Joseph becomes Ruler Of Egypt

One word of caution that can be taken from the story of Joseph is Beware!! Whenever you do evil to someone, you should take note because it is coming up again. Joseph’s brothers are prime examples.

The famine affected the inhabitants of Canaan just as Joseph had predicted to Pharaoh, leaving his father and brothers hungry and destitute. Jacob, hearing the news that there was grain in Egypt, sent his sons to Egypt to get grain so that the family will have something to eat. When Joseph’s brothers set out to get grain for the family, they left the younger brother Benjamin behind with their father.

After the brothers arrived in Egypt, Joseph recognized them immediately, but pretended to be a stranger. He asked of them, "Where are you from?" They replied, "From the land of Canaan. We have come to buy grain." As the brothers spoke, Joseph remembered the dream he had and accused them of being " spies who came down to check out the land." Their response was "No my lord! We are all brothers and honest men. We are not spies. There are twelve of us and we are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is with our father and one is not."

Little did the brothers know that the "one who was not," was the man to whom they spoke.

As part of a test, Joseph placed his brothers in prison for three days. Afterwards, they were to leave one brother in prison and return to get their younger brother and bring him back. And Joseph said to them on the third day, "Do this and live! I reverence and fear God. If you are true men, let one of your brothers be bound in your prison, but [the rest of you] you go and carry grain for those weakened with hunger in your households. But bring your youngest brother to me, so your words will be verified and you shall live. And they did so." Genesis 42:18-20. (Amp)

Was Joseph a man of wisdom or what? He was also a man of God. He had the perfect opportunity to destroy his brothers. After all, they were the same men who sold him into slavery. It was because of them that he had to endure being lied on and imprisoned. He would have been in his right to make them pay, but would he? No!

Joseph was a righteous man who reverenced and feared God. He did not use his position to do evil, but to do God’s will. Even though he loved God, the reality of who his brothers were and what they had done grieved Joseph. "But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter. And he turned away from them and wept…………" Genesis 42:23-24. After a brief period of grief, Joseph did an extraordinary thing. He not only gave his brothers grain, but he privately commanded that every man’s money be restored to his sack, and provisions be given for their journey. Talk about a true servant of God. Joseph has to be a member of the "righteous man hall of fame."

Joseph’s brothers knew they had wronged him and guilt filled their hearts. They also knew that the punishment they received and the news they had to relay to their father, who had already lost one son, was the result of their own wrongdoings. They shouldered the burden of having to go and tell their father that he had a son in prison whose release rested on their younger brother being brought to Egypt. They knew the news would grieve their father. The story of Joseph is not only one of God’s mercy and favor; it is also a warning to those who do evil. One must be careful what hand you deal because the same will be dealt to you.

By Naomi Brown