There is an old folktale about how to catch
a monkey. You take a jar with a small opening and fill it with treats a monkey
would love. When the monkey sees it, they will reach in to take the treat but
its hand will be stuck. The jar opening is big enough to fit the monkey’s hand
in, but when the monkey clinches its fist their hand is too big to get out. It
is not a physical trap, but a mental trap.
Today we are closing out our three-part
series in Genesis 42. And I promise the monkey’s mental trap connects with what
I believe today’s text wants to teach us.
Genesis 42:29-38(CEB):
29 When
the brothers got back to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they
described to him everything that had happened to them: 30 “The man, the
country’s governor, in the country. 31 We told him, ‘We’re honest men, not spies.
32 We are twelve brothers, all our father’s sons. One of us is gone, but the
youngest is right now with our father in the land of Canaan.’ 33 The man, the
country’s governor, told us, ‘This is how I will know you are honest men: Leave
one of your brothers with me, take grain for those in your households who are
hungry, and go. 34 But bring back your youngest brother to me. Then I will know
that you are not spies but honest men. I will give your brother back to you,
and you may travel throughout the country.’”
35 When
they opened their sacks, each man found a pouch of his silver in his sack. When
they and their father saw their pouches of silver, they were afraid. 36 Their
father Jacob said to them, “You’ve taken my children from me. Joseph’s gone.
Simeon’s gone. And you are taking Benjamin. All this can’t really be happening
to me!”
37 Reuben
said to his father, “You may put both my sons to death if I don’t bring him
back to you. Make him my responsibility, and I will make sure he returns to
you.”
38 But
Jacob said to him, “My son won’t go down with you because his brother’s dead
and he’s been left all alone. If anything were to happen to him on the trip you
are taking, you would send me—old as I am—to my grave in grief.”
This is the word of God
For the people of God
Thanks be to God
The good news about this message is the
text itself recaps most of what we have been studying the last couple of weeks.
But I will add a key missing detail. “The governor” mentioned by the brothers
to Jacob is actually their brother Joseph, only the brothers do not know it.
Joseph knows it is them because how could he forget? These “honest men” were
the brothers who had sold Joseph into slavery twenty years ago.
Verses 29 through 34 share what the
brothers do when they return from Egypt to Canaan. They spill the whole story
to their father Jacob, who I am sure noticed there is one less of his sons that
left. The “honest men” were honest in this moment, unlike the last time they
came to Jacob with news about a missing brother. We see a little personal
growth on their part.
In verse 36, Jacob reacts to the news. He
says to the brothers, “You’ve taken my children from me. Joseph’s gone.
Simeon’s gone. And you taking Benjamin. All this can’t really be happening to
me!” In other words, Jacob is saying, “This is all too much!” Every time this
group of brothers goes out collectively, something happens to one of them.
Jacob does not trust them with Benjamin.
And this is where we find our connection
with the monkey trap. This is where we discover the lesson for us. Jacob
responds to the honest men with distrust, which seems to be for good reason. He
refuses to let Benjamin go to Egypt with them. Benjamin is like the treat in
the jar, Jacob will not let him go.
Jacob not letting Benjamin go is a big
deal. The brothers brought back grain this time, but they cannot go back to
Egypt again with Benjamin. Whether Jacob realizes it or not, his not letting
Benjamin go jeopardizes the family’s future. And we cannot forget about Simeon,
one of Jacob’s other sons. Simeon is being held prisoner in Egypt. Is Jacob
willing to sacrifice Simeon in the name of Benjamin’s protection?
Reuben attempts to persuade Jacob in verse
37, “You may put both my sons to death if I don’t bring him back to you. Make
him my responsibility, and I will make sure he returns to you.” Now I do not
think Reuben wants to sacrifice his sons, nor do I think Jacob wants anyone
else in his family to die. But Reuben is willing to do what his father is not,
risk what is his for the betterment of everyone.
Unfortunately, that is how chapter 42 ends.
Jacob is unwilling to risk Benjamin. In verse 38, Jacob says, “My son won’t go
with you because his brother’s dead and he’s been left all alone.”
If we continue reading, we discover that Jacob let
Benjamin go to Egypt. And to make a long story short, Jacob’s letting go of
Benjamin makes way for a mighty move of God. Not only is Simeon saved, not only
is the whole family saved, but Jacob and his brothers discover that Joseph is
alive! This one decision leads to a family reunion that the Hallmark channel could
not even imagine. However, for it to happen, Jacob had to let go.
Many of us can relate to Jacob here. He had reasons
to doubt to the “honest men.” Jacob was still grieving the loss of Joseph, now
enduring Simeon being gone. Fear of suffering more loss caused Jacob to hold
tighter to Benjamin. But holding on was not saving Benjamin, it was breaking
him along with the rest of the family. It was ultimately hindering Jacob from
receiving the blessings God had for him.
We do the same thing with loved ones, jobs,
successes, our reputation, and things we hold dear. They add value to our lives
and we cannot imagine if they were gone. Hurts from past losses have us hanging
onto them like the monkey with its hand stuck in the jar. This keeps us trapped
in a prison of our own making, away from the good things God has for us.
In Philippians 3:7-8, the Apostle Paul wrote, “These
things were my assets, but I wrote them off as a loss for the sake of Christ.
But even beyond that, I consider everything a loss in comparison with the
superior value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have lost everything for him,
but what I have lost I think of as sewer trash, so that I might gain Christ.”
Paul is referring to those things that are most valuable to him. It is not that
they are “sewer trash”, but that those things pale in comparison to knowing
Jesus and experiencing His power through life fully surrendered to Him.
Jacob had a similar realization. I am sure it was a
gut-wrenching decision to let Benjamin go with his brothers to Egypt. And I do
not think Jacob let Benjamin go because he trusted the “honest men.” He let go
because the path God had laid out for him required it.
If we want to experience all that God has for us, we
have to let go of whatever we are clinging to. I know it is valuable, and I
know the idea of letting it go is terrifying. The thought of trusting the
“honest men” all around us seems hazardous. But God is not asking us to trust
the “honest men”, He is asking us to believe in Jesus and love him more. By
choosing to cling to our relationships, kids, money, reputations, and all those
good things we end up using them to break the first commandment, “Thou shalt
have no other gods besides me.” While they could become idols themselves, more
often they become objects used in the worship of ourselves. Love lets go,
trusting God with the gifts He has given us.
Let us not be like monkeys caught in a trap.
Instead, let us be like Jacob letting go, even into the hands of “honest men”,
to make way for the fullness of what God has for us. Let us be like Paul,
knowing the value of God’s gifts to us, but knowing the value of knowing Jesus
is greater.
What are you holding onto? Can you trust God with
whatever it is? The altars are open, and God is inviting you to open your hand
and surrender whatever it is. Will you open your hand and allow your heart to
receive the deeper blessings of His grace.
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