“So it was, when we went up to your servant my father, (how peculiar to see the humble willingness, albeit yet inadvertently, of the brothers to acknowledge themselves together with their father as Joseph’s servants; therein also fulfilling the prophecy spoken through the dream Joseph had as a young lad of the sun, moon, stars and sheaves bowing before him – that very dream that incited in the brothers such a jealous rage as to cause them to seek to kill Joseph all those many years ago: sin rooted in demonic wisdom, setting itself up against the Prophetic Truth of God; a Truth playing itself out even in these moments, and we cannot help but notice that the very consequences of that sin is then utilised in the Hand of God to aid in-, even produce-, the very Truth prophesied that it once sought so vehemently to oppose) that we told him the words of my lord . (Recognise the weightiness, impact and incontestability of “the words of my lord “ as yet another Christlike picture is painted of Joseph: Joseph has effectively become God’s representative in much the same way as the Lord Jesus was when He walked the earth; carrying within him also the same Godly authority and arresting power when he spoke, for let us not forget the “Words of The Lord” have ultimately become the very Words by which, we, His followers, live, seasoning also our own speech with blessed Truth and Life as we too then in turn begin to wield that Godly authority He paid such a dear price for us to carry; also becoming like Him in our own right – albeit clothed in His Righteousness – and therein representing our Heavenly Father upon the earth.) And our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’ (Notice how Jacob deliberately shies away from the most painful of the words spoken by Joseph, namely the need for the relinquishing of Benjamin; words that are so much more than mere pragmatic fact, but are effectively a call to Trust in the Lord in precisely the area in which Jacob could argue the Lord has failed him most; little of course does he know that not only has the Lord not failed him, but intends to restore to him far more than was ever taken from him in the first place. For the young lad he thought had been lost to him forever has in fact been schooled and trained by Almighty God Himself, his potential developed beyond what it ever could have been had he remained with his earthly father, his staggering wisdom, maturity and dominion now resembling that of the very Son of God, The Living Christ, Himself.) But we said, ‘We cannot go down; if our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we may not see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ (The brothers gently remind Jacob of the incontestable qualifier sovereignly imposed by this Egyptian lord, the call to Trust again reiterated and can be translated as if Almighty God Himself is speaking: “My Countenance will shine- and Favour rest upon you in ways unimaginable, but only if you obey Me in the area of your greatest woundedness, distrust and fear”. Another interesting thing worth noting is that in His Sovereign Love, Our Heavenly Father does not leave room even for our own free will to keep us from entering into the Glorious Blessing he wishes to bestow upon us, knowing that in our fearful, limited view of events this free will essentially becomes a prison, our own worst enemy if you will; no, this is a delightful example of where a Child of God is essentially cornered and has to 🎶Trust & Obey🎶 and remain within the Will of God, lest he and those he loves, literally starve!) Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons; and the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely [?] he is torn to pieces”; and I have not seen him since. (What a remarkable turn of phrase! Despite much circumstantial, pragmatic suggestion and the brothers’ best attempts at manipulation, fabrication of supporting evidence and allusions attesting to the fact that Joseph is surely dead, we recognise in the sentiments expressed here by Jacob that somehow his spirit has retained hope, or one might even argue a type of Knowing of the Truth: namely that Joseph is still alive. This can clearly be detected in the following: the phrase “the one went out from me “ suggests that “the one” in question has gone outside of his immediate reach but continues to dwell elsewhere; the word “surely “ seems to be actively begging the question and finally: the phrase “I have not seen him since “ is unequivocal in suggesting that though “the one” has not gone without being seen amongst the living in general, he, Jacob, has simply not been awarded the pleasure to do so, in turn suggesting that it is but merely the Hand of God in His infinite Wisdom that has prevented this – a suggestion I doubt Jacob himself consciously detects in what he is effectively saying, but a Truth it seems his spirit is acutely aware of [Romans 8:16]. Whereas, Judah, on the other hand, his spirit clearly muddied by the effects of guilt and shame, presumes Joseph ultimately to be dead beyond a shadow of a doubt, as he has attested to earlier in his own relation of events, ironically even to Joseph himself, in verse 20.) But if you take this one also from me, and calamity befalls him, you shall bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave (at first glance one might feel a sense of trepidation at Jacob’s speaking such words of death, for surely the patriarch of our Faith ought to use his words – and the coinciding Godly authority wielded by them – more carefully, for is he not here effectively pronouncing a curse over himself [?!]; thankfully however, even what appears to be such an abject danger is not outside of God’s reach, for providentially we know that ultimately “calamity will [not ] befall[s] him [Benjamin]”, lest the curse be exacted, but the severity of Jacob’s words nevertheless does serve to remind Joseph of the far-reaching consequences of retaining Benjamin unto himself selfishly at the expense of his beloved father).’ “

“²⁴So it was, when we went up to your servant my father, that we told him the words of my lord. ²⁵And our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’ ²⁶But we said, ’We cannot go down; if our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we may not see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ ²⁷Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons; ²⁸and the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn to pieces”; and I have not seen him since. ²⁹But if you take this one also from me, and calamity befalls him, you shall bring down my grey hair with sorrow to the grave.’ ”

– Genesis 44:24-29 (NKJV)