Tag: Genesis 44

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Divining the Truth by Actions

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Genesis 44 Listen: (4:38), Read: Matthew 5 Listen: (6:03)

Scripture Focus: Genesis 44.11-15

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. 14 Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him. 15 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?”


“The play’s the thing in which to catch the conscience of the king.” — Act 2, Scene 2 of Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Reflection: Divining the Truth by Actions

By John Tillman

Divination refers to spiritual practices from diverse religions and sects, that are believed to derive the truth, usually the future, through interaction with “the divine.”

When Joseph said he could find things out by divination, he was being clever.

Among the divination practices of the day were the interpretation of natural phenomena (such as the flight patterns of birds or weather), examining of animal entrails or tea leaves, and interpreting dreams.

Divination was used by Joseph’s family. Laban told Jacob that he used divination to discover God was blessing him because of Jacob. (Genesis 30.27) Joseph’s interpretation of dreams was a God-empowered form of divination. Later, God would ban the Israelites from pursuing knowledge through these methods. (Leviticus 19.26)

It’s possible that Joseph did use the silver cup for divination practices learned in Canaan or Egypt, but that is not what Joseph was talking about. Joseph wasn’t reading tea leaves or entrails at the bottom of a cup. Joseph used the planting of the cup to read what was at the bottom of his brothers’ hearts.

Like Hamlet, Joseph’s theatrics were a play in which to catch the conscience of his brothers. The way Joseph constructed this event suggests that he wanted to know certain things.

First, he wanted to know if his brother, Benjamin, had met a similar fate. He wanted “proof of life” that Benjamin was still living and well. But seeing Benjamin alive wasn’t enough. Joseph needed evidence of changed hearts. Would the brothers abandon Benjamin in hardship or betray him to save their own necks?

Joseph places before them a chance to save their lives by abandoning Benjamin to a false accusation. When Judah offers his own life in place of Benjamin, the test is passed and the play is over. The curtain comes down and tears of reconciliation flow. (Genesis 45.1)

Forgiveness can be one-sided. Joseph was able to forgive his brothers without ever seeing them and we can forgive anyone for anything. Reconciliation, however, often requires steps that reestablish trust.

Joseph’s situation was unique. If you weren’t sold into slavery for decades, don’t go around planting evidence and carrying out elaborate plots. But it is not unreasonable to expect reconciliation to be a structured process that is more robust based on the severity of the offense.

When reconciling with people, trust but verify. Watch for evidence of change. Don’t doubt their intentions, but divine the truth by their actions.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

He said again to the crowds, “ When you see a cloud looming up in the west you say at once that rain is coming, and so it does. And when the wind is from the south you say it’s going to be hot, and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the face of the earth and the sky. How is it you do not know how to interpret these times?” — Luke 12.54-56

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Dream On

Did Joseph wonder why a pagan cupbearer’s dream should come true, when his dream, given by the one true God, seemed denied?

Dream On
Read more: Truth in the Cistern

Joseph and Jeremiah share something else in common other than being held prisoner in a cistern—telling the truth put them there.

Truth in the Cistern

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In the Face of Betrayal

Scripture Focus: Mark 14.18-19
18 While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

Genesis 44.33
33 “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.

From John: In 2019, when I first wrote this post, I missed that it also applied so well to what is happening in the Old Testament passage. After Judah’s impassioned plea, Joseph meets his betrayers with a preview of the forgiveness offered to the repentant by Jesus. We all need a reminder from time to time that when we inevitably betray Christ, he will receive us back.

Reflection: In the Face of Betrayal
By John Tillman

Jesus was familiar with the entire spectrum of betrayal. 

He was betrayed on a national level.

Jesus was the rightful king. The Messiah. But he was never accepted by those in power. He was the rejected king, the rejected cornerstone. In some ways, he was never truly allowed to return from exile in Egypt, being forced to live his entire life in obscurity. Even at the height of his popularity he stayed in out of the way places to avoid those who wanted to kill him. He only returned to Jerusalem at the end of his ministry for the purpose of being rejected and killed.

He was betrayed on a broad, societal level.

Jesus experienced Twitter-storm levels of betrayal. The religious leaders, just a few days prior, wanted to arrest and kill Jesus but refrained for fear of the great crowd that supported him. In a matter of hours, the crowd that was his protection, became the engine that drove the wheels of government to crush him.

He was betrayed on an intimate and personal level.

Even though Jesus knew betrayal by Judas was coming, the intimacy of it—the sign of the kiss—still shocked him. And Peter’s betrayal, cursing and denying Christ after so boldly claiming that all could fall away and he would still not, is one of the most heart-wrenching moments of the New Testament. The account in Luke contains the cinematic detail of Christ, in the midst of being beaten and accused, hearing the cock crow and turning to catch Peter’s eye just after what Peter had done.

Pause right now and film this scene in your own mind. Imagine Christ’s face looking at Peter in that moment.

Imagine his face looking at Judas.
Imagine his face looking at Jerusalem.
Imagine his face looking at the crowds berating him and calling for his death.

The look you imagine on Christ’s face in these moments says a lot about what you believe about who Jesus is and what his character is like.

Imagine his face looking at you.

Our sins are an intimate betrayal. Yet still Jesus looks at us with longing. He weeps for our mistakes and sins, but longs for our repentance and return.

Look full in his wonderful face this week. Do not despair over your betrayal as Judas did. Weep over it as Peter did. And wait. Jesus will lovingly come to you.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy Name and glory in your praise. — Psalm 106.47

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Genesis 44 (Listen – 4:38) 
Mark 14 (Listen – 8:37)

Read more about Praising Christ’s Righteousness
Praise God we are free from the delusion that humans and human institutions are infallible.

Praising Christ’s Righteousness

Read more about The Naked Emotion of God
Hosea…shows us a God unashamed of shame, nakedly confessing his love for the unlovable.

The Naked Emotion of God