City Life Starter

Written by Stefan Johnsson

The Word

When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” ² And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.” ³ So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. ⁴ But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him. ⁵ Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

⁶ 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.” ¹⁷ And he put them all together in custody for three days.

Genesis 42:1-17

“And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.

Joshua 23:14

Reflection

Joseph missed his family, but he also could not forget what they had done to him by selling him into slavery. He had two things conflicting within him during this time. The first was how he remembered God fulfilling the dreams that He had provided to Joseph. The second is how he had been treated by his brothers who hated him to point of trying to kill him while he begged for mercy. So what to do? Could he reveal himself to them after they did not recognize him? What if they still despised him after all these years and resented him to this day?

So Joseph wanted to test them. First he devised a plan to accuse them of being spies so that he could find out if his father and youngest brother was still alive. Then he wanted to see if they had changed their hearts, that they were no longer jealous of their dad’s favoritism towards him and Benjamin. If they were willing to bring their youngest brother Benjamin, whom was also loved by Jacob, and did not treat him poorly, then maybe they had truly changed.

By testing his brothers, he could feel confident about revealing himself for who he was and know that they had changed. The question was then, would they pass the test he had provided? Maybe the three days in jail was a way for Joseph to collect himself or have them experience what he went through while in the pit, or maybe both.

Application

It took about fifteen years for the dreams that God gave to Joseph to come to fruition. Joseph had more than likely forgotten about these dreams during his day-to-day tasks in running the country as Pharaoh’s overseer. So when he saw his brothers, he remembered the dreams that God had given him, that his brothers would bow down to him. So for Joseph, he felt a sense of compassion and relief for his brothers who had come to Egypt. He knew God had worked out all things for good.

In your own life, do not hold grudges against those who have done you harm. We are called to forgive and show love to those who would be considered our enemies. This is what we are called to do by Jesus Himself, but also because we know that God is in control, and God’s will will eventually be done. We can put our trust and faith in this.

Prayer

Father in heaven, thank You for showing Your providence and goodness to Joseph. You waited until the right time for him to see the promises come true as they were put forth in his dreams. In the same way, please help me to trust in You for the experiences that I’m going through, knowing that You have all things under control, no matter how long it may take. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.