From
Genesis to Now: Gen. 42:1-24
I would imagine that the day Joseph’s brothers arrived started as any
other day. We really don’t know what a day will bring forth—unexpected sorrow
or unexpected joy. One thing is for sure: when those brothers arrived, Joseph
knew his life had just taken a turn.
For whatever reason, Joseph accuses them of being spies against Egypt
and tosses them into prison. The thought that these 10 men who spent their days
keeping sheep were spies is actually a little funny, but no one’s laughing
here.
Three days gave them a lot of time to think. Three day in prison gave
them the honesty to verbalize their sin. Wayward though they were, they knew
the one true God. They knew they had done wrong—and they knew God brings
judgement.
It’s interesting that Joseph tells them that he fears God. In a
different situation, that statement could have brought comfort, but it
certainly does not here.
They remembered Joseph begging them for his life, and they had not
listened. Now, they, too, had pleaded for theirs and been denied. And they also
see that no sin goes hidden forever. Sin must be confessed and forgiven. There
is really nothing else to be done with it. Hiding it only prolongs the torture
of dealing with it.
—the parishioner who doesn’t do
anything
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