Genesis 42: A Second Chance

Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. ⁷ Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” ⁸ And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. -Genesis 42: 6-8

Joseph’s last encounter with his brothers had been from the bottom of a pit and then being sold into slavery. Now he stood before them as a ruler. He could have had them all killed on the spot. He didn’t. Instead, he used the opportunity for God’s honor, resulting in the reuniting of his family and their survival during a horrific famine. His grace led to changed lives.

I don’t know how many of us would have extended the same grace to family members under the same conditions. Joseph’s life stands as an example of how God seeks to use us to extend his love and forgiveness to those who don’t deserve it, just as we have been forgive by God though we did not deserve it.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.