2/10/2007

Genesis 43 - Holding on

I’m sure we all have one. There is that one thing in our lives that we go to unreasonable lengths to protect. We cannot talk rationally about it. The thought of someone messing with it or hurting it consumes us. Maybe this “thing” became so valuable because we lost something else. Maybe it is our way of having control in a world that seems to be spinning out of control.

For Israel, it is his youngest son Benjamin.

As we enter chapter 43, we must remember that Simeon is presumably in an Egyptian jail. His freedom is contingent on a family visit. But at least some time passes before this occurs. Listen to the dialogue between Judah and Israel:

Now the famine was severe in the land. And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Go again, buy us a little food."
But Judah said to him, "The man solemnly warned us, saying, 'You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.' If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, 'You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.'"
Israel said, "Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?"
They replied, "The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, 'Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?' What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down'?"
Genesis 43:1-7 (ESV)


What do we need to control in order to have a grip in this world? What are we unwilling to entrust to God’s care?

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