The Goodness of God and the Power of God: On Joseph, Part 1

The privileged son of Israel

The story of Joseph is well-known to most Christians and Jews (and Muslims--a whole Surah is about him.  The story is parallel, though not identical, to the Biblical story).  The story hits so many themes that are constant in classic literature: the favored son, sibling rivalry, slavery, sexual temptation, false accusation, alienation and restoration--you name it, the story has it.

It takes up a great deal of Genesis.  It's too long to quote the whole passage; read it yourself from Genesis 37-50, where Joseph is the major character (except for a rather bizarre story about Judah and his daughter-in-law in Chapter 38).

Now, some people think that Joseph was probably some kind of spoiled brat who was his father's favorite and rubbed that in the faces of his brothers.  Maybe.  We do know he was less than diplomatic in sharing dreams about his brothers--even his father and mother--bowing down to him.  Not a great way to score points with your family.  But there's little to state one way or another that Joseph was some kind of insufferable brat or saintly kid in the text that we have.  At any rate, it's pretty cold-hearted for your older brothers to plot your death, and then after discussion decide to "merely" sell you into slavery, hoping that you'll die in some far off land as the dregs of society.  It's hard to argue that even a bratty kid deserves such punishment.

So here's Joseph: betrayed by his family, sold as a slave to a far-off land, surrounded by idol worshippers--not exactly the fulfillment of his dreams.  But, things start to look up: he's bright and handsome, and advances quickly in his household, eventually being put in charge of the whole house of a very important man.  Maybe not ideal (hey, he's still a slave, remember?), but much better off than many, many people at that time.  Count your blessings, Joseph!

Then things turn ugly: his master's wife wants to have an affair commit adultery with him, which may have been tempting on one level, but is a great way to be killed in a slow, painful way by a jealous husband (no legal protections for slaves back then, remember?)--though Joseph doesn't use that as the reason not to sin: he says "How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”  In spite of the horrible things that have happened to him, Joseph still does not want to sin against God.

And then, God rewards him for doing right?  No way for this José--he's false accused, not of adultery, but rape!  His commitment to being sexually pure is rewarded by one of the most despicable acts one human can do to another.

Somehow, miraculously even, Joseph isn't killed--he's put in prison.  We're not told why Joseph wasn't put to death in some particularly gruesome way.  Maybe his master was suspicious of his wife, and figured that Joseph wasn't that kind of a person, but he had to do something.  We just don't know.

So there Joseph is: from bad to worse--the only lower than a slave, a slave in prison.  Thanks, God.  Thanks for all those dreams of being the big cheese in my household.

Yet we don't read about Joseph being in lament in prison.  Maybe he did--we don't know.  We don't have recorded in Scripture any such Psalm or prayer, like we have in Job.  But somehow, I don't think he was some kind of Pollyanna who always looked on the bright side of things.  Nevertheless, his conduct in prison seemed to be more than moaning and singing "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me."  He again shows that he's a bright kid, and ends up the Warden's right-hand man.  Certainly, still very far from his dreams.

But that is not all.  The story doesn't end there, with a message that "Things may not be great, but at least you're alive."  Though to be honest, many who suffer are right now in that prison.  We don't have the end of the story.  We might be in the darkest pit at this moment, and cannot see how things can get better.

But more on Joseph tomorrow.