Joseph - the lump of clay in God's hands
(1) Jacob lived in the land here his father had stayed*, the land of Canaan.
*stayed: stayed as a stranger. Hebrew - "the land of the sojournings of his father."
Jacob and his family had settled down near Isaac in Hebron (Genesis 35:27, 37:14). The narrative begins within about two years after they had reached Hebron since Joseph was about 17 at this time (37:2) and he had been about 15 when his mother died bearing Benjamin just before they had reached Hebron.
(2) This is the account of Jacob*. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah**, his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report*** about them.
*Jacob: Evidently, most of the preceding chapters were written by Jacob. Now, Joseph picks up the history of the family which was later updated by Moses.
**sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah: The sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, were Gad and Asher, and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, were Dan and Naphtali. Joseph was likely raised after the age of 15 by Bilhah after his mother Rachel died, so he was closest to them.
***bad report: Perhaps of their low morality or poor care of the flocks. He was a "tattle-tale".
Literally, "Joseph being seventeen years old was a shepherd over the flock" - Oversight or superintendence is evidently implied. This post of chief shepherd in the party might be assigned him either from his being the son of a principal wife or from his own leadership qualities. Joseph was rejected by his brothers because of the authority he exercised over them, even though he was their younger brother. Seventeen was not necessarily young for such authority, but it was younger than his older brothers, and this was indeed a bitter pill for them to swallow. Literally was tending, or acting the shepherd over, his brethren in the flock. Joseph was charged with the superintendence of his brethren, particularly the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah.
(3) Now Israel loved Joseph more* than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age**; and he made a richly ornamented robe*** for him.
*Joseph more: Joseph and Benjamin were Rachel's only sons and Rachel was Jacob's true love, so he was closer to them. Jacob probably spoiled Joseph. His moral standards and spiritual interests were clearly superior to those of his brothers - possibly because Jacob had taken more time to teach him such things.
**born to him in his old age: Hebrew phrase, for "a wise son". Similar to our phrase -" he had a head on his shoulders".
***richly ornamented robe: "colors" (Hebrew "passim") - uncertain in its meaning. Some newer translations render it "long sleeves". This robe was a symbol of Joseph's authority and favored position in the family - which Reuben would normally enjoy, being the oldest. Immediately becoming a symbol of Joseph's favored position, this coat so aroused his brothers' jealousy that they could no longer say anything kind to him. Josephus understood it to be a long coat with long sleeves. There are Egyptian pictures of Semites wearing long, multicolored robes. Reminds me of Jesus' seamless cloak. In Joseph's day, everyone had a robe or cloak. Most robes were knee length, short sleeved and plain. Joseph's robe was probably of the kind worn by royalty - long sleeved, ankle length and colorful. Favoritism in the family was a problem again - just as with Jacob and Esau. Some commentators think that the robe that Jacob gave Joseph denoted that Joseph was to receive the birthright. This coat indicated more than preference; it symbolized preeminence and superiority of rank.
(4) When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him* and could not speak a kind word** to him.
*hated - John 15:25 - This has fulfilled what the Scriptures said: 'They hated me without cause'. As a type of Christ, the cause of Joseph’s rejection would most accurately be a refusal to submit to the authority of one who threatened personal power and prestige. Joseph was rejected by his brothers because they deeply resented the authority his father had granted him over them, especially when they reasoned that it should be theirs. Wasn't this the root reason for the rejection of Jesus by the religious leaders of His day? When Jesus taught the people, the response of the masses was significant: The result was that when Jesus had finished these words, the multitudes were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes (Matthew 7:28-29). What a blow this must have been to the pride of Israel’s leaders. This is the reason why they resisted the Master with the challenge, "By whose authority did you drive out the merchants from the Temple? Who gave you such authority?" (Matthew 21:23).
**word: Or, rather, "and they could not speak peace to him," i.e., they would not greet him with the normal "Shalom" - Peace be to you.
(5) Joseph had a dream*, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more.
*dream: Numbers 12:6 - And the LORD said to them, "Now listen to me! Even with prophets, I the LORD communicate by visions and dreams. The first dream description in the Old Testament occurs in Genesis 15:1, when Jehovah God reveals to Abram the future inheritance of his descendants and performs a contractual ceremony known thereafter as the Covenant between God and man. The meaning of the dream was clear to Abram: he recognized the dream as a promise by God, and it served as the verification of his call from Ur. The next notable dream is found in Genesis 28:11-17, where Jacob dreams of a ladder reaching between heaven and earth, upon which angels were ascending and descending. God appears above the ladder, identifies himself as the LORD of Abraham and the God of Isaac, and gives the land Jacob is resting upon to him and his descendants, promising to restore them to this land after scattering them abroad to the four compass points. When Jacob awakens he does not doubt that God has spoken to him in his dream. Jacob thus acknowledges that in his waking state he did not recognize God's presence, but while he was sleeping the awesomeness of his surroundings was made clear. Jacob honors the message of his dream by erecting a stone pillar at the place where he had laid his head, and by making a vow to follow God and to give a tenth of his income to God henceforth. Jacob regarded this dream as a profound religious experience. This dream and the others that followed established the unique relationship between God and Israel.
(6) He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had:
(7) We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it."
(8) His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
His brothers clearly understood the meaning of the dream, but didn't know that it would come true.
(9) Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
(10) When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother* and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?"
*mother: Joseph dreamed of his parents bowing down before him. His biological mother, Rachel, had died long before. But, he may well have been raised by Bilhah, Rachel's maid servant. Regardless of which "mother" is being referred to in his dream, had Rachel still been alive, she too would have bowed down before her son, viceroy of Egypt.
(11) His brothers were jealous* of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
*jealous: Matthew 27:18 - He knew very well that the Jewish leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.
Jacob, who had received two dreams from God, seemed to have difficulty accepting the fact that God wanted to speak to his son about the future with two dreams. But at least Jacob kept it all in mind.
One can't read this without wondering what motivated Joseph to tell his dream! Was he clueless? We might forgive him for telling his dream the first time. But after the reaction he got, to do it again ...? But, this whole family has been chosen by God to bear the burden of knowledge of the truth. They must learn that God is the Power to be reckoned with in life. And if the dream had not been told when Joseph dreamed it, there is no way later events would have convinced them that God had had a hand in the way their family life worked out. The intimation from God conveyed through Joseph's dreams was something to be reckoned with later. They were not a very impressive bunch, these twelve men who were to be the Fathers of Israel. If He had to wait for worthy men and women to call, He would wait for ever. We are all of us men and women under reconstruction. There is not a Christian living you cannot fault.>
Prophetic Visions and Dreams in the Bible
There are quite a number of instances of prophetic visions and dreams in the Bible, though they are heavily concentrated in Daniel, Zechariah, Revelation, and also scattered through the various prophetic books. Some of the visions and dreams and their major message are listed below:
- Abimelech's Dream: Genesis 20:3-7 - Abimelech is warned by God in a dream about taking Sarah into his harem.
- Jacob's Ladder Dream: Genesis 28:12-17 - The ladder to heaven with angels on it.
- Jacob and Laban's Guidance Dreams: Genesis 31:10-24
- Joseph's First Two Dreams: Genesis 37:5-11 - His brothers and his father clearly understood their meanings.
- The Baker and Butler's Dream: Genesis 40:5-8 - The interpretations are presented by Joseph.
- Pharaoh's Dreams: Genesis 41 - The interpretations are presented by Joseph.
- Solomon's Dream: 1 Kings 3:5-9 - That night the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, "What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!
- Nebuchadnezzar's Dream of the Image: Daniel 2 - Daniel interprets
- Nebuchadnezzar's Dream of a Tree: Daniel 4 - Daniel interprets
- Daniel's Dream of 4 Beasts: Daniel 7 - Interpretation follows dream
- Joseph's Dream: Matthew 1:20 - As he considered this, he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. "Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary. For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit
- Pilate's Wife's Dream: Matthew 27:19 - Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: "Leave that innocent man alone, because I had a terrible nightmare about him last night.
- Abraham's 2nd Call Vision: Genesis 15 - Afterward the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great."... the LORD said to him, "... you will have a son of your own to inherit everything I am giving you."
- Isaiah's Call: Isaiah 6 - In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple..
- Ezekiel's Call: Ezekiel 1 - On July 31 of my thirtieth year, while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened to me, and I saw visions of God. This happened during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity. The LORD gave a message to me, Ezekiel son of Buzi, a priest, there beside the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians, and I felt the hand of the LORD take hold of me...
- Temple Judgment: Ezekiel 8-10
- Dry Bones: Ezekiel 37
- Temple Vision: Ezekiel 40-48
- Daniel's Visions: Daniel 8-12 - After the initial dream of Daniel 7, Daniel has several further visions.
- Eight Visions: Zechariah 1-6
- Man from Macedonia: Acts 16:9-10 - That night Paul had a vision. He saw a man from Macedonia in northern Greece, pleading with him, "Come over here and help us." So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, for we could only conclude that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.
- Revelation: Entire book probably consists of a single vision
(12) Now his brothers had gone to graze their father's flocks near Shechem,
They may have also decided to get away from their father so they could go "party", which may have been part of the "bad report" Joseph had given to Jacob about them in verse 2.
God placed the clay of this young man on his potter's wheel and began the process of molding him to become the ruler and savior of both the nation of Egypt and the surrounding nations including his own family. Some five hundred years later God would call out Moses as a young man and begin to prepare him to become the deliverer of his people from Egypt. God called a young man named Samuel to become his prophet in Israel. He used the prophet Samuel to call out another young man named David to become king of Israel. And God appointed John the Baptist and Jesus his Son to serve him before they were even born. Each man, including Jesus in his humanity, was placed as new clay on the Master Potter's wheel, molded, and placed into the fire to become a chosen vessel to carry eternal life to a dying humanity. (Joseph, Moses, and David were all shepherds looking for the coming of the Good Shepherd of Psalm 23 and John 10:1-18.)
(13) and Israel said to Joseph, "As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send* you to them." "Very well," he replied.
*send: Just as the Father sent the son to His brothers. John 6:57 - I live by the power of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, those who partake of me will live because of me.
Joseph was sent by his father to Shechem, to see whether his brethren were well there, and whether the country had not risen upon them and destroyed them, in revenge of their barbarous murder of the Shechemites some years before. But Joseph, not finding them there, went to Dothan, which showed that he undertook this journey, not only in obedience to his father (for then he might have returned when he missed them at Shechem, having done what his father told him), but out of love to his brethren, and therefore he sought diligently till he found them. Jacob’s concern for the welfare of his family and his flocks was not unfounded. Shechem was the city where Dinah had been taken by force and where Jacob’s sons, especially Simeon and Levi (34:30), had slaughtered all of the men. Since Jacob had purchased land there (33:19), it would not be unusual for him to make use of it by sending his flocks there to feed on its rich pastureland under the care of his sons. But there was always the danger of some angry relative of one of those Shechemites who were killed or captured seeking vengeance.
(14) So he said to him, "Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me." Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron. When Joseph arrived* at Shechem**,
*arrived: Probably a 2-day trip to cover the roughly 50 miles.
**Shechem: Remember what happened in Shechem?
(15) a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, "What are you looking for?"
(16) He replied, "I'm looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?"
(17) "They have moved on from here," the man answered. "I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan*.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan.
*Dothan: "Two Wells". About 20 miles north of Shechem - about another day's travel.
(18) But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.
One of the brothers spotted Joseph coming toward them, and the root of bitterness, jealousy, and hatred began to take full flower: "Here comes Daddy's Favorite with his fancy cloak and his dreams that one day the whole family will be subject to his rule! Enough is enough! He gave our father one bad report, let's not let him give another." Animosity toward Joseph had continued to build up until the situation was explosive. Now it was only a matter of time and opportunity. That opportunity finally arrived when Jacob sent Joseph to check on them.
Anger, jealousy, and bitterness became a murderous mood. When they saw him, the issue was not whether they should kill him but how they should kill him. The mob-rule mentality had set in. This all was going on before Joseph even reached the camp.
John 11:53 - So from that time on the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus' death.
(19) "Here comes that dreamer*!" they said to each other.
*dreamer: Hebrew - "master or Lord (baal) of dreams". They'd probably been talking about throughout the whole trip and are, in effect, saying that he was good for nothing but dreaming.
(20) "Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns (pits) and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams."
In Joseph's being rejected by his brothers he was an image of Jesus. "For even his brothers didn't believe in him." (John 7:5). John 1:10-11: He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Though it would be a terrible and bitter experience for Joseph, in the providence of God it would work together for good.
(21) When Reuben* heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. "Let's not take his life," he said.
*Reuben: Reuben is assuming his role as the oldest, even though Joseph has evidently supplanted him as the heir of the birthright. Reuben had good reason to hate his brother because Joseph was evidently going to get the birthright that should have belonged to him. He was still the oldest of the family. Whether or not he had the rights of the first-born, he was still saddled with the responsibilities. This may be the explanation for Reuben’s suggestion and his intention to spare Joseph's life. The slaughter of the Shechemites was only one evidence of the brutal natures of these men. Reuben therefore suggests that they kill Joseph without the shedding of blood. Throw the boy in a cistern and let nature do him in. The idea had some definite advantages, and so the plan was agreed to.
(22) "Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him." Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.
(23) So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe — the richly ornamented robe he was wearing-
Matthew 27:28 - They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him.
(24) and they took him and threw him into the cistern*. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
*cistern (pit) - It is significant that this pit was empty, for normally it would have contained water. If it had, Joseph would have drowned before the Ishmaelite caravan had arrived. Even the empty pit was a part of God’s providential care of Joseph and his brothers.
In this threat to his life also, Joseph was an image of Christ. Herod tried to kill Jesus within a year of his birth, but ...an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up and flee to Egypt with the child and his mother," the angel said. "Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to try to kill the child." (Matthew 2:13). The men of Jesus' hometown of Nazareth tried to kill him after he told them he was their long-awaited Messiah (see Luke 4:14-30). And finally, the chief priests of Jerusalem had murder in their hearts: It was now two days before the Passover celebration and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The leading priests and the teachers of religious law were still looking for an opportunity to capture Jesus secretly and put him to death. (Mark 14:1).
(25) As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead*. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
Having thrown Joseph into the pit, they sat down to eat a meal. There is no loss of appetite, no sense of guilt or remorse. And there is no pity, for they eat their meal probably well within hearing of the cries that were continuing to come from the bottom of the pit: Genesis 42:21 - Speaking among themselves, they said, "This has all happened because of what we did to Joseph long ago. We saw his terror and anguish and heard his pleadings, but we wouldn't listen. That's why this trouble has come upon us."
*Gilead was a plateau region east of the Jordan and extending down from about the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea.
(26) Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?
(27) Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites* and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed.
*Ishmaelites: primarily the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham by Hagar (Genesis 16:11-12) but also a blending with the Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples. These are today's Arabs.
Mark 15:1 - Very early in the morning the leading priests, other leaders, and teachers of religious law--the entire high council--met to discuss their next step. They bound Jesus and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor
(28) So when the Midianite* merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels** of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
*Midianite: descendants of Midian, the son of Abraham by Keturah (25:2), evidently traveling with the Ishmaelites. Judges 6:1-6: Again the Israelites did what was evil in the LORD's sight. So the LORD handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites fled to the mountains, where they made hiding places for themselves in caves and dens. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel, camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, oxen, and donkeys. These enemy hordes, coming with their cattle and tents as thick as locusts, arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare. So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites.
**twenty shekels: about 8 ounces - the price of a slave in the Code of Hammurabi. Just as Jesus had been sold into the hands of the priests by Judas for 30 pieces of silver.
Matthew 26:15 - and asked, "How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?" And they gave him thirty pieces of silver.
Acts 7:9 - These sons of Jacob were very jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him
Joseph faced a 30-day journey through the desert, probably chained and on foot. He would be treated like baggage and, once in Egypt, would be sold as a piece of merchandise. His brothers thought they would never see him again. But God was in control of Joseph's life.
King David would write some nine hundred years later in Psalm 105:16-19: He called for a famine on the land of Canaan,
cutting off its food supply. Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them-- Joseph, who was sold as a slave. There in prison, they bruised his feet with fetters and placed his neck in an iron collar. Until the time came to fulfill his word, the LORD tested Joseph's character.
Doug Murren in Keeping Your Dreams Alive When They Steal Your Coat writes, "It isn't the dream that gets tested--it's the dreamer. When God gives a dream, there's nothing wrong with it. But the dreamer probably needs a lot of work."
(29) When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes.
(30) He went back to his brothers and said, "The boy isn't there! Where can I turn now?"
(31) Then they got Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat* and dipped the robe in the blood**.
*goat: It was with two young goats that Jacob deceived his father (Gen 27:9); now with a young goat his sons continue the deceptions that dominate this family.
**blood: Revelation 19:13: He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God.
Mark 15:24 - Then they nailed him to the cross. They gambled for his clothes, throwing dice to decide who would get them. Christ, as the King of the Jews, was dressed in a Purple coat and taunted by his captors. He had been flogged and blood dripped from the crown of thorns, undoubtedly onto the robe. His death occurred at the exact time of the Passover sacrifice of goats and sheep. A male goat is the sin offering at Passover as an atonement for their sins (Numbers 28:22, Romans 8:3)
(32) They took the ornamented robe back to their father and said, "We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son's robe."
Jacob the former deceiver was deceived once again, unfortunately this time by his own sons. He had lost his Rachel only a few years before; and now he lost her first and his favorite son - the one to whom he had intended to convey the birthright.
(33) He recognized it and said, "It is my son's robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces."
(34) Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days.
(35) All his sons and daughters* came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said, "in mourning will I go down to the grave** to my son." So his father wept for him.
*daughters: So, Dinah wasn't his only daughter.
**grave: Hebrew "Sheol" - first occurrence. Jacob is saying he will be mourning his loss until the day of his death. How were the deceptive, cruel brothers feeling now? There was no way that his children could comfort him. How hypocritical these efforts must have been anyway. Life for Jacob seemed hardly worth living any longer. The only thing Jacob could look forward to was the grave. For many years Jacob would live with the lie that his son was dead. While Jacob was crying, "Woe is me," God was working all things together for the good of Jacob, Joseph, and his wayward brothers. I fully understand how Jacob felt - he would feel the pain and the loss for the rest of his life - until he saw his son again. Seeing Joseph in Egypt would be like me seeing DJ when I see her in heaven!
(36) Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials*, the captain of the guard.
*officials: literally, "eunuch". A eunuch could still have a wife.
JUST A FEW OF THE 130 PARALLELS: JESUS & JOSEPH:
- Loved by their fathers - Genesis 37:3; Matthew 3:17
- Shepherds of their fathers' sheep - Genesis 37:2; John 10:11, 27
- Sent by father to brothers - Genesis 37:13-14; Hebrews 2:11
- Hated by brothers - Genesis 37:4; John 7:5
- Plots to harm them - Genesis 37:20; John 11:53
- Tempted but faithful - Genesis 39:7; Matthew 4:1
- Taken to Egypt - Genesis 37:25, 28; Matthew 2:14-15
- Robes taken from them - Genesis 37:23; John 19:23
- Sold for price of slave - Genesis 37:28; Matthew 26:15
- Bound in chains - Genesis 39:20; Matthew 27:2
- Falsely accused - Genesis 29:16-18; Matthew 26:59-60
- 2 prisoners, one saved, one lost - Genesis 40:2-3; Luke 23:32
- 30 yrs old at public recognition - Genesis 41:46; Luke 3:23
- Exalted after suffering - Genesis 41:41; Philippians 2:9-11
- Forgave wrongdoers - Genesis 45:1-15; Luke 23:34
- Saviors of the nations - Genesis 45:7; Matthew 1:21
Conclusions
Joseph was being molded by the hands of God to become a man of faith. He began his life loved by his father and rejected by his brothers. But we will also see in the life of Joseph his faith in God during the most trying of circumstances which finally turned into a season of joy. Behind all of those trials and blessings stood a God who was arranging Joseph's life, the life of his father Jacob, and the lives of his eleven brothers, who were also to come to Egypt. We will see foreshadowed in Joseph's life the wonderful plan of salvation designed by God the Father and carried out by his Son Jesus. Joseph "...clearly appears as the forerunner, sent into Egypt to prepare the way for the coming of the 12 tribes into that land, and as such he pictures our great Forerunner who has gone on before us, even Jesus our Lord, to prepare the way for all His own to come into glory with Him and to share that glory together." (Ray C. Stedman, Highlights of the Bible.) As the years passed, Joseph came to a place just before his death when he was finally able to say to his brothers, "As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil. He brought me to the high position I have today so I could save the lives of many people." (Genesis 50:20.)
Joseph's life should be a source of great spiritual encouragement to each one of us in the midst of our struggles as well as our victories. For in it we will see that just behind all the circumstances of our daily lives stands the Master Potter molding us on his potter's wheel, then placing us into the fire, in order to finally use us as vessels so Jesus can be poured out through us into our dying communities for the saving of many lives.
Joseph, in fact, was not dead, nor was he outside of the providential care of God. It was no accident that Joseph ended up in the home of one of the most responsible officers of Pharaoh’s administration. While years would pass by before God’s purposes would become known, the process was under way.
The sale of Joseph into slavery explains how Joseph (and ultimately the entire nation of Israel) ended up in Egypt, from whence the exodus commenced. More importantly, this chapter tells us a good part of the reason why it was necessary for the 400 years of bondage to occur. The fact that this bondage would take place was no mystery, for God had revealed it to Abraham: Then the LORD told Abram, "You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, and they will be oppressed as slaves for four hundred years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. (Genesis 15:13-14).
Spiritually, the state of the sons of Israel was at an all-time low. Nowhere have we yet seen any kind of relationship with God such as that of their forefathers. Internally, there was no unity among these brothers. They were simply the sons of four different mothers perpetuating the strife which existed between them (cf. 29:21-30:24). There was no brotherly love, only the seeking of self-interest. There is no better way to stimulate unity than through persecution. A brotherly quarrel is quickly forgotten and family unity is intensified when outside opposition is introduced. Four hundred years spent among Egyptians, who despised Hebrews (46:34), developed and strengthened the cohesiveness of these tribes of Israel.
Later on in the story of Joseph and his brothers, Joseph will test them in this matter of family unity, for he will offer them the opportunity of gaining their freedom for the expedient sacrifice of their youngest brother (chapters 42-44). Then they showed a change of heart which greatly encouraged and touched Joseph.
God had purposed and promised to bring about the fulfillment of His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through these sons (35:10-12). Neither Jacob nor Joseph nor Jacob’s other sons nor even Pharaoh himself could prevent or even delay the sovereign purposes of the God of Israel.
The life of Joseph is a wonderful encouragement to parents, who will someday have to turn loose of their children, allowing them to move out from under their control and protection. It may be in the form of sending a child off to a college campus, removed from the supervision of the parents. It may be by a marriage or a job change. All of us as parents will have to face the time when we cannot control the environment in which our children will live.
Joseph was abruptly torn from his father and friends and family. He was removed from any godly influences and encouragement. He was placed among a people who did not believe in his God or his convictions. In Egypt he was subject to the strongest temptations. And yet, apart from any Christian friends or fellowship, Joseph not only survived, but he was strengthened. His father could not save Joseph from this, but Joseph would eventually save his father and brothers from starvation.
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Okay, if 2 Timothy 3:16 is right that "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.", what lessons are here for us? Two lessons given in the New Living Translation are (1) what matters is not so much the events or circumstances of life, but your response to them and (2) With God's help, any situation can be used for good, even when others intend it for evil.
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On-Line Sources
Off-Line Sources
- "New International Biblical Commentary - Genesis" – John E. Hartley – Hendrickson Publishers
- "New Living Translation" – Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
- "The Genesis Record" – Henry M. Morris – Baker Book House
