Genesis 45:25-28 (ESV)

So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

There is a wonderful moment in The Silver Chair by CS Lewis when the kids cannot decide whether to follow Aslan’s command or to follow their own reasoning. Aslan (the creator and Lord of Narnia) had told them that if anyone ever asks them to do something in the name of Aslan they must do it. But when they’re confronted with a tied up madman who asks them to loosen his ropes in the name of Aslan, they worry about what he will do when he’s free. They don’t know what to do.

“Oh, if only we knew!” said Jill.

“I think we do know,” said Puddleglum.

“Do you mean you think everything will come right if we do untie him?” said Scrubb.

“I don’t know about that,” said Puddleglum, “You see, Aslan didn’t tell Pole what would happen. He only told her what to do.”

The lesson is to do what the Lord says regardless of your fears. In today’s passage, Jacob’s sons tell him all the words of Joseph. That must have felt like jumping off a cliff. Jacob’s reaction could have been almost anything.

But telling him everything worked out just fine. However, it looks like that wasn’t their plan. When they said, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt,” Jacob’s heart became numb, for he did not believe them. That didn’t work, so they tell him the truth. Jacob’s sons stumble into the same lesson that Puddleglum taught the kids – just do the right thing.

But there’s another twist; it looks like Joseph set them up. Remember when he told them to not quarrel on the way home? That kept them from talking.

So, they didn’t have their story straight. They hadn’t worked out what to say. While they knew the truth had to come out eventually, they hadn’t figured out how to break it to Jacob. So, when the abbreviated version didn’t work, the only thing they could think of was to tell him all the words of Joseph.

Someone just blurted out the truth.

Trusting God is the point where faith meets works. People who trust God to keep His promises behave accordingly. People who don’t really trust God, act like they don’t. It’s usually easy to tell if someone’s faith is strong by how they behave.

But weak faith grows into strong faith over time. People learn that God can be trusted.

The weekly study guides, which include discussion questions, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies