Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
This week’s lesson from the “Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide”, is titled “Joseph, Prince of Egypt”. We often tell the story of Joseph to depict what faithfulness in God can do for you (we tell this story to the children to show that “if you are faithful like Joseph, you too can be elevated to a place of prominence”). Or we tell it to show “how God turned something bad into something good!” (quarterly for Sunday, June 12). But these two lessons, which are true, is not the real story of Joseph. Remember who is chronicling this in the Bible. It is Moses. Moses. Who was also a prince of Egypt but who “refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward” (Hebrews 11: 24-26). Moses did not recount the story of Joseph to show how great it is to be elevated to prince of Egypt. For Moses, being prince of Egypt is something to be reviled, not to be rejoiced. He told the Joseph story in Scripture for another reason. Let’s look.
When Joseph accurately interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, Pharaoh honored (so-called) Joseph. He put Joseph “over my house and all my people” (Genesis 41: 40). But Joseph should’ve been a leader of “the house of Israel” (Isaiah 63:7). Joseph became ruler over the wrong “house”.
“Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand” (Genesis 41:42), signifying authority. Yet this is not the kind of authority that proceeds from God. Centuries later, Jesus spoke of this… “But Jesus called them to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you’” (Matthew 20: 24-25). Joseph was awarded the wrong “authority”.
Pharaoh “clothed him in garments of fine linen” (Genesis 41:42). Not the “tunic of many colors” (Genesis 37:3) given to Joseph by his father Israel… a sign of Godly favor as well. Joseph was given the wrong “garment”.
“Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnath-Paaneah” (Genesis 41:45). Joseph has the wrong “name”.
Pharaoh “gave him as a wife Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On” (Genesis 41:45). The pagan daughter of a pagan priest. Yikes! Joseph has the wrong “wife”, integrated into the family of the wrong “faith” towards the wrong “god”.
Joseph is being “honored” with things that are not an honor at all. They are repulsive. This can be seen in the names he calls his sons, birthed by Asenath. “Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: ‘For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house’” (Genesis 41:52). Meaning, to forget all the rejection and in-fighting between his brothers and all the mothers. Joseph has chosen to let that go. But not to let go his faith in the God of his father Israel. Because he names his firstborn a Hebrew name. A name to remind Manasseh just who he is. Joseph did not choose an Egyptian name. He chose a name to honor his heritage. To honor the God of his heritage. “The name of the second he called Ephraim: ‘For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction’” (Genesis 41:52). Another Hebrew name to remind his son of who he is and to reinforce the knowledge that Egypt is not home, but the “land of my affliction” (ibid).
So why did Moses devote so much of Genesis to this story of Joseph? Moses will tell us from the mouth of Joseph himself. “God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt” (Genesis 45: 7-8). Joseph knew he became prince of Egypt in order to save the children of Israel… and specially to assure Judah would live. Because, “the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people” (Genesis 49:10). Moses’ purpose of writing the Torah was to show God’s faithful covenant of salvation and to show how God works to assure the covenant-of-love’s fulfillment and to save all those who trust Him. Not to show any of us how to become prosperous on this earth. Especially not how to gain the world’s honor. But to live for His honor in the “land of our affliction” (which is this land, this culture and this life of ours). To live lives where we strive to bring as much heaven to earth as we can, through the grace and promises of our God.
And to that, all I can say is “AMEN”!
With brotherly love,
Jim