Joseph was the favorite of the twelve sons and he knew it. His father doted on him and in a lesser way, on his brother Benjamin. They were, after all, the sons of his favorite wife and she had died in childbirth with Benjamin. They were all Jacob had left of Rachel and he didn’t let anyone forget it.
He even made Joseph a special coat, one unlike anything the other brothers had. Joseph liked that. He liked being the favorite son, the fortunate son, the top of the heap.
And it made his situation worse when he would have dreams about being the chief sheaf of wheat to whom all the other sheaves of wheat bowed down to. Or the star the sun, moon and other stars bowed down to.
He liked those dreams. On the other hand, his brothers hated them. They hated that “Master-Dreamer.” Jacob, his father, just thought they were funny.
But then it all backfired. His brothers had gotten a bellyful of all of his posturing, his pretending to be the king of the sons and sold him into slavery. His life was over and his father thought he had died. He was now a slave and was sold to a man in Egypt named Potiphar.
His grief faded. He soon grew to be used to his new country and did well.
But after a false allegation of rape by the wife of his owner he was put in prison. There he used the one ability that no one had ever appreciated – his ability to interpret dreams – to good use. This brought him to the attention of the Pharoah who also had a dream he could not understand.
The dream was that Egypt would have a famine and the Pharoah needed to store up grain during the next seven years, which would be good years, for the seven after that, which would be famine years. Pharoah realized the value of this young man and made him second in command in the kingdom of Egypt.
The famine years affected Joseph’s family back in Palestine. His father sent his sons to Egypt, not knowing Joseph would be there to meet them.
The arrival of his brothers affected Joseph in a way he never dreamed possible. It made him want his family once more. After he had told them who he was, he sent for his father, Jacob, to come and live with him there in Egypt. The Pharoah was glad to see Joseph’s family and gave them a good place to live.
Joseph was a spoiled brat who became transformed to a strong leader through adversity. His move from the favorite son of a rich man to a slave humbled him. His refusal to give into temptation offered by the wife of his owner gave him courage, even though it put him in jail. And his allowing God to work through him in his interpretation of dreams made him a man of God.
His was a riches to rags to riches story that shows God working in a person’s life to his ultimate good even in the middle of extreme adversity.
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