R.C. Sproul

Well, a lot of years had passed.

And a lot of changes had taken place in this Joseph, who was 17 and now is in his 30s, maybe even 40s.

And not only that, he's attired in the garb of the Egyptians.

He's clean-shaven.

He's wearing the styles of the Egyptian clothing.

He's wearing the opulence of royalty.

All of these things would work to conceal his identity visually from his brothers.

Now, it's interesting that in this encounter, one of the things that Joseph is careful to do is not to speak.

He does not speak to them in his own language, but rather communicates to them through an interpreter.

Again, another step to conceal his identity from them.

Let's look at the text.

We see in verse 8, Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.

What a moment that must have been when here, as busy as Joseph is administering this whole

reserve grain program for his people, and then giving audiences to visiting merchants and dignitaries who are trying to buy some of the surplus grain to take on.

And his secretary says, oh, by the way, there's some other people in here who want to buy some of your grain.

Joseph's very busy.

He walks in.

The last thing he expects to see are these brothers.

And it's a wonder he didn't faint when he saw them.

But he did recognize them.