“The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand… So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had in the house and in the field.” (Genesis 39:2-3, 5 NKJV)
A seventeen
year old boy named Joseph, much loved and favoured above his eleven brothers, is
introduced in the pages of history as a something of a ‘tattletale,’ bringing
his father a bad report of his older brothers, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher,
who were feeding the flock, and they hated him for it. Then this same young man
dreamed dreams that indicated that his siblings, and even his parents, would
one day bow down to him. His older brothers rebuked him and envied him; his
father, Jacob (aka Israel), also
rebuked him for such aggrandizing dreams, but retained these dreams in his mind
and pondered over them (Genesis 37:1-11).
Hatred and
jealousy drove his brothers to want to kill him, but when the oldest brother,
Reuben, told them to shed no blood, they conceded, stripped Joseph of his coat
of many colours (Genesis 37:3, 23), and
threw him into a deep pit, until the fourth in line, Judah, suggested a way to
get rid of their annoying little brother and ‘keep their hands clean’: sell him
to the Midianite traders who were passing by. So, for twenty shekels of silver,
Joseph was carried out of their land and into Egypt (Genesis 37:12-28).
While in
Egypt, God was with Joseph (Genesis 39:2-3, 21-23, also Acts 7:9-10),
and Joseph never forgot God. Joseph would not sin against Him when Potiphar’s
wife tried to lure him (Genesis 39:1-20), and when he was put
into prison after her false accusation, God showed him mercy and gave him
favour in the sight of the prison guard so that Joseph was given charge over
all the prisoners – “whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper” (Genesis 39:21-23).
Joseph,
seeing his fellow prisoners (the king’s chief
baker and the king’s chief butler) looking sad after dreaming troubling
dreams, informed them that dream interpretations belong to God (Genesis 40:8), and after hearing their
dreams and giving their interpretations, Joseph asked the chief butler to
remember him when he was released; the butler forgot him (Genesis 40:14-15, 23), but God did not.
Two years
later, Pharaoh had dreams that he could not understand, and after calling all
his wise men and magicians together, he found that there was not one who could
interpret the dreams; it was then that the chief butler remembered his faults
and mentioned Joseph to the king. Joseph was brought before the king and when
Pharaoh told him that he had heard of his ability to understand and interpret
dreams, Joseph responded: “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an
answer of peace.” (Genesis
41:1-16)
After
giving the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams (Genesis 41:1-32), Joseph told him that God would shortly bring it
to pass so he should select a wise and discerning man to appoint officers to
collect produce during the seven years of plenty, so that there would be food
in the cities during the seven years of famine. This advice was good in the
eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants (Genesis 41:37).
Pharaoh
said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in
whom is the Spirit of God?” Then to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you
all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my
house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word… See, I have set
you over all the land of Egypt… I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man
may lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 41:38-44)
Side notes: Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh (41:46). Pharaoh changed Joseph’s name to Zaphnath-Paaneah (41:45, thought to mean ‘God Speaks and He Lives’, ‘revealer of secrets’, or ‘nourisher of the living one’), and he gave Asenath (daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On/northeastern Cairo) to Joseph as a wife (41:45).
During the
seven years of plenty, Joseph’s wife, Asenath, bore him two sons, and Joseph
glorified God in the very names he gave them: Manasseh – “For God has made me forget all my toil and
all my father’s house” (all the trouble
and suffering he experienced because of his brothers’ envy was forgotten),
and Ephraim – “For God has caused me to be
fruitful in the land of my affliction.” (Genesis 41:50-52, 46:20). In all areas of his life, Joseph gave God
the glory!
When the seven
years of famine had begun, it was severe in all lands, and all countries came
to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain. Jacob/Israel heard that grain was available in
Egypt, and sent ten* of his sons there to buy grain, “that we may live and not die” (Genesis 42:1-2).
*Jacob kept Benjamin from that journey because he was his youngest son – and, to his knowledge, the only remaining son of his loved wife, Rachel (Genesis 37:31-35, 42:3-4, 44:5-31)
The
brothers went before Joseph, who immediately recognized them, but they did not
recognize him. Joseph used this to his advantage to not only share grain with
his family, but also, eventually, bring his whole family to Egypt, including
his younger brother Benjamin (and his
beloved father, Jacob. Read the full account: Genesis 42:1-47:12).
While there
were still five years left of the famine (Genesis 45:6) Joseph revealed himself
to his eleven brothers. He had been in Egypt for 22 years* and his words to his
brothers were these: “God has 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 the land of Egypt… God has made me lord of
all Egypt.” (Genesis 45:7-9)
Joseph was not angry, there was no vengeance, no retaliation – only joy in God
for being with him and granting him the ability to be a help to his family in
their time of need (see Genesis 50:15-21)!
*Joseph was sold at 17, was 30 when he was brought before Pharaoh, then 7 years of plenty, and 2 years of famine
What can we learn from
Joseph?
We are servants of God, no matter what, no
matter where. When
surrounded by ungodly people, or facing temptation, we may think ‘no one will
see me,’ or ‘no one knows me here, so it won’t matter,’ but God is aware; He
sees, He knows. Like Joseph we need to always remember our relationship with
God first, see sin for what it is, and strive to not sin against Him (Psalm 119:10-11; 37, 2 Timothy 2:22) –
we need to abhor what is evil and cling to what is good (Romans 12:9); we need to be faithful and committed to God every moment
of every day because when we faithfully represent God to the world – becoming
blameless and harmless children of God (Philippians
2:15), serving Him first (Colossians 3:22-24)
– we will shine as lights in the world and prove that His will is good and
acceptable and perfect (Matthew 5:14-16, Romans
12:2).
We can bloom wherever we are planted. No matter where you are, you can faithfully
serve God. Even in pagan lands, difficult workplaces, and trying relationships we
can follow the one true God and bear the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), because in reality
you are rooted in Christ (Colossians 2:6-7), you are rooted and grounded in
love (Ephesians 3:14-21), and you are
planted in the house of the LORD (Psalm 92:12-14), so be content with where you
are (Philippians 4:11-13) and flourish
with what you have (abundant daily blessings
from God, Psalm 68:19). Take time to read James, 1:2-4, 2 Peter 3:10-18;
5:6-9
We can give God the glory. It is God in His mercy who gives us
life, breath, and all things (Acts 17:25),
it is He who gives us power to get wealth (Deuteronomy
8:18), it is He who gives us wisdom (James
1:5), and it is He who hears our prayers and answers them (1 John 5:14-15). It is God who called us
out of darkness into His marvelous light (1
Peter 2:9), it is He who gives us abundance for which to do good works (2 Corinthians 9:7-11), and it is He who
gives us abilities to be a benefit to others (1 Peter 4:10-11, Romans 12:4-8) – “It is not me, it is God,” “I’m simply using the abilities and
wherewithal God blessed me with,” “It is God who gave me the time and
opportunity – let Him be thanked.” Read and think on Psalm 16:2, Jeremiah
9:23-24, and James 4:10
We can be gracious and forgiving. We need both grace and forgiveness
from God for our own missteps and sin; if our Creator is faithful to forgive us
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness when we repent and confess our sins to
Him, we need to be forgiving and offer grace to those who trespass against us (Matthew 6:12, 14-15, Colossians 3:12-13).
Think of how God’s love has helped you and healed you, extend that pathway to
those who have hurt you by forgiving them; point them to God, so they may seek help
and healing from Him, too. Consider Matthew 18:15 and James 5:20
Like Daniel, Joseph spent the rest of his days in the foreign land he had been carried off to (Genesis 50:22-26), and through all those years (17 in Canaan, and 93 in Egypt, Genesis 50:26) he never doubted God, nor did he doubt God’s ability to take His people back to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel). Like Joseph, we can trust God throughout our lives – His promises are real; what He has said, He will do (1 Thessalonians 5:24, Psalm 34:8).
Are you ready to trust God completely, serve Him faithfully, and give Him the glory?
You can do it! So can I!!
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