And now, back to Joseph. When we last left him, he was at the pinnacle of success. The fruitful years brought in so much grain, he couldn’t keep track of it all.

As Joseph had predicted, the fields dried up after seven years and famine swept across Egypt and the lands beyond—including the land of Canaan where Joseph’s brothers and other family members lived.

Jacob learned that he could purchase food from Egypt, so he sent the “boys” with money bags. Of course they would have to appear before Pharaoh’s head spokesman.

Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the one who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. Genesis 42:6

Let’s put this scene in a freeze frame. After some twenty years, Joseph sees these wicked brothers and recognizes them right away. They were adults when he last saw them and haven’t changed much. These brothers, who once overpowered him, now bow at his feet.

Joseph was young when they last saw him. He has changed in adulthood. He looks clean-shaven like an Egyptian, dresses like an Egyptian, even speaks the Egyptian  language. They have no idea that this ominous leader before them is their little brother.

A childhood dream pops up from Joseph’s memory—the one about the brothers’ sheaves bowing down to his sheaf. The enticing play begins. Joseph speaks harshly in his foreign language while the interpreters translate the words.

You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected. 

“No, my Lord,” they answered. “Your servants have come to buy food. We were twelve brothers, the sons of one man from Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.  Your servants are honest men, not spies. Genesis 42:9-11

Joseph continues to insist that they are spies and has them thrown into prison for three days. There now, they can get an idea of what it is like to be thrown in prison unjustly.

On the third day, Joseph said to them, “If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.”

They said to one another [in their language, or course], “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come upon us.” Genesis 42:18-21

That incident so long ago is firmly engraved in their minds as much as it is in Joseph’s mind. After all these years, they still harbor that guilt.

The little boy thinks he has successfully eaten the cookie without mommy knowing it, but the left-over crumbs tell the tale. The teen-age girl tells a lie and gets in worse trouble because of the resulting circumstances. The wife deceives her husband and feels the guilt every time he kisses her.

Unresolved guilt always catches up with us eventually. You can be sure your sins will find you out.

~ Joyce ~