“Who’s Getting Tested?”

Genesis 42: 15: “By this you will be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here!” When we read this story we get the idea that Joseph is testing the character of his ten brothers. But they didn’t really care about Benjamin one way or the other. It was Jacob who was so doting and over-protecting of the only remaining child of Rachel, and Jacob who would be tested by his youngest son’s trek to Egypt. Through this whole test Joseph (and we) are able to see just how much Jacob’s character, as well as that of his sons, has developed during Joseph’s absence from Canaan.