Joseph - From Petted Child To Inmate Series

January 11, 2025

As we approach the end of Genesis, there is one conclusion we can come to – People struggle. More often than not, when faced with a moral or ethical choice our list of characters failed. And they did so in spectacular fashion.

Joseph came from a long line of spectacular failures. Lies. Deceit. Theft. Favoritism. Greed. Lust. Murder. You name the sin and we will probably find it somewhere in Joseph’s Family Tree.

As we know, Joseph was Jacob’s Favorite son and Joseph benefitted from that favoritism = colorful coat.

Joseph was also a tattle-tale and enjoyed sharing his dreams of future glory with his brothers – all things that would make Dale Carnegie very sad (author of “how to win friends and influence people”).

I would say that, while Joseph was not bad yet, he had every potential of ending up there.

Joseph’s brothers hated him and when finally given the opportunity, they decided to kill him. Only Reuben’s intervention prevented that eventuality.

Genesis 37:23-24 - So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe -- the richly ornamented robe he was wearing -- and they took him and threw him into the empty cistern.

So, we left Jospeh down a well ---- future unknown.

After throwing Joseph down the well, his brother’s enjoyed a little lunch. While they were eating, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming down the road – it was headed for Egypt. The lightbulb went on in Judah’s head:

“Hey guys, great idea ---- it isn’t going to benefit us any to kill Joseph and then try to cover it up, sooooo, why not sell him instead. That way we’d be rid of him and have a little coin in our pockets. After all, he is our brother.”

And so, Joseph was sold for 20 shekels of silver.

• Ellen White {PP 213-214}: With a trembling heart he looked forward to the future. What a change in situation -- from the tenderly cherished son to the despised and helpless slave! Alone and friendless, what would be his lot in the strange land to which he was going? For a time Joseph gave himself up to uncontrolled grief and terror. But, in the providence of God, even this experience was to be a blessing to him. He had learned in a few hours that which years might not otherwise have taught him. His father, strong and tender as his love had been, had done him wrong by his partiality and indulgence. This unwise preference had angered his brothers and provoked them to the cruel deed that had separated him from his home. Its effects were manifest also in his own character. Faults had been encouraged that were now to be corrected. He was becoming self-sufficient and exacting. Accustomed to the tenderness of his father's care, he felt that he was unprepared to cope with the difficulties before him, in the bitter, uncared-for life of a stranger and a slave.

Then his thoughts turned to his father's God. In his childhood he had been taught to love and fear Him. Often in his father's tent he had listened to the story of the vision that Jacob saw as he fled from his home an exile and a fugitive. He had been told of the Lord's promises to Jacob, and how they had been fulfilled -- how, in the hour of need, the angels of God had come to instruct, comfort, and protect him. And he had learned of the love of God in providing for men a Redeemer. Now all these precious lessons came vividly before him. Joseph believed that the God of his fathers would be his God. He then and there gave himself fully to the Lord, and he prayed that the Keeper of Israel would be with him in the land of his exile.

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. It's terrible calamity had transformed him from a petted child to a man, thoughtful, courageous, and self-possessed.

Joseph could have ended up like the rest of his family, but he didn’t because he made a choice. He chose God and by doing so, he broke the cycle.

It’s a good lesson to be learned. Every family is dysfunctional in some way. We inherit from our ancestors all sorts of ingrained behaviors and tendencies, BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN WE MUST ACT ON THOSE BEHAVIORS AND TENDENCIES. We can make different choices. We can choose to create a different legacy.