Vol.10 No.3

Joseph
The Hebrew slave who saved Egyptian civilization.
by Lyn Snyder

For lovers of great stories, the life of Joseph has it all: intrigue, adventure and drama, adverse circumstances, inspiration in the face of a life of astounding success, all iced with an emotional happy ending. But the thought that Joseph is a type of Jesus, the Messiah, is not what strikes the average reader.

Joseph was born into a truly dysfunctional family. Four mothers bore to Jacob twelve sons and some daughters. The boys were wild, unruly and most likely a source of constant anxiety and grief to their father—except one. Joseph was not only physically attractive and intelligent, but he obeyed his father’s instructions and loved God. He was one of the two sons born to Jacob’s favorite, but now deceased wife, Rachel. Eventually, Jacob gave in to favoritism (Genesis 37:3).

His preference for Joseph was bound to elicit jealousy from the older brothers, and Jacob’s injudicious choice to make him an expensive coat didn’t help the situation. Joseph also had two dreams that inferred that at some stage in his life his brothers and his father would bow down to him. On the other hand, the pampering Joseph received from his father did not in the least prepare him for the hardships that lay ahead.

Through Hard Times

When Joseph was about seventeen, Jacob sent him to find his brothers, who were gone with the flocks in search for new pasture, and to bring back news of their safety. As they saw him approaching in his elaborate coat, their long-cherished anger finally erupted and they vowed to kill him. The wiser eldest, Reuben, convinced them not to do it, but suggested they throw Joseph into a pit instead. Reuben intended to secretly rescue him and send him home. But in his absence, a caravan of merchants bound for Egypt passed by and the brothers sold Joseph as a slave.

The trip to Egypt was a very harrowing one for the youngster. At first Joseph succumbed to uncontrolled grief and fear. But even this experience was allowed by Providence for a purpose. In his upbringing certain traits of character had not been corrected. He felt vulnerable and helpless, but then his thoughts turned to the God of his father. “His soul thrilled with the high resolve to prove himself true to God—under all circumstances to act as became a subject of the King of heaven. He would serve the Lord with undivided heart; he would meet the trials of his lot with fortitude and perform every duty with fidelity. One day’s experience had been the turning point in Joseph’s life. Its terrible calamity had transformed him from a petted child to a man, thoughtful, courageous, and self-possessed.”¹

In Egypt, one of Pharaoh’s high-ranking officers bought Joseph. Before long his master realized the caliber of the young man and promoted him to steward over all his possessions. “Faithful attention to duty in every station, from the lowliest to the most exalted, had been training every power for its highest service.”² But Joseph’s backbone was soon to be tested. When the master’s wife set up a trap for him, he chose the risk of his master’s displeasure rather than sin. Joseph’s words sparkled like bright stars amidst the dark immorality of his age: “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). This choice resulted in his imprisonment.

The jailers treated the Hebrew slave very harshly. But Joseph’s character shone through again, and he was promoted to a position of responsibility over the other prisoners. Two of his fellow inmates were former employees of the king. They both had dreams that they could not interpret. God revealed their meanings to Joseph, and when both his interpretations came true, and the one returned to the king’s court, Joseph asked to be remembered.

From the Dungeon to the Palace

Unfortunately, the man forgot his promise until two years later when the king had a dream no one in the land could explain. Pharaoh summoned Joseph, the dream was related, and the meaning given. There were to be seven good years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Joseph suggested a plan of action—that someone be appointed to oversee the gathering of food into storage during the good years, to be dispensed during the bad years. Pharaoh decreed, “Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art: thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou” (Genesis 41:39, 40). What a remarkable ascendancy—from inmate to prime minister! Pharaoh must have been very impressed with Joseph to entrust the future of his kingdom in a time of unprecedented crisis to a total stranger and a foreign slave.

When the great famine struck, it affected not only Egypt, but also the surrounding countries. Word soon spread that there was food for sale in Egypt, and Jacob, living in Canaan, sent ten of his sons to purchase grain. Upon their arrival in Egypt they appeared before Joseph, and “bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth” (Genesis 42:6). Joseph couldn’t help but remember the dreams of his childhood.

His brothers, however, did not recognize him, dressed in his expensive Egyptian clothes and speaking to them through an Egyptian interpreter. Joseph wanted to see if his brothers’ cruel characters had changed. Through subterfuge he forced them to bring Benjamin, his full brother, to Egypt, and then he accused Benjamin of a grave crime. The other brothers begged that one of them suffer the punishment, as it would kill their father to lose yet another of his beloved sons.

The Recognition

Joseph was now satisfied that there had been true repentance in his brothers, and he finally revealed who he was. At first the brothers were frozen in shock. But Joseph’s tears of joy and reassuring words quickly dissipated all tension and fear. “Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. . . . to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance” (Genesis 45:5, 7). There was no bitterness, no resentment, no self-pitying on account of an abused childhood and harassed youth, no revenge therapy.

Instead, Joseph became the savior of his brothers and an illustration of the mission of Christ. Both knew the meaning of “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11). Both were falsely accused because of their virtue. Both faced injustice with patience and meekness, and readily forgave those who offended them. Both turned most adverse circumstances into life-impacting victories: for Joseph, those of his family; for Jesus, those of all humankind.

The drama ends with the beautiful reunion of father and son. “Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father . . . and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while” (Genesis 46:29).

References:

1. White, Ellen G., The Story of Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 214.
2. Ibid., p. 222.