Feb 6th

After being sold by his brothers to a band of Ishmaelites and having gone through many things in his life, Joseph plants the silver cup in order to determine whether his brothers are still the men they used to be. They wanted to get rid of Joseph because of how jealous they were that he was Israel’s favorite son. Joseph had to go through a lot of trouble to eventually become highly positioned in Egypt. Once his brothers go to Egypt and fail to recognize him, he sees the opportunity of testing whether or not they had changed and become better men. Knowing that Benjamin was the new favorite son of their father Israel, Joseph plants the silver cup and sets the punishment that whoever stole it must stay in Egypt to see how his brothers would react. If they had changed, then they would do something to make sure that Benjamin didn’t stay in Egypt, if they were still the same, then they would let him stay in Egypt. After seeing that his brothers had changed and were now willing to make a sacrifice to ensure that Benjamin returns to their home, Joseph reveals his identity and invites them to come to Egypt to survive the famine there. 

This relates to his status as the beloved son because of how as Anderson describes in his text “election is not a matter simply of a set of benefits to be claimed and enjoyed; election involves a cost” (203). All those who have been elected as the beloved sons have had to endure certain sacrifices. Joseph has endured many sacrifices in his life, and has been blessed by God as well. Also, this connects to the rivalry that exists between those elected as the “beloved” and those nonelected. Joseph’s brothers are jealous of him and thus want to get rid of him. This is a parallel story of that of Jacob and Esau. Nevertheless, both stories end up with the reconciliation of both sides. Joseph ends up forgiving his brothers for their actions and doesn’t wish any punishment against them once he has learned that they are changed men, while his brothers are very anxious regarding his potential desire for justice. His status as the beloved son is fulfilled once he forgives his brothers and claims that they shouldn’t be afraid, for no punishment will come towards them. As Anderson describes it “only the Elect One of Israel can speak the words of absolution”, culminating Joseph’s status as the beloved son.