|
Joseph
is one of the greatest human beings who ever lived.
He suffered much, and yet remained faithful. He
had the authority to punish those who harmed him,
but he forgave them. He was a very able leader
and administrator. He was gifted by the Lord to
interpret dreams. God used Joseph to keep the
Chosen People alive, and save the lives of multiplied
thousands in Egypt.
The circumstances
of Joseph's life will cause the Jewish people
to enter Egypt. This will be part of the fulfillment
of the prophecy that the Lord made to Abraham
found in 15:13-14, that Abraham's descendants
will be strangers in a land that is not theirs,
where they will be enslaved and oppressed for
400 years, and that nation will be punished by
God. The Jewish people will be rescued out of
slavery, and come away with much wealth. It is
the life of Joseph that is the transition from
the life of the Jewish people in Canaan, to Egypt,
and the background for the great experience of
redemption out of Egypt.
Even though
Joseph had been rejected by his brothers, and
sold into a life of slavery, and then falsely
accused of rape, and thrown into prison, Moses
writes nothing about Joseph giving up hope, or
despairing, or threatening to kill himself, or
becoming angry with God, or blaming the Almighty
for his troubles, or refusing to serve Him.
While
in prison, Joseph accurately interpreted the dreams
of Pharaoh's chief baker and wine steward. Joseph
asked the chief wine steward, when he was restored
to his office, to keep Joseph in mind, and use
his influence with Pharaoh to release him from
prison, because he was an innocent man being held
for a crime he did not commit. The chief cupbearer
was restored to his position, just as Joseph had
said. God had clearly been speaking through this
son of Israel. Now, the Lord generally does not
speak in special prophetic ways through the wicked,
but through the righteous. Joseph must have been
excited, and hopeful that the cupbearer would
understand this, and intervene on his behalf,
and that he would soon be released from prison.
But, again
Joseph was let down by man, and the head wine
steward forgot about Joseph, and did not mention
this special man, who was close to God, and who
was able to interpret dreams, to the king, so
that he would be released. Joseph will remain
in jail for what seems to be another two years.
Again, Joseph does not despair, curse God or give
up his faith in the God of Israel. Quite the opposite
- he remains true to the Lord, and continues serving
Him while in prison.
Joseph
has now been prepared by experience, suffering,
and by testing, for his next great challenge,
interpreting the dreams of the king of one of
the most powerful nations on Earth, and saving
that nation, and many other people, and especially
his own people, through whom the Lord will bring
salvation to the world.
At the
end of two years the Lord gave the king of Egypt
two special dreams. None of the wise men and the
magicians in the kingdom were able to interpret
them. Then, the head wine steward remembered that
Joseph had been able to properly interpret his
dream. He finally informed Pharaoh, and Joseph
was summoned by Pharaoh. Since the Egyptians did
not wear beards, Joseph was shaved, and changed
his clothes, so he could appear in a way that
was pleasing to the king.
When he
appeared before Pharaoh, Joseph witnessed to the
king about God's reality. He made it clear that
it would be the one true and living God who would
be giving Joseph the wisdom and understanding
to properly interpret his dream. Joseph understood
that the Lord is the one who gives every human
being the gifts, talents, abilities, skills and
opportunities that they will ever have, and so
he communicated to Pharaoh that the God of Israel
is the one who should be given the credit our
achievements.
The king
then told Joseph his two dreams: seven fat cows
were eaten by seven lean cows, and seven fat,
full ears of grain were swallowed by seven thin
ears of grain. Both dreams meant the same thing:
there would be seven years of great harvests followed
by seven years of terrible harvests and famine.
The dreams were repeated twice, indicating that
the matter was determined by God, and the fulfillment
would happen quickly.
Not only
did the Lord give Joseph the insight to interpret
the dreams, but he also gave him the wisdom to
come up with a plan: twenty percent of the grain
from the years of abundance would be collected
and stored, and held in reserve, to be used during
the years of famine.
Pharaoh
and his servants recognized that Joseph was wise
and had the spirit of God in him, and should be
put in charge of this great project. In one of
the most remarkable promotions in history, Joseph
the Hebrew slave and prisoner, is made the prime
minister of one of the greatest nations of the
world, with all its power and honors that accompanied
it!
We all
need to know that the Living God surely rewards
the righteous, the innocent and the long- suffering!
Most will not be rewarded in this life as Joseph
was, but all who have faithfully served the Lord
will receive honors similar to Joseph - even greater
honors, in the World To Come! It's truly worth
serving the God of Israel!
Joseph
was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh,
so it seems that Joseph spent 13 years as a slave.
Joseph
married Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest
of On. On was the center for worship of the sun
god, Ra. They had two sons: the first he named
M'na-she, which means "he causes to forget" because
God was helping him to forget (nasheh) all his
troubles. The second son was called Ephraim, meaning
"fruitful" because the Lord enabled him to be
fruitful in the land where he had suffered so
much deprivation.
All of
suffer will suffer in this life. It's better to
suffer for doing what is right, and suffer in
the service of God and Messiah. If you do suffer
for the sake of righteousness, and for God and
Messiah, and if you endure with a good attitude,
like Joseph did, know that eventually He will
cause you to forget your troubles, and make you
fruitful!
As we
have seen with the sons of Judah, and now with
Joseph, Jewish and Biblical heritage goes primarily
through the father. There is no question that
M'nashe and Ephraim were Jews, even though they
had an Egyptian mother and a Jewish father. Messianic
Judaism therefore recognizes both patrilineal
and matrilineal descent for Jewish identity.
Chapter
41 ends with the end of the seven years of abundance,
and the beginning of the seven years of famine.
The famine affected not only Egypt, but included
the surrounding nations as well. Because the Lord
had prepared Joseph, and given the dreams to Pharaoh,
and allowed Joseph to interpret them correctly,
and because they were able to prepare during the
seven good years, there was plenty of food in
Pharaoh's storehouses, enough to sell to the Egyptians,
and to non-Egyptians who traveled to Egypt to
buy the food. In chapter 42, Moses tells us that
Jacob and his family were part of those affected
by this famine. They heard about the abundance
of food in Egypt, and ten of Israel's sons left
for Egypt, leaving Benjamin, the youngest, and
the full brother of Joseph, the only other son
of Jacob through Rachel, behind. They came to
Joseph, who was in charge of selling the food,
and they bowed down before him, fulfilling his
earlier prophetic dreams. He recognized them,
but they did not recognize him.
Joseph,
who had suffered so much because of them, now
had more power than his brothers, and could have
arrested them and had them enslaved or executed.
But he didn't. He didn't have hatred in his heart
toward his brothers. But he didn't trust them
either. What he did is begin a process of testing,
to see if they were still the same men who so
terribly mistreated him years earlier, or if they
were remorseful for having so terribly mistreated
their younger brother. Joseph will create a similar
situation to the one he was in, and see if they
will handle it the same unjust way, or properly.
So, he didn't tell his brothers who he was. Instead,
he spoke harshly to them, and accused them of
being spies. They respond with a denial of the
accusation, and told the prime minister of Egypt
that they were the sons of a man who lived in
Canaan, and that they had one dead brother, and
their youngest brother remained with their father
in Canaan.
Joseph
demanded that they return home, and bring the
youngest brother back to Egypt as proof of their
truthfulness. Then, he put them into prison for
three days, which gave them a taste of their own
medicine (what you sow, that shall you reap),
and showed them his authority. I'm sure that after
their time in prison they had even more respect
and fear for the prime minister of Egypt. He was
not a man to fool with. Then, he kept Simeon as
a captive, and bound him in front of them, so
that they would know that Simeon's life as a captive
would not be a pleasant one. It would force them
to come back quickly to free Simeon, and ensure
that they would Benjamin with them.
The reaction
of the brothers reveals they had a guilty conscience.
They understood that what a man sows, that shall
he reap. Years ago they had sown distress to their
brother Joseph, and ignored his pleas to be released,
and now they were reaping distress, and they were
not being released. God was paying them back for
ruining the life of their brother, by selling
their brother into a horrible life of slavery.
A guilty
conscience, but one that is willing to be truthful,
and admit to the wrongdoing, is a good thing,
and a part of the process of redemption. Do you
have a guilty conscience? Does your conscience
accuse you of having done something wrong, something
that needs to be admitted, something that needs
to be corrected? Don't ignore your conscience.
Then Joseph
did something unusual. He sold his brothers the
food they needed, but he had their money returned
to them, and hidden in a sack of grain. When they
discovered the money in their sacks, they were
dismayed. This was most unusual! God must be involved
with this! This complicated this delicate situation
with the prime minister! Maybe they would be thought
of as thieves as well as spies!
Despite
Reuben's offer to take responsibility for Benjamin,
and his offer that Jacob could kill two of his
sons if he failed to bring Benjamin safely home
with him, Jacob refused to allow to Benjamin,
whom he obviously loved very much, to go to Egypt,
even for the purpose of redeeming Simeon from
prison.
He feared
that Benjamin would be lost in Egypt, and that
would cause Jacob to die of sorrow.
That brings
us to chapter 43, which records the second visit
of the sons of Israel to Egypt. The famine was
severe in Canaan, and Jacob's family were running
out of food. Finally, Jacob relented and allowed
Benjamin to go to Egypt with his brothers, so
that they could buy more food. Jacob instructed
his sons to take a gift to Egypt's prime minister,
along with the money that they paid the first
time, but was returned to them, along with additional
money.
When they
arrived in Egypt, Joseph saw Benjamin with them,
and invited them to eat with him in his house.
It was unusual for strangers to be invited to
the home of such a high official, and the brothers
were afraid that it meant trouble for them. The
man in charge of Joseph's home reunited Simeon
with his brothers. When Joseph came home, they
again bowed down to Joseph, acknowledging his
superiority, thus again fulfilling his first dreams,
and they gave Joseph the gifts they had brought
from Canaan. Joseph asked them how his father
was doing, and must have been relieved and thankful
that Jacob was still alive. When Joseph saw his
brother Benjamin, he was overcome with emotion,
and left the room, and wept.
When it
was time to serve the meal, Joseph ate by himself,
and the other Egyptians who were eating with them,
ate by themselves, and the sons of Israel ate
by themselves, since the Egyptians found it distasteful
to eat with them. This seems to be a very early
case of racial or religious prejudice.
Also,
the eleven sons of Jacob were seated at the table
in the order of their birth. Of course, the reason
why they were seated in order was because Joseph
knew the order of their birth, but they didn't
know that he knew, and were astonished. How do
the Egyptians have this knowledge? What is going
on? What can this mean?
Again
Joseph continued tested them. Joseph served them
portions from his own table, which was an honor,
but he served Benjamin five times as much as the
others. Would the older brothers become resentful
of their youngest brother for being favored, as
they had resented Joseph for being favored years
earlier? Or, would they rejoice in the blessing
of their brother, as good men should?
Joseph
continued testing his brothers. In chapter 44
he instructed his house steward to fill their
sacks with food, and like the first time he sold
food to his brothers, he returned their money
by having it put it in their sacks. He also had
a silver cup placed in Benjamin's sack of food.
When they left, but were still close to the city,
he had his house steward go after them, and of
course he found the silver cup in Benjamin's sack.
Benjamin was guilty of theft, and the penalty
was the loss of his freedom. Benjamin would have
to remain in Egypt as a slave to the prime minister.
The brothers were upset, since they loved their
brother, and knew how much his loss would devastate
their father.
When they
appeared before the prime minister, they stood
together as brothers should, and they all took
responsibility for what had taken place and offered
to be his servants. This spoke well of them. They
also acknowledged their guilt before God, and
understood that their present difficulties were
just - they were experiencing God's righteous
punishment for what they did to Joseph.
They believed
that God's scales of judgment tend to balance
themselves. Although we may not always be immediately
punished for the sins which we have committed,
when we are punished, and the punishment we are
receiving doesn't seem fair, it really is fair
in light of our many others sins which we were
not punished for.
The prime
minister didn't want all of the brothers to become
slaves - just Benjamin. Then Judah did something
noble. He offered to take the place of Benjamin,
and give up his freedom, and become a slave, instead
of his brother. He did so for the sake of his
father, because his father loved Benjamin, the
beloved son of his beloved Rachel, and because
he had promised to guarantee the life of his brother
Benjamin.
Wow. What
a difference from the way the brothers had treated
Joseph years earlier! Judah and his brothers had
passed the test! They were different men from
the ones who sold Joseph into a live of slavery.
Joseph
needed to test his brothers to make sure they
were worthy of the title brother. In a similar
way, God will test us to make sure that we are
worthy of the title, "child of God." Each one
of us enters into this world dead in trespasses
and sins. We are enemies of God. We are unworthy
of His trust. Our character must be transformed.
So, God
will test us. He will bring circumstances into
our lives that are designed to lead us to faith
in God, and faith in Messiah Yeshua. The Lord
will keep an eye on us, seeing if acknowledge
that we have done things wrong, and if we are
remorseful over our sins, and if we truly change
our ways.
Now Joseph
is sure that his brothers are worthy of the title
"brothers," and so in chapter 45, he finally reveals
himself to them. He ordered everyone out of his
presence except his brothers, and he wept, and
announced, "I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?"
His brothers were startled, so much so that they
couldn't respond. How could it be possible? Joseph,
whom they had sold into slavery, has become the
powerful prime minister of the mighty nation of
Egypt? They were stunned. I'm sure they must have
been thinking, "oy - are we are in trouble! What
a man sows, that he will reap. We ruined Joseph's
life, and he didn't deserve it. Now he has the
power to ruin our lives, and we do deserve it.
But Joseph
was merciful, and gracious, and anticipated their
concerns, and assured them that he was not angry
with them, and did not intend to harm them. In
fact, this entire situation came under the providence
of God. The Almighty had been using them to further
His plans. The Creator had been working behind
the scenes, making sure that Joseph would be in
Egypt at the right time, and prepared for his
great task, so that he could save many people
during this great famine, particularly the lives
of the Chosen People.
And, things
turned out exceedingly well for Joseph. He was
very close to Pharaoh, who respected him. He was
like a father to the King of Egypt! He was virtually
the ruler of Egypt! Joseph expressed the truth
that Rabbi Paul later described - that God causes
all things to work together for good to those
who love God and are called to fulfill His purpose.
How comforting it is to know that the Lord is
able to bring good from the difficult situations
that may come into my life, and your life!
Joseph
kissed all his brothers, and wept because of the
joy he felt for his brothers who were restored
to him, and for the goodness of God to him. Joseph
gave gifts to his brothers, and particularly to
Benjamin, the son of both his mother and father,
who never harmed him.
Joseph
told them to quickly go back to Canaan, and return
with the entire family to Egypt. It was necessary
because there were still five more years of famine.
When they returned, they would be settled in the
region of Goshen, which was an area that was suited
for shepherding.
When Pharaoh
found out the news about Joseph's family being
restored to him, he was very warm to his family,
and welcomed them to Egypt as his honored guests,
and offered them the best that Egypt had to offer.
When the
brothers told Jacob about Joseph, he was stunned,
and at first did not believe that Joseph was alive,
and the ruler of Egypt. But when they told him
what Joseph had said, and the wagons that the
Egyptians had provided to help them travel to
Egypt, Jacob's spirit revived, and he wanted to
go to Egypt to see his long lost son.
One of
the exciting things in reading the Bible is finding
how the Holy Scriptures point us to Messiah. Joseph
is one of the greatest men who ever lived, but
his life points us to Someone Even Greater. There
are many parallels between Joseph and Yeshua:
- Both were the favored
son of their father.
- Both were righteous.
- Both were meant to
be the heads of their family. Both were meant
to lead their Jewish brothers as well as others
nations as well.
- Both were rejected
by the majority of their brothers.
- Bother suffered unjustly.
- Both were suffering
servants.
- Both remained faithful
to God in the midst of their suffering.
- Both were thought to
be dead but in actuality were alive.
- Both were vindicated
by God.
- Both revealed himself
to his brothers after a long time.
- Both were merciful
and gracious and forgiving.
- Both were elevated
to power and glory and wealth and honor.
- Both were the prime
minister of the king of a powerful nation.
- Both gave salvation
to Israel and other nations.
Thank
God for Joseph, and the One greater than Joseph
- Yeshua, the King of Israel and the Savior of
the world!
|
