Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there. Genesis 43:30
The brothers did not recognize Joseph. He was speaking a different language. His head would have been shaved. He would have been wearing the cosmetics of the Egyptian aristocracy over his eyes. Joseph knew all about the brothers. He knew who they were and what they had done, but they did not yet recognize him.
When the brothers were brought into the banquet, they were seated in exactly the order of their birth—from the oldest to the youngest “and the men looked at one another in amazement” (43:33). This great ruler seems to know all about them, even though at this point, they don’t know him.
When the brothers spoke about Joseph, they referred to him as “the man.” This is repeated seven times in the story (42:30, 33; 43: 3, 5, 6, 13, 14). That’s exactly the way people who don’t know or love God speak about Him, isn’t it? You will sometimes hear people refer to God as “the man upstairs,” or “God, whoever he, she, or it may be.”
The person they refer to as “the man” is not only the ruler who knows them, he is also the brother who loves them. We see this throughout the story, but especially in verse 30, when Joseph sees Benjamin and is moved to tears.
How do you refer to God? How about Jesus?
