Genesis
42:6-16 Now Joseph was governor over the
land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's
brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the
ground. (7) Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them,
but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. "Where do you come
from?" he said. They said, "From the land of Canaan, to buy food." (8)
And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. (9)
And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said
to them, "You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land." (10)
They said to him, "No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. (11)
We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never
been spies." (12) He said to them, "No, it is the nakedness of
the land that you have come to see."
(13) And they said, "We, your
servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and
behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more." (14)
But Joseph said to them, "It is as I said to you. You are spies. (15)
By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go
from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. (16)
Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain
confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. Or else,
by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies."
Genesis 42 marks the
fulfilment of Genesis 37; the dreams given to Joseph by God have now come to
pass. Joseph’s brothers bow with their faces to the ground before the brother
they so despised and hated. We may wonder why it is that firstly, his brothers
did not recognise him and secondly, why Joseph did not immediately reveal
himself to his brothers. Joseph was just a young teenage boy when his brothers
sold him, now he is a grown man; furthermore Joseph’s appearance would have been
disguised in part by the royal robes and head-dress that he would have being
wearing. We can also be certain that Joseph’s brothers would have never expected
to find Joseph in the house of the governor of Egypt. Most importantly, his
brothers are kept from recognising him, so that the Word of God might be
fulfilled. Had they immediately recognised Joseph it is unlikely that they would
have come with such humility, bowing with fear before him. When Joseph did
reveal himself to his brothers, they all came to understand that God had been at
work in sovereign power, from the time of Joseph’s dreams, right to that present
moment.
However, the more
pressing question is why did Joseph not immediately reveal himself to his
brothers, why did he treat them so harshly? Was Joseph seeking to take revenge
against his brothers by being cruel to them? I do not believe that Joseph is
acting in revenge or in cruelty against his brothers; rather I believe that
Joseph was testing their hearts. His brothers make the statement to Joseph that
they are honest men; Joseph is testing to see if his brothers are honest men, if
they have truly changed their ways.
It is
significant to note that the sons of Jacob attribute the harsh treatment at the
hands of Joseph as being a means of justice against them for their sin against
Joseph. Their guilt and shame over their mistreatment of their brother still
hangs heavily upon their consciences.
Joseph
seeks to test his brothers, he tells them to return to their homeland and bring
back their youngest brother, but until they do so, one of them will have to
remain in prison, in the same pit which Joseph languished for many years. The
test is, will the brothers do as instructed and return with Benjamin, or will
they simply abandon Simeon and leave him? Will they treat Simeon in the same
manner as they treated Joseph?
We can
all identify with Joseph’s brothers when it comes to the guilt and shame we feel
over past sins. At times they seem to haunt us and fill us with despair. It is
important that we seek to constantly take ourselves to the Christ and remind
ourselves of the grace that we have received. As the hymn writer Charles Wesley
expressed it, “O Jesus, full of truth and
grace, more full of grace than I of sin.” Christ’s sacrifice has dealt with
all our sin, past, present and future. It has been taken away, is blotted out
and is no longer counted against us.
As we
rejoice in the abundant grace and complete forgiveness that comes to us from
Christ, we also need to understand that we have a responsibility. Genuine
repentance produces genuine change. We need to learn from our past sins and
short-comings so that in the time to come we will be conscious of our
weaknesses, the ways and means in which we are tempted and to be proactive in
preparing and planning how we might resist the temptation and turn away from
those sins. We need to demonstrate that we are living in the light of the grace
we have received and are showing our gratitude for that grace by seeking to walk
in holiness.
Gracious and forgiving Father, we
thank You today for the rich, lavish, abundant measure of grace we have received
from You. Your grace like a spring of fresh water pours out upon us day after
day. We pray that You would help us to understand more the grace and forgiveness
we have received, and that the knowledge of this would keep us from further sin.
Strengthen us so that we can walk in holiness, saying no to sin and ungodliness.
Amen.
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