Joseph's brothers were ignorant concerning Joseph (43:18-21), and the Jews today are ignorant of Christ. Joseph's brothers did not know that he was the ruler in Egypt. But their dissatisfaction due to the lack of food forced them to turn to Joseph. According to the prophecies in the Old Testament, the house of Israel will turn to Christ for no reason other than their need to maintain their existence. Apart from turning to Christ, there will be no way for them to exist.
It was the severity of the famine that forced Joseph's brothers to come to him again. The first time they came to Egypt they obtained some food on which to live. Thus, they returned home and stayed away from Joseph for another period of time. This is a portrait of the dealing of Christ with the house of Israel today. Unless Israel is forced to turn to Him out of their need to maintain their existence, they will never turn to Christ. Because the food brought home by Joseph's brothers was exhausted, and because the famine continued to be severe, they were forced to go again to the very one whom they did not want to see. I believe that after the first contact with Joseph his brothers had a bad impression of him. Perhaps they said, "If possible, we will never go back to that man. We don't want to see him again. He treated us very badly." The house of Israel is the same today regarding Christ. They do not want to even talk about Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, the steering wheel is not in their hands; it is in Christ's hands. At a certain time, they will return to Him.
Joseph was wise and very experienced. He did not allow his excitement at seeing his brothers or his desire to see his father to cause him to act foolishly. Rather, he was wise and calm, disciplining his brothers at the sacrifice of fulfilling his desire to see his father. If I had been Joseph, I would have revealed myself to the brothers as soon as they came to me the second time, and I would have told them to hurry back to my father and bring him to me. I would not have even taken the time to feast with my brothers before sending them back to get my father. But if Joseph had been like this, he would not have been qualified to be the ruler of the world. Joseph was a person full of wise discernment. Thus, he was a full type of Christ. Christ never does anything according to His excitement. The world situation is under His hand. The car is not being driven by any worldly leader, but by the Lord Jesus. He is managing the situation in the Middle East.
From the time Joseph's brothers first came to Egypt, they were undergoing a test. I do not believe they had any happy times after meeting Joseph in Egypt. They would not have been able to forget Simeon who was in prison there. They also realized that their supply of food obtained in Egypt was limited. They knew that one day it would be exhausted and that they would have to return to Egypt and face that man again. Their need for food forced them to return to him.
In order for Joseph's brothers to recognize him, they had to pass through a certain process. According to the prophecies in the Bible, the house of Israel will need to pass through a similar process in order to recognize Christ as their Messiah. Christ will deal with them again and again until the house of Israel is forced to turn to Him. There simply will be no other way for Israel to exist.
When Jacob charged his sons to go back to Egypt and buy more food, they told him that they could not return to Egypt unless the youngest brother, Benjamin, went with them. Without having Benjamin with them, they would not have had the boldness to face that man in Egypt. They realized that it would be useless for them to return to Egypt without him. What a test this was! Eventually, Jacob was forced to agree with this condition. Jacob seemed to say, "For the sake of your lives and the lives of your children, I am willing to sacrifice my youngest son. I give him to you. Go down to Egypt and buy food." Do you think that Joseph's brothers were happy as they were traveling from the land of Canaan to Egypt? Do you think that they were singing and saying, "Praise the Lord, we are going to Egypt again!"? Certainly not. On the contrary, all the way to Egypt they might have been saying to one another, "What shall we do with that man who put Simeon into prison? Probably the first thing he will do is put our youngest brother into prison. He may even seek a reason to take all of us as his slaves. Furthermore, he may seize our donkeys. What shall we do?" I am rather certain that Joseph's brothers were afraid of becoming slaves and of losing their donkeys, which undoubtedly were very dear to them. I believe that as they were traveling to Egypt they were trying to find a strategy to use in facing Joseph.