Burning Bush Blogs
Equipping Men with Biblical Knowledge and Leadership Skills
Category: Personal Study
Thread: New to the Bible – The Patriarchs – The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Post Topic: Joseph – What God Means for Good
Post in Thread: #4
Previous: Jacob – Deception, Determination, and Blessing
Next: Judah – the burden of unconfessed sin
Scripture: Genesis 45:1-18
Genesis 37:3-38
Note on this series of posts
This post fits within a continuing series meant for readers who are less familiar with Scripture, but anyone can enjoy.
The patriarchs are the fathers of the Hebrew nation, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. For this series we’ll be giving honorary patriarch status to Moses, and we’ll throw in a bonus study of Joseph’s brother Judah. The patriarchs gave birth to the Jewish nation, but were quite human. Genesis doesn’t shy away from describing both their successes and failures; their virtues and their failings. Neither then, shall our blogs shy away from these topics.
Today’s story introduces Joseph, a man of unwavering integrity.
Key Verses:
Genesis 37:28
So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
– The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.
Genesis 39:2; Genesis 39:21
– the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.
4Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Genesis 45:4-8
8“So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.”
Observations
The Good – Almost perfect
There is so much good to write about Joseph. He is as close to perfect as any character in the Bible other than Jesus. We’ll focus on two traits:
- Faithfulness – while in slavery, prison, or second in command in all of Egypt, he never stopped trusting God and living for God.
- Purity – He avoided temptations with Potipher’s wife and was only repaid with hardship. (Genesis 39:6-9)
The Bad – A haughty spirit
Hard to find anything bad. As a youngster, though, his haughty spirit contributed to his brothers’ hatred of him, and eventually they sold him into slavery and lied about him to Jacob.
The Ugly
Does ugly-crying count? (Genesis 45:1-2) – Joseph wept so loudly while revealing himself to his brothers that the entire household of Pharaoh became aware.
Joseph’s Life Story – A recap of major events in Joseph’s life for those new to the Bible:
- Favored son of many children of father Jacob, who presents him with a fancy-pants multi-colored coat.
- As a young lad, dreams about stars and stalks of corn bowing before him – the same number as he has brothers.
- After telling the story to his brothers, they angrily threaten to kill him, and finally sell him into slavery.
- He becomes the favored servant of Potipher in Egypt, an influential leader.
- Joseph rejects advances by Potipher’s wife who frames him to get him sent to prison.
- After Pharaoh has a disturbing dream, only Joseph can interpret.
- Joseph gets released from prison and put 2nd in command of all Egypt to prepare for a 7-year famine.
- In the midst of the famine, his brothers travel to Egypt for food, and don’t recognize Joseph.
- He schemes to get them to bring Jacob and his favorite brother Benjamin to Egypt before revealing himself.
Interpretation
Takeaways
- Joseph was a man of purity and faithfulness to God.
- In spite of his character, he experienced hardship after hardship. But he didn’t let that deter his unwavering faith.
- Because of his closeness to God, he was able to interpret dreams, which finally elevated him to the heights of what God had planned for him.
- Upon achieving the highest level of success, he continued to remain pure and faithful to God. He didn’t allow his position in Egypt to corrupt his character.
Correlation
Acts 7:9-16
The first martyr of the New Testament, Stephen, in his great speech before he was stoned, recounted the story of the patriarchs. About Joseph he said: “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.”
- God was with Joseph.
- God gave Joseph wisdom.
- God rescued Joseph.
- Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.
Application
Generic Applications
The main take away from Joesph’s life can be summed up in his own words to his brothers as he forgave them: “What you meant for evil, God meant for good.”
Personalize it
- Is there someone in my life that I resent because they seem to prosper in spite of their immoral ways? Or maybe because of their schemes and lies? How might God use this for good?
- On the flip side, when I experience highs, like Joseph as second only to Pharaoh, how can I cling to my integrity and my faithfulness?
Historical Significance of Joseph
Pharaoh gave Jacob and Joseph’s family a lush piece of land in the Goshen region of Egypt where they grew into a large nation and prospered.
Bible study methodology adapted from Searching the Scriptures with permission from Tyndale House:
Swindoll, Charles, Searching the Scriptures. Tyndale House Publishers, 2016.