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Genesis 42 - The sons of Israel are in trouble.

 The brothers repeat their story that one of their brothers is "no more."  But they do know what they did  They don't know that he is dead, but they do know what they did to him.  He was alive when then sold him about 17 years before.  Joseph knows that they are not telling the whole truth and so do they.  And they know that they have been lying to their father all these years.  .

Dear Friends,

Looking at Genesis 42:12-17 from today's reading.  Let us reflect as we prepare for worship tomorrow.

Jeff

Then Joseph tells his brothers that 9 of them will stay and 1 will go back and retrieve Benjamin. If the 1 does not come back with Benjamin, the 9 will be treated as spies. And then locks them up together for 3 days. 10 desperate men in a room for 3 days.  We are not told what they did or thought.  But they were told to "send one".  You choose the one you are willing to trust with your lives.  Maybe it was which one is to be trusted with the fate of all the others.  Don't they all know that none of them can be trusted?  If the group was willing to sell one brother, might one brother be willing to sell out the others by never coming back? At any rate, their statement in v21 and 22 show that guilt has been gnawing at them.

So what do I learn from this episode?  Galatians 6:7 comes to mind.  Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. I say I believe that God is omniscient, but then try to get away with half truths, deceiving myself.

Then their is 1 John 1:8&9.  Confess sins.  God knows about already anyway.  It is only harming me.



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