# 415 Tumbling Words

The Book of Genesis

Day 415

Ge 44:6 So he overtook them, and he spoke to them these same words.  7 And they said to him, "Why does my lord say these words? Far be it from us that your servants should do such a thing.  8 "Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money which we found in the mouth of our sacks. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord's house?  9 "With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's slaves."  10 And he said, "Now also let it be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and you shall be blameless."  11 Then each man speedily let down his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack.  12 So he searched. He began with the oldest and left off with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.  13 Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city.

Have you ever opened your mouth only to have words tumble out that you wanted to grab and stuff back into your yapper? They fall out of your mouth like something falling down a flight of stairs, hitting some steps, missing others, awkwardly, painfully coming to rest at the bottom…..then silence. You hope nobody heard you, you couldn’t stop them on the way out, but now that they are out, you pray nobody paid attention.

I’m sure that’s the way Joseph’s brothers felt. ‘With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.” Unfortunately someone was paying attention…..someone always is. The servant replies before the echo of the last word has even settled. “Let it be according to your words.”

Notice what happens next, the brothers speedily took their sacks down and opened them up. They were frantic to say the least, because they know their quick tongue had put them in a dangerous place. By the way, you can be sure they found the money that Joseph had returned to them as well, but this time they don’t even pay attention to it. The money was the least of their concerns. It was the cup that was going to be the problem, and wouldn’t you know it, the cup shows up in the sack of Jacob’s beloved Benjamin.

Then as a sign of deep sorrow, they tear their clothing, for with their words they had just given Jacob’s precious Benjamin over to slavery just as they had with Joseph.

In the matter of speaking before measuring our words, Pr 10:19 says, “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.” Let us remember today to be careful with what tumbles out of our mouths. Carefully measured words are less apt to kindle the raging fires spoken of in James, and certainly less likely to bring regret.

Jas 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.