To Preserve A Posterity
I suppose that it is hardly possible for us to enter at all meaningfully into Joseph ‘s feelings as he was sold as a slave into Egypt. Still only 17 – what an exceedingly wide range of character-forming experiences he had already been through!In the natural way of things, one might have imagined that this latest turn of events would have been soul-shattering. Wrenched from his beloved father and from his young brother Benjamin, for whom, as the unfolding story shows, he had very tender feelings, hurt by the envy of his older brothers, and now humiliated as a slave and living among foreigners, among whom he could find no sympathy, no appreciation of his love for the God of his fathers – how he suffered!
Faith and works
Now was the test of his faith. Stephen, in Acts, says tersely, “but God was with him” (7:9) – but it must have required unimaginable patience whilst Joseph waited for the God of his fathers to show His purpose with him. There is one thing that is quite clear – he must have been sure in his mind that, whatever the circumstances in which he found himself, God was working with his family for the benefit of all the nations of the world; and he must have realised that he was a key figure in God’s arrangements. What he did not know was how in its detail these arrangements would work out. So Joseph had to wait in patience; and no doubt this was a necessary feature for the development of his character. It was true for Joseph, as it was so much more for Jesus, that for the joy that was set before him, he endured his cross.
But in what way did Joseph endure his enforced period of waiting? First of all, there was an essential attitude of mind, as we have just discussed. But that was not all. We might wonder how it came about that Joseph was bought by such an eminent man as Potiphar. Is it not likely that Joseph’s demeanour was a telling factor in this purchase, ensuring a good price which would be payable by a man of means? Despite his untoward circumstances, Joseph’s faith would ensute that he kept his cheerful disposition.
The Scripture is careful to point out other facts about his behaviour whilst a slave (Gen.39:1-6). He was evidently an eminently reliable and conscientious slave, so much so that all that Potiphar had was left in his hand. Joseph would have recalled his father Jacob’s attitude towards Laban, as shown in his words to Rachel and Leah: “Ye know that with all my power I have served your father” (Gen.31:6). Both men were in alien lands when they rendered such. faithful service to unbelieving masters (notice how the record repeats in Genesis 39:1,2,5 that Joseph served in an Egyptian’s house in Egypt). Both were rewarded for their diligence. Jacob could have had no conception of the far-reaching effect of the example which he set.
The work of both men brought blessing to their respective masters.
Jacob said to Laban, “For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming”
(Gen.30:30). Notice how Jacob acknowledges God’s work with him. This period of Jacob’s life is reflected in the life of Joseph when he was in the Egyptians’s house: “The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man … the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand … it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake” (Gen.39:2,3,5).
Joseph, following Jacob’s example, must have attributed his prosperity to the LORD, for his master saw that the LORD was with him (v.3). Joseph did not claim that this prosperity was due to him; his works were truly works of faith.
For Joseph’s sake
Joseph must nevertheless have been be wondering, as time went on, how God would work His promises through him (Joseph). He knew the promises made to his fathers, but he also knew that there was to be a 400-year period during which his family were to sojourn in a land which was not theirs; and he would hardly have forgotten his dreams. He also knew of the evil ways of his brothers, God’s chosen family. But by now it must have been clear to him that however God was planning to work out His purpose, he himself was still part of that purpose. He knew God was with him.
He would, however, hardly realise at the time exactly what God was doing with him in bringing him into this Egyptians’s house, or why God was blessing this household. I believe this experience, at this period of his life (he was still in his twenties), was absolutely essential in preparing him for his work “to save much people alive”. He needed to be trained in the way of the Egyptians, in the home of a senior administrator. As his master left all in Joseph’s hand, so Joseph would become efficient in every branch of the economy of the household. Thus the LORD was with him; and yet, more trials still lay before him. When Joseph stood before Pharaoh, having interpreted his dreams, did the captain of the guard give him a good reference for the post of managing the economy of the land of Egypt?
Had Joseph succumbed to temptation from Potiphar’s wife, the course of events that God had planned for Joseph would never have worked through. In our own case, if we believe that all things work together for good for those who love God, we must also believe that God arranges a course of events for us within His purpose – but such a programme must depend on our faithfulness, and falling into temptation could vitiate that programme and make God’s purpose with us void. Hence the need for the heartfelt prayer, “Lead Os not into temptation”.
Joseph in prison
Although Joseph’s stay in Potiphar’s house was appropriate training for Joseph, there was an obvious step between that situation and actually governing the country. Joseph was not yet ready for that position. So God provided the incident with Potiphar’s wife, which not only proved a test of Joseph’s character, but also opened a way for a faithful man to go further. But in the heat of the moment, and in his instant dismissal and imprisonment, Joseph would hardly have foreseen how this upsetting incident would work for good for him.
The captain of the guard “took him, and put him into the prison (which shows Potiphar to have been a man of some authority), a place where the king’s prisoners were bound”. And what better place could there have been for Joseph, as far as the purpose of God with him was concerned, than with the king’s prisoners? Again, the testimony is that “the LORD was with Joseph” (Gen.39:21). Maybe the captain of the guard put in a good word as to his ability with the keeper of the prison. His experience in managing the captain’s house affairs would have stood him in good stead, so that, with God overseeing his ways, he soon became second in command to the prison keeper, being found fully trustworthy.
As he spoke to all the king’s prisoners, he would learn much about the king’s ways and the running of the king’s court. Indeed, he was eventually brought to the king’s notice through the influence of one of these prisoners. We could ask, how else could he have graduated from the captain of the guard’s house to the king’s court? So God was still with him; but it was still true that his progress depended on his faithful life, which was activated by his trust in the God who had made promises to his fathers.
When considering the value of all the advancement which came into Joseph’s experience in prison, the verse in Psalm 105 which records that “his feet they hurt in fetters: he was laid in iron” should not be forgotten. Even after the butler’s release, Joseph still had two years’ trial. As the butler returned to Pharaoh, Joseph’s hopes would rise; but he still had to keep his faith whilst hope was deferred. At the end of it all, God knew his man.
The Solution