Joseph, Captive to King

The following is a character study, one of several, that I did for Firm Foundation Foursquare Church in Boonville, MO.

Joseph – Captive to King
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.

what faith joseph had to accept this

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:20-21).

What faith Joseph had to accept this. His wife assured him that she had been faithful, but all of the evidence pointed another direction. By rights, he could accuse her and have her put to death at the most, exiled at the least.

But he loved her. He had loved her for a long time, since she was little and he a little older. After he had gotten old enough to marry, he knew he wanted to marry Mary. He didn’t have to wait all that long, he was only a few years older than she, but she was the one for him.

He had built a house for her, with real furniture that she could entertain on. A real bed with a mattress. He had laid the flooring himself. It would be better than dirt for his wife. There was no reason to be a good carpenter if you couldn’t do a lot of stuff for your wife. He was so excited to show it all to her when she returned.

Then she was pregnant. She had gone to see her cousin Elizabeth who, amazingly enough, was pregnant herself. She was old. At least 60. To a young man of 20 that was ancient. And besides, she was surely too old to have a child.

She was gone for six months. When she came back, her obvious pregnant state was a blow to Joseph. Wait a minute. I have been faithful to you. I loved you. And you betrayed me. That was what he thought.

He decided that he would just put her away quietly. No big thing, no publicity of the wounded betrothed. Just dissolve the arrangement. He still loved her and could not bear to see her hurt in any way.

He lay in bed for a long time. It was almost like a dream when the angel came to him and told him that he was to keep her, that it was the doing of the Holy Spirit, and even what to name the child.

That certainly put a different spin on things. She had never quite explained to him why she was pregnant. In fact, she hadn’t justified herself to anyone in the village. That almost made them madder than the fact that she had been so obviously unfaithful.

But if this were true. If this were not just a dream, and he didn’t think so, then he needed to take care of her.

He would. And he would love and raise the child as his own. He promised. Tomorrow he would go to Mary and tell her what had happened. They would get married in a quiet ceremony and then leave with the group for Bethlehem for the census.

He sure did hate for her to go on that long a trip in her condition. However, he figured that if she really was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, nothing would happen to her.

Besides, he loved her.

And he was asleep.