| “And the famine was over all the face of the earth” (Genesis 41:56). |
| “And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn [wheat] in Egypt … And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them … and spake roughly unto them” (Genesis 42:3, 7). |
| We will return now to the story of Joseph and his brothers. It happened just as Joseph had interpreted Pharaoh’s dream. There were seven years of very good harvest, but then began the seven years of poor harvests. Jacob and his family needed food, and when he heard that there was wheat available in Egypt, he sent Joseph’s ten brothers there to buy some. But of course, the person they had to buy it from was Joseph! Worse still, Joseph recognized them, although they did not recognize him. Now what would happen? |
| Joseph could have said to himself, “Now that I am a powerful man, here is my chance to take revenge on those awful brothers of mine that sold me as a slave. I will put all of them in jail.” He could also have said, “Now that I am powerful, I can forgive them. All the bad things they did to me happened many years ago. I will just forget about it.” Or, Joseph could have immediately told them who he was, just to see the looks of surprise and concern on their faces. |
| But Joseph did not do any of those things. He loved his brothers, but he wanted them to realize the wrong they had done, and to repent of it. That is why he started out by speaking roughly to them, and accusing them of being spies. If you read the whole story in Genesis 42, you will see that Joseph insisted that they bring their youngest brother Benjamin down to Egypt. As a guarantee that they would do this, Simeon (one of the older brothers) would have to stay in Egypt as a prisoner until they came back again. |
| However, Joseph did two things that showed his love for them, even though they did not understand it. First of all, he gave some extra food for their journey, and secondly, he gave them back the money they had brought to pay for the wheat in their sacks. |
| The Lord Jesus has treated us in grace too. Even though we did not want Him, He loved us, and died to save us. But in order to be saved, there needs to be repentance for our sins, and the Lord often deals with us before we are saved, to make us realize that we are sinners. |
