From Pit To Palace (Genesis 37-50)

God has always been good to me. Life has been rough, a total disaster at times, but God has been good. My mom died when I was a boy. She passed away while giving birth to my younger brother, Benjamin. My dad was really emotional and really sad, but he loved me very much. It's like all the love he had for my mom he poured into me. I was what you'd call his favorite child. My name's Joseph by the way. My father had me when he was older, and he was sweet towards me, kind of like a grandpa would be toward his grandchild. He loved me more than my ten older brothers. He even made me a special and expensive coat.

Being the favorite child came with perks, but it also made life difficult. My brothers didn't like me much. I remember when I was a boy, having this dream about gathering wheat when, all of a sudden, my bushel, the bushel I had just tied off, got up and started to move. At the same time, all of my brother's bushels got up, too. They all approached my bushel and bowed down to it. Then, I had another dream where I was out at night and the sun and moon each had faces on them and they bowed down to me. Then eleven stars came over and bowed down to me. I thought it was really weird so I told my dad about it and my brothers. He and the rest of my family were all upset for some reason. It was just a dream, but they took dreams and visions seriously in those days. Apparently my dad had dreams too where God was speaking to him. But my brothers didn't like this at all. They started making fun of me and calling "The Dreamer."

Little did I know, God was showing me his big plans for me.

Into The Pit (37)

As I grew up, the riff between my older brothers and me grew worse. It got so bad that they couldn't say anything nice to me at all. This led to one of the most traumatic and important events in my life.

My father sent me out to look for my brothers who were supposed to be tending our flocks. When I finally found them, they threw me into a waterless pit. It was awful! I was so scared. I had never been trapped like that before and it was dark down there. I could hear them up above me talking about killing me, and I just kept crying out to them. "Please! Please, release me! Guys, this isn't funny."

Nothing I could say would convince them to let me go. But they finally let down a rope and pulled me up. When I came to the top, there was a trader who was traveling to Egypt. Before I knew anything I was tied up and thrown on his carriage. My brothers had sold me into slavery in Egypt.

I was mortified, terrified, and confused. I kept replaying things in my mind, trying to see what I did wrong. But, as I look back, I can see that it wasn't something I had done. God was preparing me for something bigger than I could have imagined.

The Right Thing

When I got to Egypt at 17, I decided to hold on to all the lessons my father had taught me. I was an honest and hard worker, trusting in God's care, and God took good care of me.

Potiphar

I ended up in the house of Pharaoh's captain of the guard, Potiphar. This was the best possible scenario for me. Eventually, he saw the skill God had placed within me and he set me over his whole house. I grew strong and started to become a handsome young man.

Then, I caught the eye of my master's wife. She wanted me to lay down with her, but I refused. This did not dissuade her. It only made her want me more. She set me up to where I would be alone with her and she jumped me, but I knew I could not do this evil deed against my master and against my God who had taken care of me. So I fled, she screamed, and she accused me of trying to attack her.

Jailor

That very day I was thrown in the king's dungeon, a pit of darkness. All of the progress I had made since being in the pit with my brothers was lost. I did the right thing and still life struck me down. I did not deserve to be in Egypt. I did not deserve to be in this dungeon. But here I was.

What was I to do? Should I turn from good and do evil? No, I decided, once again, to hold on to all that my father had taught me. I remained an honest and hard worker, trusting in God's care, and God took care of me. I believed that life was not going according to my plans. It was going according to God's plans.

The master of the jail saw my goodness and set me over all the prisoners. I was the guy who made sure everyone had what they needed, performed maintenance, and did all that there was to do. Other prisoners cried and moped about, but I was taking advantage of every opportunity.

Prisoners

I was nice to all the prisoners. One day two prisoners were brought in who stood in the presence of Pharaoh. These men were very upset. Pharaoh had grown so angry with them that they didn't believe they would ever get out.

God also gave each of these men dreams, and they wanted to find an interpretation for them. I told them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me." When they did, God gave me understanding, and I was able to tell them what God was revealing to them. To the first, God was telling him that he would be restored to his position as cup bearer. To the second, God was telling him that he would be executed.

These dreams made me reflect on my own dreams. I told the cub bearer to please remember me when everything goes well and get me out of this place. The dreams did come true, but the cup bearer forgot about me for two whole years.

Those were dark days. I kept doing what I was supposed to do, but there didn't seem to be any end in sight. That's when God finally did what he was planning all along. He gave Pharaoh a dream that no one could interpret. It was at this point, two years after his release, that the cup bearer remembered me in the dungeon. Pharaoh sent for me, God helped me interpret his dream, and I was lifted up to second in command of all Egypt by the end of that very day.

It's amazing how God can cause these things to happen. When we look back on our lives, the most traumatic events are often paving the way for a much brighter future. I went from a pit to the palace.

Handling Success

When I say I was made second in command to all of Egypt, I mean it. There were luxuries and opportunities I hadn't even imagined. He even gave me his signet ring which allowed me to sign laws into effect. Pharaoh said of me, "Without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt." I was placed in control of all the store houses and helped the people prepare for the greatest famine of all time.

Life was better for me than the tent living my family had grown accustomed to. I married the daughter of one of their priests and God blessed me with two sons. the first I named, "forget" because God had made me forget all my hardship. The second I named "Doubly fruitful" because God had made me fruitful in the land of affliction. You might know them as Manasseh and Ephraim.

In all this time of ruling over Egypt, I never forgot what my father had taught me. I never forgot the promises of God to my great-grandfather Abraham. I never forgot the dreams God had shown me as a little boy. I believed they all would become true. So I lived righteously in the land of Egypt. I did not become corrupted or immoral like the people of that land.

Forgiveness

Thirteen years after I had been sold into slavery, my ten older brothers came to Egypt looking for grain. They bowed down before me just like God said in the dream, only they didn't know who I was. I treated them harshly to test them and see what kind of heart was in them. They spoke to one another in our original language, thinking that I couldn't understand them. I heard them blaming themselves for their affliction. They showed guilt and remorse over selling me into captivity.

After I threw them in prison for three days, I let them return home, all but Simeon. The others were to go and bring back their youngest brother Benjamin. I had hoped to save my younger brother from the torment these men were likely subjecting him to. But when they finally brought him to me, they would not let me have him. Judah, the one who sold me, tried to give himself up to save the boy. He was hoping to save my father from tremendous grief and sorrow.

This transformation in my brother Judah helped me to see that God had been at work in the lives of my brothers. They weren't the same men they were thirteen years earlier. I decided to reveal myself, but I could not hold back my emotions. I ordered everyone else to leave the room, and the words came out of my mouth shakily, "I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?" They stood there, mouths gaped open, unable to process the words. It was as though I had spoken to them in a foreign language, even though my words were in their native tongue. I spoke again, "Come near to me, please. I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. Don't be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life."

I had been raised up to second in power for such a time as this, to save my family and preserve our heritage for the promises of God. So I revealed myself to my brothers, brought my father and all my relatives into the safety of Egypt, and we lived there for the rest of our lives.

Critical Point

I hope that you never have to go through trials like I did. No one should have to endure that. If you do go through serious trials in your life, remember God has promised to be with those who love him. God has always been good to all of us. He works in our lives with plans that we may not fully understand until they are brought to completion.

Romans 8:28 tells us, "God works all things for the good of those who love Him, those who are called according to His purpose."

Trials come: a diagnosis that steals breath, a loss that cracks your heart, a betrayal that leaves you questioning God. In those moments, I learned to do the next right thing—trust God, work faithfully, forgive generously. God is working on your story, even in the dark.

There may also come a time when you can inflict serious pain on people who have been evil toward you. It's not worth it. God is working in their lives to reveal His goodness. Be a symbol of love and compassion, not one of pain and destruction. Watch as God transforms the worst of us into the best of us. This happened with Judah and it also happened with Saul and many others. It can happen to our worst enemy.

Conclusion

The story of Joseph is one that sets up the whole Bible. It reveals so much about the faith and character God is looking for in those who belong to Him.

Joseph knew at the end of his pain that God was working through the pain for the good of his family. We must do the same.

Joseph is also a remarkable shadow of what the Messiah would do when he comes. Like Joseph, Jesus would be loved by His father, betrayed by His brothers, imprisoned, and exalted to the right hand of the ruler of all to save everyone. Like Joseph, Jesus would show tremendous compassion on those who had mistreated him. That's where we come in. We are sinners in a famine, blaming ourselves for our sin. We need compassion from the king of kings and ruler of the earth. Will we bow down and submit to him and be saved? Will we learn to have the faith of Joseph in our lives?