The story shows that Joseph had direct oversight of this whole program, even to the selling of the grain. Now, I do not mean that he did every last deal that came, but it does show that he was a hands-on person. Despite being Prime Minister, second in command, he was a hands-on person, and he was there. He recognized, of course, his brothers immediately, and the prophetic dream was fulfilled in an instant. They bowed to the earth to him.
The story, from this point on, shows Joseph in a position where he can manipulate his brothers. And the way that he did this is kind of interesting, because what he did kept them off balance. He knew who they were, but immediately he gave them the hard face and the rough voice. He began to question them, and immediately, when he heard that they were from Canaan (which he knew), he accused them of being spies. Now get this: They just went to the store to buy something to eat, and the owner of the store suddenly accuses them of coming into the store and spying it out so that they can see everything—see all the strength of Egypt, and then go back and they are going to invade.
I want us to turn to a series of scriptures that gives us a preview of what is going to occur in the next judgment. We are going to go back to Genesis 42 in the story of the reconciliation of Joseph and his brothers. Every last detail of this story does not fit perfectly, but the overall principle does. In verses 6-8 we just get a picture of Joseph's regal position.
