“He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: until the time that His word came: the word of the Lord tried him.” Psalm 105:17-19
When Joseph was a young man, he was the favorite son of Jacob. His life was a good one, as he received the attention of his father and mother, and special treatment from them. Apparently, the only true downside to his life at this time was the attitude that his older brothers had towards him. They were jealous of him, and of the affection that their father had towards him, to the exclusion of their own. After plotting to kill him, he was sold by them as a slave, eventually ending up in Egypt, there to suffer the separation from all that he held dear, and with which he was familiar in language, and in customs. It was probably then that for the first time in his life he truly felt alone, absolutely alone. And yet, he was not alone. The presence and blessing of God was upon him, in spite of his suffering. The God of the covenant with Abraham, who works in mysterious ways, would take this son of Jacob, detach him completely from his family, friends, and good circumstances, to plunge him into a world that was totally foreign to him, a godless world in that there was little, or no mention of the Hebrew God, the God of Jacob. However, in his solitude, Joseph found consolation in the remembrance of prophetic dreams that God had given him. He also most certainly comforted himself by the knowledge that he had received of God from his father. The very difficult circumstances, which could have resulted in his death, resulted in that which was quite the contrary. The slave would become a prince, or as Joseph would later relate to his father, “…God has made me a father to Pharoah, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 45:8) But what did it take for Joseph to survive slavery, and being unjustly condemned to prison? How could he ever rise from such difficulty and suffering, to become a savior to the people of Israel, and form an indispensable link between Jacob’s time in Canaan, the promised land, his departure to come down into Egypt where the family would become a nation, and then the return to Canaan, to conquer it, and prove it to be the land where the promises of God would be realized? The answer lies in God, Christ, becoming everything to Joseph. Only as Christ was all, could Joseph believe Him to meet his every need in the place of “…his affliction.” Christ would make him forget his own toil, and his father’s house, causing him to be fruitful. Because Christ was all, all else having been left behind, God was able through Joseph to save, not only a generation, but an entire nation, from destruction. How do we know that God worked in Joseph in this manner to bring him to this point?
Perhaps one of the glaring truths concerning Joseph, after he had ascended to the place where he was so highly regarded in Egypt, was the fact that he never returned to his home in Canaan, except to bury his father, Jacob, and later to be buried himself, when the people, four hundred years later, left Egypt to regain Canaan.
Secondly, when Joseph’s brothers first came to Egypt, and found themselves in the presence of Joseph whom they did not recognize, Joseph, who had the authority to put to death those who had sold him into slavery, did not do so. On the contrary, Joseph sought to learn their true disposition of heart towards him, this brother who had been the most favored, and whom they greatly despised. Joseph then revealed himself to them, declaring: “God did send me before you to preserve life.” (Gen. 45:5) Joseph was singularly shut up to Christ, and his specific calling.
Dear Father, Be our all today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.