Genesis 42:5-20

The sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth. Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. He said to them, “Where did you come from?”

They said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”

Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him. Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

They said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”

He said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land!”

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.”

Joseph said to them, “It is like I told you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go out from here, unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.” He put them all together into custody for three days.

Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this, and live, for I fear God. If you are honest men, then let one of your brothers be bound in your prison; but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses. Bring your youngest brother to me; so will your words be verified, and you won’t die.”

They did so.

Joseph must have looked quite different than his brothers remembered him. He was not only over 30 now, he was dressed up in royal robes, not just a coat of many colors. Joseph had no trouble recognizing them, though. He quickly came up with an idea in order to test his brothers to see if things had changed. He forced them into a situation that required that they address the same issues that had lead to selling Joseph, as we will see.

Have you ever noticed that God forces things out that we might want to hide? It can be easy to go through life when the real issues are never exposed in us, but God doesn’t let sin stay hidden. He forces it to the surface so that it can be dealt with. There is nothing more important than our relationship with Him. Joseph still loved His brothers, but it appears that it was important to him to know that they had repented of their sin. Repenting isn’t saying “sorry,” it’s actually a change of mind. In order to see if they really repented, he had to see that their minds had changed by how they acted when put under pressure.

Notice that Joseph caused his own brothers to experience what it was like to go to prison for something that they didn’t do, even if it was only for three days. Notice that Joseph’s first idea was to send only one person back to get Benjamin, but he revised the idea in such a way as to allow them to buy food and take it back to his father and brother. It’s clear that He still loved them all, but true unity is not caused by simply glossing over the problems of the past. True unity only comes when the real problems that caused the harm are abandoned.