Joseph

Jacob went and lived in Canaan where his father was a stranger. Joseph his son being seventeen years old was feeding the flock with his brothers, Dan, Naphtali, Gad & Asher. Joseph went back to Jacob and told his father of their evil doings. Joseph reacted strongly against anything unethical and any immoral behavior. For this and other reasons Jacob loved Joseph more than his other children and made him a coat of many colours. For this his brothers resented him. Jacob had chosen Joseph to be the one whom the blessing would flow. Jacob dreamed dreams that pointed to his great future. He told his dreams to his brothers that his dreams showed him of his greatness and that he should rule over them. This made them hate him more so they decided to get rid of him. Jacob sent Joseph out to fetch his other brothers who should have been in the land of Shechem, Joseph learned that they moved on to Dothan so he followed. When the other brothers saw Joseph coming they plotted to kill him. Then Reuben tried to save his life. Reuben talked the others into putting Joseph into a pit instead, hoping to pull him out later. They stripped him of his coat of many colours and put him in the pit. Judah convinced the others to take Joseph out of the pit and sell him to some Ishmeelites who were carrying items to Egypt. They did so and sold Joseph to them for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmeelites brought Joseph into Egypt. And the Midianites sold him to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s & captain of the guard. Later Reuben went to go see Joseph in the pit but found he was gone. Reuben was held responsible to Joseph and the brothers took Joseph’s coat of many colours and poured it with blood from an animal to take back to their father. They deceived him in saying that an animal had got him and killed him. His father believed this and mourned for many days. The irony of it all is that Jacob had become a master deceiver and now he was being deceived by his own sons.
Judah left on his own and was with a daughter of a certain Canaanite named Shuah. Judah married her and she was a pagan. This started a chain of sinful events. She conceived and had three sons named Er, Onan, & Shelah. Judah found a wife for his son, Er and her name was Tamar. And Er was wicked in the sight of the LORD so the LORD slew him (he died). Then Judah told Tamar to go to Onan and marry him and have his children. Onan did not intend to have children with Tamar and this displeased God in the manner he done this so the LORD slew him as well. Then Judah told Tamar to stay as a widow until his son Shelah comes of age. Later, Judah’s wife dies. Then Judah leaves to be comforted and Tamar hears about this. She takes off her widow’s clothing and puts a veil on her face. While on the way to see Judah, she sees that Shelah is all grown up and Judah did not keep his promise. She visits Judah and tricks him to being with her. Judah does not know who she is because the veil on face and he thinks she is a harlot. She asks what would he give her to be with her and he agrees to send her a kid from his flock. And she wants him to give her a pledge for now which was a signet, bracelets and his staff. So he did. She conceives his child. She then leaves and puts back on her widow clothes. Judah’s servant tries to deliver her the kid from the flock but cannot find her. Three months later Judah finds out that Tamar is with child and he wants Tamar killed. When they deliver Tamar to him she has his signet, bracelet & staff. Judah realizes this and knows that he was in the wrong since he never gave Tamar to Shelah. Tamar ends up having twins, Pharez & Zarah.
Joseph lives with his Egyptian master, Potiphar and the LORD was with him and he prospers. Potiphar saw that the LORD was with him because he was prospering and this made Joseph to have grace in his master’s sight. So Joseph was held responsible to oversee his house and over other things in Potiphar’s life. So the LORD blessed his home and his field for Joseph’s sake. Later on, Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Joseph several different times but he refuses. One day the two were alone in the house and she had ahold of Joseph and was trying to seduce him and he turns away and she ends up getting a hold of a piece of his clothing while he turns away from her grasp. So she then lies to the men and says that Joseph was trying to seduce her against her will. And that she started to yell and Joseph was afraid and fled leaving his clothing behind. Then she tells her husband this. Potiphar believed his wife and this mad him very angry. So he imprisoned Joseph. But the LORD was with Joseph and gave him favor in sight of the keeper of the prison.
Time passed on and the chief butler and the chief baker of the king of Egypt offended the king and they placed them in prison with Joseph. One night, the butler and baker both had a dream that they could not understand and this sadden them. Joseph asks why they were so sad and they told him that they had no interpreter of their dreams. Joseph tells them to tell him the dreams that God could do the interpretation using him. The butler tells Joseph his dream, he dreamt there was a vine before him and in the vine were three branches. These branches were budding and brought forth grapes. And Pharaoh’s cup was in his hand and then he gave the cup to Pharaoh. Joseph says that the three branches he dreamt about symbolized three days and within the three days Pharaoh will restore him of his work place. And when this happens for the butler to make sure he tells Pharaoh that Joseph was the one that foretold this of his dream, so that the Pharaoh may set him free from prison. And he tells him that he was stolen out of the land of Hebrews and that he has done nothing wrong to be imprisoned in the first place. When the baker heard of his interpretation of the butler’s dream and saw that it was good he told Joseph his dream. The baker told him he dreamt that he was in his own dream as well, he said that he had three white baskets on his head. And in the baskets there was baked meat for Pharaoh but the birds ate the meat out of the baskets that were on his head. Joseph told him that the three baskets he dreamed of he saw in his dream symbolized three days and within the three days Pharaoh will hang him by a tree and the birds will eat his flesh off of him. And it came to pass that the third day was Pharaoh’s birthday and he made a feast to all of his servants and then brought out the butler and baker. He restored the butler to his workplace and the butler gave the cup to Pharaoh. But he hanged the baker as Joseph had interpreted.
At the end of two years, Pharaoh has two dreams that troubles him so he has magicians and wise men sent to try and interpret the dreams. None of the can do so. Then the butler speaks up about Joseph’s interpretation of his dream and apologizes that he should have told him sooner as promised. So Pharaoh sends for Joseph to be taken out of prison and they cleaned him up and presented Joseph to the Pharaoh. Pharaoh tells Joseph that he has had others to try to interpret the dream but none can. And Joseph says that he is not the one who does the interpretations that it comes from God and not himself. Pharaoh begins to tell Joseph of his two dreams. Joseph tells Pharaoh that the two dreams are of one and that the dreams are telling him what God is going to do. The seven good kines from the first dream and the seven good ears of corn from the second dream were symbolizing seven years meaning that the dream is one. And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them from the first dream and the seven empty ears of corn that blasted from the east wind from the second dream were symbolizing seven years of famine that will consume the land. Joseph tells Pharaoh these dreams that he is having is God telling him what he is going to do. And that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice that the thing is established by God and it will come to pass. Joseph tells Pharaoh to prepare for the famine and store up food and appoint a good officer to do this. Pharaoh appoints Joseph over this and tells him that he should be greater than any except for Pharaoh on the throne. Pharaoh then takes the ring off of his hand and gives it to Joseph and dresses him in fine clothing and puts a gold chain around his neck. And made him ride in the second chariot that he had and the people bowed before him and made him the ruler over all of Egypt. Pharaoh reminds Joseph that without him that Joseph could not be lifted up before his land. Pharaoh then calls Joseph Zaphnath-paaneah and gives him a wife named Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. Joseph was thiry years old when he stood before Pharaoh and Joseph went out and there were seven plenteous years brought forth good food. And he gathered & stored up all the food of the seven years in Egypt. Joseph gathered up corn as the sands of the sea which could not be numbered.
Before the famine came, Joseph had two sons named Manasseh and Ephriam. Then the seven years of plenteousness ended and then came the famine. The people cried to Pharaoh for bread and he told them to go talk to Joseph. And all countries came to Joseph to buy corn because the famine was all over the earth. When Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt he told his sons to go buy some so they will not die of starvation. Joseph’s ten brothers goes to Egypt to buy some corn. Benjamin stayed behind. Joseph was the governor over the land of Egypt and he was the one who sold the corn to the people. When Joseph’s brother saw him they bowed down before him. And Joseph knew they were his brothers but he did not acknowledge them and asked them why they came all the way from Canaan to buy food. The brothers did not know he was Joseph. Joseph recalls the dreams that he had of them. Joseph calls them spies and they answer back to say no that they are just there to buy some food like everyone else is doing. They tell them that they are all brothers and have the same father and there is no hidden agenda. But Joseph says that they see the famine is in Egypt too and yet they still come there to buy food. Then they say that there are twelve brothers in all and that the youngest brother stayed behind and the other is no longer with them. Joseph still calls them spies but tells them to send back one of the brothers to fetch the other and bring him back to Egypt so that they could prove themselves. They did so. Joseph then imprisons the rest of the brothers for three days. Joseph then suggests holding one of the brothers hostage in prison and letting the others go and take back grain to their family. Simeon was selected to remain in prison. Joseph overheard the brothers talking and wept for remembering how cruel they were in the past to him and hearing them now with a change of heart. How they were concerned with their family. Then Joseph sent them away with corn and gave them back their money and made provisions for their journey back home. Then one of the brothers realized that his money was returned to him and this disturbed him. Then they returned to Jacob and told him everything saying that the governor of the land spoke roughly to them and accused them of being spies. And they told Jacob about them telling of the brothers to the governor and that he has Simeon hostage yet he released the rest to go back home with food for the family. And they told him that it was meant for them to send Benjamin back to prove they were not spies & so that Simeon would be released. Then all of the brothers emptied their sacks and then they saw that all of their money had been returned to them. This made all of them very afraid. Jacob was not willing to let his youngest son go back to Egypt and chance loosing him like he did Joseph. Reuben knew that they had to do as they were commanded and told his father that he would take full responsibility to seeing Benjamin being returned safe but if he does not return Benjamin that he would give up his own two sons lives. So they ended up not returning because Jacob was too afraid to take the chance of loosing any more of his sons. But it came to pass that after all the food was gone that Jacob had no choice but to send his sons to Egypt to buy more food. Judah reminded his father that Benjamin had to go with them or else they could not buy the food. He also tells his father that he will not attempt in making the trip without Benjamin. Jacob wants to know how come the brothers mentioned Benjamin in their conversation and he tells them that the governor asks if they had a father and another brother alive with them. And they told him the truth not knowing that he would demand sending back Benjamin. Judah then takes full responsibility of his brother’s safe keeping and promises to return with him. Jacob agrees but tells them to take the governor gifts of balm, honey, spices, myrrh, nuts and almonds. And for them to take double money to pay for the food from before in case it was an oversight the last time that they not pay for the food from before. Jacob tells them to go before the governor. Jacob prays that God Almighty be with them to send them, Benjamin and Simeon back safely. So the brothers did all that was told of them. When Joseph sees them with Benjamin then he tells his servant to take these men to Joseph’s house and dine with him at noon. The servant obeyed. The brothers were afraid that they were going to the governor’s house to be made slaves because of the money that was returned to them which was meant to pay for the food from last time. They ended up confessing what happened with the money that they intended to pay for the food however they found it later in their sacks. And that they did not know who did this for them. They were then told not to fear that their money was returned to them by them and then Simeon was returned to them. They then went into Joseph’s house and prepared themselves for the meal with Joseph. They also prepared their presents for him. When Joseph came home they presented their presents to him and bowed down before him. Then Joseph asked to see if their father was well and still alive. They told him that he was in good health and bowed down again before him. Then he saw Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said God be gracious to you. Then Joseph ran out because he was emotional from seeing him and he wept in his room. He then washed his face and composed himself then went back out to his brothers and ate with his brothers. Joseph showered them with gifts but Benjamin’s gifts were five times as much as the others. As the meal was over Joseph realized that his brothers has indeed changed. He sent them away with as much of food as they could carry along with their money and Joseph’s cup was placed in Benjamin’s sack. Then Joseph sent out to have his brothers arrested. They searched each man’s sack and found the money and in Benjamin’s sack also found the cup. They protested their innocence and Joseph told him that whoever had his cup will stay behind and be a slave to him and the others could go home. Judah pleads for Benjamin’s life by telling him that this will surely break his father’s heart and this will ultimately kill him. And that Judah had taken full responsibility for Benjamin’s safe keeping so it was his duty to bring him back to his father unharmed. Then Judah confesses that he and his brothers had caused great suffering to his father by doing what they did to their brother Joseph. He was ashamed and saddened by this. Joseph then got very emotional and sent the people around him away and he was alone with is brothers where he wept out loud and told them that he was their brother. He wept so loud that the Egyptians and the Pharaoh heard him. Then Joseph asks about his father if he is still alive and they could not answer him for they were troubled by his presence. Joseph tells them not to be afraid of what they had done to him. Joseph tells them that there are five more years of famine left to go and that God has sent them there to save their lives by a great deliverance. He tells his brothers to go bring his father back to Egypt and let him know that God has made him the lord over all of Egypt. He also wanted their whole families to move and live in Goshen where he could take care of their needs for them through this next five years. He then hugged Benjamin and they both wept together. Then he kissed and wept with his other brothers and they talked. This was then made known to Pharaoh and he was pleased. Pharaoh aids for Joseph’s family to return Egypt and says he will give them new things that there was no need to bring all of their old things. To Joseph’s brother he gave new clothing but to Benjamin he gave five sets of clothing to plus three hundred pieces of silver. He also sent gifts to his father for along the way. The men set out to retrieve their father. The brothers went back to Canaan and saw Jacob and told him that Joseph was alive and that he was governor over Egypt. Jacob did not believe them but when he seen the wagons that were sent for him Jacob’s spirit was revived. So Jacob agrees to go see Joseph before he dies. Jacob takes his journey and comes to Beersheba and offers up a sacrifice to God. And God spoke to Jacob that night telling him not to fear going into Egypt that he is with him and of there he will make him a great nation. They all met in the land of Goshen and Jacob and Joseph hugged each other and wept. Jacob being old said he could now die since he had seen his son’s face alive and well. Jacob brought seventy people into Egypt.
Before Joseph presented his family to Pharaoh, he gave his family specific directions on how to reply to the ruler’s questions. When asked about their calling, they were to represent themselves as shepherds. Then Pharaoh probably would assign Goshen their dwelling place. They would be together and not likely mixing with other people. So the brothers met with Pharaoh and indeed Pharaoh asked them of their occupation and they told them they were shepherds. They then ask him if they could live in the land of Goshen. Pharaoh permitted them to live there and Joseph brought in his father to him. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Joseph then nourished his father and his brothers.
Then in the first year there was no bread (grain) to be found in Egypt or the land of Canaan and the people went to Jospeh. They said that there money was no good to no one at ths time so Joseph ends up selling grain to the people in exchange for their horses, flock & cattle. And then the second year the people wanted to give all of their land, money and themselves over to Pharaoh for the more grain. The only ones that weren’t bought were the priests, Pharaoh had given them their own portions of food. Joseph gives the people seed to sow in the land and tells them that twenty percent belongs to Pharaoh and the rest they could keep for their families. For this the people ends up being Pharaoh’s slaves.
Jacob was 147 when he dies and 17 years of that he spent in Egypt. Right before he dies, he calls in Joseph in and tells him that he wants to be buried in the land of Canaan with the rest of his family. Joseph agrees he will take Jacob back. Joseph later takes his two sons to see Jacob. Jacob tells Joseph that God spoke to him in Luz and blessed him with a promise of making him a multitude of people and promised to give him this land for an everlasting possession. Jacob then adopts Joseph’s two sons, Manasseh & Ephriam which this raised him to the level of his own sons. He did this so they could be included in on his inheritance. Also when the promised land was allotted, Joseph would be represented by two full shares. Now Rachel would become the mother of three full tribes in Israel. When Joseph brought the two boys in, he arranged them so that the oldest, Manasseh the blessings that was placed with Jacob’s right hand. But although Jacob was old and almost blind, he deliberately laid his right hand on the youngest, Ephriam. When Joseph saw what Jacob was doing, he tried to change Jacob’s hands around but Jacob informed him what he was doing that the blessing was intended to go to the youngest, Ephriam. It was custom that the oldest one would get the blessing but God’s plans are sometimes different, he knows the heart of each man and this time he saw fit that Ephriam receive this blessing. Jacob then tells each son a prophecy of their lives. And the prophecy of each follows:

(1-2) Jacob tells Ephriam that he will be far beyond Manasseh’s tribe.
(3) Jacob tells Reuben that he was his firstborn and he is a strong and power man however he was unstable as water and will not excel, because he had sinned against his father and had an affair with Bilhah, this showed a weakness of self control.
Jacob tells Simeon and Levi that they will be scattered around in Israel for their sins of deceiving & slaying the people in Shechem. They were not to have territory they could call their own but they would be dispersed among the other tribes. In Canaan this was curse was fulfilled, the Simeonites were swallowed up into the tribe of Judah and the Levites had no territory assigned to them but served as ministers of the sanctuary and teachers of Israel.
(4) Jacob tells Judah that he will be a powerful leader and feard by his enemies. As a lion he would pursue his enemies relentlessly until victory was his and no one could take his place away from him until Shiloh (Jesus Christ) comes and then the people would gather at this tribe. Judah would be the favorite of all of the tribes. Peace, plenty, & prosperity would prevail in his land and would be divinely blessed.
(5) Jacob tells Zebulun his territory should be along the sea coast for the tribe of Zebulun.
(6) Jacob tells Issachar his tribe would be submissively allow themselves to become slaves of the people of the land. They prefer shame and slavery to courageous actions.
(7) Jacob tells Dan that he would be a strong defender of his own people. He would help them in their struggle for independence. Their tribe may be small but feared by people who might try and overtake them. Dan would be exceedingly dangerous to his foes. (We will later learn that a golden calf would be set up in Dan to provide opportunity for pagan worship).
(8) Jacob tells Gad that a troop will overcome him but in the end Gad would be victorious and drive the enemies away.
(9) Jacob tells Asher he would be prosperous and gain riches.
(10) Jacob tells Naphtali that he is a hind let loose & he gives goodly words. Meaning this tribe has freedom.
(11) Jacob tells Joseph that he is a fruitful tree. That even through all of the trials and tribulations, he remained loyal to God and God gave him the strength to go on. Jacob tells Joseph that God wil continue to bless him all of his days. And he tells him that he is the favorite one of the brothers to Jacob.
(12) Jacob tells Benjamin he is like a wolf meaning his tribe would have warlike powers. Then men of this tribe became famous for their bowmen and their slingers.
Jacob then dies and has his father embalmed. They bury him in the land of Canaan in the cave where his ancestors were buried. When they returned home, Joseph’s brothers were afraid that he would harm them for all of the things in the past so they asked for his forgiveness. This made Joseph cry & his brothers said that they would become Joseph’s servants. Joseph told them not to fear that he would take care of them and their family. Joseph lived in Egypt and was 110 years when he dies. Before he dies, he tells his brothers that their families would eventually go to the promised land. Joseph dies and was embalmed and buried in Egypt.