Strange Paths

This, then, is the line of Jacob: At seventeen years of age, Joseph tended the flocks with his brothers, as a helper to the sons of his father's wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought bad reports of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him an ornamented tunic. And when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of his brothers, they hated him so that they could not speak a friendly word to him. Once Joseph had a dream which he told to his brothers; and they hated him even more. He said to them, "Hear this dream which I have dreamed: There we were binding sheaves in the field, when suddenly my sheaf stood up and remained upright; then your sheaves gathered around and bowed low to my sheaf" His brothers answered, "Do you mean to reign over us? Do you mean to rule over us?" And they hated him even more for his talk about his dreams. -Genesis 37:2-8

Have you ever wondered what Joseph's life would have been like if he was never kidnapped? What would Joseph have been like if he'd stayed warm, safe, and happy with "Daddy dearest"? What would have happened to Joseph if he'd never been an almost murder victim, a kidnap victim, a slave, and a prisoner in a foreign land? It's not hard to imagine.

Joseph would have grown up spoiled and selfish, thinking only of himself. Jacob seemed blind to the resentment that his other sons had toward Joseph due to a father's favoritism for the oldest son of his most beloved wife. Let's see how Joseph's life was altered by the events we know so well.

When Joseph came up to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the ornamented tunic that he was wearing, and took him and cast him into the pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. Then they sat down to a meal. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels bearing gum, balm, and ladanum to be taken to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, "What do we gain by killing our brother and covering up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let us not do away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh." His brothers agreed. When Midianite traders passed by, they pulled Joseph up out of the pit. They sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who brought Joseph to Egypt. -Genesis 37:23-28

For the first time in his life, Joseph was alone and without his father's protection. Jacob wasn't there and in fact, had no idea where to look for the missing Joseph (and Joseph couldn't know that his father would be told he was dead). Joseph was in the hands of foreign slavers taking him to a destination far from his home. Perhaps for the first time in his life, Joseph was completely out of control of what was happening to him. The Torah doesn't record these events, but was this the first time Joseph turned to God?

When Joseph was taken down to Egypt, a certain Egyptian, Potiphar, a courtier of Pharaoh and his chief steward, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he stayed in the house of his Egyptian master. And when his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD lent success to everything he undertook, he took a liking to Joseph. He made him his personal attendant and put him in charge of his household, placing in his hands all that he owned. And from the time that the Egyptian put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed his house for Joseph's sake, so that the blessing of the LORD was upon everything that he owned, in the house and outside. He left all that he had in Joseph's hands and, with him there, he paid attention to nothing save the food that he ate... -Genesis 39:1-6

By the time Joseph enters into slavery in the house of Potiphar in Egypt, it's almost as if he's a different man. Gone is the selfish brat who always told tales on his brothers. He demonstrates such honesty, integrity, and competence, that an Egyptian Chamberlain turns over control of his entire household to a Hebrew. God blesses everything Joseph touches. For God to turn to Joseph, did Joseph first turn to God?

So Joseph's master had him put in prison, where the king's prisoners were confined. But even while he was there in prison, the LORD was with Joseph: He extended kindness to him and disposed the chief jailer favorably toward him. The chief jailer put in Joseph's charge all the prisoners who were in that prison, and he was the one to carry out everything that was done there. The chief jailer did not supervise anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the LORD was with him, and whatever he did the LORD made successful. -Genesis 39:20-23

While life as a slave wasn't brutally difficult for Joseph, he was still a slave. Now things are worse. He's a prisoner and unlike the modern American court and prison systems, Joseph has absolutely no rights. He could be executed tomorrow, or die of old age in prison. But even here, God blesses him and Joseph continues to follow the strange path of his life that has been mapped out by the Creator.

The chief steward assigned Joseph to them, and he attended them. When they had been in custody for some time, both of them — the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison — dreamed in the same night, each his own dream and each dream with its own meaning. When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were distraught. He asked Pharaoh's courtiers, who were with him in custody in his master's house, saying, "Why do you appear downcast today?" And they said to him, 'We had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them." So Joseph said to them, "Surely God can interpret! Tell me [your dreams]." -Genesis 40-4-8

While it may not seem important at the time, Joseph's ability to interpret dreams, God's gift to him, will be the key to the rest of Joseph's life, but years would pass before he realized this. In the meantime, he lived the life of a prisoner, never knowing which day would be his last.

"Accordingly, let Pharaoh find a man of discernment and wisdom, and set him over the land of Egypt. And let Pharaoh take steps to appoint overseers over the land, and organize the land of Egypt in the seven years of plenty. Let all the food of these good years that are coming be gathered, and let the grain be collected under Pharaoh's authority as food to be stored in the cities. Let that food be a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will come upon the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish in the famine." -Genesis 41:33-36

Standing before Pharaoh, Joseph could either finish interpreting his dream and then be sent back to prison, or he could act on his own behalf, perhaps for the first time since he entered the land of Egypt. But was this the selfish Joseph attempting to feather his own nest, or the act of a man who knew that by God's grace, he could save all of Egypt...and the world?

The plan pleased Pharaoh and all his courtiers. And Pharaoh said to his courtiers, "Could we find another like him, a man in whom is the spirit of God?" So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is none so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my court, and by your command shall all my people be directed; only with respect to the throne shall I be superior to you." Pharaoh further said to Joseph, "See, I put you in charge of all the land of Egypt." And removing his signet ring from his hand, Pharaoh put it on Joseph's hand; and he had him dressed in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. He had him ride in the chariot of his second-in-command, and they cried before him, "Abrek!" Thus he placed him over all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh; yet without you, no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt." Pharaoh then gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him for a wife Asenath daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On. Thus Joseph emerged in charge of the land of Egypt. — Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. — Leaving Pharaoh's presence, Joseph traveled through all the land of Egypt. -Genesis 41:37-46

From spoiled son to the ruler of the most powerful nation in the civilized world, second only to Pharaoh in less than 15 years. Yet in order to rise to greatness and to hold the fate of many nations in his hand, he had to give up a life of comfort and favor and be dragged through the mud, learning valuable lessons about himself and about God.

Besides, although you intended me harm, God intended it for good, so as to bring about the present result — the survival of many people. And so, fear not. I will sustain you and your children." Thus he reassured them, speaking kindly to them. -Genesis 50:20-21

It's only now, after Jacob's death, do we really see if Joseph has changed. He could have his brothers killed now and take his revenge, but he spares them and remains faithful to God's purpose in his life. Here we see that the true test of Joseph isn't as a house slave or a prisoner, but as one of the most powerful men on earth. He could have turned his back on God and taken comfort in the power he wielded as Victory of Egypt, but he resisted temptation. His greatest struggle of faith wasn't in the face of extreme hardship, but when standing on the pinnacle of the world.

We only cry out to God in our pain and we often abandon Him after He rescues us. How many of us are like Joseph, who even in the ease of our lives, never forgets that we owe it all to God and not to our human efforts?