Genesis 44, Mark 14, Job 10, Romans 14

Date	Version	Reading Plan
@February 11, 2024	ESV (2016)	M’Cheyne Plan 2024

Genesis 44

Genesis 44:2 (ESV) 2 and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him.

Joseph had the steward of his house place his silver cup in sack of his youngest brother, Benjamin. There is a bit of irony here as Joseph was originally sold by his brothers for 20 pieces of silver (Gen. 37:28) and now he uses a silver cup to test the. Joseph used the cup for drinking but also for divination. Joseph’s foresights came from the Lord, so it is likely that he only used the cup as a prop than for pagan divination.

Mark 14

Mark 14:28 (ESV) 28 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”

There is so much packed in this small sentence. First, that Jesus knew that He would be raised up. He was completely obedient to the Father to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:8), but He also knew that the Father possessed resurrection power and that He would be raised. Another significant detail is how Jesus told His disciples that He would go before them to Galilee. Not only did He know that He would be raised, He gave them the location of where He would be following His resurrection. We see this fulfilled in the Mark 16:7 when the man in the tomb told Mary Magdelene, Mary the mother of James and Salome to convey the message to Peter that Jesus was risen and had gone to Galilee.

Job 10

Job 10:14–15, 18 (ESV) 14 If I sin, you watch me and do not acquit me of my iniquity. 15 If I am guilty, woe to me! If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and look on my affliction. …

18 “Why did you bring me out from the womb? Would that I had died before any eye had seen me

Job accused God of watching him and being a relentless prosecutor. Even if Job was in the right, his disgrace was too overwhelming to lift up his head. Job was a devout man of God but the effects of his affliction ran deep, even questioning why God brought him out of the womb. What seems important to see here is that in the midst of his anguish, Job is not aimless in his woes; they are entirely directed to God. While we may never experience Job’s level of catastrophe, Job demonstrates how we are to come to the Lord first with everything.

Romans 14

Romans 14:20–21 (ESV) 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

It is interesting to ponder here how one can make another stumble by what he eats. This is all the more compelling as someone who chooses to eat very clean. If the prescription here is to not eat meat or drink wine that causes your brother to stumble, then the positive would be to eat and drink in a way that leads to the upbuilding of others. This is certainly something to consider in the context of social gatherings.

Carson on Genesis 44

[Judah’s plea] is the high point in what we know of Judah’s pilgrimage. He offers his life in substitution for another. Perhaps in part he was motivated by a guilty conscience; if so, the genuine heroism grew out of genuine shame. He could not know that in less than two millennia, his most illustrious descendant, in no way prompted by shame but only by obedience to his heavenly Father and by love for guilty rebels, would offer himself as a substitute for them (Mark 14).

The tie here between Judah’s willingness to bear the blame and his Messianic descendant who would bear all the sin of mankind is remarkable. Judah had no shortage of blemishes on his record: suggesting Joseph to be sold to slavery (Gen. 37:25-27) and even sleeping with his daughter-in-law (Gen. 38). But it would be through his line that Jesus would arrive. It is on God’s ability and willingness to bring beauty from brokenness that we should never cease to meditate.

Justin Houtz