Just as the Pharaoh had dreamed, there were seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of famine. The famine was world wide, so other countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph. From the land of Canaan came ten familiar faces…the brothers of Joseph. Even though Joseph recognized them, they did not know who he was because of his royal dress and his Egyptian dialect. Therefore Joseph decided to hide his identity for a while to test his brothers. His last memory of them was of their intent to kill him, or leave him for dead, before they sold him to the caravan going to Egypt.
As the brothers were bowing down to him in request to buy food from him, Joseph recalled his earlier dreams. He accused them of being spies, and he put them in custody for three days. Then, in order for them to prove they were not spies, he ordered that one of the ten brothers stay in prison while the rest went back home with some grain for their families. They were to bring their youngest brother, Benjamin, back with them in order to have Simeon released from prison and to get any more food.
The brothers started talking among themselves about their punishment being a result of what they had done to Joseph years before. They did not know that Joseph understood every word being spoken, and it brought him great sorrow as he listened to their conversation. When he sent the brothers on their way, he also had the money they had paid for the grain put back in their sacks. Upon discovering their silver coins in the grain bags, the brothers were frightened for their lives. They told their father Jacob they had to take Benjamin back to Egypt in order to retrieve the brother left behind. They would also need to take Benjamin back with them to gain purchasing power. Jacob was adamant that Benjamin would not go to Egypt with them. He had already lost his son Joseph, and now Simeon, and he was taking no chances with his youngest son.
It was good for the sons of Jacob to have this time to think about their crime of earlier years. I am sure not one day had passed since they had sold Joseph and deceived their father that they did not regret what they had done. However, pride would not allow them to admit their guilt.
Pride. What a powerful word. It is a word of bondage, for it keeps people from doing what they know they should do, and maybe really want to do, but "what will people think?"
There is nothing God hates more than pride. Worrying about what others think instead of what God thinks has kept many people out of heaven. Pride stands in the way of people having a personal relationship with the Heavenly Father because He must be approached in humility and honesty.
One man once admitted to a friend that he would probably accept Jesus as his Savior if he wasn’t so proud, to which the friend replied, "What is it you’re so proud of?" Any answer that could be given seemed foolish, and end result was the shedding of his pride that he might gain a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Check it out…does pride stand in your way of doing what you really want to do? Are you afraid of what other people may think? Guess what…they are so busy thinking about themselves these days, that it does not really matter what they think about you. But what God thinks about you…THAT MATTERS! Think about it!
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