Joseph Tests His Brothers
Channel: Christopher Boorman Speaks
Date: 2023-01-30

Shalom, Mabuhay and Welcome. Earlier this week, I read the account of how Joseph’s brothers ended up fulfilling a dream Joseph had when he was much younger. When Joseph was a teenager, he had a dream, actually two dreams with the same interpretation: his older brothers would bow down before him.

Of course, that didn’t sit too well with his older brothers. You see, Joseph was, for lack of a better word, Daddy’s favorite. He was the second youngest of 12. So, right away, he was going to get more spoiled than he should be. The older children always get the brunt of the discipline. Can I get an AMEN? Secondly, he was the first born son of Rachel. You’ll recall, Rachel was the wife that Jacob really loved. Unfortunately, she died giving birth to Benjamin, Joseph’s younger brother. So when Jacob looked at his son Joseph, he remembered his beloved wife who was now gone.

All this to say that Joseph was more favored than any of his brothers, and his brothers knew it. To make matters worse, Jacob gave his son Joseph, the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat! The coat of many colors. That may not sound like much to 21st century western civilization, but back then, it was a big deal. It was pretty much an outward symbol screaming out “Yes, this kid is my favorite!” As you can imagine, his brothers resented Joseph for being the favorite son. Joseph, unfortunately, made things worse by telling his brothers “Hey! I had a dream that you’re going to bow down to me someday!” Word to the wise, if God gives you a dream like that, just keep it to yourself. Don’t go blurting it out all over the place.

When the older brothers were out in the countryside tending the sheep, in the hot weather. Joseph (who got to stay at home, remember, he was the favorite), was sent my his father Jacob to check up on his older brothers. Now if you remember the account, Joseph had already previously gave his father a bad report about his brothers the last time he was sent to check on them.  We don’t know what his brothers were up to, but it wasn’t good, and Joseph’s tattling got them in trouble. So now they really don’t like this kid. And here he comes again, the golden child. The guy WE’RE going to bow down to someday. They hatched a plan to get rid of the dreamer once and for all. They threw him down a dry well and intended to leave him there. Then they saw a caravan headed for Egypt passing by. Being as magnanimous as they were, Joseph’s older brothers spared his live and sold him to the caravan as a slave for 20 pieces of silver (2 pieces each). They covered up what they did by putting animal blood on Joseph’s coat and telling their father that Joseph must have been killed by a wild animal. How sad.
Joseph’s brothers pretty much forgot about him. They were probably relieved that he was gone and they weren’t going to bow down to him ever. 

But they were wrong. In the intervening years, God caused Joseph to prosper in Egypt. So much so he became second only to Pharaoh! Then, a famine struck the entire area, and Joseph’s older brothers were going hungry. They heard there was food in Egypt so they headed there to humbly beg for some grain for themselves and their father Jacob. And the man to see about getting some grain? Was Joseph. His brothers didn’t recognize Joseph. He went by his Egyptian name at the time, no doubt he was dressed differently. But his older brothers came to him and bowed down before him. They brothers were fulfilling Joseph’s dream and didn’t even realize it. But Joseph didn’t reveal himself to his brothers. Instead, he wanted to test them. Were these the same people who endangered his life by selling him out for money? Or were they changed men? Did they learn anything?

So Joseph behaved harshly against his brothers. He insisted that one of them stay behind in prison, until the brothers could return with the youngest brother Benjamin. Furthermore, he secretly ordered each of his brothers’ money to be put back into their saddlebags, in addition to the grain that they were buying.
Joseph sent them on their way back home. NOW, let’s look at this picture. The brothers are returning home, minus one brother, and they have been enriched by getting their money back. They got this valuable grain for free. Does this scenario sound familiar? It should. They did it before. When they sold Joseph to the caravan. They went home, one brother short, with money in their pocket and they were OK with it. Now it’s happening again. They’re returning home one brother short, with free grain their bags. Will they still be OK with it? Joseph was testing his brothers. Were they the same men who sold him into slavery or had they repented?