PUT YOURSELF IN YOUR BROTHERS SHOES

BOOK OF GENESIS

CHAPTER 44

            Welcome back as we invite you again to enjoy some Daily Bread, where you always find plenty of food for your soul.  Speaking of food, the last thing we talked about was a meal that Joseph had for his brothers when they brought Benjamin down to Egypt to prove that they weren’t spies and to get Simeon released from prison.  They all ate drank and were merry.  End of story?  Nope.

            Joseph ordered his steward to fill his brother’s sacks again with as much food as they could carry and again to put every man’s money back.  But this time he said, Put my silver cup in the youngest one’s sack with his money.

            When morning had broken, the brothers were sent on their way.  When they were outside of the city, but not too far away, Joseph told his steward to follow after them and ask them why they repaid good with evil by stealing his silver cup. 

            The steward caught up to them and said what Joseph rehearsed to him.  They answered, How can you say such a thing?  God forbid that your servants would do what you are accusing us of.  The money that we found in our sacks the first time, we brought back to you, why would we steal silver or gold out of your lord’s house?  Whoever you find it with, let him die and the rest of us will be your slaves.  But the steward said, Whoever is found with it will be my servant, and the rest of you will be innocent.

            They each quickly put their sack on the ground and opened them.  The steward began with the oldest and finished with the youngest, and found the silver cup in Benjamin’s sack.  They tore their clothes in sorrow and returned with the steward to the city.  They went back to Joseph’s house and fell to the ground in front of him. 

            And Judah said, How can we prove our innocence?  God has found out the sin of your servants, both us and the one who had the cup.  Joseph said, God forbid that I should do this, but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my servant.  As for the rest of you, go in peace back to your father.

            Then Judah, remembered that he promised Israel Benjamin’s safe return.  He pleaded with Joseph, and said, Oh my lord, let your servant explain, I beg you, and please don’t be angry.  You asked us if we had a father or a brother, and we said yes, we have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead.  His father loves him so.  And when you said to bring him down, we told you he can’t leave his father or his father would die.  But you said, unless you bring him, you’ll never see my face again.  We told our father.  He said, Go again, and buy us a little food.  So we told him we couldn’t return without our youngest brother, as you said.  And my father said to us, You know that my wife bare me two sons, and the one went away from me and I never saw him again, and if you take this one from me too, and something bad happens to him, you’ll bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.  If I go back to my father and the boy isn’t with us, being that his soul lives for the boy’s life, he’ll die of sorrow.  I guaranteed him that I would bring the boy back home to him or I would be to blame for ever.  I beg you now, let me become a slave for you and let the boy go back home with his brothers.  How can I return to my father without him?  I wouldn’t be able to bear watching him suffer.

            Well, things sure have changed over the years, haven’t they?  It was Judah who had the idea to sell Jacob as a slave in the first place, and here he is with a truly touching plea to become a slave himself to avoid anguishing his father.  How do you think Joseph will react to his brother’s request?  Ah, you’ll have to come back next time to find out the answer to that, so keep your bookmark set on Daily Bread and we’ll see you soon! 

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