Think Speak Run

Joseph is the favoured son of Jacob, the firstborn of his favoured wife, Rachel. As such, we might assume that Joseph’s life story will be one long catalogue of success and favour. But this is not how it appears. 

Joseph is not like his father. 

As we have seen, Jacob is a deceiver. He obtains birthright and blessing by deception. Joseph, on the other hand, is upright and honest; perhaps a little too honest at times. He shares his dreams with his brothers who hate him for it. He dreams that they are sheaves of corn bowing down to him, and stars, prostrating themselves before him. This follows on from Joseph being singled out for a special wardrobe: Jacob makes him a coat of “many colours” to show that he is the favourite (Genesis 37:3). Verse 4 states: “…when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than [them], they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him”. It is clear that Joseph’s ‘share-all’ mentality and position as the paternal favourite is not appreciated by his siblings.

Joseph has 11 brothers, only one of whom, Benjamin, is his full brother. His half-brothers are all older than him, grown men who hate him and want him dead. 

Joseph is seventeen years old when his brothers plot to kill him. Reuben, the eldest, persuades them to throw Joseph in an empty pit instead, planning to rescue him later. However, an opportunity presents itself and Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery to a group of Ishmaelites – the seed of Ishmael. As you may recall, Ishmael was Isaac’s older half-brother who did not receive the blessing of Abraham, being the son of the bondwoman Hagar. 

The convergence of different family branches composed of bitter, overlooked relatives does not seem coincidental. Right from Cain and Abel, through all the generations up to this point, there has been the same pattern of behaviour from aggrieved siblings towards their favoured counterparts. Now the seed of the unfavoured Great-uncle Ishmael is interacting with the unfavoured seed of Jacob, in a bid to destroy the favoured seed (Joseph) and his dreams.

Joseph’s brothers think that he will never be favoured again, as a slave, and that his dreams will die in captivity.

He is taken to Egypt as a slave and sold to a man named Potiphar. However, even as a servant in a foreign land, Joseph is favoured. Genesis 39:3 tells us Potiphar sees “that the LORD was with [Joseph], and… the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand”. Joseph is promoted to overseer of Potiphar’s house, and the blessing upon him overflows. Verse 5 says, “…the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field”.

After Joseph’s promotion, Potiphar’s wife tries to entice him into sleeping with her, but he refuses, saying, “…how… can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9)

This is the first mention of God in Joseph’s story, but it is clear that he honours Him. Neither his lowly status as a slave nor his exalted position as overseer have swayed Joseph’s allegiance to God. However, this loyalty is about to be tested further.

When Potiphar hears his wife’s allegation against Joseph he throws him in prison. 

Why did Joseph endure so much hardship? Might we also have to walk in hardship – even as the favoured children of God – despite having a new and better covenant than Abraham and his immediate seed?

Do we tend to overlook blessing in adversity? Like Hagar, having her eyes opened to see the water before her that kept her and Ishmael alive, do we need our eyes opened to see the blessing that is right before us? Have our eyes already been opened but we refuse to see?

Maybe blessing is not found in the absence of adversity, but in the reframing of circumstance and perspective until they line up with God’s Word.