Good morning, dear family,
Why do you think Joseph’s brothers could not recognise Joseph while Joseph could recognise his brothers right in the first instance?
“Then Joseph added, “Look! You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that I really am Joseph! Go tell my father of my honored position here in Egypt. Describe for him everything you have seen, and then bring my father here quickly.””
Genesis 45:12-13 NLT
A couple of reasons:
1. DEATH IN HEART – Joseph’s brothers were convinced and lived for 24 years with a *“lie”* that they told their father. They sold Joseph to the Egyptians and told their father that he had been killed. So when they met Joseph they were unable to recognise him. When we start believing and living a lie, that lie kills the truth in our hearts. Even when the truth is revealed, we will not be able to believe and recognise, because the lie has blinded us. Let us introspect:What lies have made us blind? How can the Light of the Truth of God help us see better?
2. HOPE IN HEART – Unlike his brothers, Joseph believed the dream that God gave him. He also trusted God for His plan to reunite him with his family. That’s the reason, he did not take a minute to recognise his family. The hope we have in our heart that one day Jesus will return to take us home, will keep us expectant, waiting and will enable us to recognise Him when He returns. Let us ask God to help us to cling on to the hope we have, to remain firm in our faith and to trust in His promise of return.
Mathew 13:11-17 talks about hardened heart, blind eyes and closed ears. The Word of God has the power to open the closed hearts, eyes and ears, unless we choose to turn away and ignore it. Let’s choose to be wise and prudent by being sensitive to the Word.
“For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’ “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.”
Matthew 13:15-17 NLT
Amen 🙏