The Silver Cup

Genesis 44:2-12

"Also put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his grain money." So he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. ³ As soon as the morning dawned, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys. ⁴ When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, "Get up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, 'Why have you repaid evil for good?  ⁵ 'Is not this the one from which my lord drinks, and with which he indeed practices divination? You have done evil in so doing.'"

 ⁶ So he overtook them, and he spoke to them these same words. ⁷ And they said to him, "Why does my lord say these words? Far be it from us that your servants should do such a thing.

 ⁸ "Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money which we found in the mouth of our sacks. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord's house?  ⁹ "With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's slaves."  ¹⁰ And he said, "Now also let it be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and you shall be blameless." ¹¹ Then each man speedily let down his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack. ¹² So he searched. He began with the oldest and left off with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

We all know the story of Joseph, how he was sold to Egypt by his brothers, out of jealousy. This story picks up from where the brothers came to buy food from Egypt, and found Joseph as the governor, the one whom they were dealing with. After having them bring Benjamin in order to continue trading with them, he played a trick on them by putting his silver cup in Benjamin’s sack.

Let us pick a few lessons or features regarding silver:

• Silver is precious, and represents value.
• Silver is durable, and does not rust. It is not easily corruptible.
• Silver is also attractive, and represents beauty.
• Silver represents righteousness/ purity/ godliness. Even in the scriptures, the vessels that were being used in the temple represented purity/ righteousness.
• Sliver also represents royalty, which is why in the kings’ palaces there were silver vessels, for the kings to use.

The brothers said that whoever is found with the cup deserved to die, but the servant of Joseph, who was wise, did not validate the statement of death to the one who was found with the cup. If he validated this statement, Benjamin would have died. Instead, he agreed that that person will be a slave. And this came true later, as the children of Israel ended up being slaves, in Egypt.

Just like Benjamin was accused, we may also be accused by others over things that we have not done. Such things that happen are deliberate, as God has a reason as to why things are the way they are.

If we are not keen to seek God’s will, when He comes during the second coming, He will shake us up and there are many things that we will see come up out of the shaking and be surprised that they were there all the while. He put so much in us; it is for us to discover what we have on the inside. The devil wants to distract us from who God made us to be. We are very valuable, if Jesus chose to give His life for us.

God has put so much in us, and it’s our responsibility to see things the way God sees them, and see ourselves the way He sees us. Jesus died for us, and sometimes we do not take time to meditate on how much value we have in our lives. God has deposited a silver cup of value in our lives. The gift that God deposited in our hearts is what will give us breakthrough.

Have you ever taken time to discover the gift that God deposited in you? What is it that you have discovered that you have inside you?

Drawing lessons from the qualities of silver that we listed earlier, we can see that the treasure in us is:

• Precious. There is something of value, priceless, that has been deposited in our lives. Sometimes, we may look down on ourselves, and see ourselves as sacks. There is a cup of silver that gives us value. There is a lot of value in our lives. We should not allow anyone to mock us or look down on us. Everyone has a treasure in them, and it’s God, out of love, who put it there. No one’s treasure is bigger than the others’, as we are all equal in God’s eyes, and God loves us equally. No one can look in us and see the treasure in us, so we should never allow anyone to look down on us.

• Attractive. There is much more in you, you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps . 139:14). We are precious in God’s eyes. His treasure in us is beautiful. Sometimes we may despise ourselves by looking at the physical or comparing ourselves with others, not realizing the fact that god made us uniquely, and in His eyes we are beautiful.

• Durable. What God has put in us is not temporary; it is durable, and will last forever. He promised to finish the work He started in us (Phil. 1:6). The treasure in us cannot be corrupted by anything. God has also made us strong. Silver represents strength. We are long-lasting, not to die prematurely or crumble over situations. We are not people to die in accidents, diseases etc. you can start living or you can start dying. When you discover that you have been made durable and strong, you will start living.

• Godly/ righteous/ pure. God has put in us godliness, so that we can please Him. He made us righteous and pure, so that we can always be pleasing to Him. Sometimes the enemy condemns us and makes us think that God hates us or is displeased with us, while all this time God is looking at His godly, righteous and pure treasure in us, sees us through it, and smiles.

God has deposited so much, more than we can comprehend, in us. When you discover  what is in you, you will live a much better life

What has God given you? Knowing what God has put in your life will help you receive breakthrough in every area of your life.

The silver cup in you is there to give you breakthrough. Instead of fighting against what God has given us, we should always put to use what God has put in us. The gift is in us, it is for us to utilize it. Instead of listening to people, we should always listen to what God has to say. Check in your bag, what has been put in it?

Amen. 

-- Pastor Samson Munyoki.

(20th April 2014 Sunday Service Sermon, Teaching Transformation Ministry)

Pastor Sam is a pastor at Teaching Transformation Ministry. We are located along the Thika-Ruai Flyover Junction (at the Thika Rd./ Bypass intersection), Next to Eastgate Restaurant.