Well, hello, everyone, and welcome back. This is our daily devotional for Monday, April 28th, 2025, and I am delighted to be with you today. Let's see, it's Monday. That means you got plenty of time, y'all, plenty of time to start making that decision to get yourself in a Bible-believing church this coming Lord's Day. Sunday morning church is a Monday morning decision, so make that decision. Doesn't have to be us. It used to be a Bible-believing church. We would love it if it were us, however. So be aware of that. We're getting back to the book of Revelation this week. Really interesting stuff. So applicable. My goodness, it's so applicable to us. The lessons are so practical. And even as we continue on in Revelation, still very practical stuff. Remember why we were given the book of Revelation? right, to give us hope and to prepare us for the Lord's return. Now, on Sunday morning, this morning, we continue along with the story. Genesis chapter 43 is where we are going to be today as we continue to see the story of Joseph unfold, this saga really. And y'all, it's more than a story. This isn't just anecdotal. Think about the practical lessons that we have learned. Lessons about what it means to trust in the Lord. Lessons about how God fulfills His promise, how God never calls without equipping, how He always paves the way. Also, lessons about what God is calling us to be as salt and light, that we are to be a blessing and that the Lord blesses His people. Again, such practical stuff that isn't just words on a page, it relates to you and me today. And today, as we continue in chapter 43, we learn some other very practical lessons as we find Jacob again. As we see the Lord giving him a special measure of grace as his faith increases, he teaches us something else really valuable. I'm getting ahead of myself, let's pray and then we'll dig in. Our Father, we thank you for the time that you have given to us and we pray that you would bless us in it. Give us wisdom, give us understanding, let us see how your word applies to us and what you would have us do. Let us learn, but not just in an academic sense, let us be convicted so that we would see how your word applies to us and what you would have us do. All for our good and for your glory. So please guide us now by your Holy Spirit, and we pray it in Jesus' name, amen. All right, y'all, so over the years, I've picked up a lot of different sayings and statements, and some of them are much better than others, but one of them that I love is this. It's that God never tells you to pray for a hole while leaning on a shovel. Understand what I mean by that? I'll say it again. God never tells you to pray for a hole while leaning on a shovel. In other words, God doesn't say, get you a shovel and then pray that the hole would just appear in front of you. No. Start digging, dummy. That's what God calls us to do. And this is not the same thing as God helps those who help themselves. There are people that say, oh yeah, that's in the Bible. No, it's not. No, it's not. In fact, God helps us all the time when we will not help ourselves. You want to understand salvation? It's while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were dead in our sins and transgressions. If you're dead, you're not helping yourself. God doesn't wait on us to help ourselves in order to help us. He gives us grace upon grace upon grace. But at the same time, this idea of God doesn't tell you to pray for a hole while leaning on the shovel gets back to the whole concept of God's calling for us to be wise. God's calling for us to work hard. What God's Word teaches is that God is 100% sovereign. He orchestrates, ordains, maintains, preserves all the events of mankind throughout the history of history. He is sovereign. He's the sovereign God. But at the same time, we're told that we're 100% responsible. Responsible to be wise, responsible for the decisions that we make. Yeah, that's what God tells us. And so this idea of praying for a hole and leaning back against the shovel, anti-biblical, y'all. It just doesn't fit with anything. Now, why do I say this? Well, because what we come to today, we find a quandary here. We find a very difficult moment for Jacob. Do you remember where we left him the last time we were together? At the end of chapter 42, we find out what's going on with Joseph's brothers. They've gone to Egypt to buy food. They see Joseph again. They don't recognize him, but he recognizes them. He ends up accusing them of being spies. He knows what he's doing. Simeon ends up being in prison, and he sends them back, and he says, hey, listen, go back, get your younger brother. Otherwise, you're not going to see my face again. Or another way of putting that is, you can forget about any more food. So he sends him back. Simeon is there, and you remember how Jacob responded? Where we left things was Jacob saying, uh-uh, no way, because of you, I've already lost one son, and your brother's dead. It's fascinating. Jacob did not even begin to consider the honesty of the man who said these things to his sons. To him, Joseph was already dead, and now Simeon was dead. He was never gonna see him again. Why? Because he would not risk Benjamin. He absolutely would not risk Benjamin. He could not do it. And so, they just kept on going. And what did God do? Chapter 43, verse one, how does the story continue? It says, now the famine was still severe in the land. So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, go back and buy us a little more food. But Judah, yeah, the same Judah, the whole Judah and Tamar thing, right? The same Judah who was the one that said, hey, listen, fellas, why do we need his blood on our heads? Let's just sell Joseph into slavery instead. We'll make a little cash, right? Judah said to him, verse three, The man warned us solemnly, you will not see my face again unless your brother is with you. If you will send our brother along with us, we will go down and buy food for you. But if you will not send him, we will not go down. Because the man said to us, you will not see my face again unless your brother is with you. So y'all, Judah is the one that speaks up. Judah is the real leader here. In the last chapter, we saw Reuben. So many beautiful things last week together, right? Reuben, who no doubt had Joseph on his mind. We know he had Joseph on his mind because of when they were arrested, and he was the one that said, I told you not to do this, and now it's being visited on us. Fast forward to when they go back to Jacob. He says to his father, listen, if I don't bring Benjamin back, then you can take the lives of my two sons. It's as if he's saying, dad, I couldn't bring Joseph back to you, but I'm going to bring Benjamin back. Jacob doesn't listen though, but here it's not Reuben that's at the forefront of the reasoning. It's actually Judah. Okay. And there's lots of reasons for that. And we'll see more about Judah when, when Judah receives his blessing and along with him, his tribe, But nevertheless, we see a shift here, and it's a subtle shift. If you don't pay attention, you'll miss it, right? All along, we've been hearing about what Jacob has said. Chapter 42, verse 38. But Jacob said, my son will not go down there with you. His brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow. But verse six, he's not called Jacob, is he? He's called Israel, the one who struggles with God, the one who wrestles with God. Israel said, why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother? Good question, right? Very good question. Well, verse seven, they replied, the man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. Is your father still living? He asked us. Do you have another brother? We simply answered his questions. How were we to know? He would say, bring your brother down here. Then Judah, Judah speaks up again. We don't know who was talking just now. It just says, they said, well, now it's Judah. Then Judah said to Israel, his father, send the boy along with me and we will go at once so that we and you and our children may live and not die. Judah, y'all say what you will about him. The man's practical. It's not always good that he's practical, but he's the voice of reason here. Y'all, this is not just times are tough. This is, we're all gonna starve to death if we don't go get some food. That is how severe the famine was that God brought in order to accomplish his purposes. As a side note, y'all, we see so very little. We're like the story of the blind men and the elephant. You know that one, right? One of them says, oh no, we're in a jungle because he's at the trunk and he thinks it's a vine. The other one says, oh no, no, no, no, we're in this mighty forest and feel this tree trunk beside me. And he feels the leg. They don't know that they're dealing with an elephant, right? They're blind men. In the same way, often we do not see what God is working. That's why his word tells us in so many places, things like in Romans 8, that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose. So I were told, Deuteronomy 29, 29, that the secret things belong to the Lord. He's got them. He's taken care of it, okay? Judah's very practical here. And he says, listen, we're all gonna die. That's how bad it is. We're all going to die if you don't do this. And then he continues, he said, I myself will guarantee his safety. You can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. Now, the last time, last chapter, we said, what was going on in Reuben's mind when he said, hey, if I don't bring Benjamin back, take my two sons. I think probably what was going through his mind was, I didn't bring Joseph back, but I'm going to bring Benjamin back. Trust me, dad. I'm going to do it. Oh, the sorrow. Oh, the heartache and the agony. Obey God first. Obey God first. And here, perhaps we find some of the same things going on with Reuben. We know that when they brought back the report about Joseph being killed by the wild animal, that nobody could console Jacob, not a single one of them. All of his sons went to him. He wouldn't hear any of them. He could not be consoled because he loved Joseph so much. Makes you wonder if Reuben isn't considering the blame that he should have been bearing his whole life here when he makes this pledge. You know, nobody disagreed with Reuben in chapter 42 when he said, you guys should have listened to me. It's because of this, that the Lord has brought this trouble on us. And no, it's not karma. Okay. It's if you're a jerk, probably jerk things are going to happen to you. Okay. You reap what you sow is a far more trustworthy statement than some. just random thing called karma. I can't stand it when things happen and people say, oh, that's karma. Karma is going to get you. Or they say something even worse than that. How foolish, y'all. Look, if you want a modern day philosophy, don't listen to Eastern pantheistic monism. Listen to Kid Rock, you get what you put in and people get what they deserve, more often than not, okay? That's just, and no, don't go listening to Kid Rock because of this, but he's got a point there, okay? Is that what's going through Judah's mind? When he says he would accept the blame his whole life? Maybe he's saying that because he is facing blame right then and there. Verse 10 continues, as it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice. Again, say what you will about Judah. There's a reason why the kingly line comes out of Judah. The man is practical. The man is logistical. Wars are won and lost by logistics and he knows what's up. He said, hey, listen, if you would have listened to us, we could have been there and back twice at this point. So what do we find? Previously, Jacob refused, wouldn't hear it. Verse 11, then their father Israel said to them, if it must be, then do this. Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift. A little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, take pistachio nuts and almonds. Now, side note. I thought they were starving to death. Where do they get all this stuff from?" Y'all, they have this stuff, but they don't have enough to survive, okay? They need brain. They need the substance of the totality of their diet. They don't have what is necessary to continue to exist. But he tells them, take this good stuff with you, right? And then he says, verse 12, take double the amount of silver with you, talking to the brothers, where you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. Take your brother also and go back to the man at once. And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved. Now y'all, we don't need to misread what we just saw in verse 14. This is not fatalism. It's not cynicism. It's Jacob trusting in the Lord. Excuse me, Israel trusting in the Lord. But you remember what I started with? Where God never tells you to pray for a hole and lean on a shovel. No, God expects you to do the work. God expects you to be wise. Judah. is his father's son. You remember what happened when Jacob had to go back to Canaan? He put all the flocks together, put his sons in front of him to send them back to Esau, right? He trusted God. He believed God's promise. Boy, he believed that he wasn't supposed to pray for a hole while leaning on a shovel. He sought to be wise. He sought to be shrewd. Do you get what he said here? Hey, take double the silver just in case it was a mistake that they returned the last silver to you. You don't want to get there for him to call you a thief. So take double the silver, take these gifts with you. He's really good at giving gifts. Have you recognized that? So what do we find? Continuing on, verse 15. So the men took the gifts and doubled the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph. When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, take these men to my house, slaughter an animal, and prepare dinner. They are to eat with me at noon. The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph's house. Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They thought, we were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys. Y'all, they're living in fear. And isn't it fascinating that they're concerned about being sold into slavery when they themselves sold the man that they're frightened of into slavery. Verse 19, so they went up to Joseph's steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. Please, sir, they said, we came down here the first time to buy food, but at the place where we stopped for the night, we opened our sacks and each of us found silver, the exact weight in the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us. We also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don't know who put our silver back in our sack. It's all right, he said. Don't be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your silver. Then he brought Simeon out to them. You see what the steward's doing there? The steward, the one over Joseph's house, is trying to reassure them. Verse 24, the steward took the men into Joseph's house, gave them water to wash their feet, and provided fodder for their donkeys. They prepared their gifts for Joseph's arrival at noon, because they had heard that they were to eat there. When Joseph came home, they presented the gifts to him they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground. Again, side note, second time, second time. Remember, Joseph had two dreams about it, second time. He asked them how they were, and then they said, how is your aged father? Then he said, how is your aged father? You told me about, is he still living? They reply, your servant, our father, is still alive and well. And they bowed low to pay him honor. As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother's son, he asked, is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about? And he said, God be gracious to you, my son. Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there. Y'all, this is one of those moments that we cannot imagine, the sorrow, and at the same time, the joy. We cannot imagine the beauty of this moment where God has shown himself to be so very faithful, but the bitterness of this moment where he sees his brother, all the others are half-brothers. He only has one brother with whom he shares a mother and a father, and it is Benjamin. So we cannot imagine the multitude of emotions that he was facing. But you'll notice something beautiful about even these emotions where he went for a place to weep. Verse 31, after he had washed his face, he came out controlling himself. And he said, serve the food. You know, we learned a lesson here from Joseph. Here's the thing with emotions. And I say this all the time to people, we don't get to pick our emotions. We don't schedule them out. It's not like, you know, all right, today's Monday. It's not like you're gonna say, all right, so Thursday's gonna be a great day. Gonna be a great mood all day. Friday, depress. Oh, I'm gonna be just miserable on Saturday too. But then Sunday, it's looking pretty good. I think I'm gonna be, maybe I'm not gonna be happy or depressed. Maybe I'll just be anxious and then I'll be just elated. We don't pick our emotions. But we do get to decide what we do with them. It is always your intellect that must rule over your emotions because emotions are fickle. They come and they go. There are so many people in this world that are at the mercy of their emotions. And y'all, I say that as an emotional guy. I'm a super emotional guy. I can't help it. That's just how God created me to be, and life has done this to me, and I'm not gonna ever apologize for it. But nevertheless, Joseph is an example here, a very practical example. We've seen two big stories, right? Two big examples of what it looks like to not pray for a hole and lean on a shovel, and here, what it looks like to be a master over your own emotions. Verse 32, they served him by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for that is detestable to the Egyptians. Isn't that fascinating? Why is that even in here? Well, because I think it's foreshadowing of what's gonna come, but nevertheless. Verse 33, the men had been seated before him in the order of their ages from the firstborn to the youngest, and they looked at each other in astonishment. When portions were served to them from Joseph's table, Benjamin's portion was five times as much as anyone else's. So they feasted and drank freely with him. You know, why that little tidbit at the end? I'll tell you why I think it's in there. Do you not think that Joseph all along has been testing his brothers? Why call them spies in this about the youngest brother? Well, to see if they were telling the truth. He saw what they did to him. Maybe he's concerned that they did the same thing to Benjamin. We don't know. But talk about a test, y'all. Do you remember what happened the last time one of their brothers was shown favor over them? Well, they sold him into slavery, didn't they? And yet, what has Joseph just done here with Benjamin, their youngest? He's given him five times the portions, five times the gifts, the blessings. And yet, what we don't see is bickering. We don't see anything go crazy. We don't see them saying, second, he's the youngest. Instead, we just see, so they feasted and drank freely with him. This whole idea of drinking freely is there's no guile left. There's no bitterness on their part. There's no jealousy. He sees his brothers as men who have been saved, men who have been transformed into the jealous ones that he knew from his youth that sold them into slavery, into these men that just want to do right. They want to do right by him, confessing this about silver. They sold him for just a handful of silver, y'all, just a handful of silver. And now they're bringing silver back just in case they're accused of being dishonest. That's a test, isn't it? And here, they don't even blink when their youngest brother receives five times as much as them. And Joseph sees all of it. Now, when we come together tomorrow, we're gonna get into chapter 44, and we're gonna see what he does next. Further, there's some testing, but also some seeing. But what we see here and now is this beautiful thing that the Lord has done, where God has taken this group of men and has absolutely transformed them. Again, they want to do right by God. They want to do right by their father. They want to do right by their youngest brother. And Joseph, though they still don't know him, sees all of it. But what Joseph sees even deeper, as we'll see from chapter 50, what Joseph sees even deeper than that is this isn't about his brothers. What Joseph sees is God's faithfulness and how God chose to work. And that's why Joseph can master his emotions, because he trusts the Lord. How will you master yours? How will you deal with the difficulties of life? In the same way. Let's pray. Our God and our Father, please let us trust in you. Let us not look to the world. Let us look to you and to you alone. Thank you for all the ways that you work, even the ways we don't understand. And I pray it all in Christ's name. Well, I'd like to thank you all for being a part of this time. Lord Willem will be back tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. to continue along with the saga. Until then, I hope you have a very pleasant Monday or whatever day it happens to be. Take care.