I’d like to take a little time and go over the story of Joseph as it is mentioned at length in Genesis, starting in chapter thirty-seven. I will not go into every detail, but will attempt to hit the high-lights.
Joseph was the eleventh son of Jacob, now called Israel. The first born of the love-of-his-life, Rachel, Jacob loved Joseph more than all the others, including Benjamin, his twelfth, and also by his wife Rachel. Jacob made Joseph a coat of colors, which the young boy paraded with undoubtedly arrogant posture. This didn’t set very well with the older brothers, and Joseph wasn’t tolerated very well by them.
Joseph had a dream and then again another dream, and when he told the brothers and his Father, they were not received. The first dream was about sheaves and the second about the sun, moon and eleven stars. The dreams were that the brothers and his father were to pay tribute and bow to him. This didn’t go over good at all with his family, but he still wore the coat of colors, dancing and strutting, for he was the favored, or at least in his mind.
The brothers were out in the distant field tending sheep, as that was their vocation, and father Jacob called for Joseph to go to Shechem to check on them and bring him word of their doings. And as the young man went, he was spotted afar, so the brothers went to scheming of what they could do to rid themselves of the problem of brother Joseph, conspiring to kill him. When spotted, one said; “Look, this dreamer is coming! Come therefore, let us kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say. Some wild beast has devoured him.” But as Reuben stepped in, said they were not to kill him, to shed no blood. So as Joseph approached, he was captured stripped of his tunic of colors and cast into a pit. Later, as they sat eating their meal decided to sell him to a caravan of Ishmaelite’s, and make a profit, for they were on their way to Egypt.
The brothers tore the coat of colors, killed a goat and splattered the coat with its blood. Then going back home to their father told him that some wild beast must have devoured Joseph, so Jacob mourned throwing ashes and a sack cloth over himself, for this was his favorite son and he loved him very much.
Now in chapter thirty-nine Joseph was brought down to Egypt by the Ishmaelite’s and sold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard. And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man, and found favor in the eyes of his new boss. And he and Potiphar both prospered, for at that time Joseph was made overseer of his house, for the hand of God was on him, that is Joseph. But after a time Potiphar’s wife had eyes for Joseph and tried to seduce him into her bed, but Joseph refused. This happened several times, but on this occasion, as Joseph was running from her, that she caught him by the garment and tore it from him, and ran and told her husband that he wanted to have his way with her. Of course this angered Potiphar, so he put Joseph in prison, but still having the favor of the Lord, he prospered. There he met a butler and a baker that both had found disfavor of Pharaoh, and too was cast into prison. But the hand of the Lord was upon Joseph and he and the other prisoners prospered.
In one night both the butler and the baker had a dream each and Joseph interpreted them saying; the butler will be restored back to pharaoh, but the baker would be hanged, both were to happen in three days. Joseph told the butler to remember him when he got back into the big house and things were well. So some time later Pharaoh had a dream and was troubled and called for the magicians of Egypt and all the wise men, but they could not interpret his dream of the cows, (kine), and corn that he had dreamed of. It was now two years later and the butler had once again found favor with Pharaoh, and told him of a man in prison that had interpreted several dreams and could interpret his.
So after cleaning Joseph up and getting him out of the dungeon, he was taken to Pharaoh. After listening, Joseph told Pharaoh that the two dreams were one and the same. That in the land of Egypt there was to be seven years of plenty, and will come throughout the land, but after those come, seven years of famine, and all the plenty would be forgotten, for the famine will deplete the land. And since the dream was repeated twice, means it will happen shortly. As Joseph was telling Pharaoh how to remedy the problem, Pharaoh appointed Joseph Governor of Egypt, with no one above him save the throne of Pharaoh. He was given a ring, fine clothes and was to ride second in the chariot next to Pharaoh, and also given a wife, which bore him two sons.
The Egyptians were to store in reserve all they could in the seven years of plenty to have more than enough during the famine.
Shortly this all came to past and the famine was upon all the land of Egypt. In chapter forty-two, Jacob was told by his sons that the Governor of Egypt had plenty of corn and could feed his starving family by buying it for a price, since the famine was in the land of Canaan also. So Joseph’s ten brothers went down to Egypt to buy grain from the Governor, not knowing that he was their brother Joseph.
Joseph recognized the brothers, but acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly, but the brothers did not recognize him.
“Where do you come from.” And they said from Canaan.
“You are spies and came to see the nakedness of the land.”
“No, we are of twelve sons, the sons of our father Jacob, the youngest stayed and the other is no more, we are your servants.” Joseph spoke back that this is a test to see if they were telling the truth, and he would hold one and send the others back to bring the youngest back, which was Benjamin.
So he put them in prison for three days, and when let out was again placed before Joseph, where they talked among themselves and said; “We are truly guilty concerning our brother Joseph, for we saw the anguish in his soul when he pleaded with us.” But they still didn’t know who the Governor was or that he could understand them, for Joseph spoke in the tongue of the Egyptians through an interpreter. When this was heard, Joseph wept.
So Simeon had to stay and the others had their grain loaded and were on their way back to Canaan not knowing that Joseph had their money placed back in the sacks they were carrying.
After returning to father Jacob, the nine sons told him all that had happened, and that the man-in-charge spoke to them roughly, and the money given was found in the sacks of grain, which was scary. But Jacob held his ground, and the youngest son Benjamin couldn’t go. That’s what was required to get Simeon, his second son back that was held in prison.
Sometime later when all the grain was used up, and again they were on the verge of starvation, the first son Reuben talked with his father, and finagled with Jacob to let him take his youngest son Benjamin before they starved. And Jacob said; “If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you will bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.”
So the men took Benjamin and double money for the grain, with other gifts also and went back to Egypt to get the other brother back, and to restore their sacks with provisions. And as they stood before Joseph, still not knowing who he is, he told the steward to go and make a feast in his home for them. This also scared the brothers, thinking it was a trap. They tried to explain themselves, but Joseph said, “Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them, and asked if the old man of whom you spoke was alright?
Arranging them in order, they were served, but Benjamin got five times as much. Joseph had to restrain himself, but still didn’t let the brothers know who he was.
In chapter forty-four; “And he commanded the steward of his house , saying, fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of the sack. Also put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack, and his grain money.” As morning dawned the eleven brothers left for home in the land of Canaan. But when they had not gotten very far, Joseph told his men to overtake them, find the money and the silver cup, and bring them back. And asked; why have you repaid evil for good?
No sir, they spoke, we did not, why do you say these words. Far be it, we brought back double, how then could we steal silver or gold from you? With whomsoever you find it with, let him die, and we also will be your slaves.
They searched, beginning with the oldest and left off with the youngest, of which the silver cup was found. They were then brought back to the governor who said; “What deed is this that you have done?” And Judah said what could they say or do to clear themselves?
But he said; far be it from me that all would be my slaves, I will keep the one of whom the cup was found, and the rest may go to your father in peace. But Judah speaking back to him said that this would hurt their father severely, maybe even he would die and they could not go back without him. Let me remain as your slave, and let the lad go back to his father.
Joseph could not restrain himself and ordered all his men that stood by him to leave. He then made himself known to the brothers and cried aloud, and the house of Pharaoh heard him. I am Joseph, your brother whom you sold into Egypt. “Does my father still live? 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… God sent me to preserve a prosperity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” It was not you that sent me here, but God. They all rejoiced.
The brothers were given provisions and wagons and went back to Canaan to get and bring their father Jacob to Egypt. And they settled in the land of Goshen, the best of all the land in Egypt, and prospered for many years, for Pharaoh also welcomed them. Joseph took care of his family for the next five years of the draught, and Jacob was glad to get his son that he thought was dead back.
Jacob, now called Israel, died many years later and had told the sons to bury him in the land of his forefathers, and the brothers went to do so. While they were gone, they thought that Joseph would reject or maybe harm them for what they had done to him many decades earlier, now since their father had died. So before returning they sent a messenger to beg his forgiveness. And Joseph wept. When they had all gotten back to Goshen they fell on their face and said; “Behold, we are your servants.”
In chapter fifty, “Joseph said to them, Do not be afraid, for I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid, I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he spoke kindly to them and comforted them.
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I’d like to talk about this a little, and maybe see what’s ticking in so many around the world, and especially in America. We are so spoiled, mix-upped, selfish and greedy, that we’ll whine about anything, and I do mean anything. If someone licks the red off our sucker, says a wordy-durd to us, and even if giving us constructive criticism, many will go off the deep-end, and belly-ache, cry, come unglued and feel completely devastated because we ‘just don’t deserve it’. Sure is a good thing that we don’t get what we deserve, ain’t it.
Whether it be Noah, Abraham, Moses and the Egyptians, not counting his own people, or Sampson, or King David, or Job and his dung-pile, Jonah and his whale, or Elijah and his nemeses Jezebel, or Daniel and his lions, or even Jesus the Christ, all had something that appeared to be working against them, and all managed to get the job at hand done. Sure, a few of them whined, but all persevered and came out victorious, by God’s hand.
If one would stop long enough to quietly look at their own life, they would probably see that each and every tempting and scary moment was custom made, orchestrated, and engineered just for them, especially for them. It Gods’ way of blessing us and still keeping us in his arms, to temper us, to reshape us, to the vessel and relationship that He has always wanted, for us, and Himself. There’s that silver lining again.
Yes, Joseph strutted around like some dads’ favorite, king on the hill, parading himself like he was the top Billy-goat in a field of nannies, but he was just a young boy. The brothers were full of pride, impatience, and a cup full of ego that had to be dealt with. Daddy Jacob had a fault here and there that had to be dealt with also, and maybe he was a little too easy on the young boy. Young, dumb, and naive to the way life is, or how it’s supposed to be, Joseph probably had his vanity showing. And he did strut until the brothers had taken all that they thought they could take, so they thought.
Thrown in a pit, sold to the Egyptian as a slave, just the way God had intended from the beginning. God had favor towards Joseph and even daddy Jacob, but he didn’t know, as he was in mourning, even the ten brothers were being taught by God, but they didn’t know it either. Even Potiphar and his household were being favored for the sake of Joseph, but he still had to go through another ordeal, the wife.
Thrown back in prison, Joseph had more things to learn, for he still had that ego thing going as when he asked the butler to remember him when he got back to the big house. That cost him more than a few more years, so God could break him down and get him ready. But Joseph learned, and after the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream he was now in the position that God was going to use him in. That is the throne, second only to Pharaoh himself, and even Pharaoh was prospering because of Joseph. Some nine or ten years later, two years in the draught, God started working; that is on the whole family. Old ways were being broke down, old habits being ripped apart, a lot of pain and suffering, at least for those still in Canaan. The family was hungry, and I’d say that hunger could make a fellow do things that he normally wouldn’t do otherwise. The pride was beginning to diminish with brothers, and some of the arrogance was starting to fade away, as they had to prepare and travel to the foreign land to beg some stranger, (so they thought), to feed them and their cattle.
Now we get to the heart of the story as Joseph had to restrain himself with the ten brothers, for he wanted to know if their life and ideas were changing. At least this is what God was working on, and still had a few more things to teach Joseph. By the time the brothers saw that their money was placed in their sacks, and then again placed along with the silver cup, all were scared stiff, if not straight. But what were they going to tell father Jacob when his only son left by Rachael, his beloved, was captured. This had all the appearances of going wrong in every direction, but God’s plan was working. As Judah stepped up in intercessory for the youngest boy Benjamin, and was willing to take his stead as a slave to the Governor. Joseph heart was touched, as he wept, seeing the changes taking place right in front of him.
Folks, there is a lot going on this part of the story, as everyone involved was being orchestrated, and engineered by God and molded to their place and purpose, even Pharaoh. Father Jacob was still hurting and scared, he was old, losing his sight, but God was giving him a new sight. The ten brothers were being humiliated, and were learning the real meaning of working together and of family, not looking at their own selfish wants, but the needs of others. As they were now in agreement to not let their youngest brother or their dad be hurt, not to be the cause of any of the others pain, so they were willing to give their own life to save the others. They had repented, in other words, changed their mind that reflected in their deeds.
Now Pharaoh ended up being a pretty good guy, as he also learned from Joseph, which was really God’s doings, and gave the good of the land.
Jacobs’, which means deceiver, life was changing also. It took the pain, even though it was based on a lie, and the fear of losing another son, for him to come to himself and accept the deeper things of God. Earlier God had changed his name to Israel, but was many times still called Jacob, but now he came into his true name with his true blessings that he had for the entire family. He had eyes to see, at least more clearly. For he was a much more of genteel man in his old age, as opposed to that of his earlier life. Israel was now set to be a part of his forefathers and to take his place that God had appointed.
Joseph, like all of us, started young, immature, or best just come out and say it; stupid, as he created most of his problems. Bragging here and there, strutting around with his fancy coat, taunting his older brothers, he created himself a pit that he couldn’t get out of, but God had a plan. It took many years for Joseph to grow up, but with so many years in prison, he had time to listen. Still thinking himself important, he told the butler to remember him, that was another mistake.
But when Pharaoh placed him in-charge, he took it very seriously, and began to also view things differently. As all of Egypt was at his command, he probably learned that the mistakes he made had sometimes severe consequences. Anyway he grew and matured to a man that had reason.
Did you notice, that when the ten brothers had bowed and humbled themselves that it touched the very heart of Joseph? When the brothers went to apologizing, begging for mercy, and placed their very person at his feet, that Joseph saw that the whole ordeal was a plan of Gods’. He not only let them off the hook, he took the time to explain that God had engineered the whole thing, and they were not to be blamed.
I think that is exactly what we should do, when someone that has done us wrong, comes to himself, repents and tries to make amends. That is, not only forgive them, but treat it as if it never happened. Take the attention off the problem and find that silk-lining that has been there from the start, for God always has a plan. ‘All things work together for good…’, always has and always will.