| FAMILY BATTLES |
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| to see him again, they cooked up a stor that he had been killed by wild animals. God had other plans. In Egypt, he gave Joseph the interpretation to several dreams. It was a ticket to prominence. Egyptians of that day were fascinated by dreams: archaeologists have uncovered lengthy textbooks on dream interpretation. Joseph soon found himself at the top of Pharaoh's government. But success was not enough. The Bible story goes on from there, for God wanted forgiveness within the family. A famine budged Joseph's brothers out of Palestine; they came to Egypt looking for food. Kneeling before Joseph - so Egyptian by now that they did not recognize him - they begged for the right to buy food. A Strange Struggle So began one of the strangest struggles of the Bible. Joseph could have made up with his brothers on the spot, welcoming them with open arms. Or he could have taken revenge, putting them to death. He did neither. He began a series of elaborate tests, demanding things from them, playing tricks on them, accusing them. For nearly two years he played these games. They brought confusion and fear to his brothers - and an admission of guilt. Twenty years had not erased the brother's memory of Joseph. The moment their troubles began, their guilt surfaced. "They said to one another, 'Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen' " (42:21). For Joseph, the drama brought tremendous emotional strain. Five times Genesis records that he broke into tears, once weeping so loudly that people in the next room heard him. Joseph felt the strain of forgiveness. He wanted to reconcile |
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