Shaping a Great Hero
How did Joseph become Joseph? What turned a teenage boy, betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery into one of the greatest heroes of the faith?
I’ve titled this post, Joseph: Human Clay and the Potter but my title doesn’t tell the whole story. Because the “human clay” needs to cooperate. Joseph would have died a broken-down, angry, embittered slave if he hadn’t chosen well at critical points during his exile
His Father’s Story
According to Genesis 31, Jacob served his father-in-law Laban for free for 14 years, in order to pay the bride price for Laban’s two daughters. After Joseph, his 11th son was born, Jacob talked to his father-in-law about providing for his own family. They agreed what Jacob’s wages would be.
Then Laban promptly cheated him.
Thankfully God miraculously intervened and every one of Laban’s schemes miscarried.
Eleven of Jacob’s sons were born in the first 14 years of his exile. He served Laban an additional 6 years to provide for his family. (Genesis 30:25-43 and 31:41-42.) Because he had four wives, some of Jacob’s sons would have been born in the same year.
Joseph, the youngest son, was 6 when his father left Laban’s country and returned home. His oldest son would have been 18 or 19.
Reuben, Simeon, and Levi were the three oldest brothers, in that order. Asher, Issachar and Zebulun would have been the brothers closest to Joseph’s age.
An Annoying Younger Brother
Joseph was the spoiled, favorite son of a wealthy father. Clearly, God’s human clay had some rocks and bits of grass mixed in. (Genesis 37)
His older brothers started resenting him and Joseph’s behavior only made things worse.
When he was 17, Joseph gave a bad report to their father about four of his older brothers (Genesis 37:2.) All the other sons quickly realized that their annoying little brother would be quick to betray them too.
The whole incident does raise some questions in my mind.
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- Did Joseph expose his brothers’ true misdeeds or exaggerate things a little?
- Did he get Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher into trouble with their father to get even?
- Or did he want to show everyone which son had all the power and influence in the family?
At some point, Jacob uniquely gifted Joseph with a rich, colorful, ornate robe. Joseph enjoyed wearing it. But the robe was a striking symbol that Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son. His older brothers hated that robe! Before throwing him into a pit, they stripped it off him. Later on, to fake Joseph’s death, they dipped his robe in goat’s blood, ruining it.
And I bet they had great fun doing so.
Finally, God gave Joseph a symbolic dream, of all his older brothers voluntarily bowing down to him. Of course, Joseph immediately shared his dream with his exasperated brothers. It must have given Joseph a sense of personal destiny. But his older brothers viewed his dream differently. Would they be stuck under Joseph’s grimy thumb forever?
The Fiery Furnace of Egypt
Neither Jacob nor Joseph saw how murderously resentful his other sons were.
When his angry brothers threw him in a pit, then sold him as a slave, Joseph might have disappeared from history. A crime never solved, because the victim was never seen again.
Did Joseph go to sleep his first night as a slave, choking on tears, saying
God, I know You’re going with me.
Egypt was Joseph’s fiery furnace experience.
As a slave…
- Joseph was isolated; he probably couldn’t speak the Egyptian language.
- Chained up, dragged into Egypt, placed on an auction block and sold.
- In the eyes of the slave-buying crowd, Joseph ceased to be a human being.
- He started experiencing kicks and blows, poor food and disrupted sleep.
- But Joseph knew slaves often don’t get beaten if they please their master.
- Prompt obedience and hard work alone would satisfy his overseers.
- Joseph had to adapt to his new culture and his new circumstances quickly.
As a rich man’s favorite son, Joseph had felt entitled. It had been easy to be selfish and self-centered.
But now he was someone’s slave, stranded in a foreign land.
His life depended upon paying 100% attention, anticipating and fulfilling other people’s needs, wants and desires.
Yet it was God’s will for Joseph to end up in Egypt.
Shaping the Clay
Being sold into slavery was a huge wake-up call for Joseph.
God didn’t cause his angry older brothers to sell Joseph to the Midianite traders. The Almighty never temps anyone to sin.
But the Lord is the only One I know who can bring good out of evil.
Joseph was only an annoying, stuck-up little brother, who thought he was somebody important. He didn’t do anything to deserve murderous hatred, betrayal and a life of slavery.
Joseph had heard family stories about the God who personally chose Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Now, for the first time, far away from home, Joseph would start to experience the goodness of God for himself, even in the midst of loneliness, deep emotional pain and physical hardship.
Drawing the Right Conclusion
Sometimes people are quick to pass judgment when things go bad.
It would be easy to believe that Joseph was being divinely punished. Or that God had abandoned him.
But neither of these things was true.
God wanted Joseph in Egypt, where his human clay could be drastically re-shaped. The first powerful choice Joseph made was to trust the Almighty was still with him.
In Egypt, Joseph began to lean on God, who had chosen to individually bless the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
