Genesis 42-47: Famine and Retribution

What were the sons of Jacob thinking in the years after they sold their brother into slavery in Egypt.  Did they grieve with their father every time Joseph's name was mentioned?  As they watched their own sons grow, did they realize how painful the loss of one of their own would be.  Did they carry the guilt of their betrayal with them throughout the years. Or had their minds come to believe the story they invented, that Joseph had been torn to pieces by a wild animal. The one thing they were not doing was envisioning the powerful rise of their brother in Egypt and the luxurious circumstances he found himself living in as compared with their struggle to feed their family and flocks as the famine deepened.

And was Joseph's family just a fleeting thought as he occupied himself with more pressing matters:  being the number two man in charge of all of Egypt, growing and protecting it's vast wealth, and raising a family of his own.  Did Joseph spend his time thinking "I'll get even with them." or were his thoughts instead "Oh, if only I could see my father and my brothers."?  Whatever any of their thoughts were  through the years, they were lost in an instant when Joseph finally reveals his identity to his brothers. "Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph; does my father still live?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence.  And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.  But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.  For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.  And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.  So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Gen. 45:3-8 NKJV

 It was just as Joseph dreamed, his brothers bowing low before him.  They were brought low and he was built up, but it was all in God's plan to save the twelve sons of Israel for something even greater. The individual stories pale before the greater plan.