Father Mike Schmitz hosts day 23 of The Bible in a Year podcast, a comprehensive journey through Scripture using The Great Adventure Bible timeline from Ascension Press. The podcast guides listeners from Genesis to Revelation, helping them discover how the story of salvation unfolds and their place within it.

This episode continues the Joseph narrative with Genesis chapters 43-44, where the brothers return to Egypt with Benjamin and face Joseph's final test. The reading also includes Job chapters 35-36, featuring Elihu's discourse on God's justice and human righteousness, plus Proverbs 4:10-19 on the contrasting paths of wisdom and wickedness.

Father Mike emphasizes the transformative power of grace, particularly through Judah's character development from moral failure to sacrificial love. The episode demonstrates how The Bible reveals both human brokenness and the possibility of redemption through God's grace.

Joseph's Final Test: The Silver Cup Deception

Joseph orchestrates an elaborate test by having his steward plant his silver divining cup in Benjamin's sack, then pursuing the brothers with accusations of theft.

The brothers confidently declare 'With whomever of your servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's slaves,' not knowing about the planted evidence.

When the cup is discovered in Benjamin's sack, 'they tore their clothes' in anguish and returned to face Joseph, demonstrating their genuine distress over Benjamin's fate.

Joseph offers to release all brothers except Benjamin, creating the ultimate test of whether they will abandon their father's beloved son as they once did with Joseph.

Judah's Transformation: From Shame to Sacrifice

Judah, who previously had sexual relations with his daughter-in-law thinking she was a prostitute, now demonstrates complete transformation by offering himself as Benjamin's substitute.

'Let your servant, I beg you, remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go back with his brothers' - Judah pleads, showing sacrificial love.

Judah explains that Jacob's 'life is bound up in the lad's life' and that losing Benjamin would bring their father's 'grey hairs in sorrow to Sheol.'

Father Mike notes that Judah, whose name means 'praise,' becomes 'a shining son' and 'a shining brother' despite his earlier moral failures.

Elihu's Discourse on Divine Justice and Human Limitation

Elihu argues in Job 35 that human righteousness doesn't benefit God: 'If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand?'

'Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself, and your righteousness a son of man' - human actions primarily affect other humans, not God's essential nature.

God 'delivers the afflicted from their affliction and opens their ear by adversity,' suggesting that suffering can serve as divine instruction.

'Behold, God is great, and we know him not. The number of his years is unsearchable' - Elihu emphasizes God's transcendence and mystery.

The Path of Wisdom Versus Wickedness

Proverbs 4 presents the father's instruction: 'I have taught you the way of wisdom. I have led you in the paths of uprightness.'

'The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day' - wisdom brings increasing illumination.

'The way of the wicked is like deep darkness. They do not know over what they stumble' - contrasting the clarity of righteousness with moral blindness.

The wicked 'cannot sleep unless they have done wrong' and 'eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.'

The Gospel of Transformation and Grace

Father Mike emphasizes that 'none of us have to remain stuck in our sin. None of us have to remain stuck in our brokenness. But with God's grace, every one of us can change.'

The brothers' transformation from jealous betrayers to protective siblings demonstrates that 'we also can change' with God's help.

The Bible reveals both human brokenness and redemption: 'the fact that we are broken and the fact that we need God's help is a present reality to all of us every day.'

The Bible in a Year journey serves as a reminder 'that God truly does want us, that he is communicating himself to us, that he's speaking to us.'