How Does the Old Testament Mesh with the New 13

The Trials and Tribulations of Joseph

Joseph was Jacob’s second youngest son. At 17 years of age, he tended the flocks with

his brothers, but he would tell Jacob about any mischief his brothers were up to. They hated him for that.

Joseph was always Jacob’s favorite, even having a special robe made for him. The

brothers hated him for that as well.

            Finally, to make matters worse, Joseph shares two of his dreams. In the first one, all his brothers were bowing before him. The second included his parents as well. And, yes, the brothers hated him the most for this.[1]

            Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers in the pasture. They see him coming:

When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. Gn. 37:18 NLT

            The brothers took away his special robe and tossed him almost naked into a pit, where they were going to leave Joseph to die. Meanwhile, they start eating, and as they are doing so, they see a caravan of Ishmaelites coming. Judah speaks up and says that they should sell Joseph to the caravan instead of having blood on their hands.

            Yet what happened is that Midianite traders came first and pulled Joseph out of the pit and then sold him to the Ishmaelites.

            The brothers, meanwhile, dipped Joseph’s special robe into some goat’s blood and brought it to Jacob. Just as they had hoped, Jacob assumed that Joseph had died from a wild animal attack.

            Ultimately, Joseph was sold into slavery:

…they sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard. Gn. 37:36. NLT

            But God intervenes for Joseph immediately:

The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did. This pleased Potiphar, so he soon made Joseph his personal attendant. Gn. 39:2 – 4. NLT

He put him in charge of his entire household and everything he owned. From the day Joseph was put in charge of his master’s household and property, the Lord began to bless Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake. All his household affairs ran smoothly, and his crops and livestock flourished. So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. Gn. 39:4 – 6. NLT

            Unfortunately, the wife of Potiphar gets the hots for Joseph and demands that he have sex with her. Joseph told her that Potiphar had given him complete control over everything except his wife. And he answers with:

“How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.” Gn. 39:9 NLT

            She was after him day after day.

            One day he came into the house to work, and none of the other household staff was there. He was immediately accosted by Potiphar’s wife, who grabbed him by his cloak, which he left in her hands as he ran outside.

She called all the servants to herself and lied, blaming Joseph for making sexual

advances at her. She repeated her fabrication to Potiphar, and he had Joseph imprisoned.

            Even then, God kept watching over Joseph:

But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed. Gn. 39:21 – 23. NLT

            Time passes and Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker offend Pharaoh, who has them tossed into prison with Joseph. Joseph was to attend to them. They both came to him downcast, because the previous night they each had a dream, but had no one to interpret them. Joseph responds:

“Interpreting dreams is God’s business,” Joseph replied. “Go ahead and tell me your dreams.” Gn. 40:8 NLT

            Joseph interpreted the cup bearer’s dream first:

“This is what the dream means,” Joseph said. “The three branches represent three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift you up and restore you to your position as his chief cup-bearer.  And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place. For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.” Gn. 40:12 – 15. NLT

            Now the baker is all excited to get his dream interpreted. Unfortunately, his interpretation was grim:

“This is what the dream means,” Joseph told him. “The three baskets also represent three days. Three days from now Pharaoh will lift you up and impale your body on a pole. Then birds will come and peck away at your flesh.” Gn. 40:18, 19. NLT

            Three days pass. It was Pharaoh’s birthday, and he summoned the cupbearer and the baker, and both of their futures played out exactly as Joseph predicted. However, the cupbearer forgot all about Joseph, and two years pass…

Joseph walks like an Egyptian

            Pharaoh has two dreams. They trouble him. Looking for their meaning, he calls all his ‘magicians’ and ‘wise men’, but no one can interpret them. It was then that the cup bearer remembered Joseph.

            Joseph was released from prison and brought to Pharaoh, who said:

“I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.”

“It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.” Gn. 41:15, 16. NLT

            Pharaoh describes his two dreams, and God gives Joseph the interpretation:

Joseph responded, “Both of Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God is telling Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do. The seven healthy cows and the seven healthy heads of grain both represent seven years of prosperity. The seven thin, scrawny cows that came up later and the seven thin heads of grain, withered by the east wind, represent seven years of famine.

“This will happen just as I have described it, for God has revealed to Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do. The next seven years will be a period of great prosperity throughout the land of Egypt. But afterward there will be seven years of famine so great that all the prosperity will be forgotten in Egypt. Famine will destroy the land. This famine will be so severe that even the memory of the good years will be erased. As for having two similar dreams, it means that these events have been decreed by God, and he will soon make them happen.

“Therefore, Pharaoh should find an intelligent and wise man and put him in charge of the entire land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh should appoint supervisors over the land and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops during the seven good years. Have them gather all the food produced in the good years that are just ahead and bring it to Pharaoh’s storehouses. Store it away, and guard it so there will be food in the cities. That way there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come to the land of Egypt. Otherwise this famine will destroy the land.” Gn. 41:25 – 36. NLT

            Wisely, Joseph provided the interpretation and offered a solution (with a flimsily veiled inference that he should be put in charge of implementing it). Pharaoh is very impressed with Joseph, and he does that very thing – going so far as to placing him in charge over all of Egypt, answerable to only Pharaoh himself:

So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are. You will be in charge of my court, and all my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on my throne, will have a rank higher than yours.” Gn. 41:38 – 40. NLT

            Joseph is 30 years old. Pharaoh marries Joseph off to an Egyptian wife, who bears him two sons, Manasseh, and Ephraim.

            As Joseph predicted, the next seven years provided abundant yields of grain that he had strategically placed in storage. And then the seven years of famine struck:

The famine also struck all the surrounding countries, but throughout Egypt there was plenty of food. Eventually, however, the famine spread throughout the land of Egypt as well. And when the people cried out to Pharaoh for food, he told them, “Go to Joseph, and do whatever he tells you.” So with severe famine everywhere, Joseph opened up the storehouses and distributed grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout the land of Egypt. And people from all around came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe throughout the world (the Middle East). Gn. 41:54 – 57. NLT

            During this time of famine, word comes to Jacob that there is grain for sale in Egypt. He sends 10 of his sons to purchase grain, leaving his youngest, Benjamin, to stay with him.

            When the brothers turn up to buy grain, Joseph immediately recognizes them, but they don’t recognize him in his Egyptian garb, hairstyle, and clean-shaven face. Plus, they haven’t seen him since he was 17, (presently 39). And he was speaking in the Egyptian tongue.

            Joseph first accuses them of being spies. They protest:

“Sir,” they said, “there are actually twelve of us. We, your servants, are all brothers, sons of a man living in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is back there with our father right now, and one of our brothers is no longer with us.” Gn. 42.13 NLT

            So, they did not lie to Joseph. Joseph presses them, however. He’s looking for ways to see if they are changed men, looking for repentance. Joseph says he will test their story by keeping one of them in detention, while letting the other nine return to their father, but they must come back with their youngest brother (Benjamin).

            The brothers begin conversing with one another, unaware that this ‘Egyptian’ speaks Hebrew:

Speaking among themselves, they said, “Clearly we are being punished because of what we did to Joseph long ago. We saw his anguish when he pleaded for his life, but we wouldn’t listen. That’s why we’re in this trouble.”

“Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy?” Reuben asked. “But you wouldn’t listen. And now we have to answer for his blood!” Gn. 42:21, 22. NLT

            What did Joseph learn? One, his brothers felt remorse for what they did, and two, Reuben tried to save his life. He left them and broke down in tears.

            Joseph then had nine of the brothers’ sacks filled with grain and secretly stashed their purchase money back into the grain sacks. During their return journey to Jacob, they discover the money and worry that they’ve been framed to resemble criminals.

            They relate their entire story, including brother Simeon being in detention, and the demand for Benjamin before he will be released. After much protest from Jacob, he finally acquiesces to sending his youngest son.

            Judah took responsibility for Benjamin’s welfare, and the ten sons return with double the money they took the first time. When they presented Benjamin to Joseph, he had his Egyptian steward prepare a meal in his house for all the brothers.

            Once there, the brothers relayed their surprise to Joseph’s household manager that they had found their money bags were returned to them on their first trip. The manager replies:

“Relax. Don’t be afraid,” the household manager told them. “Your God, the God of your father, must have put this treasure into your sacks. I know I received your payment.” Gn. 43:23 NLT

            This must have given them pause, coming out of the mouth of an Egyptian.

            Joseph greets them and asks them about the health of their father, and they respond that his health is good. Then he notices Benjamin and says:

Then Joseph looked at his brother Benjamin, the son of his own mother. “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Joseph asked. “May God be gracious to you, my son.” Gn. 43:29 NLT

            He left the room to cry elsewhere, overcome by seeing his only full-blooded brother.

Joseph returned, and the brothers sat to eat – in designated places that rightfully had them sitting in order from youngest to the oldest. They were beside themselves in wonder. Then he had all the brothers’ food bags filled, their money returned again, and had his silver ‘divination’ goblet secretly packed into Benjamin’s bag.

The brothers had just left the city to return home, when they were suddenly confronted by Joseph’s house steward, who accuses them of the thievery and says the culprit will be enslaved. The unknowing culprit was, of course, Benjamin.

Joseph plays the victim. Judah offers himself as a substitute for Benjamin to live a lifetime of slavery in his stead. Joseph could not take it anymore. His brothers had changed, had repented. He sent all his attendants away.

Then he burst into tears in front to his brothers, now speaking Hebrew:

“I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive? … “Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. Gn. 45:3 – 5. NLT

 God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.

“Now hurry back to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me master over all the land of Egypt. So come down to me immediately! Gn. 45:7 – 9. NLT

            All of Joseph’s brothers returned to Jacob and told him everything. The brothers brought their families. In fact, all the people who made up the Hebrews left for Egypt. They were 70 in number…

Jacob was laid to rest:

            Jacob was old and ill. Joseph was called to his bedside, as were his brothers for their blessings:

            Jacob gave Joseph the biggest blessing; first by adopting his sons into the Hebrew clan, thus giving the two boys a share of the inheritance, as well as receiving a double portion for himself.

            Ruben did not receive an inheritance because he slept with Jacob’s concubine.

            Neither did Simeon and Levi, for murderous acts they committed after their sister was raped.

            Except for Judah, the rest of the blessings are not worth mentioning. Judah’s went like this:

“Judah, your brothers will praise you. You will grasp your enemies by the neck. All your relatives will bow before you. Judah, my son, is a young lion that has finished eating its prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor.” Gn. 49:8 – 10. NLT

            (Be advised that ‘the coming of the One to Whom it belongs, the One whom all nations will honor, is a reference for the coming of Christ for Christians.)

            Jacob passes, and Joseph buries him in the cave in the field of Machpelah. Everyone returns to Egypt. Joseph passes as well at 110, with a promise to someday have his bones moved to be with his father’s…

[1] Gn. 37:2 – 11.