“Now Joseph was governor over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. (Notice how carefully the Lord worked all the circumstances together to ensure that the brothers would end up dealing with Joseph directly without exception.) And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth. (Already in this very first instance of their first interaction with Joseph after all these many years, we instantly see the prophecy of his childhood dream fulfilled. What they must believe in the moment to be but the mere customary gesture of the honourable duty of a civilian in need, before a foreign royal who is able to assist said civilian, is in fact a profound and cosmically, eternally significant moment in time. [i.]) Joseph saw his brothers and recognised them, (this is a phenomenon that often takes place in that a True Child of God is given Holy-Spirit inspired discernment or ‘eyes to see’ in order to award said Child a God-ordained advantage over another party, enemy or individual from his or her past, whilst the other party is in effect ‘blinded’ for that same reason; a phenomenon also alluded to in 1 Corinthians 2:15 – “But the one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is discerned by no one.”(NASB) [ii.]) but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly (or: “harshly”) to them. (Now this is a very difficult passage of Scripture for me to interpret objectively. I myself have suffered greatly at the hands of a jealous family member in my very own household, am currently still living with this individual and at the time of first writing this still hadn’t fully mastered the correct response. From all that I’ve read about Joseph in the narrative he always struck me as a perfectly Godly, upright and righteous man in all his words and deeds, tempting me to believe that he can do no wrong, which in turn tempts me to want to consider his harshness here as being justified. And even though I understand it perfectly as a natural response birthed from what could be righteous indignation, I believe it to be more the fleshly reaction of a wounded man still wrestling with unforgiveness, resentment and a manner of bitterness, for throughout my own lifelong wrestling with this issue and consequent study of the Scriptures I do believe the Lord is calling us rather to Love our enemies in meekness, gentleness and with much compassion, leaving the issues of wrath, justice and vengeance to Him alone. I personally have leaned heavily on what I believe to be critically important Scriptures in this regard such as 2 Timothy 2:23-26, James 3:17-18 and ultimately, perhaps most importantly, Matthew 11:29.) Then he said to them, “Where do you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.” (Joseph is perhaps only attempting to establish what had taken place in these many years since he last saw them, whether they have since moved, still reside with their father etc. I personally believe this question and its consequent answer is relayed here for posterity’s sake in order to highlight the stark juxtaposition of a group of men who have behaved wickedly yet hail from the Promised Land, brought low and vulnerable before a Righteous Man in a foreign Land, even in exile one could say, or viewed as a gentile through their eyes. It follows therefore that the Lord is warning the Jewish people never to take their heritage for granted as a type of instant salvation requiring no repentance or Fear of the Lord; as set forth also in Matthew 3:9 where the Lord Jesus reminds us that God is able to raise up children for Abraham even out of stones.) So Joseph recognised his brothers, but they did not recognise him. (As discussed in note ii. above – the principle here highlighted a second time, indicating its significance.) Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, (see note i. above) and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness (or: “exposed parts”) of the land!” (Now I must confess I do not understand this turn of events at all at present and would love to invite you to reason with me Beloved Reader. I would imagine that the fulfilling of the dream would satisfy Joseph’s desire for justice in seeing his brothers brought low before him in fulfilment of the prophecy of his dream, and yet he lashes out at them all the more. Does he sincerely doubt their motives, thinking them capable only of wickedness and deceit in light of their past conduct? Does he perhaps view their bowing before him as a type of insincere mockery of the true justice and breakthrough he so deeply longs for? Either way, I know how deep the wounds inflicted on Joseph’s heart runs, I am intimately acquainted with the profound pain he is in and my heart breaks for him, even as I can physically feel a sharp pain in my chest as I am confronted with these things.)

“⁶Now Joseph was governor over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth. ⁷Joseph saw his brothers and recognised them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, “Where do you come from?”

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

⁸So Joseph recognised his brothers, but they did not recognise him. ⁹Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!”

– Genesis 42:6-9 (NKJV)