The Silver Cup
Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph!
Genesis 45:3
One of my favorite Old Testament characters is Joseph. As the story goes, Jacob’s favorite son gets shanghaied by his brothers and ends up a slave in Egypt.
He slowly moves up in the ranks only to be the victim of a false accusation of sexual harassment. As a result, he ends up in an even worse situation, languishing in a dungeon.
The months go by but there’s one consistent refrain: “…the Lord was with Joseph.”
Finally, Joseph is given an audience with Pharaoh who’s been troubled by a series of strange dreams. One of Joseph’s former cellmates suggests that he might be able to interpret them.
Joseph does so. Pharaoh is thrilled. And the former slave is made second in command of all Egypt. It’s literally a rags-to-riches, pit-to-palace story.
Then the plot thickens. The predicted famine has impacted Canaan and Jacob sends his sons down to Egypt to get food.
Who should they encounter but their long-lost brother. While Joseph recognizes them, they don’t recognize him.
What happens next is a part of the story we often ignore…maybe because we don’t quite know what to do with it. And that’s the story of the silver cup. We read of it in Gen. 44.
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. 2 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.
3 As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys. 4 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? 5 Isn’t this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done.’”
6 When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them. 7 But they said to him, “Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that! 8 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? 9 If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.”
10 “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.”
11 Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. 12 Then the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13 At this, they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.
The text goes on to explain how Joseph confronts them and says that Benjamin must remain as a slave while the others can go home.
This is a key moment. Will the men once again look after their own interests and sacrifice a brother, breaking their father’s heart?
Remember. Years earlier they hadn’t cared what Joseph’s loss would have done to their dad. But now, they knew that to lose Benjamin would kill Jacob. And they couldn’t do that.
Judah stands up and offers to take Benjamin’s place. This is striking to Joseph because Judah had been the one to come up with the plan to sell him into slavery all those years ago. Clearly, something had happened in his brother.
Chapter 45.
Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.
3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph!
Wow! Can you imagine the emotion of this moment? It's utterly amazing.
Why the Silver Cup?
Yet the question that begs to be asked is... why the silver cup in the sack? Why would Joseph do this?
Ed Miller in his great devotional book, Letters to the Thirsty, notes that on the surface, Joseph seems to be playing a cruel, heartless trick on his brothers. That it’s all a way of getting back at them.
But in reality, it’s a strategic move because it proves to be a turning point for them, causing their hearts to repent so there could be reconciliation.
Joseph loved his brothers and longed for the day when he could say, “I am Joseph!” But they were not ready for that yet. And that led to the silver cup in their sack.
Here’s what we need to see. The crisis of the silver cup accomplished what many years of guilt had failed to produce.
You see, Joseph wanted more than to provide food for his family. He also wanted to be restored to a relationship with his family.
If not for the silver cup placed in the sack…if not for something that brought them to the end of themselves…they would have departed from Joseph’s presence and never known him.
Through the silver cup, they came to know the provider in a personal way.
As with them, so with us.
My Silver Cup
God has filled my own “sack” with “grain” many times in my half-century walk with Him. He has blessed me wonderfully with provision.
But it’s been during those times when He put a silver cup in my sack that I’ve come to know Him intimately.
Over the years, the silver cup has taken many forms in my life. There have been times of affliction, trial, loss, hurt, and disappointment.
One of the most challenging took place five years ago when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I prayed and prayed and prayed that I would be healed. All I wanted was “food” in my “sack.”
Instead, I was given a silver cup in my sack. That healing didn’t come and surgery resulted…with all of its implications.
Yet, through that, I’ve come to know my Father at a whole new level of intimacy. Moreover, I’ve been given an on-ramp to minister to other men who have found that silver cup in their sack.
Heaven will be full of testimonies of silver cups. We’ll hear how the broken marriage, the bankruptcy, the failed ministry, the accident, the disease, the storm, and many other silver cups were wisely placed in the saints’ sacks of grain to bring them to a deeper knowledge of the Lord Himself.
Do not resent the silver cup, friends. The Lord isn’t playing some cruel trick on you. It is His wonderful provision to lead His children into the wonder of a deeper relationship.
So if you think that the Lord has indeed planted a silver cup in your sack, thank Him for it. But, beyond that, ask what it is that He wants you to see, to know, and to experience from Him.
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