Genesis 42:9-15 "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. And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies. And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. 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. And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies: Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither."
Several years before these events, Joseph had two dreams. The interpretation of the dreams was the same. Joseph’s family would bow before him in obeisance. This dream prompted hate and envy in the hearts of Joseph’s brothers, and even his father rebuked him at the time. Even though Israel rebuked Jospeh at the time, he still pondered on these dreams of Joseph (Genesis 37:4-11).
Now, Jospeh was the governor of all the land of Egypt. All but the Pharaoh bowed before Joseph. Ten of his brothers were now bowed before him in respect and supplication. They were starving, and Joseph had control of great storehouses of grain.
As his brothers were bowed there before him, Joseph was made to think on the dreams he had dreamed. He was at that moment seeing the fulfillment of those dreams begin to take place. Joseph began to try his brothers by accusing them of being spies. He asserted that they had come to find the weaknesses in Egypt’s defenses and to see how they might spoil the land.
There was one immediate and powerful outcome from Joseph’s challenge to his brothers. Their answer to Joseph was to insist that they were not spies. But in the same breath, they confessed that they were his servants. Without even knowing it, they were admitting the validity of Joseph’s dreams.
Under Joseph’s accusations, they admitted that there were twelve of them and that their father waited for them in the land of Canaan. The youngest brother had remained with his father. One of the brothers was no longer with them (or so they thought). As Joseph drew more of their story from them, he used their own words to condemn them. Then he set before them a trial and swore by the life of Pharaoh that they would remain imprisoned in Egypt unless the younger brother was brought before him.
Like Joseph’s brothers here, or Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:5), we might not always immediately know who it is “with whom we have to do (Hebrews 4:13).” However, we do learn two things quickly; that we are servants and that He is Lord. We come to understand in short order that our lives are in His hands. This understanding may cause us great fear to begin with, but we will soon learn that it is a great blessing of salvation.