Genesis 42:8-12: a reflection

8Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him. 9Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.” 10They said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. 11We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies.” 12He said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land!”

When Joseph's brothers come to Egypt to buy grain, not knowing that the official before them is the brother they had sold into slavery years before, the text notes a striking asymmetry: Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn't recognize him. He knew them; they did not know him. Unseen and unrecognized, Joseph was at work behind the scenes, in a position they could not have imagined, quietly shaping the outcome of their lives. The one they thought lost was before them, knowing them, working, while they had no idea whose hand was on their affairs.

Notice the asymmetry: Joseph knew his brothers, though they did not recognize him. They stood before the very one they had wronged, and did not know it; his hand was on their affairs, and they could not see it. What looked to them like an encounter with a foreign official was, unknown to them, an encounter with the brother God had raised up to preserve them. God was at work through Joseph, seeing and knowing them, while they recognized nothing of it. The hand shaping their lives was one they did not recognize, though it knew them well.

That is worth taking to heart, for God knows us and is at work in our lives even when we do not recognize his hand. Things happen to us that seem like chance, or the acts of strangers, while unknown to us God is at work behind them, knowing us, shaping the outcome for good, as Joseph knew his brothers and worked for their preservation while they recognized nothing. God is often at work where we do not recognize his hand, knowing us and shaping our lives even when we cannot see it. Do not assume God is absent because you do not recognize his hand; he may be at work behind the very things you take for chance, knowing you and working for your good, as Joseph knew his brothers though they knew him not. Trust that God knows you and is at work in your life even when you do not recognize his hand, as Joseph recognized his brothers and worked for their good while they took him for a stranger; for God's hand is often on our affairs where we least recognize it, and he knows and works for us even when we cannot see him.

Lord, when Joseph's brothers come to Egypt to buy grain, not knowing that the official before them is the brother they had sold into slavery years before, the text notes a striking asymmetry: Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn't recognize him. He knew them; they did not know him. Unseen and unrecognized, Joseph was at work behind the scenes, quietly shaping the outcome of their lives. The one they thought lost was before them, knowing them, working, while they had no idea whose hand was on their affairs. Show me the asymmetry: Joseph knew his brothers, though they did not recognize him. They stood before the very one they had wronged, and did not know it; his hand was on their affairs, and they could not see it. What looked to them like an encounter with a foreign official was, unknown to them, an encounter with the brother you had raised up to preserve them. You were at work through Joseph, seeing and knowing them, while they recognized nothing of it. Take that to my heart, for you know me and are at work in my life even when I do not recognize your hand. Things happen to me that seem like chance, or the acts of strangers, while unknown to me you are at work behind them, knowing me, shaping the outcome for good, as Joseph knew his brothers while they recognized nothing. Keep me from assuming you are absent because I do not recognize your hand; you may be at work behind the very things I take for chance, Lord. Help me trust that you know me and are at work in my life even when I do not recognize your hand, as Joseph recognized his brothers while they took him for a stranger.