Introduction: What comes to mind when you think about Joseph, son of Jacob? Many of us, including me, tend to think first of his “coat of many colors” and his dreams. That’s true, but that’s only part of the story. In fact, Joseph spent several years away from his family in a foreign land, rising eventually from slave to sovereign. Through it all, Joseph never lost faith in God and God rewarded him at the proper time.
Joseph’s life, not counting his first 17 years at home, could be divided into three basically unequal periods of time. He was sold into Egypt as a slave at 17, and spent 13 years as the slave of Potiphar. He then was promoted to prime minister, “vizier” or similar title, and guided Egypt through seven years of plenty followed by seven more years of famine. He then arranged for his entire family to relocate to Egypt, and stayed there until he died at the age of 110. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights—and low-lights—of Joseph’s life.
1 The years of slavery
Text: Genesis 37:25-28, 36, KJV: 25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? 27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. 28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.
The story of Joseph being sold into slavery is one of the darkest in the Bible. Among other things, it shows the depth of evil and hatred in the human heart. How could brothers do this to their own brother is a mystery to me—but it shouldn’t be. After all, hatred of one brother for another goes all the way back to Genesis 4 and the conflict between Cain and Abel!
At the time of this episode, Joseph was 17 and was the favorite son of their father. We’re familiar or should be with the story how Jacob sent Joseph to verify the status of the other ten brothers and the flocks. That’s when Joseph was thrown into a pit and later sold into slavery.
No matter how far Egypt was from Jacob’s land, Joseph was going to be thrown into a whole new world. He wouldn’t be the favorite son anymore; now, he would be just a slave. He wouldn’t be bringing back any bad reports about his brothers—he was many miles away and they probably thought they’d never hear his voice again.
In fact, Joseph may have thought he’d never speak his own language, Hebrew, again unless there were other Hebrew slaves in Egypt at the time, and there is no record in the Scriptures that was the case during this time.
As it turned out—call this God’s providence—Joseph was bought by Potiphar. This man was “an officer of Pharaoh” and thus he seemed to be in relatively high rank. Nothing is said about how much Potiphar gave for Joseph or how they navigated the language barrier. No matter: Joseph seemed to be resigned to living the rest of his days in Egypt in Potiphar’s household.
We don’t know how long Joseph stayed and/or served Potiphar but he eventually gained Potiphar’s trust. Eventually Potiphar trusted Joseph enough that Joseph took care of almost everything under Potiphar’s authority. God had led these two together and God was blessing Potiphar because of Joseph (Gen. 39:1-6).
But trouble found Joseph, even though he was innocent. Potiphar’s wife began to be quite fond of Joseph and even tried to seduce him! Joseph wanted nothing to do with this and even told her, “Even though my master—your husband—trusts me with everything, you’re his wife and you’re off limits! How could I commit this kind of wickedness and sin against God?”
That didn’t stop her, as verses 10-12 state. She had one final, evil, trick up her sleeve, though, and I still haven’t figured this one out. She grabbed his coat or outer garment, he fled but left the coat with her, and ran for dear life, we might say! Now, the problem is that even though Joseph wouldn’t yield to her desires, she tried to have him done away with or something! Her lies led her husband to “do something”—Potiphar had Joseph thrown into a prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were kept (verses 20-23). She may have thought she had done away with Joseph, but God had other ideas.
At an unspecified period of time, Pharaoh’s chief butler and chief baker were thrown into the same prison as Joseph. While serving his (life?) sentence, Joseph had earned the trust and respect of the “warden”, we might say (keeper of the prison, KJV). As a trusted employee, of a sort, Joseph had been given the responsibility for these two prisoners.
Now we come to one of the transition points in the story—almost. We probably know about Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams and he did so for each man, the butler and baker. Joseph listened to the dreams, told each man exactly what the dream signified, and gave a prophecy or prediction for each man. And each prediction came true: the butler was restored to his prior position but the chief baker was hanged. Joseph had asked the butler to remember him, explaining he had done nothing to deserve being thrown into this prison. This, by the way, may be the only complaint Joseph ever uttered.
Oh, by the way, did the butler remember to speak well of Joseph, as Joseph requested? Sure.
But it took two more years before that happened!
2 The years of sovereignty
Text, Genesis 41:38-45, KJV: 38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? 39 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art. 40 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. 41 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. 42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; 43 And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. 44 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. 45 And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.
Two years after Joseph interpreted the butler’s dream, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had a pair of dreams that left him completely confused, baffled, or whatever term you can think of. He had asked all his advisers, and they couldn’t tell Pharaoh what his dreams meant.
Now the chief butler, perhaps with a bit of embarrassment, spoke to the Pharaoh, telling him how Joseph had correctly interpreted his own dream two years before. Better late than never, I suppose, for him to remember Joseph!
That was enough for Pharaoh, who had Joseph taken out of the “dungeon” or prison. Joseph shaved himself—custom of the Egyptians—and stood before Pharaoh, who related his dreams. Joseph then understood the dreams, and explained what they meant. And that wasn’t all, as Joseph gave some advice for the future. All of this was good advice for Pharaoh and he decided he would do something for Joseph.
He promoted Joseph from slave to sovereign! The text above shows how Joseph became the second-in-command to Pharaoh himself and received other things from Pharaoh. Among these other benefits were new clothing, servants, a new Egyptian name, and an Egyptian wife.
Under Joseph’s leadership, the people gathered, as some might say, more grain than they knew what to do with but stored it. Joseph had said there was going to be seven years of plenty, and there were. He had also predicted, by interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, that there was going to be seven years of famine.
Indeed those years of famine came. So also came people from who knows how far away to Egypt to buy grain.
The point of contact? Joseph.
And Joseph was about to receive some unexpected visitors!
3 The years of sustainment
Text, Genesis 42:1-5, KJV: 1 Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? 2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. 3 And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. 4 But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him. 5 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
The Scofield Reference Bible’s notes on Gen 37:2 give several examples which show Joseph as a “type” or picture of Christ. Take a moment to read those, if you can. Briefly, Joseph was hated by his brothers but eventually saved their lives, much as what happened to Jesus, and what will happen to Israel in the future.
One of the ways Joseph saved the lives of his family was to sell them grain (“corn”, KJV). The famine had not only been a problem for Egypt but also for other parts of the world. From the verses above, the famine had also reached as far away as Jacob’s land. Hence, he said (perhaps sharply?), “Why are you still here? Get down to Egypt and buy some food for us!” Just why there was such a reluctance to do this is not specified, but at any rate, nobody from Jacob’s household lifted a finger or a foot to head to Egypt. That’s where the food was at the time: the available food, that is.
The ten brothers (Benjamin stayed behind, on Jacob’s orders, it seems) went to Egypt and met with Joseph—but they didn’t know him, even though he knew them! The rest of chapter 42 relates how they bought the grain, but once they got home, found their money returned to them! This was another way Joseph had provided for them—it’s anybody’s guess how much the grain would have cost them but Joseph made sure they didn’t spend a penny more than they had to. Needless to say, the brothers, and Jacob, were amazed when they found the money in the sacks!
Needless to say, the food they had purchased didn’t last forever, and in chapter 43 Jacob again said to go back to Egypt and buy some more food. He either didn’t remember, or perhaps didn’t want to face the fact that “the man (in Egypt)” had made a demand: no Benjamin, no sale. They also knew, clearly, that Simeon was still a hostage or captive and had little if any hope of them seeing him again.
Eventually, Jacob agreed to let Benjamin go with them. The rest of chapter 43, 44 and most of 45 detail how Joseph proved he was their brother and that he was there, in his position, to save their lives—five more years of famine were on the horizon. After this, the rest of Genesis tells how Jacob and all the family re-settled in Egypt. They—Jacob’s household—was able to live in Goshen, some of the best and most watered land in all Egypt. Jacob was even asked to visit Pharaoh, and did so. Jacob’s last words are in Genesis 49.
We’re not told how long Joseph stayed in power as second-in-command to Pharaoh or if he could retire from his duties. Even so, for as long as he could, Joseph arranged to keep his family provided with food and the other things needed for life.
Eventually, and ironically, Joseph was the first of the twelve brothers to die. He did leave commands for the descendants to take his coffin from Egypt so that his body could be buried in Canaan. And years later, the Israelites did so, once they began the Exodus. But that’s another story for another time.
In conclusion, Joseph’s life seemed to stop when his own brothers sold him into slavery. He kept at it, kept trusting in God, and eventually he was promoted from slave to sovereign, the second most powerful man in Egypt. God used him in that capacity to provide food for many people. And he was able to sustain his family, bringing them to Egypt so he could provide for them.
Noble Joseph, we salute you!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
