Genesis 50:15-21 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father Jacob was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
I was chatting with one of my friends and I don’t remember the original topic – but it was something bad that happened – BUT something really good came out of the situation – and I said something like :”Wow – that is just like I was reading about Joseph and his brothers – you know Joseph and the dreamcoat – son of Jacob – and how the brothers abandoned him in a well and he got taken to Egypt and he ended up rescuing everyone from a famine – and forgave his brothers” – I got that blank stare…
But I continued – “you know Joseph – Donny Osmond and ‘The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ ” – well no – she knew Donny but didn’t know that role… I can even see Donny Osmond spinning in some video promo of the old show – surely one would remember Joseph from Donny Osmond??? No of course not, not everyone has the same experiences or captures the same snippets in their head – and that is OK – I don’t remember even a fraction of what I have learned recently – they say we only retain 10% if that – well it’s OK – let me try to recount this amazing story of Joseph which relates to us today!!!
People (of a certain generation) do remember Moses from the 1956 Charlton Heston portrayal – shown each year on TV (really long with lots of commercial breaks) – shown at Easter time – which has nothing to do with the Easter timeline when Jesus was crucified – well yes it really does relate to Easter A LOT – but is a totally different timeframe… ANYWAY – it does get confusing with all the names and times – – well I remember these people alphabetically as well – After Adam and Noah – then restart a few of the big names in alphabetical order: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph (and Judah), Moses etc…
Anyway – “No” – my friend smiled and said “the only Joseph I know is Mary and Joseph” – and I can’t blame her – people are not normally digging into biblical history – I actually didn’t know Joseph’s story either until a few years ago – except I can visualize both Donny Osmond spinning and also a production of my catholic church’s 1970’s version with a hippie theatrical priest and some colorful dreamcoat for Joseph.
Ah well some of us DO remember what color Donny Osmond’s socks were for his ‘80’s show – PURPLE – and even if we did remember the technicolor dreamcoat, turns out a pastor friend said the translations said it was an impressive coat but not necessarily technicolor – it probably simply had big sleeves – and it wasn’t even a big part of Joseph’s story except it is one more identifying feature to help us remember Joseph. SO let’s get more into the real story.
We do relate with stories of people – which is part of the way we remember – How about that great movie Moses (I mean scriptures about Moses?) Moses was doing what? He led people through the parted Red Sea – yes to help the Israelites who were slaves of Pharaoh – “Let my people go!” – Moses had to take the “Israelites” out of Egypt – remember the wandering in the dessert – that was like 2/3 thru the movie – but wait – how did they get to Egypt in the first place? – Ohhhh, they got to Egypt because of Joseph – son of Jacob… Joseph got there from his brothers – even if they did bad things to Joseph.
Yes, SO, who is Joseph and why the coat? Well, the fancy ornate coat was a gift from his father – Jacob – because Jacob loved his son so much… I started to teach my friend about Jacob too – some of the things I have learned over the years – “remember Jacob had tricked his brother Esau and even put fuzzy skins on his arm to trick his aged father Isaac into thinking he was first born and got the inheritance?” My friend said: “He put fuzzy stuff on his arm?” I can see my friend’s face – and isn’t that how we pick up on some things – learning bits and pieces that stick to our heads as unique… Yes – God’s people then were unique and we are unique with our own stories today – Jacob tried to trick his father (and Jacob later got tricked by his father in law – but that’s a whole other story!).
Jacob was whom directly wrestled with God (and heard from Him) – wow – now my friend started to really be interested in this story! wrestled with God!!! YES – did you know that there were LOTS of people who wrestled with God like us – people whom God put into our history – people like Jacob who both mentally wrestled and physically wrestled with a man – who got a little beat – and then Jacob called out for a blessing – a gift – even to state that he won – and God touched his hip – and also said: *** from now own you will be called Israel – which means ‘wrestled with God’ – and that the whole of Israel will come from you – and salvation to your people – the people of Abraham, and of Isaac, your fathers – will come from your line… WOW! What a blessing for this Jacob – and what a blessing to speak to God, let alone have God speak back.
I myself have wrestled with God – maybe you too – and just like God gave me grace for not knowing even Him fully – which I humbly accept that He awoke me to learn more and more – Jacob did not see God until he was fully revealed to him after that wrestling – and I bet each time he felt that pain in the hip He remembered God physically and talked to God to praise Him before the other hip went out…
Early on we learn that Joseph could interpret dreams – his own and his families and others – he realized that God was actually sending/interpreting these dreams and telling the future of what would happen. It is not a surprise that Joseph respected God because his father respected God – or learned to respect him – Well the fancy coat didn’t help him interpret dreams – even if it was a fancy coat – but it did stir up jealousy between his brothers – and later we learn these 12 sons of Jacob become the 12 tribes of Israel – oldest to youngest: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph (which was split between his 2 sons) and Benjamin. These youngest 2 sons were treasured as their mother was Rachael – Jacob’s true love after being force to marry her sister – Jacob was forced to wait to marry Rachael – and so the last 2 sons Joseph and Benjamin were very precious to Jacob – born to him in his old age.
Scripture says: When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than the rest, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? rule us?” And hated him all the more, because of his dream. THEY PLOTTED TO KILL HIM.
“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.” When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.
So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it. They sat down to eat a meal, looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites (a whole other line of descendants) – these were merchants – camels loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the [merchants] and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed. So when the merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
Well, Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. He went back to his brothers – Then they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. They took the ornate robe back to their father and said, “We found this. – Jacob recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.” Then Jacob wept for him.
Meanwhile, the [merchants] sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, captain of the guard. Joseph was now in Egypt.
But The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted everything he owned to his care. – the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph.
THEN — a disagreement occurred with Potiphar’s wife – which we won’t read today – but it even involves another cloak/coat of Joseph – and let’s just say Joseph was wrongly accused of a crime and put into prison – (It’s a whole other story…).
Scripture says: But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
And Joseph continued to have the gift from God to interpret dreams – a cupholder and another (who served the Egyptian Pharaoh of the time) were put in prison and had dreams – and Joseph interpreted them – the cupholder was to return to Pharaoh and so Joseph asked the cupholder to plead his case for his release but the cupholder forgot – for 2 years or more he forgot – then Pharaoh himself had a dream – and that is when the cupholder remembered Joseph and they brought him out of prison – cleaned him up – and then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said that you can.”
“I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.” JOSEPH ALWAYS POINTED TO GOD !!!!
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds. After them, seven other cows came up—scrawny and very ugly and lean. I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt. 20 The lean, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first. But even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up. “In my dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk. After them, seven other heads sprouted—withered and thin and scorched by the east wind. The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me.”
Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. The seven lean, ugly cows and the seven worthless heads of grain: They are seven years of famine.
God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine will be so severe. So now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. – collect all the food of these good years – and store up the grain, to be kept in the cities This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”
The plan seemed so good to Pharaoh and to all his officials that Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”
AMAZING – And guess what – Joseph as discerning as God made him – stockpiled seven years of abundance before seven years of drought – then Joseph opened the storehouses and sold the grain in Egypt. Word got out, way up north of egypt that egypt had grain – told to Jacob (Joseph’s father who thought he was dead) – and didn’t Jacob send some of those brothers of Joseph down to buy grain… (except not youngest brother Benjamin whom they wanted their father to not be separated from).
They had to bow down to Joseph as a powerful ruler over them in their famine – JUST LIKE JOSEPH’S EARLY DREAM HAD PREDICTED – except these brothers did not recognize Joseph and wow Joseph’s heart skipped more than one beat – wow Joseph could hardly contain himself but he did – and he devised an unique way to test and question these brothers – and to both give them grain to eat and to get to see his beloved brother Benjamin – and eventually to see his father Jacob…
WOW – Joseph went from hated to VERY needed – could Joseph have refused his brothers? does bitterness help any situation? No – forgiveness is powerful. Forgiveness is MORE powerful than evil.
What an interesting tale there is of how Joseph got the brothers to bring down Benjamin and then their father – Jacob did not want Benjamin to go – and Judah – another son of Jacob who originally hated Joseph and cast him away became in a redemptive position by offering now to give up his own life just so that his youngest brother Benjamin wouldn’t be separated from their father. Remember Judah – remember that Judah was the tribe that settled in the land called Judah – from which Jesus was placed to be born – remember “what good can come out of Judah?” well – a Savior – God’s plan… (what comes out our our brokenness, like Judah’s broken repentances? Jesus…)…
Remember the scripture read at the beginning: “what if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” So they said: “please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept. – Joseph wept and those tears were surely years of tears.
His brothers threw themselves down before him, saying: “We are your slaves,” But Joseph said, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
Joseph and his brothers and their families – the tribes of Israel – flourished and multiplied – things didn’t stay good in Egypt and just a few generations down they needed Moses to get them out of Egypt from a later Pharaoh who knew nothing about Joseph and of the strength of God…but that worked out too… (we saw the end of that movie!).
We don’t hardly ever know how God works things out for us – but He does – And He does it in HIS way- not our way – God’s Way is higher than our way.
Here is a “simple-clear” example: my friend – did some major damage to her arm – or was in an accident – I don’t remember all the details – but I remember her working thru physical therapy and strengthening – strengthen thru trials…. Well she, a good God-fearing woman, she strengthened… It wasn’t until she had a serious car crash a few months later and broke/damaged her legs/knees/you name it – that she realized how USEFUL these now strong arms were – to lift her body when her legs didn’t work – she had a long recovery but thanked God for the previous trial to bring her to the ability to help herself recover for this worst thing. She trusted God – it was not a fun thing to be injured – but she trusted God and lived her life in that way.
And remember – we may not see this recovery – this mercy and repair – until we get to Heaven – we may not realize this complete recovery until we get in the Lord’s House forever – not ours now. We need to look BIG PICTURE and see that our trials and our thorns are avenues to trust God. We must forgive to be forgiven – I keep reminding myself of that too.
How painful it was for Joseph to have to hide his identity from his brothers until the time it was best to reveal it – how relieved he was to both see his brothers again – and especially his father. Joseph was able to see big picture and FORGIVE his brothers – God brought so much good out of it – and isn’t that Jesus’s story too – Jesus actually incorporated that rebellious human nature into His story –takes misguided folks – broken people – healing souls – and God brings us into His Kingdom, as Jesus as our Lord of Lords – all while being the servant.
Just like Jacob told his sons about his encounters with God and Joseph told MANY how God wanted to help – How do we speak about God? Do we tell people how He calms us (He surely does) – do we speak about prayer and blessings (not just luck)? Do we speak of God’s faithfulness? Of our trust? Of knowing He intervenes, He heals, and He keeps us calm especially because we know the “Rest of the Story ” ?
Faithful God holds us even stronger than we can hold onto Him. He gives us strong faith. He made us His favorite sons and daughters. Jesus wrote down this “backstory” because the Word is Himself –The Word was with God and is God. We know Jesus wants us to know and tell all stories about forgiveness. It Is IN His Blood.
It’s in His Blood.
Let us pray: Lord, You tell us these real stories, so we learn how others had faith and tolerated the bad times, and how You Lord got them out of a jam, or how You Lord are Majestic. Following You is the best plan !!!! We know God, You are faithful to us, we give testimony to Your Greatness – not boasting about our achievements or sensationalize our failures, but simply state YOU LORD are faithful, You God forgive, You Lord gives us hope and a light to follow. Let us keep talking about faith, because of Joseph we learn to look into the blessings over the trials.
Amen
People curse the one who hoards grain,
but they pray God’s blessing on the one who is willing to sell. Proverbs 11
Debbie Upper 