Jottings

by J. Miller | Category: Jottings | Jan 1959

Last month we made some brief observations on Job and his sorrows and sufferings. This time we shall refer to those of Joseph at the hands of his brethren and in the land of Egypt. Job's was a test ease as to whether he would renounce God in consequence of the accusations of Satan, who was allowed to strip him of all his substance and family, and then to smite him and leave him broken in health. In addition to these calamities his friends were allowed to subject him to bitter criticism and condemnation. We are permitted to see the end of the LORD, that is, the end of the LORD'S dealings with him, when the storms of trial had passed and the sunshine of divine blessing shone upon Job again.

Joseph's story is different. He is one of the beautiful types of the Lord in his sufferings at the hand of his brethren and the Gentile Egyptians, and in his glories which followed as saviour and ruler of his brethren and of the Egyptians: and his provision and fame spread to lands far away, whose men came to Joseph to buy corn.

The integrity of Joseph was manifest at an early age. To him as a lad, keeping his father's flock with his brethren, their evil conduct was an offence, and he told his father concerning their conduct. Jacob loved Joseph more than all his sons and he appointed him to be the firstborn (1 Chronicles 5.1), and in token of this honour he made him a coat of many colours. Reuben, who was the natural firstborn of Jacob, proved unworthy of this high honour; he was an unstable character, so the birthright passed to Joseph and his sons.

In addition to these things which made him separate (that is, " prince among") from his brethren (Genesis 49.26, Deuteronomy 33. 16), Joseph dreamed dreams in which God revealed to him his coming days of greatness when he would be lord over his brethren. Such increased the fire of hatred and jealousy which was already burning in the breasts of his brethren. He was the envy of his brethren.

At length they got him in their power. They had been sent by Jacob their father from Hebron to feed the flock in Shechem. Joseph was kept at home. But as the days went by, Jacob became more and more anxious about his sons and the flock, and so he called Joseph and sent him to see as to their well-being and t~ bring his father word again. Little did Jacob or Joseph know the years of sorrow which lay between then and the time they would meet again. Joseph was willing and ready to go to his brethren, though he well knew their characters and their attitude to him.

When he reached Shechem they were nowhere to be seen. A man found him wandering in the field and asked him what he sought. He said that he sought his brethren and asked the man if he could tell him where they were feeding the flock. The man said that he had heard them say that they were going to Dothan. Dothan is to the north of Shechem, so that Jacob's sons were moving farther away from their father. Such was the drift of the sons of Israel and such is the drift of mankind, farther and farther from God. But Joseph went after his brethren, as did the Lord at a later day.

Dothan is twice mentioned in the Scriptures, here and in 2 Kings 6.18. In both cases men thought that they had God's chosen man in their hands completely and they could do with him as they would, but the blinded Syrians were led captive by Elisha into the midst of Samaria, where, instead of being slain, they were treated with kindness. Joseph's brethren, too, blinded by their hatred, were at last in Joseph's hands and there they were treated with the utmost kindness.

When Joseph's brethren saw him afar off they conspired to kill him. They called him, "this dreamer." First they thought to slay him and cast him into a pit; they would tell their father that a beast had devoured him. Reuben intervened to save him and got them to cast him alive into a pit, for he thought to deliver him and bring him back to his father. They stript Joseph of his coat of many colours and cast him into the pit in which was no water. They espied travelling Ishmaelites carrying spices to Egypt, and Judah, out for making profit, suggested that Joseph should be sold to the Ishmaelite merchants, so they drew Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver, and in turn he was resold to Potiphar when they reached Egypt. Jacob's sons brought back his coat of many colours, rent and torn and stained with the blood of the kid to their father.

The parallel between this dark deed and what happened to the Lord is close and clear. Both sought their brethren, both were hated and both were sold by a Judas (Judas is the Greek form of the Hebrew Judah).

Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob, suffered much at the hands of his brethren, and was finally sold by them to become a slave in Egypt. Stephen says, "The patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt: and God was with him" (Acts 1.9). Their action was one of great cruelty and hardness of heart, and exemplifies the words of Solomon:

"Jealousy is cruel as the grave" (Song of Songs 8.0).

From the story in Genesis we gather that the spiritual state of Jacob's family left much to be desired. Reuben had been guilty of serious immoral conduct. Simeon and Levi committed a number of murders to wipe out the stain and shame of their sister Dinah. Judah too had been guilty of immoral conduct and other disorders. The order of events in Psalm 105. 16, 11 sounds the opposite of that of Genesis

"He coiled for a famine upon the land;

He brake the whole staff of bread.

He sent a man before them;

Joseph was sold for a servant (slave)

By the decision of the LORD the famine was called for before the sending of Joseph, though it did not come for some years after Joseph had been in Egypt. The famine was to have a voice for men in general and for the people of Egypt, but it was the means that God took to bring home to Jacob's sons their wickedness, and to correct their attitude both to their father and to Joseph, and, we would hope, toward God also.

The early days of Joseph in Egypt were fair and prosperous for him. Moses tells us that "the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man" (Genesis

39.2). But the devil did not leave him alone for long. Potiphar gave him full control of the running of his house and of his affairs. He found in him a capable, faithful and honest steward. Potiphar's wife was the tool that the devil used to seek to destroy this precious life. Joseph refused all her overtures. One day she thought she had him trapped but he fled from her, and she, with Joseph's garment in her hands, told the lie which landed Joseph in prison to suffer for the shame of her sin. Thus it came to pass that Joseph came to suffer at the hands of his brethren and at the hands of the Egyptians. So was it with the Lord. He suffered at the hands of His Jewish brethren and at the hands of the Gentiles.

"For of a truth in this city against Thy holy Servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together, to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel foreordained to come to pass " (Acts 4.27, 28).

But the reason for the Lord's bitter sufferings went deeper than simply the hatred of the Gentile and the Jew: the real cause of His deep distress was the sin of a woman in which her husband joined. That sin was Eve's, and Adam, her husband, joined with her in her sin. This was the root cause of the Saviour's suffering, His suffering for sin. Even so it was with Joseph, Potiphar's wife was the cause of his imprisonment for Potiphar cast him into prison. Thus we read

"His feet they hurt with fetters

He was laid in chains of iron" (Psalm 105.18).

In prison among the king's prisoners the LORD was with him and showed kindness unto him and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. Joseph was infinitely better to be in the prison with honour than free and in dishonour. Here, as in Potiphar's house, the jailer committed the control of the prisoners to Joseph, for so trustworthy was he that he had not to check what was his own responsibility.

Then one day there arrived two high placed royal officials who had been committed to prison, Pharaoh's butler and baker. These had got into trouble with their royal master. One night in the course of their imprisonment they both dreamed a dream. Joseph interpreted their dreams and of this interpretation the butler later told Pharaoh, "me he restored unto mine office, and him (the baker) he hanged." But sad to say that though Joseph asked the butler to have him in remembrance, yet for two full years he forgot all about Joseph, his benefactor. As Joseph's sufferings were great so was his glory, each was the measure of the other. So also with the Lord, and so with us.

J. Miller | Jan 1959
Jottings