Joseph accused his brothers of spying. It was a ruse but it was also prophetic. Consider these parallels between the brothers and the twelve spies after the Exodus:

-Joseph's exile in Egypt and Israel's exile in the Wilderness both began when they returned with a bad report. Joseph tattled on his brothers and the spies gave a fearful story of the Promised Land.
-Joseph's brothers claimed to be upright men who were entering Egypt. Israel's spies were leading men of Israel who were leaving Egypt.
-Joseph's brothers feared him and begged to be allowed to leave. The spies feared the Canaanites and the people begged to be allowed to go back to Egypt.

There are other parallels between Jacob's sons entering Egypt and the Israelites entering Canaan centuries later, but these are more than enough to establish the pattern.
#genesis 42 #miketz #biblepatterns