An Old Dream That Came True
An Old Dream That Came True
God had thought of everything. Joseph was ruler over all Egypt, next to the king. For seven years, he made the people store food in big barns. And then the Pharaoh's dream began to come true.
Famine!
Just as Joseph had said, the grain didn't grow - and there wasn't any food anywhere except in the big barns. People came from all over the country to buy food. They came from other countries too, for the famine was all over the land.
And then, one day - another dream began to come true. It was Joseph's own dream - the one he'd had so many years before! And this is how it happened.
One day Joseph was selling grain from one of the big barns. The people were streaming in from everywhere. Joseph watched them as they bought their food and hurried on their way. And then -
suddenly -
his heart almost stopped beating. Out of the crowds came ten shepherds who looked as if they had traveled a long way. They looked familiar.
They came closer - and Joseph thought, "Could they be?" They knelt down before him and bowed their heads to the ground - and Joseph thought, "They ARE. They are my brothers!" And they WERE his brothers - all there except his youngest brother, Benjamin.
Joseph thought of his dream, which was coming true right before his eyes. His brothers were bowing down to him, just as the eleven bundles of grain and the eleven stars had, in his dream!
Eleven.
But there were only ten brothers there. Where was Benjamin? And where was his father? Joseph had to find out without letting his brothers know who he was.
"Who are you?" he said. "Where do you come from?"
"We are from Canaan," they said, bowing lower than ever.
"You are spies!" cried Joseph, pretending to be angry. And he asked them all sorts of questions with a scowling face but he didn't tell them who he was. And they quaked and trembled as they answered. And he found out -
Benjamin was alive.
His father was alive.
And none of them had any food.
Well, for the next few days, those poor brothers didn't know whether they were coming or GOING. First Joseph told them he would send one of them home to get their brother Benjamin while the rest of them waited in Egypt. Then he put them all in prison! THEN - at the end of three days, he told them they could ALL go home but Simeon. By this time they were thoroughly confused and very frightened.
"Leave Simeon here," he said. "The rest of you go home and take some food, but bring your youngest brother back. Then I'll know if you're telling the truth."
"This is what we deserve," said the brothers, "for selling poor Joseph to be a slave and for telling our father a lie." They spoke in their own language. They didn't think the great Egyptian ruler could understand them.
But the great Egyptian ruler DID understand them. For he was their own brother Joseph.
God had provided food, even for the wicked brothers. But before they got home, they were in for a surprise. And God was going to make the REST of Joseph's dream come true, too!

THINK!
Joseph was certainly hard on his brothers. He put them through three or four very bad days. Why do you suppose he did this? How do you suppose the brothers felt when they had to leave Simeon behind in prison? Underneath all this trouble, was God's kindness. What had God really done for the wicked brothers? Whom did He use to do this?
A VERSE TO LEARN
"O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good."
(Psalm 136:1)