Joseph was the firstborn of Jacob's second wife, Rachel. Rachel was Jacob's true love although due to some subterfuge by her father he ended up marrying Rachel's sister Leah first and he didn't love her. There was a "battle of the wombs" between the two women which eventually involved each of their maids. Talk about dysfunctional families! Among the 4 of them, Jacob fathered 12 children. Joseph was Rachel's first born and Jacob's favorite son. In fact, Jacob gave Joseph a special varicolored tunic (I think we've all heard of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat"). While poking around to see what was said online about this musical show, I came across a synopsis that tells much of the story of Joseph:
"In this retelling of the Biblical story, Joseph is a handsome young man who is his father's favorite child, able to interpret dreams, and the bearer of an amazing coat. These facts lead Joseph's eleven brothers to become insatiably jealous. Thus, they sell Joseph into slavery to some passing Ishmaelites. After refusing the advances of his owner's wife, Joseph is sent to jail. Once in jail, he quickly becomes popular due to his ability to interpret dreams. The Pharaoh soon hears of Joseph's ability and appoints him to the post of Number Two man in Egypt. Years later, Joseph's now starving brothers arrive in Egypt and ask Joseph, whom they don't recognize, for assistance. Joseph, in turn, gives his brothers a scare, but eventually grants them all they desire, reveals his identity, and reunites the family."
Joseph went through a lot of trials during his early years: his brothers hated him and sold him to Ishmaelites headed to Egypt who later sold him to Potiphar who was the chief executioner for the Pharaoh. God was with Joseph and he did a marvelous job looking after all of Potiphar's property UNTIL "Mrs. Potiphar" tried to seduce him and he rejected her and ran out of the house. Of course, Mrs. P. was very upset so she decided to lie and tell her dear Mr. P. that Joseph came to her. While Mr. P. was angry, it would seem from the wording of Genesis that Mr. P. probably didn't believe his wife. So, rather than kill Joseph (which would have been the appropriate response), Mr. P. put Joseph in the jail which he controlled and he put Joseph in charge of everything there because he knew what a good job Joseph would do.
Up to this point, Joseph's life is pretty much not his own. He is owned and does what he is told. He had quite a difficult life.
Skipping over lots of important stuff here. Eventually, Joseph ended up working for Pharaoh and he became the second dude of Egypt answerable only to Pharaoh himself.
So, you may ask, what's the point? Why relate the story of Joseph? I have an answer.
When I returned home from my class, I read my email. I came across a daily devotional that I get from Greg Laurie that I thought directly related to Joseph's story. Here is a portion:
"A traveler who was visiting a logging area in the northwestern United States watched with great interest as a lumberjack walking alongside a mountain stream periodically jagged his sharp hook into a log and separated it from the others. The traveler asked the logger what he was doing.
"Well, these logs may all look alike to you," the logger said, "but I recognize that some of them are quite different. The ones that I let pass are from trees that grow in a valley, where they are always protected from the storms. The grain on those logs is rather course. But the logs I pull aside come from high up in the mountains, where they are beaten by strong winds from the time they are quite small. This toughens the trees and gives them a fine grain. We save these for choice work. They are too good to be used for ordinary lumber."
Maybe you are facing winds of adversity right now, and you wonder why. Could it be that God is saving you for a choice work? Could it be that He is allowing you to go through hardship so you will be able to do something unique that He has in store for you?"
This is exactly what God is doing with Joseph. God has big plans for Joseph and He is toughening and molding Joseph to be ready to accept the heavy duties God has in store for him: providing a safe place for Jacob's family (the Israelites) to grow and prosper until it was God's time to draft Moses to lead them out of Egypt towards the Promised Land.
Bringing that idea to today's world, are there times when you feel you just can't deal with where you are or what's going on in your life right now? Perhaps God is molding you for something in the future. Joseph was a God-fearing man filled with integrity, trustworthiness, honesty and all that goes along with being a Godly young man. God grew him until he was able to do God's work in God's way. Is that what God is doing in you right now? Or perhaps your life is going smoothly right now but you may run into difficulties in the future. When that happens, remember Joseph and move forward with integrity, trustworthiness, honesty and look upward to God for the answers.
Blessings,
Mary
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