The Case Of The Missing Silver Cup Series

Pastor Allan Kircher

Shell Point Baptist Church

March 9th 2014

Gen. 44 Joseph series #10

THE CASE OF THE MISSING SILVER CUP

Intro: God uses strange ways to speak/hearts of people.

• Bible/filled/story/story/God used unusual methods

• Unusual means/get/attention of certain people.

God used:

• burning bush/speak/this disgraced prince/Moses

• donkey to speak to this pagan prophet/Balaam

• empty meal barrel/dead son/speak/poor widow/Zarapheth

• Israelite slave/speak great general/Naaman/2 Kings 5

• Rooster/speak to this fallen preacher/Simon Peter

• Whale/speak to Jonah

List could go on…few instances…enough…prove my point.

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God/uses/necessary to penetrate/hard heart of humanity with the message He wants a person to hear.

• Passage teaches us/same truth.

• As story/Joseph/brothers continues to unfold

• God uses/simple silver cup/open/door/ forgiveness/reconciliation

After/years, God brings/guilty brothers/place/repentance through the ministry of Joseph’s silver cup.

• Preach/events/chapter/few minutes today

• I want you/keep/truth in mind

• God also knows how to speak to you and me.

• Chapter unfolds like a mystery.

Want you to see how God used a simple silver cup to soften the hearts of Joseph’s brothers.

• Incident involved/Conspiracy/Confrontation/Confession.

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I. v. 1-9 IT INVOLVED A CONSPIRACY

• Joseph/brothers/just enjoyed a time of celebration

• still don’t know/Joseph is/he/dropping hints here/there

• seats/brothers/table/birth order

• Benjamin/only full brother/five times/rest/brothers

• meal is over/next day has dawned

• Brothers are feeling pretty good about things

• Convinced/Prime Minister/not spies

• Rescued/Simeon/prison

Returning home/more grain/family/All their money

• most importantly/returning/Benjamin

• Judah had promised his father

No doubt/filled/excitement about going home/families/children.

Congratulating themselves over their successful mission to Egypt.

What they don’t know/God is working behind the scenes/face to face/sin some 22 years old.

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• Brothers get ready/leave Egypt..

• Joseph tells/steward/house/prepare/grain they need

• V. 1 “as much/can carry”/give/money back also

Then, Joseph tells his steward to do something very strange.

• V. 2 Personal cup/place/sack that belongs to Benjamin

v. 3-5…now/brothers/gone far way

• Joseph/sent/steward/stop them/confront them/about cup.

Accuses them:

• Of “rewarding evil for good.”/stealing Joseph’s silver cup,v. 6

• V. 7 brothers deny/charge/seek to defend their honor

• V.8 remind/steward/plenty of money

• Why would we steal a silver cup?

• So sure/their innocence/make some strong promises.

V.9 swear/cup is found among them/guilty brother will die

• Rest will become slaves/Egyptians

• Strange way for Joseph to treat his brothers.

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In this passage, God uses Joseph as His instrument to draw these men to a place of repentance/restoration.

Years before/men/conspired against Joseph/effort/get rid of him.

• Conspired to Joseph’s harm.

• Now/tables/turned/Joseph conspires against them.

• But, unlike his brothers

• Joseph/not conspiring/effort to harm them.

• He is conspiring for their good.

• Need/remember there are no accidents in life.

If you/child of God, every event in your life is a product of divine providence, Rom. 8:28.

God is working out His will in your life in ways you and I cannot begin to comprehend, Isa. 55:8-9.

• Even includes the way God deals with our sins.

• There/times when we allow sin/abide in our lives.

• After while we can grow used to sins presence

• To/point where it no longer bothers us

• Come/think we have gotten away/sin

Because we have not faced judgment/chastisement over that sin

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• God knows exactly when and how to speak to our hearts.

• When/time is right

• He/touch all the right buttons to humble us

• bring us/place/repentance.

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Absalom/killed/Amnon/raped/Tamar, 2 Sam. 13.

• Created/rift/David/Absalom/banished 2 full years

• Absalom/reconcile/father/approached/Joab

• Joab refused/Absalom’s calls to come to his house.

• Commanded/servants/set Joab’s barley fields on fire

• got Joab’s attention and he came to see Absalom

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Point of my sharing that story with you

• Something/your life/God were to touch it/take it

• would get your attention

• Joab, it was his barley field.

• For David/committed adultery/Bathsheba/infant son.

• For Abraham, it was his son Isaac.

• God knows how to get our attention

• Not afraid/touch/take what He pleases/speak to our hearts.

God has a silver cup/place/our lives

• Open our eyes/walked away from Him.

• Sooner or later, the silver cup will end up in your sack!WHY

Come to believe that we can get away with sin.

• Adam/Eve/think/cover/flimsy fig leaves/own making.

• God/settle/nothing less/total confession/repentance.

Like Achan, we think/hide our sin

• God knows where all of our skeletons are buried

• He will uncover them in His time,

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Best thing:

• Believer can do with sin is to get it out into/open/soon as possible, Pro. 28:13.

• We can do with sin is hate it, forsake it and confess it to Him 1 John 1:9 When we confess our sins…………

When we refuse to, there will be a high price to pay for our disobedience, Heb. 12:6-11; Pro. 13:15.

We may not understand it all, but that is what is happening in these verses!