"'I cannot do it,' Joseph replied to Pharaoh, 'but God will the give Pharaoh the answer he desires.'"
-Genesis 41:16
I decided to combine both of last week's Genesis Bible Studies into one reflection, because I have been fairly busy. Genesis 37-41 describes Joseph's story. Joseph is favored by his father Jacob, and is spoiled by Jacob. The most obvious evidence of this is the ornamented robe that Jacob gives to Joseph to wear. Joseph's brothers start to despise Joseph, because their father favors Joseph the most. Joseph tells his brothers and parents of a couple dreams that he has, in which he rules over them. The brothers and even Jacob laugh at these dreams, because they don't take Joseph seriously. After telling his brothers these dreams, they begin to hate him even more. Thus, when they are in the field working, they plan to kill Joseph.
One of the brothers, Reuben, tries to convince them not to kill Joseph. While the brothers are still bloodthirsty, they agree not to kill Joseph. Instead, they decide to sell him as a slave to Egypt. They lie to their father Jacob by saying that Joseph has died. Jacob is in great anguish, because he thinks that Joseph was killed by a wild beast.
Joseph becomes a slave for Potiphar, an Egyptian. Joseph does his work well, which catches the eye of his master Potiphar. Potiphar decides to put Joseph in charge of the household, because Joseph was a trustworthy servant. Potiphar isn't to only one to notice Joseph, however. Potiphar's wife sees that Joseph is handsome, and tries to sleep with him. Joseph refuses, because he doesn't want to betray the trust of his master and of God. Potiphar's wife gets mad at Joseph, so she convinces Potiphar that Joseph raped her, which causes him to be thrown into prison.
In prison, Joseph has a similar experience to the time he was in Potiphar's house. The warden of the prison puts Joseph in charge of the prisoners. One day, Joseph sees that two prisoners are downcast- the cupbearer and baker. Joseph asks them what is wrong, and they reveal to him that they have had dreams that they cannot understand. Joseph agrees to help them interpret their dreams, through God's help. The interpretations of Joseph's dreams come true, but the cupbearer forgets about Joseph.
A while later, Pharaoh has some dreams that he cannot interpret. The cupbearer finally remembers Joseph, and tells Pharaoh of Joseph's ability to interpret dreams. Pharaoh tells Joseph of his dreams, and Joseph interprets them, again with God's help. The dream's interpretation is that Egypt would be in abundance for seven years, followed by seven years of famine. Joseph also suggests that someone save food in the time of abundance, so that in the time of famine there would be food to eat. Pharaoh agrees, and puts Joseph in charge of Egypt. In fact, Pharaoh makes Joseph the most powerful person in Egypt, with the exception of himself.
A lot of events have happened in these passages, but I see some common themes. One thing is that even when we do God's work, we may still be treated unjustly. Joseph worked well while in Potiphar's home and in prison, but he still was mistreated by people. Jesus says in Matthew 10 that "You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved." In other words, following Jesus may not lead us to worldly success. Many times, we will be hated by the world, but God has greater plans for our life.
Another thing I learned is that if we are faithful to God, He will be faithful to us. Joseph was mistreated for many years, but he remained faithful to God. When Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, they took his robe from him. When Joseph was made second in charge by Pharaoh, Pharaoh gave him a robe to wear. Thus, through Pharaoh, God restored Joseph. God was faithful to Joseph because Joseph was faithful to Him. It is very hard to remain faithful to God in difficult times, but He is faithful to those who follow Him. If we hold onto God's faithfulness, we can also live as Joseph did.
-Smart
