Think today about what Jacob's fears might have been. What are your own fears for the future? Give them to the Lord in prayer. Be confident that He hears, and He sees, and He knows your thoughts and your worries. God has more for each of us than we can imagine.

Understandably, Jacob's first reaction was disbelief that Joseph was not just alive, but that he had such a high position in a foreign country and was living in luxury! We can imagine each one of the brothers repeating small anecdotes as well as the big ones about their time in Egypt, and eventually Jacob was convinced.

That verse tells us that Jacob revived! Interestingly, that literally means to live again, and that is certainly what happened. Jacob got a new lease of life! He would ask one or other of his sons to repeat the story, many times, and he would want to know every detail about Joseph and his family.

Pharaoh heard the news, and was so pleased that he then took control of the whole situation, telling Joseph how to proceed and promising his family the best land to settle on. Everyone must have been thrilled with that promise alone, but there was much more to follow.

That last sentence must be one of the greatest understatements ever! Imagine those conversations, and their questions, they must have all been talking at once, asking about different things, maybe apologising for past behaviour.

This must have been the moment of the biggest surprise ever in the lives of Joseph's brothers. There had been several things they had not understood, and this high ranking official expressing his emotions before them must have been the most baffling!

This must have been a tense time for all the brothers. Each of them claimed that they were innocent of any theft, but they must have remembered their previous visit, when they had all received back the silver they had taken to pay the Egyptians for the grain!

In this verse, we discover that Joseph practices divination! That is a shock to some of us who are sure that all types of sorcery are an abomination to The Lord, and who were persuaded that this son of Israel was a righteous man!

The first verse here makes us think that Joseph is extremely generous, and shows that he had forgiven his brothers for all they had done to him when he was younger, but then the second verse makes us wonder.

One surprise followed another in this amazing story. The brothers must have been very surprised to see such a display of food set before them. They must also have been shocked that their food came from the table of the most important person in the room!