Knowing The Word in Genesis 42:6-17, Joseph the Savior

6 Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground [picking up the key word in his dream, yet not yet fulfilling it because some are missing]. 7 Joseph saw his brothers and recognized [same Hebrew word used in 37:32 when the brother’s asked their father to identify Joseph’s robe] them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” [The echoes back to chapter 37 remind us of the brothers’ treachery and cruel deception of their father, explaining Joseph’s harshness.] 8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 And Joseph remembered [after forgetting his father’s house, all the memories come flooding back] the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness [vulnerability] of the land.” 10 They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all sons of one man. [By affirming their brotherhood, they hope to rebut the accusation of being spies.] We are honest men. [Yeah, right.] Your servants have never been spies.”

12 He said to them, “No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.” 13 And they said, “We, your servants [using good Egyptian and Hebrew etiquette], are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more [dead].” 14 But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you. You are spies. 15 By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” 17 And he put them all together in custody for three days. [Benjamin must be fetched while nine brothers remain imprisoned waiting for their “savior” to appear and release them. Why is Joseph doing this? He plans to bring his entire family down to Egypt where he can protect them. He is the actual savior, but his brothers remain in the dark. The treachery of the brothers foreshadows the treachery of the Jews who do not recognize Christ as their Savior, sending him to the cross to die. Yet after three days “in prison” Jesus rose from the dead to rescue his people—those who would believe in him and the salvation he offers.]