Bible Study Online Article
After Joseph's chief steward had taken his brothers to his house and had them situated, Joseph would arrive sometime later in the day. Once he arrived home, Joseph's brothers had presented him with the gifts that their father had them to bring along on their journey. After doing this, they would honor him, by bowing down before him. In return Joseph would ask them: "How is everybody, is all well? And what about your aged father you told me about: is he still living?" They would reply by saying: "Your servant our father is still alive and well." And once again, they bowed low to show him honor and respect. While they were doing this, Joseph would look around the place and this is when he noticed his little brother Benjamin. After seeing him Joseph said: "Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about? May God be gracious to you, my son." After Joseph had said these things, he had become deeply moved at the sight of his little brother. So Joseph would quickly exit the room, for he didn't want them to see him weep. So he went into his private room and wept there. Afterwards Joseph would wash his face and got control of his emotions and came out unto his brothers once again, saying: "Serve the food." So his chief steward would begin to serve the food, in which they were broken up into three groups. Joseph would be one group by himself, in which he was served. His brothers were in a group by themselves and they were served and ate by themselves. And the Egyptians who were in the house were in a group by themselves and they would eat amongst themselves. The Scriptures points to the reason why they were separated into these three groups. And this reason deals with the mere fact that the Egyptians thought it was detestable to sit and eat with Hebrews. Perhaps this why Joseph was eating by himself? But this is a clue that could easily be missed, for you might think that it would be common for a person in Joseph's position to eat by themselves away from the help. But there was another clue that might have revealed Joseph's true identity? For Joseph's brothers were also seated in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest. Who knows, maybe Joseph was trying to let them know who he really was; and although they had looked at each with astonishment: they still weren't able to put two-and-two together when it came to Joseph's true identity. When Joseph had the food served to his brothers, the Scriptures also point out that Benjamin's portion was five times more than the rest of his brothers. But once again, Joseph's brothers didn't have a clue on what this meant: so they feasted and drank freely as they enjoyed themselves. Now in the meantime, Joseph would take his chief steward to the side and he gave him some instructions when it came to his brothers: "Fill the men's sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man's sliver in the mouth of his sack. Then put my cup the sliver one, in the mouth of the youngest one's sack, along with the sliver for his grain." Joseph's chief steward would do as he was told and as morning dawned; Joseph's brothers were sent on their way with their donkeys. They had not gone far from the city, when Joseph said to his chief 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.'" So once again the chief steward would do as he was told and he took some men with him and rode out to catch up with Joseph's brothers. Once the chief steward had caught up with them, he repeated the words that Joseph had told him to say. But after hearing these false allegations, Joseph brother's responded by saying: "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 sliver we had found from within the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal sliver and gold from your master's house? If any of your servants are found to have it; he would die; and the rest of us will become my lord's slaves." After hearing this, the chief steward replied: "Very well, then, 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." Joseph's brothers immediately began lowering their sacks to the ground and open them so the chief steward could inspect them. The chief steward would begin with the oldest brother and search all their sacks. It wasn't until he searched Benjamin's sack the cup was found. When the rest of the brothers had seen that Benjamin had the cup, they were surprised and regrettably worried, for they tore their clothes. Shortly after they would all load their donkeys and ride back to Egypt with the chief steward. The chief steward took them straight back to Joseph's house. Joseph was still there when his brothers had entered. When they saw Joseph, they immediately threw themselves towards the ground before him. After they had done this, Joseph exclaimed: "What is this you have done? Don't you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?"" Judah responded by saying: "What can we say to my lord? What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants' guilt. We are now my lord's slaves: we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup." Judah would add "and the one who was found to have the cup" because he knew that while they were headed back to Canaan and the chief servant had stopped them and accused them of deception and thievery. The brothers responded by saying "If any of your servants are found to have it; he would die." Obviously they don't won't Benjamin to be killed, so Judah tries to get Joseph to agree with the statement that he just made. For they would rather have Benjamin become a slave of servitude, instead of being put to death for thievery. Will Joseph agree and accept Judah's statement as the new terms? Or will he put Benjamin to death, or does he have another agenda when it comes to him? And what about the rest of his brothers, what will Joseph do: make them his slaves?
Jacob - The Path of Uncertainty **YOUR CURRENT SERIES WOULD BE HERE** 84) Joseph's Dark Dreams Interpretation 85) Joseph the Overseer of Egypt 86) Joseph the Revealer of Secrets 88) The Seven Years of Abundance 90) Joseph the Egyptian Prime Minister 91) Joseph the Temptation of Revenge 93) The Confessions of the Ten Tribes 98) <-CURRENT PAGE->  CrossDaily.com Web Search where you can VOTE FOR THIS SITE & other great ones. Christian search engine, directory & voting index. You'll find Bible, chat, churches, jobs, music, reviews, software, theology, & more. See the best sites!
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