Sermon Tone Analysis

What does God Really Want to Know About You?

Genesis 43:15-45:3a

Intro:

1.

I want to place a principle before our minds in this message.

a.      Let me show you that in a few passages of Scripture:

b.     Deuteronomy 8:2: "And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that he might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.”

i.

One of the reasons for the trial of the wilderness wanderings among God's OT people was to test them to see if they would do what they said they would do.

ii.

That was stated again a few verses later.

c.      Deuteronomy 8:16: "In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end."

2.     It is important for us to understand that, with regard to testing, what was true of God's dealings with them back then is true of His dealings with us today.

a.      Listen to 1 Peter 4:12: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you."

b.

Peter is saying here, "Don't think it strange when troubles come upon you.

God is testing you to see if you really mean what you say about your relationship with Him.

3.

There is a great parallel between our testing today and a test that took place during the life of Joseph in the book of Genesis.

a.

In that test the lesson was clear: An inquiring God wants to know if we really mean business in our claims of allegiance to Him.

b.

We are going to cover several chapters of Scripture in this message.

c.      We'll begin in Genesis 43:16.

4.     This is the eighth lesson in our series on the life of Joseph.

Joseph is Prime Minister of Egypt.

a.      His family lives in Canaan.

A famine has hit the land, forcing the eleven sons of Jacob to come to Egypt to buy grain.

They did not know that the man they stood before when they came to buy food was their brother, Joseph, whom they hated and sold into slavery 23 years earlier.

Neither did they know that a key situation was about to be reversed.

Joseph would be in charge this time.

b.

The men didn't recognize their brother.

Joseph recognized them, however, and decided to test them to see if they had changed their murderous ways since he had seen them last.

He accused them of being spies and put them in jail.

Three days later he released all of them except one, Simeon.

He allowed the released brothers to return home with their donkeys and their food.

He instructed them to bring their youngest brother Benjamin back with them to prove their story that they were not spies.

Simeon was held as collateral.

Unknown to them before they left, Joseph had his servant slip the money they had paid for the grain back into their sacks.

When they finally discovered it on the trip home they realized that they were in a lot of trouble.

If they returned for Simeon, they would be accused to stealing the money and killed or put into slavery.

If they stayed home where it was safe, they would have to abandon their brother.

c.

To the brothers' credit, they tried to return to Egypt right away to get their brother.

Their aged father Jacob however, refused to let Benjamin go with them.

5.     Genesis 42:38 holds the record of Jacob's words: "My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone is left.

If harm should befall him on the journey you are taking, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow."

a.

So they didn't return for Simeon until they were again running out of food.

It was Judah who succeeded in convincing his father to let them return with Benjamin.

If they didn't go they would die of starvation.

b.

They loaded up their donkeys with the money they had found in their sacks and a big gift for the Egyptian ruler in the hope of appeasing his wrath, got Benjamin, and headed south for Egypt.

We will pick up the story there.

c.      (Read 43:15)

                                          i.

Put yourself in Joseph's position for a moment.

The brothers had not returned to Egypt immediately as he had expected they should if they were concerned about Simeon.

It wasn't their fault but Joseph didn't know that.

He had probably begun to wonder if they would return at all.

Now they were back, but was it because of their concern for their brother Simeon or because they were again out of food?

ii.

For Joseph to know for sure there would need to be another test.

Disc:

1.

Joseph Tests.

A.      (Read v. 16-18)

1)       They were still worried about that money that had been found in their sacks.

2)       They had no idea how it got there.

3)       As soon as they arrived at Joseph's house they began to try to explain their predicament.

B.      (Read v. 19-22)

1)       Better that they admit their knowledge of the money ahead of time, they figured, than have to be confronted by Joseph.

2)       So they spilled the whole story.

3)       The house steward's response must have greatly surprised them.

C.      (Read v. 23a,b)

1)       Can you imagine the brother's bewilderment at that?

2)       "It's OK, guys.

I had your money all along.

Your God must have put it there."

D.      (Read v. 23c-24)

1)       Oh the confused looks that must have been on their faces!

2)       Things shouldn't be happening like this!

E.       (Read v. 25-28)

1)       Remember Joseph's childhood dreams?

2)       They're being fulfilled here!

F.       (Read v. 29-30)

1)       At that point Joseph nearly lost it!

2)       He hadn't seen Benjamin for 23 years.

3)       When he was sold into slavery Ben was just a little boy.

G.      (Read v. 31-32)

1)       The reason for the separation in eating-places was this: they were herdsmen.

2)       They kept and ate cattle.

3)       The Egyptians on the other hand worshipped cattle.

4)       So no Egyptian was about to eat with or touch someone who ate their sacred animals.

5)       Joseph staunchly observed this custom so as not to give away his identity.

H.      (Read v. 33)

1)       Joseph lined them up at the table according to their age.

2)       Wait a minute!

3)       What's going on?

4)       They were astonished.

I.         (Read v. 34)

1)       Besides the fact that this strange Egyptian ruler line them up according to their age, for every plate laid down for each of them, Benjamin received five!