Guess who is coming to Egypt?

Genesis Chapter 42

The good years are over and famine appears to be widespread, with harvests failing all over the region. 

Jacob hears that grain is available in Egypt and sends his sons down to buy grain, with the exception of his youngest son, Benjamin, Joseph’s only full brother.

Joseph spots his brothers and decides to get a certain measure of pay back.

First he accuses his brothers of being spies, his brothers respond that they are all sons of one man and that there are 12 sons, Benjamin is with Dad and, as far as they know, Joseph is no more.

Joseph then imprisons his own family for 3 days and would only release one to get Benjamin from their father.

Eventually he relents and lets them go. His brothers seem to realise that something is not right and think that the ghost of Joseph is giving them payback (or God is doing it on Joseph’s memory).

Joseph is using an interpreter to speak to his brothers without letting on that he can understand (A sometimes interesting thing to do).

Taking Simeon as a hostage and putting him in restraints in front of the others, Joseph sells them grain, puts the money back in the top of the grain sacks and sends them on their way.

When the returning brothers open the sacks that night and find the silver their state comes pretty close to panic

When they get back (minus Simeon and tell Judah about their experience they all seem to get a shudder down their spines

Jacob seems to have inherited Isaac’s sense of the dramatic when he says that Benjamin going to Egypt would “bring his grey head into the grave in grief”