The Return to Egypt
Open Your Bible
Genesis 43:1-34, Genesis 44:1-34, Genesis 45:1-28, John 12:25, Philippians 2:5-11
BY Erin Davis
I’ve always been fascinated by geodes. They’re unremarkable on the outside; to the untrained eye, they just look like rocks (often ugly ones). But crack a geode open and you’ll find your breath has been taken away. Each one is filled with a tiny city of crystals that shine and sparkle in a spectacular variety of colors and formations.
There are many geodes in Joseph’s story, moments that are unremarkable at first, even ugly. But as the Bible cracks each one open and all is revealed, our breath is taken away by the beauty God brings about in the midst of the ugly and unremarkable.
One geode is the silver Joseph snuck back into the sacks of his brothers. Genesis 42 records: “Joseph then gave orders to fill their containers with grain, return each man’s silver to his sack, and give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out” (v.25). For Joseph, this was a moment of generosity. He opted to give blessings to the brothers who had taken so much from him. But to the brothers, who could not scrub the blood of their brother from their hearts and hands, the money was a curse, highlighting their sin and guilt.
There are both blessings and perceived curses in our lives. We think we can distinguish the difference between the two. Blessings look and feel good. Situations that seem to be cursed, in our limited, human perspective, do not. But what if blessings and burdens are in cahoots? What if God can use the seemingly unremarkable and ugly parts of our lives to reveal His goodness and provision?
When the famine forced his brothers to return to Egypt a second time to purchase grain for their hungry families, it was the silver in their sacks that brought them back to Joseph. Without money to return, surely they would have avoided the foreign ruler who imprisoned them, kept their brother Simeon, and ordered them to bring him their beloved baby brother. But once the geode was cracked open, deep beauty was revealed.
“Then the steward said, ‘May you be well. Don’t be afraid.
Your God and the God of your father must have put treasure in your bags.
I received your silver.’ Then he brought Simeon out to them” (Genesis 43:23).
They returned the silver, and brought their brother Benjamin to Joseph, and Simeon was returned to them. But look again. Standing in their brother’s presence, reconciliation was possible. The family was reunited and brought together to live in the thriving nation of Egypt.
Look again. Crack open another geode. The events of Joseph’s story set the stage for Israel’s later enslavement by a new Pharaoh. That moment of history is ugly, but look at how God continues to work. Israel’s deliverance through Moses, the Passover, and the parting of the Red Sea. Keep looking. Keep cracking. From the nation of Israel came our Savior whose birth seemed unremarkable and death was horrific, but whose sacrifice granted us salvation—the greatest treasure of all.
There is no way to know the riches God can bring in the ugly, rocky places of our lives. We can trust the treasure is there and that in His timing, beautiful, sparkling gems will be revealed.
23 thoughts on "The Return to Egypt"
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I love how Joseph know where his blessings came from and never forgot! May this be the story of my life: to recognize and give honor to the one who blessed me so!
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Amen, Churchmouse. Faith in Christ’s redemption is so often a long game, but He will never fail.
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I want to praise the Lord for His healing touch on my body. Lots of cold/flu going around and I’m thankful He has taken such good care of me. This time of being still has refreshed my soul; praise His holy Name. Thankful for stories like Joseph’s to testify to God’s sovereignty in our lives!
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Throughout my life, all the dark and hard times have seemed more like black holes that threatened to drag me in. I much prefer the visual of these dark, hard times as silver cups that bring me back to my Savior. ❤
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When I opened my Bible to read the chapters for today, I found a sticky note with a quote from a book I read last year. It was about the silver cup:
“Joseph, with the silver cup, intentionally and lovingly caused great inner conflict and chaos to propel his brothers back into his presence. He wanted to see their authentic sorrow and repentance in their lives so that he could move to a deeper level in his relationship with them. God also intentionally uses silver cups such as emotional turmoil, financial hardship, interpersonal conflict, disease, and personal losses so that we will nestle ourselves closer to Him.”
– Transformed in His Presence by Roger Peugh and Tammy Schultz
I had never thought about the silver cup that way before and just wanted to share. So thankful for the silver cups that God has lovingly placed in my life to draw me to Himself!-
❤️
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When I was young, and did something wrong…I hoped I wouldn’t get caught. I often worked really hard at not being caught. The guilt would eat away at me, and yet in my youth, I still wanted it covered up.
He Reads Truth today says… “And when the brothers recognized Joseph, they trembled, possibly because young men don’t often see the weight of their sins until they’re older. But now they could see the mess they made of their family, and they better understood what it cost.
Joseph tells them to go bring their father. He wants them near. And isn’t it just like God to stir us awake to sins we didn’t have eyes to see when we were younger? But it’s also like God to tell us to draw near to Him while the restoration process takes place, which sometimes takes years.”Older now, I pray my sin will be found out. It creeps in so easily. I pray that anything in my life that dishonors God will be exposed quickly, before it can grow roots. Before I make what glitters-gold in my heart, may God expose and remove it. What a blessing from God, when in our lifetime, He allows us to see the weight of our sin. What a blessing from God that in His amazing, all-knowing, timeless Self-in His amazing, love and forgiveness, He guides me along. He helps me. He places the silver cup in my bag, so that I am found out, and then He brings me close and supplies me with all I need-JESUS. My sins are like scarlet against Him, and yet in love He forgives and purifies my heart and life as I lay all down before Him. Thank you my Lord.
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The geode of a situation, the geode of a promise, is not always realized in a lifetime. If I don’t see it, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist or won’t come to pass. The truth of the character of God, regardless of whether I see the sparkles of the geode, is what is important. Faith in the God Who is behind the geode is paramount. If I don’t see, will I still believe? How far does my trust in God go? Gut punch questions.
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This reminded me of Laura Storys song Blessings.. here’s a link..
When, as a chef, I discovered cardamom pods/seeds, I felt like I had discovered heaven right here on earth!
I sometimes open my spice cupboard just to open the jar for a sniff!!! Seriously!!The scent/aroma, the flavour, OH. MY. GOODNESS! I reckon if I didn’t already believe, this would absolutely get me seeking!
Here’s the thing though, the pods are tiny tiny, green in colour, and are what I would call three sided, making it difficult to hold, when you want to get to the seeds!
I think, sometimes, beauty, freedom, ‘the real deal’, treasures, are in the breaking, in the peeling off, in the digging deep, in the laying bare.. nothing to hide, moments..
Gods word, has those beautiful nuggets that come just when you think you cannot find anything else in a verse or a story.. BUT YOU’VE GOT TO OPEN THE BOOK!
Amen..
Thank you Erin for the wisdom this morning..
As an aside, and more ramblings..
Jesus talks about the mustard seed, when He talks about our faith.. i understand now.. man, i get it!I love you guys… be blessed ❤
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