.
Gen 44:18 Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh.
Gen 44:19 My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?
Gen 44:20 And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.
Gen 44:21 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.
Gen 44:22 And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.
Gen 44:23 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.
Gen 44:24 And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.
Gen 44:25 And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food.
Gen 44:26 And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down: for we may not see the man's face, except our youngest brother be with us.
Gen 44:27 And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bore me two sons:
Gen 44:28 And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since:
Gen 44:29 And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
Gen 44:30 Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life;
Gen 44:31 It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave.
Gen 44:32 For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father forever.
Gen 44:33 Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.
Gen 44:34 For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.

Wouldn't you know that it would be Judah that would be the one who would step up and offer himself in the place of Benjamin. Judah was the one who was the line that Jesus Christ was to come through.

Judah was willing to take his place just like Christ took our place on the cross and died for our sins since He had no sin of His own. The just suffered on behalf of the unjust. They thought Benjamin was guilty so Judah was willing to bear the guilt so that Benjamin would be able to go free. I would say from this that at least one brother had truly changed. The Lord is wonderful and marvelous in all His ways. He changed the heart of Esau who was once full of hate toward Jacob but when Jacob returned home, Esau wept with joy to see him.

Repentance brings such cleansing and refreshing from the spirit of God. Perhaps we do not always get victory over sin because we truly have not repented of sin. Repentance means to be sorrow for sin yes, but to the point of turning from that sin and not going back into it. If we still are living in sin after receiving Christ into our lives, then we have not truly repented. We are holding something back that will always hinder us and keep us from wholly following the Lord. Christ came to make us free from sin.  We don't have to carry around jealousy, hate, and greed.  The Jew can love the Muslim, the Muslim can love the Jew by the power of Jesus Christ.  We don't have to hate if we choose to turn from it and turn to Christ.  Without faith in Christ, there is no power over sin.  We are slaves to it.  That is why He came.  To save us from sin.  The law of God condemns all of us.  We are all sinners because we have broken the laws of God.  Jesus died for breaking a law He did not break.  He died in our place.  We can be free from the condemnation of the law through faith in Christ by repenting of sin and turning to Him for forgiveness and also victory over sin. 

 

Genesis 45