Head of a damaged statue thought to be of Joseph with fragments of a robe showing a shoulder piece with coloured stripes found beside a tomb in a temple at Avaris, Egypt. Significantly, archaeologists did not find a body - Joseph's body was eventually taken back to Shechem in the land God promised his people
God's Call to Joseph in Two Dreams
It started with a multi-coloured robe his father Jacob gave him as his favourite son, followed by two dreams.
" Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field, when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”
The brothers were enraged and asked Joseph if he thought they would bow down to him. As if that wasn't bad enough, a short time later Joseph shared a second dream he had.
" “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
His father was not exactly impressed either and rebuked him for his arrogance. The brothers, however, decided to take the matter into their own hands and get rid of him. When Joseph visited them in the field, they thought of killing him. But Judah the oldest asked what they would gain by shedding his blood. When a travelling band of Ishmaelites en route for Egypt appeared, he suggested they sell Joseph off to them as a slave. And so Joseph ended up in Egypt at the palace of the Pharaoh and was sold as a slave to the Captain of the Guard named Potiphar.
God's Blessing On Joseph
God had chosen Joseph and was not about to abandon him. In fact, God's blessing was on everything Joseph was given to perform, so much so that Potiphar put him in charge of everything about the palace. This did not go unnoticed by his wife, who fancied this handsome young man who was too good to be true. She decided to seduce him by inviting him to sleep with her.
Joseph was horrified at the suggestion, pointing out that her husband trusted him with everything and he could not betray his trust.
" How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" he said to her.
When he refused her invitations day after day, she decided to take her revenge by catching hold of him. In his shock he fled, leaving his cloak behind. She promptly screamed and with Joseph's coat as circumstantial evidence accused Joseph of trying to rape her. Potiphar promptly had Joseph thrown into prison.
Even there in prison God showed his favour to Joseph, so much so that the jailer put him in charge of the other prisoners.
Joseph Interpreter of Dreams
The Pharaoh's cup-bearer and baker fell out of favour shortly afterwards and ended up in Joseph's jail. One night each man had a dream, which bothered him greatly because he did not understand what it meant.
Joseph used the gift God had given him to interpret each man's dream - the one for the cup-bearer being positive about his release, the other for the baker a warning of his impending execution. And sure enough both interpretations were confirmed.
About two years later Joseph's gift for interpreting dreams was in demand again, when the Pharaoh had two dreams which he did not understand. He summoned all his magicians and soothsayers to interpret them for him, but without success. At this point the cup bearer remembered Joseph and suggested he be brought to interpret the Pharaoh's dreams.
Joseph said he could not interpret the dreams himself, but his God could and has shown Pharaoh what he was about to do in the dreams. The two dreams were warning of seven years of plentiful grain harvests that would be followed by seven years of severe famine. The reason why they were in two forms was that God wanted to warn Pharaoh he was going to implement them very soon.
God Puts Joseph In Charge Of Preparations Against The Impending Famine
Sure enough, God provided bumper harvests of grain for the next seven years, during which time Joseph built granaries in preparation for the years of famine to follow. So impressed was Pharaoh with Joseph's administrative skills he even gave Joseph his daughter Asenath for his wife and put him in charge of Egypt as his second-in-command.
When the famine eventually arrived, it was severe and affected not just Egypt but all the neighbouring areas, including Canaan, where Jacob and the family still lived. In due course ten of the brothers left for Egypt, leaving the youngest Benjamin behind, in case he suffered harm. When they arrived, Joseph recognized the brothers, but they did not recognize him.
Joseph decided to test the brothers' integrity by accusing them of being spies and saying they needed to fetch Benjamin as a hostage to prove they were not spies before they could return to Canaan with grain.
Joseph Reveals His Identity & Forgives The Brothers
When Jacob died, his brothers were afraid he might not forgive their treatment of him years earlier, so they sent a letter to Joseph saying that Jacob had left instructions saying he should forgive his brothers. They wrote " Now therefore, please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father. We are your slaves," they said, as they threw themselves down at Joseph's feet.
Joseph wept and said:
" Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.”