Thursday June 9, 2009
This morning I woke up just before the Divine Mercy hour of 3:00am, I couldn't sleep, partially due to crazy dreams I was having and definitely because I believe that Jesus was calling me to prayer and contemplation. I looked up today's scripture readings and there before me was the story of the mercy of Joseph upon his seemingly unscrupulous and merciless brothers. I speak of the Old Testament Joseph, the coat of many colors Joseph. The same Joseph whose story has been made into the popular and entertaining musical entitled, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat" and for good reason, not only was his dream coat amazing, his life was as well! This is the Joseph that was given the gift of interpreting dreams. Boy could I use his expertise about now!
Jealousy, Envy and Hatred
To refresh your memory, the story of Joseph goes like this. Joseph is the favored son of Jacob, the most beloved of all of his twelve sons. He is Jacob's eleventh son, but the first born son of Jacob's beloved Rachel, who was barren for many years. Rachel only has one other son with Jacob, Benjamin who is born after Joseph. At the age of sixteen, Joseph is helping his brothers tend sheep when he witnesses some of them commit a "most wicked crime" and informs his father of what his brothers have done. This does not sit well with his ten older brothers and when Jacob gives Joseph a beautiful coat made of many colors they become even more jealous of Jacob. God sends Jacob two dreams which he shares with his father and brothers which clearly predict a future where they will "bow down" to him. This certainly didn't help the situation as the brothers envied and despised Joseph all the more. Scripture states that the brothers "hated him and could not speak peaceably to him".
Jacob decides to send the young Joseph to check on his brothers who are tending the sheep. When the brothers see Joseph coming they remark mockingly, "Behold, the dreamer cometh!" They then suggest to one another that they should kill him, throw his body in a deep pit and tell everyone he was devoured by a wild beast, using a blood stained coat of many colors as proof. BUT WAIT! Brother Reuben sees an opportunity for some personal praise from Dad. He suggests that they not kill Joseph, but just throw him in the pit. He secretly schemes to be the hero in his father's eyes by planning to rescue Joseph from the pit later and undoubtedly with great pomp and circumstance present Joseph to their father as being rescued by the caring and wonderful Reuben himself!
As soon as poor, young, defenseless Joseph approaches his brothers, they strip him of his garments and throw him into the pit! The brothers then sit down to eat and as they are eating see a caravan of Ishmaelites in the distance. Brother Judah suggests that they not kill Joseph, but sell him into slavery. The brothers receive twenty pieces of silver in exchange for their innocent brother and return to their much grieved father with a bloody coat of many colors, which of course had been staged by the conniving brothers.
Temptation, Obedience and Grace
The Ishmaelites sold Joseph to Putiphar, a eunuch of the Pharaoh. Putiphar was good to Joseph and Joseph brought many blessings to Putiphar's house and estate by the grace of God. All was going well until Putiphar's wife took a liking to young Joseph and tried to seduce him. He refused her adulterous advances over and over again out of fidelity to his master and to God. This infuriates Putiphar's wife and she schemes to pay Joseph back for his rejection by telling her husband that Joseph tried to attack her. Putiphar becomes angry and throws poor Joseph into prison. "But the Lord was with Joseph, and having mercy upon him gave him favour in the sight of the chief keeper of the prison." (Genesis 29:31)
While in prison, it so happens that the Pharaoh's chief butler and chief baker are also thrown into prison. They both have dreams and Jacob interprets the dreams for them. The butler fares well. Jacob tells him that in three days, the Pharaoh will reinstate him in his position. The baker, however does not get good news and is told by Joseph, that he will be executed in three days' time. When Joseph's predictions come true, the baker is killed and the butler goes on about his position with no further thought of Joseph!
TWO YEARS later, however; the Pharaoh's nights are disturbed by many unexplainable dreams. He summons all the interpreters, but none can explain his odd dreams. The chief butler recalls how Joseph had interpreted his dream several years ago and tells the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh summons Joseph and remarks to him "...I have dreamed dreams and there is no one that can expound them; now I have heard that thou art very wise at interpreting them." Joseph humbly replies, "WITHOUT ME, GOD will give Pharaoh a prosperous answer." I just love this line of scripture! Joseph fully realizes that he is not wise or great or wonderful but only accomplishes great, wise and wonderful things by the grace of God working through him in obedience to the plan God has for him.
Glory, Honor, and Praise used wisely
The Pharaoh was greatly pleased that Joseph could not only interpret his dreams but could also advise him wisely as to what to do for Egypt. In appreciation, he gives Joseph a ring, silky garments and the title of governor over the land of Egypt. Ironically, the Pharaoh announces to the entire country that they are to "bow down" before Joseph! Can you imagine, this lowly Hebrew shepherd boy, so unjustly treated by his own brothers and his own master rising to the position of second only to the Pharaoh?
I bet Putiphar's wife was shaking in her boots at the prospect of Joseph using his power in repaying her for her lies and adulterous schemes which led to his imprisonment! But, as you might suspect according to what you already have learned about Joseph's character, there is nothing in scripture that states that he took revenge on her in any way. I would imagine her fear at retribution was enough punishment.
Joseph had instructed the Pharaoh that there would be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. He had the Egyptians store up food to meet the needs of the people during the years of famine. People came from all over seeking to buy food from the Egyptians....even TEN Hebrew brothers, the sons of Jacob.
Joseph has a few tricks up his tunic!
Yes, the wise old patriarch Jacob sent his ten oldest sons to Egypt for food, keeping the youngest, Benjamin at home because he worried greatly about something happening to him during the journey. The brothers arrive before Joseph, but do not recognize him although Joseph immediately knows them. Joseph quickly accuses them of being spies posing as sons of the same father. They assure him that they are all brothers of the same father and tell Joseph that they have a younger brother at home and one that is "no longer living". Joseph tells his brothers that he does not believe them, that they can take the food back to their father, but that one brother must stay in Egypt, imprisoned until the other brothers return with young Benjamin as proof to what they say.
The brothers leave to go tell their father and discover that their bags are full of food, but that their money has been left inside. This causes them even deeper concern as they wonder if they will now be accused of stealing the food without paying for it. The truth was that Joseph had instructed his servants to return the money to each bag before his brothers departed.
Their elderly father, Jacob does not want his sons to take Benjamin to Egypt but relents and swears that he will die if they do not return Benjamin safely to him. The brothers return to Joseph in Egypt with Benjamin in tow. They present Benjamin to Joseph. Joseph agrees to once again fill his brothers' sacks and let them return to their father, but there is a twist. Joseph instructs his servant to place a gold goblet in Benjamin's bag. Joseph then releases the brothers to go home without revealing his identity, but before they get too far, he sends his servants to cease them, inspect their bags and find the "stolen" goblet, which of course was not stolen but placed there at Joseph's direction. Joseph's servant tells the brothers that they must return to Joseph. Joseph is eager to see what his brothers will do.
Repentance, Mercy, Forgiveness and Peace
When the brothers return to the palace, Joseph informs them that Benjamin must stay to be punished for stealing from him. Brother Reuben explains to Joseph how their father, Jacob would be devastated to lose a second son after he had lost a son already. Reuben pleads with Joseph to take him in place of Benjamin and to let the boy return to his father. Joseph is overwhelmed with his brother's sacrificial offering and reveals to his brothers that he is Joseph, the brother sold into slavery.
So, after all these years of being separated from his brothers and suffering as a result of their schemes and decisions, what does Joseph do when he sees that his brothers are truly sorry, truly repentant and willing to do the right thing to save Benjamin? Does he pay them back for their injustice? Absolutely not. He lavishes them with riches, he brings them with honor before the Pharaoh and they are blessed abundantly by having all their needs met.
Do we make the best of second chances?
Joseph shows great mercy because when his brothers were given a second chance, they rose to the occasion by being heartily sorry for their actions and doing the right thing. Reuben, acted selfishly in the case of Joseph. Although he prevented Joseph from being killed by his brothers, his own self-interest was his motivation. He wanted to spare Joseph's life for a very selfish purpose, to be praised by his father for Joseph's safe return. But, years later when Benjamin is faced with imprisonment and slavery, Reuben makes a self-less decision and offers his own life in Benjamin's place.
Who ever said the bible is boring? The stories are timeless and purposeful and there is so much we can learn from its contents when we delve into it. I think it is very likely that this one story would touch a nerve in just about anyone that read it! The bible is the LIVING WORD, it is not dead, it is not outdated, it is NOT irrelevant, but rather God's words to us. When we pray for grace, wisdom and understanding before approaching God's word, He feeds us spiritually and emotionally from what we read. As the scripture says, "For man does not live by bread alone, but on every WORD that comes from the mouth of God" Matthew 4:4
How many times are we given a second chance to redeem ourselves for our past mistakes. When given a second chance to step up and do the right thing and make a self-less sacrifice, do we react as Joseph's brothers did or do we continue to make the same selfish decisions? God's mercy is infinite and that is definitely bigger than any of our mistakes, past or present. We must know how to respond when we feel the urge to change our hearts and our actions, in order to know how to respond, we must learn how to respond. We learn how to respond through prayerful consumption of the Word of God. We just have to go to Him with a humble and contrite heart and offer him our pain, our suffering, our misgivings, our mistakes and our sins. You will hear His voice, He will speak to you in His time and according to His plan. Then you will be able to bathe in the ocean of His infinite mercies and know what He asks of you in order to fulfill His plan. Joseph had this closeness to God.
Just think how differently this story would have turned out, had Joseph plotted to escape from his captors and seek revenge on his brothers! What gifts they would have all missed out on.
Mary Kidd Flemming blogs for The Handmaids of Mercy which is dedicated to spreading the Divine Mercy Message while documenting her spiritual journey as the wife of John and mother to six blessings, three of which have serious health issues including Ewing's Sarcoma Bone Cancer, Diabetes Type I and Auto-Immune Liver Disease.
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