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The story of Joseph reaches a climax in Genesis 45 where he reveals himself to his brothers. This chapter follows the intense narrative of chapters 42-44, where Joseph’s brothers traveled to Egypt seeking food during a famine. Unbeknownst to them, they stood before their long-lost brother, now a powerful figure in Egypt. Joseph had tested them, accusing them of being spies and demanding they bring their youngest brother, Benjamin. 

Through these tests, Joseph witnessed a transformation in his brothers. Their willingness to sacrifice themselves for Benjamin (Gen 44:18-34) revealed a stark contrast to their past betrayal of Joseph, demonstrating genuine change in their characters. The stage is now set for a dramatic revelation that will change the course of their family’s history.

In the previous post, we witnessed Joseph’s elaborate scheme to test his brothers’ character (Gen 42). As we continue this story, we see how Joseph’s plan continues to play out, revealing the true nature, and eventual transformation, of his brothers’ hearts.

Joseph’s plan to test his brothers’ character was brilliant. Without revealing his identity, he crafted a clever scenario to see if they had changed since selling him into slavery. Their ignorance of who he was allowed him to closely observe how they reacted to the crisis. The remainder of this blog post is to offer commentary on aspects of Joseph’s plan that may not be obvious at first glance.

The story of Joseph is one of the most dramatic in the Bible. Sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, Joseph rose from a prisoner to become the second most powerful man in Egypt through his God-given ability to interpret dreams and his wise administration (Gen 41:39-43). This remarkable rise to power sets the stage for a pivotal moment in Genesis 42. Will the testing of Joseph’s brothers reveal their character?

In this chapter, we witness a critical turn in Joseph’s story. As Joseph foretold, a severe famine has struck the land, affecting not only Egypt but also Canaan where Jacob and his sons reside (Gen 41:56-57). Hearing that there is grain in Egypt, Jacob sends ten of his sons to buy food (Gen 42:1-2). Unbeknownst to them, they’re about to encounter their long-lost brother Joseph, now a powerful figure in Egypt. 

In the previous post, I mentioned that Joseph arrived in Egypt around 1683 BC and rose to power in 1670 BC. I believe it’s worth dedicating a blog article to explain how I made these estimates. Anyone familiar with dating Old Testament events, particularly those before the time of the kings, knows how challenging it can be to pinpoint exact dates. As a result, people often have different opinions about when these events occurred, with estimates clustering around various starting assumptions or presuppositions.

In this post, I’ll outline how I arrived at my estimates for Joseph’s rise to power in Egypt, using only the information provided in the Bible. Of course, everyone makes this claim, right? I’m not dogmatic about these dates because a single overlooked biblical reference can derail even the most carefully calculated estimates. So, it’s essential to approach these matters with a bit of grace.