They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, "Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, 'Why have you repaid good with evil? – Genesis 44:4

Today's Scripture Reading (September 11, 2021): Genesis 44

That morning, I rose out of bed and went through my morning routines when my wife came to get me. A plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center Towers in New York. I went out to the living room to catch the news coverage of the event. At the time, none of us understood what was happening. Had a guidance system on the plane gone horribly wrong? Or maybe there was some other mechanical issue that had failed. And then the unthinkable happened again. As I was watching the coverage of the disaster, a second plane hit the remaining tower. And slowly, it began to dawn on us that this was not an accident; it was an act of unthinkable evil. 

It took me a while to tear myself away from the television and head into the office that day, twenty years ago. I had questions that it seemed no one could answer. I think I still do. What exactly does it take to be willing to commit that kind of evil? And I am afraid that the scary answer is not that that kind of evil exists in the world, but that it exists in each one of us.

Joseph had set his brothers up, and they fell into his trap. Some have argued that Joseph was simply misusing his power to torment the brothers who had persecuted him. But the whole story tells a different tale.

Joseph's brothers had committed an unspeakable evil. What had happened went beyond a childhood rivalry, and the brothers should have known better. They had plotted to kill Joseph but decided to sell him into slavery, at the last minute, instead. Joseph lost everything in the process. Joseph had suffered much because of his brothers. And maybe he had the right to get back at them, to say that he would never forgive and he would never forget. But that was not what Joseph had in mind.

Joseph's first priority was the protection of his younger brother, Benjamin. There was a reason why the silver cup was planted in his sack. The question that burned in Joseph was this; would his brothers discard Benjamin the way that they had discarded him? Yes, Jacob loved Benjamin, but Jacob had also loved Joseph. Maybe the jealousy that burned inside of his brothers when they plotted against him was still alive and well inside of them. Joseph had to know, and so the cup was planted inside of Benjamin's sack. The easy way out for his brothers would be to turn their backs on Benjamin the way that they had turned their backs on him.

But Joseph was also testing the hearts of his brothers. For restoration to truly take place in the family, the brothers had to be in a position where they understood that they were in the wrong; that they hadn't just made a mistake; they had committed an act of unspeakable evil. Yes, Joseph's attitude may have provoked them, but in the end, there was no excuse for what they did. And they needed to repent of the evil they had committed against Joseph if the family relationships were ever going to be restored.

 Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Genesis 45