The Life of Joseph Joseph was born to Jacob and Rachel after she had been unable to have children for seven years. Joseph was Jacob’s 11th son, and his favorite, born when he was very old. Jacob made Joseph a beautiful robe that had many colors in it. Jacob would often send Joseph to spy on his brothers and to report back to him any behavior that was considered inappropriate. The brothers knew Joseph was watching them and their hatred for him grew even more for telling Jacob what they were doing. Joseph also had special dreams in which he could predict things that would happen in the future. When Joseph told the brothers of his dreams, they wanted to know what he could see. He told them that in the first dream, sheaves of wheat that belonged to them were going to bow to his sheaf. In the second dream, he told them that the sun, moon and eleven stars were going to bow to him. When Joseph was 17 years old, he worked with his brothers as shepherds. One day Jacob sent Joseph to see what the brothers were doing in Shechem. When Joseph got there, the brothers were nowhere to be found. A man told him where they were, so he went to Dotham to see what they were up to. Though he was trying not to be seen by the brothers, he was spotted anyway. Before he could reach them, they had already come up with a plan between them to kill Joseph. The brothers tore his robe off and threw him in a pit. Reuben had talked the brothers into throwing him in the pit instead of killing him so that he could come back later and save him. Later that evening, as the brothers were eating, they noticed many Ishmaelite traders coming toward them from Gilead. Judah, one of the brothers, decided to sell Joseph to the traders instead of killing him. The traders paid 20 pieces of silver for him. The brothers took his robe, covered it in goat’s blood, and returned the robe to their father. Jacob believed that Joseph had been killed by an animal. Jacob mourned Joseph’s death for many days, no one able to console him. The traders took Joseph to Egypt where Potiphar, an officer to Pharaoh bought him. Joseph was well liked by Potiphar so he designated him to run the house and to be his own personal assistant. Potiphar’s wife thought Joseph was very handsome and tried to seduce him. Joseph turned her away several times because he was very loyal to Potiphar. She could not stand to be refused by Joseph, so she grabbed Joseph’s clothing and ripped off a piece. He ran out of the house, leaving that piece of cloth in her hand. She began telling all of the servants that Joseph had tried to seduce her, and eventually Potiphar was told. He was furious at Joseph’s betrayal and sentenced him to prison with all of the king’s prisoners. Joseph became very friendly with the chief jailor, who eventually put him in charge of all of the prisoners. Among these prisoners were Pharaoh’s butler and baker. One night the butler and baker had strange dreams. They had been told of Joseph’s ability to tell the meaning of dreams, so they asked him to interpret their dreams. Joseph told the butler that in 3 days Pharaoh would bring him back to continue his duties at the house. This amazed the baker and he wanted to know what his dream meant. Joseph told him, in 3 days, you will be beheaded and you will be food to the birds. In 3 days, just as Joseph had told them, the butler got his job back and the baker was killed. Joseph asked the butler to remember him and to let the Pharaoh know that he could tell him what his dreams meant too. Joseph had hoped that when Pharaoh heard this that he would set him free, but the butler never mentioned Joseph to Pharaoh. Two years had come and gone when Pharaoh himself had 2 dreams that the magician could not interpret. This reminded the butler of Joseph, so he told him about Joseph and how he had interpreted his dreams in the years before. Pharaoh brought Joseph, who by now was 30 years old to the house and asked him to tell him what these dreams meant. He began telling Pharaoh that the crops were going to be very good for the next seven years, and then there would be as many years of famine. Joseph suggested to Pharaoh that he appoint a commissioner to watch over the land. This commissioner was to assign others to collect grain while it was plentiful and put it away for the years that there would be nothing. Pharaoh was so impressed with Joseph that he made him second in command. Pharaoh dressed Joseph in linen and placed a gold chain around his neck. Pharaoh gave him his ring and changed his name, now calling him Zaphenath – paneuh. Pharaoh chose Asenath, the daughter of the Priest of On to be Joseph’s bride. Joseph went all over Egypt collecting as much grain as he could get from each city. It was during this time that he and Asenath had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Manasseh was the first born. They chose this name because God made him forget all of his trouble and his father’s entire household. The second son, Ephraim, was chosen because God had made him fruitful in the land of his suffering. Seven years passed and the famine was not only in Egypt, but all over the world. Egypt became the only place that had food. Pharaoh kept Joseph in charge of the grain, making him responsible for rationing the food to all that were in need. As Joseph stood by, observing his workers as they distributed the grain, he recognized a group of men as they bowed before him. It was ten of his brothers, there to ask for food for their families. Benjamin, the second and youngest son of Rachel and Jacob, was left in Canaan for their protection. Joseph did not acknowledge them as brothers; rather he treated them as strangers. He accused them of being thieves and spies and locked Simeon in the prison, sending the others to get the youngest brother. This would prove that they were telling the truth. When they proved themselves, he would release Simeon from prison. The other brothers returned home, telling Jacob what had happened in
Egypt but Jacob refused to send Benjamin to Egypt. Joseph and Simeon were both gone, and he could not bear the thought of losing another son. Reuben was so sure that he could bring Benjamin home safely that he offered the lives of his own two sons if he did not return Benjamin back to Jacob safely. Eventually, they began to run out of food, leaving Jacob with no choice but to send Benjamin with the brothers or everyone would starve to death. Jacob sent them back to Egypt with double enough money to give to Joseph for food. When the brothers and Benjamin got to Egypt, Joseph had his servants prepare a meal. The brothers were scared and began telling Joseph that they did not know how the money got into their bags. Joseph told them their God must have done it. The brothers went inside, waiting for Joseph to join them for the meal. When Joseph arrived, the brothers gave him gifts of balm, honey, spices nuts and myrrh, and then bowed to him. Joseph told his servants to fill their bags with food and give them their money back again. He instructed the servant to put his own silver goblet into Benjamin’s bag. Then, the brothers headed home with the food. Once out of the city, Joseph’s servant stopped them and accused them of taking Joseph’s goblet. He told them that whoever had the goblet would have to return with him and become a slave. Joseph’s steward began searching, starting with the eldest and finishing with the youngest, Benjamin. The goblet was found in Benjamin’s bag. So, all of the brothers returned to Egypt, throwing themselves on the ground at Joseph’s feet. They began begging him to make all of them his slaves. Joseph told them that only Benjamin would be a slave because he was the one that took the goblet. Judah pleads with him, telling him the story of how Jacob did not want Benjamin to come to Egypt. Judah had taken responsibility for his safe return. Joseph sent away all of the servants and began to cry, telling the brothers who he really was. After Joseph revealed his identity, he asked about his father. The brothers were all in shock, unable to answer him. He explained to them that it was not their fault for selling him into slavery. God had sent him ahead to take care of them during the famine. He sent them back to Canaan, telling them to tell Jacob where he was and to come. He instructed him to bring all of his family to Goshen and he would take care of them during the famine. When Pharaoh heard that Joseph’s brothers had come, he was very happy. He told Joseph to tell them to come, bringing their animals, and he would give them the best of land. Joseph gave them each a wagon, instructions, and clothing. He sent a gift to his father that included ten donkeys hauling some of the best items Egypt had, along with grain and bread. When the brothers arrived, Jacob did not believe them about Joseph. When he saw the wagons, he realized they were telling the truth. So, Jacob, with seventy members of his family, left for Goshen with the wagons carrying all of their possessions and livestock. Judah went ahead to get directions, so Joseph, knowing his father was on his way, went to Goshen to meet him. When Joseph saw his father, he hugged him and cried. Joseph went to Pharaoh, telling him that his family had arrived. He told Pharaoh that his brothers were shepherds, so he had them to tend to his livestock. He set his family up in the best area of Egypt known as Rameses and gave them food. Eventually, the Egyptians ran out of money and begged Joseph for food. He traded food for their livestock, and after a year, they ran out of food again. Joseph gave them seeds to plant on their land and in exchange, they agreed to give Pharaoh one fifth of the crop. Everyone in Egypt did this except the priests who were receiving an allotment from Pharaoh and did not need it. Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years and one day asked Joseph to come to him. He made him swear that when he died he would not bury him in Egypt. Jacob wanted to be buried in the burial place that all of his fathers were buried. Joseph agreed to this and soon was told that Jacob was sick. Joseph brought his sons Ephraim and Manasseh to him to be blessed. Even though Manasseh was the first born, Jacob placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head. Joseph tried to correct him by moving his right hand to Manasseh, but Jacob told him that Ephraim would be the greater of the two boys. Jacob called for all of his sons, giving his blessing to each one. Just as he told Joseph, he told the other boys that he did not want to be buried in Egypt. He wanted to be buried in the Cave of Machpelah where all of his fore fathers were buried. Soon after this, Jacob died. Joseph cried and then instructed the physicians to embalm him. The Egyptians mourned him for seventy days. Pharaoh gave Joseph permission to carry his father back to Canaan to bury him, just as Jacob had made Joseph swear to do. All of the brothers went with him, escorted by Pharaoh’s officials. Joseph stopped just outside of the city of Jordan and mourned his father’s death for seven days. When Joseph was done, they continued their journey to the cave of Machpelah and buried Jacob. They returned to Egypt shortly after this. When they got back to Egypt, the brothers appeared to be scared of Joseph. They worried that now that Jacob was gone, he may seek revenge for selling him. He assured them that this had been God’s intentions and not to be afraid. Joseph lived to be one hundred and ten years old. During that time, he saw great-grandchildren brought into his family. Before his death, he made his brothers promise to bury him outside of Egypt. When he died, he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt. The Jews eventually left Egypt, and Moses took Joseph’s bones with him. He buried him in Shechem, the largest city in Israel, on a piece of land that Jacob had purchased. Joseph was the salvation that Israel needed to make it through the famine. He was willing to help them even though they did not believe him. He helped his family even after his brothers tried to kill him. Joseph paved the way for how we live our lives today. We are able to use him as an example in our humanitarian efforts both here in the United States and abroad. Ideally, we all could raise our children in church and around more positive influences. In today’s society, there are too many children that do not even know who Joseph was, much less what a selfless and compassionate man he was.
References:
(Genesis 37-50 New International Version)