Joseph Confronts His Brothers
Read Genesis 42. What happened here, and how does it reveal the
providence of God, despite human evil and malfeasance?
The famine obliges Jacob to send his sons to Egypt to buy grain.
Ironically, it is Jacob who initiates the project (Gen 42:1). The unfor-
tunate old man, a victim of circumstances beyond his control, unknow-
ingly sets in motion an amazing chain of events that will lead to being
reunited with the son for whom he had mourned so long.
The providential nature of this meeting is highlighted through two
fundamental characters. First, it is seen as a fulfillment of Joseph’s
dreams. The event—predicted in Joseph’s prophetic dreams: “ ‘your
sheaves . . . bowed down to my sheaf’ ” (Gen. 37:7, NKJV)—is now
taking place. Joseph is identified as the “governor over the land” (Gen.
42:6) and “the lord of the land” (Gen. 42:30, 33). Joseph’s powerful
position contrasts with that of his needy brothers, who “bowed down
before him with their faces to the earth” (Gen. 42:6, NKJV)—the same
ten brothers who mocked Joseph about his dream and doubted its ful-
fillment (Gen. 37:8).
Second, this providential meeting is described as a response. The lin-
guistic and thematic echoes between the two events underline the char-
acter of just retribution. The phrase “they said to one another” (Gen.
42:21, NKJV) also was used when they began to plot against Joseph
(Gen. 37:19). The brothers’ sojourn in prison (Gen. 42:17) echoes
Joseph’s sojourn in prison (Gen. 40:3, 4). In fact, Joseph’s brothers
relate what is currently happening to them to what they did to their
brother perhaps 20 years ago. “Then they said to one another, ‘We are
truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul
when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress
has come upon us’ ” (Gen. 42:21, NKJV).
Reuben’s words, “ ‘his blood is now required of us’ ” (Gen. 42:22,
NKJV), which echo his past warning to “ ‘shed no blood’ ” (Gen. 37:22,
NKJV), reinforce the link between what they are now facing and what
they had done.
Most of us, surely, have done things for which we are sorry.
How can we, to whatever degree possible, make up for what we
have done? Also, why is accepting God’s promises of forgiveness
through Jesus so crucial for us (see Rom. 5:7–11)?
