#1 Deeper into the Story
The other day I was talking with my mom in the car, which is where all of our deep conversations tend to take place, about the bible, more accurately some of the people and stories in the bible. As a teenager and a human being most of the Bible confuses me as i’m sure it does most people. I was talking about how some of the bible stories there are the “bad guys” who do the wrong thing and everyone hates those people but for me, I could always understand them. One of the bible stories that we really got into talking about was the story of Joseph.
This story happened in the old testament and for anyone who doesn’t know, Those were some scary times. Joseph was a son of Jacob and his wife Rachel, his parents had him at a very old age when it should be impossible to have children. His father believed that he was a miracle child and he favored him above all of his sons, he taught Joseph to read and write while his brothers worked in the field and he gifted Joseph with a colorful robe that none of his brothers received. Because of this his brothers were Jealous and they grew to hate him.
These feelings grew stronger as Joseph repeated two of his dreams to them, both of which he was ruling over all of them. In the first, the brothers were gathering wheat in the field and the brothers bundles bowed down to Josephs bundle. In the second, he saw the sun, the moon, and eleven stars(representing his mom, dad, and brothers) bowing to him.
One day when Joseph was 17 he was instructed to visit his brothers when they were tending sheep, taking advantage of this opportunity they threw him in a pit. Later after they spotted and Arab caravan and the brothers sold Joseph to the traders.
People usually see the brothers as the enemies in this particular story, however, I could never bring myself to hate them as others did. The person I was mad at was the father. Had the father not treated the brothers unfairly and favored Joseph above them would they not have acted so harshly towards Joseph? Wouldn’t we not have to deal this mess in the first place if the father had treated them all fairly? I understand the brothers, If my father were to treat me as Jacob treated his sons I would feel the same way, That is why even though their action were cruel and harsh, I could never completely hate them for what they did. This got me thinking that maybe there is more to the story that meets the eye, maybe I am supposed to be able to understand the brothers, maybe there is deeper meaning than what I originally thought. The story of Joseph does not hold a single lesson for us, it holds many. It shows us what happens when parents favor one child over the rest and it teaches us that we should love our children and family equally. It teaches us to love our siblings and treat each other with kindness. It teaches us to never give up and to trust that God will be there for us no matter how hard things get.
After being sold to the traders Joseph was brought to Egypt where he was sold into slavery to Potiphar, one of King Pharaoh’s ministers. For a while things were going well, Joseph was a hard worker and he was able to find favor in his masters eyes, and he was appointed head of Potiphar’s estate. However this did not last long as Potiphar’s wife became attracted to Joseph and desired to be intimate with him, however, Joseph continuously refused. One day, when it was just the two of them the mistress grasped Joseph’s garment, demanding that he consent. Thinking quickly, he slid out of his cloak and ran away, his self-control earned him the name “Joseph the righteous”. This angered Potiphar’s wife and she lied to her husband telling him that it was Joseph who tried to entice her. As this angered Potiphar he then sent Joseph to Prison.
While in prison Joseph met king’s royal cupbearer and baker who were also imprisoned, Joseph successfully interpreted their dreams, correctly predicting that the cupbearer would be released and the baker, hanged. Before the Cupbearer was released Joseph asked him to tell the king about him and remember him, however he was forgotten.
Two years later the King was having strange dreams himself that none of his advisors could explain. Remembering Joseph from his prison days, the Cupbearer recommended he be summoned to predict the kings dream. Joseph, thirty years old now, interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams as being a prediction for seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, he recommended that they should prepare by stocking up on grain for the first seven years. The Pharaoh was impressed and appointed him as his viceroy and he was put in charge of stocking up on grain and getting the nation ready for the years of famine.
Joseph spent years in that prison alone, the only thing that the cupbearer had to do was remember him but he forgot. At that point, everything in his life has been one bad thing after another. It could have been so easy for him to give up and loose his faith but he didn’t, even when he was at his lowest point in life he still trusted that God had a plan. That is true strength, if I were in his situation then I would have gone insane right after being thrown into the pit.
This story teaches us that no matter what happens and what we are going through we should never give up. If Joseph hadn’t gone through everything that he did he would not have ended up where he did and Egypt would have fallen to ashes. Every “bad guy” that Joseph encountered played a key role in getting him to where he is now. Everyone hates them but in reality there are so many people reading these stories that would do the exact same thing they did, just a little less extreme (again, the old testament were scary times. Things were different back then). Everything that Joseph went through and every person he met holds a new lesson and a new story. Its not a story in black in white as many are, So don’t hate on the “bad guys” because they are not the enemy, the Bible goes deeper than that.
Citations:
The Bible. Oxford University Press, 2004.
