The Story of Joseph
by Bryan Carlson
Gen. 50:20: “And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve the lives of many people.”
Genesis 37-50:
Gen. 37:1-17: Joseph’s dreams
Gen. 37:18-36: Joseph’s brothers sell him
Gen. 38: Judah and Tamar
Gen. 39:1-18: Joseph and Potiphar
Gen. 39:19-23: Joseph imprisoned
Gen. 40: Joseph interprets dreams
Gen. 41:1-37: Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dream
Gen. 41:38-57: Joseph appointed as second in command
Gen. 42-45: Joseph and his brothers
Gen. 46-47:19: the Israelites move to Egypt; settle in Goshen
Gen. 47:20-26: result of the famine
Gen. 47:27-48: the end of Jacob’s life; he blesses Joseph’s sons
Gen. 49: Jacob’s blessing upon Joseph’s sons
Gen. 50:1-14: Jacob and his brothers bury Jacob in Canaan
Gen. 50:15-21: the brothers feared for their safety now that their dad had died; Joseph comforted them
Gen. 50:22-26: Joseph died and was buried in Egypt
Old Testament:
Exodus 13:19
Joshua 24:32
Psalm 105:16-24
New Testament:
Acts 7:9-15
Hebrews 11:21-22
Joseph is one man in the Bible with nothing negative written about him. This does not mean that Joseph was perfect and never sinned. This does mean that he was a man of great character; a man who was above reproach in the way he lived his life.
Joseph had two dreams that he shared with his brothers in which they bowed down to him. This made his brothers very angry. Jacob sent Joseph to check up on his brothers, who were tending sheep. His brothers sold him into slavery to some Midianite merchants. They took his robe, slaughtered a goat, and took the bloody robe to their father, telling him that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. Meanwhile, the Midianites, sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials (Gen. 37).
Let’s think about this for a minute. He was only a teenager when he was sold into slavery. Genesis 37:2 refers to him being 17 years of age. He was betrayed by his brothers, taken away from his father, and planted into an entirely different culture. The Egyptians would have spoken a different language, dressed differently, had different customs and practices and worshipped different gods. Nothing about Egypt was familiar to him. How did he handle this? Think about yourself at 17 years old. How would you have handled this?
Joseph obviously kept a great attitude and trusted fully and completely in God.
Joseph ended up as a servant working in the home of one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the bodyguard. Since Joseph was such a righteous man, God blessed Potiphar’s house and all that he had because of Joseph. Potiphar put Joseph in control of his household and all that he owned. Potiphar did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate (Gen. 39:1-6).
Genesis 39:6 tells us that Joseph was handsome in form and appearance and Potiphar’s wife noticed him and asked him to come to bed with her. What an offer! Though she pursued him day after day he refused saying, “How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9) He refused to sleep with her or even be with her. One day when he was in the house alone, she grabbed him by the shirt and asked him again to come to bed with her. He refused and ran of the house leaving his shirt in her hand. Angry and frustrated, she falsely accused Joseph of trying to rape her and had Joseph throne into prison. Joseph lost his shirt but kept his character!
He faces an enticing temptation but never gives in. He doesn’t flirt a little bit or spend time with her. He avoids her and flees from her.
The only way to successfully overcome sin is to flee. “If you do not run, you will fall.”
1 Cor. 6:18-20
James 4:7-8
Psalm 119:9-11
Immediate consequences of his choice:
Genesis 39:13-20: We find Joseph again in another unfair situation and in another environment that he doesn’t understand or relate to. He now finds himself in a dark, cold, damp, rat-infested dungeon with people who have stolen, cheated, and murdered. They did not have politically correct prisons in those days—it would not have been a comfortable place to be.
Here is how God rewarded Joseph:
Gen. 39:21 through Gen. 39:23 (NIV) 21the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
The result of righteousness:
God blessed Joseph in prison and put him in charge of all that was done there (Gen. 39).
While in prison Joseph interpreted dreams for two different men—Pharaoh’s cup bearer and baker. Both of the dreams came true the way Joseph said they would (Gen. 40).
Two more years passed and Pharaoh had a dream, but he could find no one who could interpret the dream. The cupbearer remembered Joseph from prison and Pharaoh sent for him.
What type of person would even think they could interpret another’s dream? Humanly speaking, that is impossible. And to attempt to interpret a pharaoh’s dream—that was suicide—if he got it wrong or gave an interpretation that Pharaoh didn’t like, he would be killed. Pharaoh hurriedly brought Joseph before him and asked if he could interpret his dream. This was his response: “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires” (Genesis 41:16).
What faith—how intimate and personal his relationship with God must have been. What makes Joseph think that God would speak to him? What if God didn’t speak and he made a fool out of himself? Do you have that kind of faith? Is your relationship with God such that you would have responded as Joseph did?
Joseph was able to interpret the dream fully. He told Pharaoh that seven years of abundance in Egypt would be followed by seven years of severe famine and that Egypt must store up enough grain during the seven good years to survive the seven bad years.
Gen. 41:39 through Gen. 41:40 (NIV) 39Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 40You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”
God once again blessed Joseph; Pharaoh put him in charge of all of Egypt. He was the most powerful man in the entire country right under Pharaoh. Joseph stored up so much grain during the seven good years that he stopped keeping records because it was too much to calculate. The famine hit and Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians and all the other countries of the world (Gen. 41).
When Jacob, Joseph’s father heard there was grain in Egypt he sent 10 of his sons to buy food. The story of Joseph and his brothers takes place in Gen. 42-46.
1 Cor. 13:4 through 1 Cor. 13:8a (NIV) 4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails.
Joseph sent for this father and had his father and all of his descendants—70, not counting the wives. They were given the finest pastureland in the country of Egypt. These were the first Israelites living in Egypt (Gen. 46-47).
How was Joseph able to live such a righteous life? He was in love with God served Him faithfully in the little and the big things. He had an audience of one—he realized that even when no one else is looking, God always is, and being obedient to Him was what mattered. For Joseph the fact that he was a faithful shepherd boy translated to a faithful servant, to a faithful prisoner, to a faithful vice pharaoh of the entire country of Egypt where God was able to use him to spread God’s love to an entire region.
God blessed Joseph and, as a result of his obedience, God used him to save his own family, the entire country of Egypt and the entire world at that time.
God’s plans for our lives are so much greater than we can see. We must look at the big picture rather than the pleasures of the moment. Satan wants us to fall. He makes is look like sin is the greatest thing in the world—like he is our best friend for allowing us to have so much fun. But when we are paying the consequences, he’s just laughing at our gullibility. We must choose to live for God rather than to give into sin. God will bless our faithfulness more than we can imagine. John 10:10!
