When Dreams Come True

I've got a few quotes that all came from the same person. Let's see if you can guess the person that uttered these phrases.

- All dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.

- First, think. Second, dream. Third, believe, and finally, dare.

- Dreams, ideas, and plans are not only an escape; they give me purpose, a reason to hang on.

- Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, and dreams are forever.

- I dream, I test my dreams against my beliefs, I dare to take risks, and I execute my vision to make those dreams come true.

- This one may give it away to many of you... I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse.

- Walt Disney

Walt Disney was a dreamer for sure. He was a visionary and had quite a lot to say about making one's dreams come true. When asked about the secret to making dreams come true, he famously responded, "Work."

He was a man acquainted with adversity. He had a rather tough life growing up, but this is what he had to say about that: “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”

The last quote I'd like to share from him is something that we have discussed over the last 4 sessions of this study of Joseph's life. "The difference in winning and losing is most often not quitting."

We have become acquainted with a man who was mockingly called a dreamer, a man faced quite a bit of adversity. I think that it is safe to say that Joseph had been kicked in the teeth quite a bit starting at age 17 when he was sold as a slave by his own brothers.

But I believe we can also see in Joseph the attitude of trusting God and not quitting. But unlike Walt Disney, Joseph did not cling to his dreams, he clinged to the One that gave him the dreams. Joseph's primary pursuit was to have the presence of God in his life. It was a thing that was obvious to everyone that Joseph encountered. It was obvious to Potiphar, to the jailers, to the fellow inmates, and to the Pharaoh of Egypt.

Last week was Mother's Day and we had a special sermon geared more toward parents that week, but today, we turn back to the series Pit, Prison, Palace: The Journeys of Joseph. We are quite a ways through this narrative of the life of Joseph, and if this is you have missed a few of the weeks of the series, I want to take the time to catch you up.

Joseph is the second youngest brother born to a dysfunctional family. If you will remember, Jacob, Joseph's father, is married to two sister, Leah and Rachel, and has had children with their two servants whom he has taken as wives as well. These four women each give Jacob sons and daughters, but you will probably remember that Rachel is Jacob's favorite wife.

For many years she remains barren, but finally, the Lord hears her prayer and a son is born which she names Joseph. A few years later, Rachel dies giving birth to her second son and the youngest of the twelve sons of Jacob, Benjamin.

Since Rachel was the favorite wife, Joseph and Benjamin become the favorite sons of Jacob. This is not anything that is subtle, the other ten brothers know it well. In fact, Jacob seems intent on showing everyone that Joseph is the favorite when he gives Joseph a coat of many colors.

As we studied the life of Jacob, we know that Jacob was not the greatest person in the world, when he finally does decide to follow God whole-heartedly, his ten oldest sons are older and set in their ways, that are not really good either. These older brothers live wicked lifestyles, and Joseph, being the second youngest, brings reports regularly of his brother's wrongdoing.

The favoritism that is shown to Joseph over themselves is enough to make the ten older brothers extremely angry at Joseph and their father, but what is the final straw for these men is when Joseph begins having dreams of his older brothers bowing to him.

One day, when Jacob tells 17-year-old Joseph to check on his brothers, Joseph goes to look for them. When he approaches their location, they see him from afar and begin to make plans to kill him. You will remember that Reuben, the oldest brother, does not want to kill him. So instead, they strip Joseph of his precious coat and throw him in a pit. Reuben has to leave for a bit and while he is gone, the other brothers sell Joseph to some merchants that will eventually take Joseph to Egypt. To cover up what they have done, the brothers rip the coat of many colors and stain it with the blood of one of their goats and convince Jacob that his favorite son has been killed by a wild animal.

Meanwhile, Joseph is taken to Egypt where he is sold as a slave to Potiphar, captain of the Pharaoh's guard. As time goes by, it becomes apparent to Potiphar that Joseph is a godly man, that God is with Joseph, and that everything that Joseph does prospers. So Potiphar promotes Joseph to second in command of all his household. Nothing is off limits to Joseph except for Potiphar's wife.

Potiphar's wife, however begins to find Joseph attractive and casts her eyes in his direction. Day after day she makes adulterous propositions to Joseph, and day after day Joseph resists, until one day, Mrs. Potiphar and Joseph are in the house alone. She takes hold of Joseph and tells him, "Lie with me." Joseph, realizing that a simple "no" is not enough to make her back down, leaves his coat in her grasp and runs away. But as the saying goes, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," and Mrs. Potiphar accuses Joseph of attempted rape, using the coat which she held on to as evidence to back her lie.

In a rage, Potiphar throws Joseph into the king's prison, where, because Joseph remains faithful to the Lord, he gains the trust of the jailers. The warden eventually make Joseph the second in command of the jailhouse. One day, Potiphar brings in two new prisoners: the Pharaoh's chief butler and baker. They are placed in Joseph's care and after a while, each of them have a dream that troubles them. Joseph notices their troubled faces and interprets their dreams. The Butler is released three days later, and the baker is executed three days later. Joseph sets his hope that the butler will put in a good word for him and get him out of that prison so that he can go home, but the butler forgets all about Joseph.

Until... 2 years later Joseph now being 30-years-old, the Pharaoh himself has a couple of troubling dreams. After he has convened all the wisemen and magicians and none can tell the interpretation of the dream, the butler remembers, "Oh, yeah. So when I was in prison there was this guy that could interpret dreams..."

This is where we picked up a couple of weeks ago. Joseph is brought out of the prison before Pharaoh and interprets the dreams like this:

There will be seven years of plenteous crops, but immediately after, there will be seven years of famine so great that it will wipe out the memory of the good years.

Joseph is then promoted to second in command of all of Egypt, his primary responsibilities being that he is to collect food during the years of plenty and distribute it during the years of famine. After 13 years of suffering, God has used all that suffering to forge Joseph into the man that would be responsible enough, wise enough, well tempered enough, and bold enough to take on this massive endeavour successfully. This is where we left off last session.

The next three chapters, chapters 42-45 are all one part of the story. This was an extremely hard thing to go through as I prepared, because as you can imagine, that is a lot of material. Where we normally try to read the whole or the majority of the text that we will be covering, today, time constraints would make that impossible. So I'd like to encourage you this week to take the time to read Genesis chapters 42 - 43. I trust you will enjoy the reading.

This morning we will be reading some of those passages so please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 42, if you have not done so already.

Once again, I ask you to let yourself be immersed in the story. Imagine yourself as a crew of people documenting the amazing journey of this man, Joseph. You'll notice that our episode today starts, not in Egypt, but in Canaan, where the famine has stuck hard there as well. We open in house of old man Jacob, also known as Israel.

Genesis 42:1-4 Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? [Why are you just standing around. These men were no longer boys, they were grown men, many with families of their own.] 2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

3 And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. 4 But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.

Jacob tells his sons, "Go to Egypt. There is corn there, and if you don't bring some back we will die." So the ten oldest sons of Jacob head off to Egypt to buy corn. However, Jacob does not send the youngest son, Benjamin.

Now Jacob has been under the impression for at least 20 years that Joseph has died. It seems now that Benjamin has taken Joseph's place as the favorite son. So Jacob keeps him home to keep him safe. He does not trust his sons to take care of Benjamin. He's lost one son, his favorite son, already, and does not want to risk losing the only remaining son of his beloved wife Rachel.

Genesis 42:5-11 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth. 7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. 8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. 10 And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. 11 We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.

When they arrive in Egypt and show up to ask Joseph for corn, Joseph recognizes them. They, however do not recognize Joseph. If you were a fly on the wall, what would your thoughts be? Probably something along the lines of, "Oh man, its about to go down! Joseph knows them, but they don't recognize Joseph! Joseph is about to let loose on them." Of course, if you were part of the documentary crew that has been with Joseph this whole time, you would know, Joseph is not that kind of person. Or is he?

Notice how Joseph treats his brothers. The Bible says that he speaks harshly to them. He accuses them of being spies. Now Joseph knows good and well that his ten brothers are not spies, but still accuses them of it.

I like the fact that as they bow to him, Joseph remembers his dreams. The dreams are starting to come true, 20-something years later, the dreams and the interpretations that God gave him as a teenager are beginning to be fulfilled. He gives them a hard time, and we will discuss why he does that later,

but Joseph notices something in their speech, something that I had not noticed until i really got down to studying this story thoroughly. Throughout this interaction that he has with them in chapter 42, Joseph's brothers repeatedly refer to themselves as "true men."

The brothers are not saying, "We are being honest; we aren't lying to you." What that word actually means is upright, righteous, having integrity. Is this the way that Joseph knew his brothers? NO!!

Twenty plus years ago, his brothers were were not righteous or upright, and they certainly did not have integrity. But that is their claim today. "We are all brothers, and we are true men."

This is not Joseph's experience with them, and Joseph knows that he has a full brother that is not accounted for at the moment. Joseph continues to accuse them of being spies, present in the land of Egypt just to spy out the land under the guise of buying food. He asks them about their father, if he is still alive. Then, wondering about Benjamin, Joseph asks, "Do you have any other brothers at home?"

Genesis 42:13 And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.

They say, "We are all brothers and we have a younger brother at home with our father, and one is not." That phrase "one is not" means "one is dead."

I completely believe that the brothers at this point believe that Joseph is dead. What else could have become of a slave in those twenty-some-odd years in a land where he would be hated?

So Joseph, who has been speaking to them by way of an interpreter, responds that he doesn't believe them. He tells them the only way to convince him that they are not spies is to have one brother go back and bring the youngest of them while the other nine wait in prison. He keeps all the brothers in prison for three days, and I have always wondered if this was the same prison that he was in. Being that he was second in command of all of Egypt, it is very possible that he had access to the king's prison just like Potiphar had access to the king's prison.

Can you feel the emotions that must be growing on Joseph's heart and mind right now? Out of nowhere, his brothers show up in the line of people wanting to buy food. He hasn't seen them in over two decades, and the last time he had seen them their eyes were full of hatred. Then he finds out that they have left their youngest brother, his younger full-blood brother, back at home. If you were Joseph, wouldn't you wonder how they were treating Benjamin? They claim to be upright and righteous, but Joseph is worried that his little brother is now possibly being mistreated the same way that he was.

Three days after he puts them in prison, Joseph takes them out and tells them to go on their way, take the food they came to buy, but he is going to keep one of the brothers, Simeon. If they ever want to come back Egypt, if they ever want to see Simeon freed,or if they ever want to buyy food, they must come back with Benjamin.

There are several things that are going on here.

1. Joseph is testing his brothers, they do, after all, claim to be "true" men now.

2. Joseph has concern over his younger brother, Benjamin.

3. God is using this to drive Joseph's brothers to true repentance.

And God is indeed beginning to work on the hearts of the brothers. The brothers agree to the conditions, and then turn to themselves as they each express the one thought that is one all of their minds:

Genesis 42:21-26 And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. 22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required. 23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter. 24 And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.

25 Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them. 26 And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.

"We are very guilty concerning Joseph. This is God's punishment on us for the the things we did to him and the lies we told our father." They believe he is dead, notice the phrase, "his blood is required." They are all convinced that he has died and that these are the consequences of them selling Joseph. Then Reuben speaks up and starts to blame his brothers. "Didn't I tell you to no do anything to Joseph? Now this is all y'all's fault that we are in this predicament!"

And Joseph is nearby and can understand everything that they are saying. So far, Joseph has been speaking to them in Egyptian through an interpreter, but of course, he understands the language of his childhood. When he hears this, he has to step out for a moment because he is so overwhelmed with emotion that he begins to weep. Two things are going on here too when they bring up the fact that they ignored Joseph's cries of anguish:

1. Joseph is probably remembering the moments that he spent in the pit. In his mind, he is transported back to that pit, no longer one of the most powerful and influential men on earth, but a 17 year old boy crying in aguish. Begging his brothers to let him out as they casually laugh and eat their sandwiches at the mouth of the pit.

2. But also, Joseph is seeing something that he probably thought he would never see. His brothers are expressing remorse over their treatment of Joseph.

So Joseph comes back and orders that their sacks be filled up with corn and that the money they brought to buy the corn be put in their sacks too. And off the brothers go.

As they stop at an inn to rest during their journey, one of the brothers opens up his sack of corn to feed his donkey and sees, there at the top, his portion of the money that was supposed to pay for the corn. He tells his brothers and they all get scared.

Normally, we would think this was a good thing, however, when they go back, they know that they could be accused of stealing some of the food.

When they get back home, they tell Jacob everything that happened, explaining why Simeon is not with them. They tell them that in order to set Simeon free, they need to go back and take Benjamin with them.

So they empty their sacks of corn and they see that all the money that they took to buy corn was returned, and they get even more scared because now it really looks like they were spies up to no good.

When the brothers explain to their father that the man in charge there in Egypt said that the only way to get Simeon back was to take Benjamin with them.

And in short, Jacob responds, "Over my dead body. Joseph is dead, and Simeon is as good as dead now. You are not taking Benjamin to die. If something were to happen to him, I would die." Reuben, the oldest, tells his dad, "I will personally take care of Benjamin. If something were to happen to him, you can kill both of my sons as revenge and payment for Benjamin's life." But Jacob won't hear it.

So the brothers stay at home, Simeon stays in Egypt, but this famine drags on, and soon enough, Jacob and his house are left without food again. He tells his sons to go buy a little food from Egypt again, and look how Judah responds to his dad.

Genesis 43:3-9 3 And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. 4 If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food: 5 But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. 6 And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? 7 And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down? 8 And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. 9 I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:

It is a sign that God has been working on their hearts when Judah offers himself up as the one who will take all the blame if something were to happen to Benjamin. I say this because if you go back and read Genesis 37, you will notice that it is Judah who so quickly comes to the idea that they should sell Joseph into slavery. Over the last twenty-two years, God has tamed Judah's impulsivity and made his heart softer.

So they set off, and Jacob sends some fruits, honey, and nuts as a gift for Joseph. He also sends the brothers with double the money they had last time so that they would not be accused trying to steal the food that they had brought back. "Maybe," Jacob mentions, "it was just an oversight that they gave your money back, and you will have to repay it."

Genesis 43:15-18 Explains that when the ten brothers arrive in Egypt, Joseph has them taken to his own house. When they arrive there, the brothers are even more scared. Their minds begin to race and when they start to dream up worst case scenarios, as one would at a time like this. They talk to each other and the prevailing theory is that Joseph has brought them to his own house where they are to be enslaved because they didn't pay for the food on their last trip.

When they arrive at Joseph's house, they start to plead with Joseph's steward.

Genesis 43:19-25 And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house, 20 And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food: 21 And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand. 22 And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks. 23 And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them. 24 And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender. 25 And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.

Can you imagine the sigh of relief that was heard in the entrance hall of Joseph's house?! "Look, sir, really, we brought money to pay and we thought we had. We didn't mean to steal it and we brought double the amount this time to pay it back." Then the steward says, Don't worry. Your God and your father's God is the one responsible for you having your money back. I remember that you gave it to me. No worries. Come on in, let's wash your feet. By the way, your eating lunch here, and also, Simeon is here too."

After a long morning of work, Joseph comes home. And this time, he doesn't speak roughly to them. He asks first about their father, his father. "Is he doing well, is he still alive?" They answer in the affirmative, and as he looks around, Joseph notices a new face in their midst. "And is this the youngest brother you told me about?" And Joseph rushes out of the room to his own bedroom and weeps for joy. Genesis 43:30 And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.

When he finally comes out of his room, he has the table set to eat. Joseph seats his brothers in birth order, which surprises them, because how in the world would this Egyptian ruler know their birth order? And they prepare for a feast. When the food does come out, Benjamin's plate has five times as much food as the rest of them! The Bible says that they were merry with him, with Benjamin. They have a great feast, and these men have no idea why Joseph is being so kind to them.

The next day, Joseph has prepared another test. He has seen his brother Benjamin now in good health. He has heard from his older brothers that they are true, upright men. He has heard from their own mouths the remorseful statements about what they did to him all those years ago. He has witnessed their interactions with each other and with Benjamin during the feast. But he still wants to test them one more time. He is about to put the pressure on them that will surely cause their true selves to come out.

He tells his steward, "Fill the men's sacks with as much food as they can hold. Not only that, but the money they each brough to pay for the food, put that in the mouth of each of their bags. And take my silver cup, and put that in the sack that belongs to the youngest brother." The steward does this, and at sunrise, they send the 11 brothers back to Canaan, loaded down with corn.

As they make it a little way out of the city, Joseph tells his servants to chase them down, stop them, and ask them this question: "Why have you rewarded evil after all the good that has been given to you? Why did you take our master's silver cup?" This of courser shocks the brothers who have no idea what these men are talking about. They counter with a protest, "We would never do anything like that. Here is the money that we found in the mouth of our sacks, returned to us. We brought that back. Why would we ever want to steal silver or gold from your master? WE have no reason to. In fact," they say, "if you find that cup in any of our bags you can kill the one who has it and the rest of us will be his slaves."

They are commanded to unload their sacks of food, and one by one, starting with the oldest, their sacks are searched. When they open Benjamin's food sack, there it is, Joseph's cup.

Can you see the look of surprise on Benjamin's face and on the faces of his brothers? Can you see the anxiety that crosses every one of their faces as the realization hits them that they have just condemned their youngest brother to death? Can you feel the panic as they realize that their father's greatest fear is now complete? Benjamin is about to die, and in genuine grief and despair, the brothers all tear their clothes.

The eleven go back to Joseph's house. They fall on their faces for the third time before Joseph, but this time begging for their lives and the life of Benjamin. Joseph looks at them and he says, "What were y'all thinking! Don't you think that a man such as myself can tell when he's been robbed?"

And Judah quickly speaks up saying, "What can we say, or what can clear our names? God has found out our sin, and now, we are all your servants." Judah doesn't argue, he doesn't buck up to Joseph and say, "This is a setup." He only humbles himself and says, "Zaphnathpaaneah, we are all your servants."

But Joseph responds, "Don't worry, I am not going to keep you all as slaves."

Relief.

"But," continues Joseph, "I'll just keep the one in whose sack the silver cup was found. Who was that again?" Benjamin.

And Judah, who has made himself responsible for his youngest brother, approaches Joseph once again. "Please, sir. Will you hear me out? When you asked us if we had a father and a brother still, we told you the truth. We told you about how our youngest brother is still young and that he once had an older brother born of the same mother, but he died. Benjamin is the beloved child of our father. Please. Our dad's life is tied to the life of Benjamin. If we go back without him, our father will die. Not only that, I laid my life as a surety for Benjamin. If something were to happen to him, I am the one who is responsible. I can't go back without Benjamin. I cannot be responsible for the death of my father like this. Please, will you take me to be your slave instead of Benjamin?"

Can you hear the pleading? Can you hear the LOVE? Judah is loving Benjamin and loving his father. He is concerned about Benjamin in a way he never was concerned about Joseph, and he is concerned about Jacob. If you go back and study chapters 37 and 38, you see that after Joseph is sold into slavery, Judah does not go back home. He goes looking for women before he ever goes back home. He didn't care in the least how Joseph's "death" would affect his dad. But now listen to him! He mentions the well being of Jacob over and over. Judah has changed. The other brothers have changed!

Go to Genesis 45:1-9 Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. 2 And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence. 4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. 5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. 6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. 9

Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:

Joseph can't contain his emotions any longer. He orders everyone out of the room except for his brothers, and as soon as the room is clear, he reveals his true identity. He can't hold back the tear, he can't hold back the sobs, and even those that have left the room can hear him. And now, as he speaks to his brothers for the first time in their own language, the brothers have a renewed sense of fear.

They are fearful, but Joseph tells them to not worry. He is not out for revenge. He tells them, "Come near me. I am not mad. Don't be grieved or even angry with yourselves about what you did to me because it was God that brought me here. He brought me here to save a lot of people's lives, including yours. You think this famine has been bad for these last two years? There are five more years to come of this. So go home, tell dad that I am alive, that I am like a father figure to the Pharaoh, and that I rule over Egypt. Bring Dad and bring your families, I am moving you out to Egypt with me."

It's a great story, isn't it! This is the climax of the narrative of Joseph. It is not the end, but everything in this story so far has built up to this point. There is more to the life of Joseph, as we will see in the coming weeks, but this is probably one of the most remembered things in this narrative.

So what does it all mean? Knowing the stories of the Bible without knowing their meaning and application is rather useless. We will get into it in the Life Group time. Please stay as this will be the most important time of the service this morning.

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Why is it that Joseph does not immediately reveal his identity to his brothers? Why does he play these games with them? Why is he harsh one moment and kind the next?

For 20 years, we saw last week, God has been forging Joseph. He has been transforming him from a spoiled little tattle-tale, to a bold, honest, humble, and wise man.

But while he is in Egypt, his family have been in Canaan. While he has been getting better and trusting more and more in the Lord, Joseph's family has not been getting better.

So Joseph sees them in chapter 42 and asks them if their spies, he sees Reubens reaction. Blame shifting, yelling, arguing. They haven't gotten much better.

So does Joseph want to punish them or does he want to forgive them?

At first sight, the rough handling of Joseph with his brothers has the look of vengefulness. But nothing could be further from the truth. Behind the harsh pose was deep, almost uncontrollable affection seen in Joseph’s continuing to run out of the house to weep. And, after the ordeal was over there was nothing but overwhelming kindness and gentleness. Joseph’s mysterious treatment of them was really a kinder and a more searching test. Just how well judged is his policy is seen in the growth of new attitudes as the alternating “sun” and “frost” broke them open to God.

- Derek Kidner

He gives them warmth and kindness then he gives them cold harshness. We can say it this way: Joseph alternated love and truth.

Jacob gave the brothers too much frost, and too much frost is damaging. These brothers were living proof that all rule, all judgment, no affection, and no love is damaging.

He gave Joseph too much sun. All love, no responsibility, and it produced in Joseph a proud arrogance. A spoiled nature.

As a 17 year old, Joseph is about to be ruined by his father. Jacob has already ruined ten sons, but with Joseph the pendulum swings to the opposite end, and he begins to ruin Joseph in a completely different way.

So God, in his providence, steps in. He takes Joseph violently out of a situation that Joseph thought was good. He puts him through situations that Joseph thought were unfair; situation that are cold and harsh. God alternates this cold and warmth or this sun and frost, as Derek Kidner would say. Pit, slavery, promotion to second in command of Potiphar's house, prison, promotion to second in command in prison, forgotten, promoted to second in command of all Egypt. Do you see the alternating cold and warmth?

This tempers Joseph in ways that could not have happened elsewhere.

This is the sun and frost that he gives his brothers. He knows how it has changed him to the core, and he is hoping to see the change in his brothers. He does this out of genuine love. Joseph is not some sadist searching for the best way to mess with his brothers' minds and to torture them. He is not seeking revenge. He is seeking their betterment.

He doesn't want to only punishment, but he doesn't only want to forgive them either.

Yes, he has forgiven them; had he not, Joseph would have had them killed on the spot.

He wants to give them more than only forgiveness. Why? If he punishes them only, then they suffer but don't change. If he gives them only forgiveness, they get all love but no change. So he alternates harshness with warmth to bring them to repentance. Why? Because he is after reconciliation. Total reconciliation requires total repentance.

As Warren Wiersbe puts it: True reconciliation requires sincere repentance and humble confession of sin, and often it takes time for a person to get to that place.

And these brothers had not repented yet. How do we know? They end up in Egypt, the same place the merchants were headed that they sold Joseph to. Did they once ask around or go to look for Joseph? No.

So when he first sees them, Joseph gives them frost by throwing them into prison. He keeps Simeon, but then he gives them sun by letting them go back home and returning their money. He gives them warmth the next time he sees them, but them gives them frost when he puts his cup in Benjamin's sack.

He gives them frost as he tries to keep Benjamin and gives them a degree of warmth when they come back and say, "We are all your servants," and Joseph responds, "No you are free to go, I'll just keep Benjamin."

And now 22 years after they had sold Joseph to the merchants, they find themselves in the exact same situation. If they will betray Benjamin, they can all go free again. Joseph is wondering, "Have you changed at all? Have you learned anything yet?"

And that is when Judah steps up. The very brother that suggested they sell Joseph, is now the brother offering his life for Benjamin's. "Take me instead of my brother."

And now, Joseph sees that they have truly changed.

What was the point of Joseph's suffering? It was not just to promote him to be the leader of Egypt, it was to cause true and effectual change in him. To make Joseph like Jesus.

What was the point of Joseph's testing of his brothers? To bring about true repentance so that they could have true reconciliation. God, through Joseph, has brought about change in these ten brothers. Who would these ten brothers end up being? The fathers of the 10 of the tribes of Israel. And now, these ten brothers had been changed from rebellious and uncaring to loving so much that they would exchange their lives for their brothers' lives. These ten future patriarchs had now become more conformed to the image of Jesus.

And note this, it was Judah. Judah was the most vocal about the mistreatment of Joseph. Judah, the one that was least interested in how his father would take the news of Joseph's "death." Judah is now the most vocal about saving Benjamin. The most vocal about how he cares how this will affect his father. It is of Judah that we see the most significant change, and get this, it is of the tribe of Judah that the Messiah, the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ would come almost 2,000 years later.

Can you not see that this is what Jesus is doing in your life? He is coming after every one of your flaws and every one of your sins. He is coming after your pride, He is coming after your temper, He is coming after your rebellion, and unforgiveness, and lies, and apathy. God is coming after all that in the same way that He did for Joseph and the same way that Joseph did for his brothers. He is using warmth and cold, sun and frost, love and truth, to bring you to repentance. And when you do, He'll say to you what Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." And you will have an intimacy and a closeness that you could have never had before. And you will be transformed into the kind of person that can save much people alive like Joseph was.

What could God do through a people that would be changed as much as Joseph was changed? Can you imagine what God could do through us?! This is the process that Joseph has been going through for twenty years, and now he sends his brothers through the process.