Joseph and the hidden God
Joseph’s story is one of the greatest stories ever told. like all great stories, we can’t predict the end from the beginning. Things often seem to get worse before they get better. What happens to Joseph doesn’t match what we think he deserves, which builds up a cry for justice within us. Joseph doesn’t seem to deserve any of the awful things he gets. He gets thrown into a pit, then he is sold into slavery. He is falsely accused of trying to rape his master’s wife and then is thrown into jail. (I’m skipping ahead in the story a bit, but I think Joseph’s story really can only be told with the end in mind).
The story of Joseph is for all those who struggle to see God’s action in their lives. Joseph’s story is a reminder that just because things are difficult and messy it doesn’t mean that God has forgotten about us. Joseph’s story is also a reminder that God’s will is bigger and more complicated than we can understand. Our ideas of God’s will are often overly simple and stereotypical. We can equate God’s will with our ideas of success. If God is active in our lives we shouldn’t have any money worries. We should be free of family drama. We shouldn’t have to deal with serious illnesses. Not to mention the mess of the world we live in.
The Bible confronts this simplistic understanding of God’s will in many places. The most famous example is probably Job. The story of Job is about a good man who deals with horrendous circumstances that are not deserved in the least. Jesus, is the central figure in our faith. Jesus himself deals with rejection by his people, betrayal by one of his own disciples, and a torturous death as a criminal on a cross. All of this is what happens as he follows God's will.
Actually, the church has often seen the story of Jesus as foreshadowed by story of Joseph. Joseph is the beloved son of his father. He was sold by his own brothers for pieces of silver (Judah/ Judas). What they thought they were doing was getting rid of him, but it is this very action that ultimately results in their salvation. Through being sold into slavery Joseph eventually works his way to being the most powerful man in Egypt (besides Pharaoh). From that vantage point Joseph was able to organize Egypt to store food on a mass scale, which saved them from a terrible famine, which he anticipated by interpreting Pharaoh’s dream. An action that eventually saved his family. Likewise, Jesus is betrayed by one of his own and killed by the leaders of his own people. He is killed on the cross, but it is through that cross and his resurrection that Jesus makes salvation available to humanity. In both Jesus’ story and Joseph’s story, there was a greater outcome that human beings are unable to see from the immediate circumstances.
But, I digress. I was trying to make the point that the Bible confronts the idea that God's will for us matches our ideas of success. Jesus’ own disciples deal with rejection and imprisonment as we see over and over in the book of Acts. Paul also had to endure difficulty. There’s a part of his 2nd letter to the Corinthians that I sometimes remind myself of when I start feeling sorry for myself. Paul, talking about living life following God’s will, says-
“Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. (2 Cor 11:24-28).
That is what following God's will looked like for Paul. In this sense Joseph’s story is not that unusual. God’s servants endure hardship. It doesn't stop with the Bible either, when we look into the lives of the saints it seems like their path is filled with difficulty and suffering.
We should be careful to make a distinction here. I don’t believe God causes bad things to happen to us. We live in a broken world where sin is active. We move through this brokenness as we live our lives. As we follow God’s will, we have no guarantee to be spared pain or difficulty as we bump into that difficulty and get infected with the sin. Joseph’s story shows us that God’s will is much more complicated than we can imagine. In his letter to the Romans, Paul says,
We should be careful to make a distinction here. I don’t believe God causes bad things to happen to us. We live in a broken world where sin is active. We move through this brokenness as we live our lives. As we follow God’s will, we have no guarantee to be spared pain or difficulty as we bump into that difficulty and get infected with the sin. Joseph’s story shows us that God’s will is much more complicated than we can imagine. In his letter to the Romans, Paul says,
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (8:28).
We trust that God knows what He’s doing, regardless of what it looks like to us. As Isaiah reminds us,
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Is 55:8-9).
We are called to trust God not because of the circumstances we are in, but sometimes in spite of them.
Living in this world requires faith. We need it when we look at the mess of the world. We need it when we look at the mess of the church. We need it when we look at the mess of our lives, and the messy lives of the people around us. In Hebrews 11 we read,
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb 11:1).
Faith is seeing beyond the circumstances towards the future promised by God and trusting God has the power to bring it into reality.
The Old Testament scholar Walter Bruggeman commenting on Joseph’s story says,
The Old Testament scholar Walter Bruggeman commenting on Joseph’s story says,
"in the contingencies of history, the purposes of God are at work in hidden and unnoticed ways"…
"the God of [Joseph’s] narrative does not appear, speak, act, or intrude. But there is no doubt about his governing intent and capacity."
It is only at the end of Joseph’s story that we see God’s hand in it. All the way through the story God seems to be absent. This is often how our lives feel. We don’t often see God’s plan. We don’t usually hear God’s voice directing us in an obvious way. The circumstances of our lives might leave us feeling like God is absent, rather than deeply present. Joseph’s story is a reminder of God’s deep and profound presence in our lives.
It is easy to say that from the end of Joseph’s story, but the trick in our lives is to be able to trust God in the middle of the mess. … Before he’s sold into slavery Joseph has dreams. To him they must seem like visions of God’s will for him. Joseph's dreams speak about the authority he would be given. His family would bow down to him. As expected this kind of a vision doesn’t go over well with his older brothers. Joseph’s brothers are quick to take advantage of the opportunity to rid themselves of this favorite son of their fathers, so they sell him into slavery and tell his Father he was killed by an animal. … What is Joseph to think of the vision God gave him as he travels to Egypt as a slave? What would any of us think? We might blame ourselves. Have we sinned in some way to cause God to reject us? Maybe we blame God. We shake our fist at the sky. Maybe we blame the people around us. They are sinners getting in the way of God’s will.
Many of us have felt that kind of disappointment. We might not have been sold into slavery, but most of us have at some point in our lives felt as if our future has been taken from us. You have a time in your life when you see a really bright future ahead of you. It might have been a relationship, or a pregnancy, or it might have been a job. Whatever it was- you had your hope tied to that person or that position and then you feel like that robe was stripped from your shoulders.
We are hit with a sickness, or we lose a friend, our partner dies, and we wonder if God is present at all. We want to believe in a world where honesty and truth triumph, but often instead it seems like victory goes to the highest bidder, or the one with the biggest muscles, or the person with the hottest temper. It seems like the slave trader and the jealous brothers win.
God can sometimes be hard to spot, but the empty wells we get stuck in are very real. The voice of God can go unheard, but the shout of the slave master and the snap of the whip on our backs feels very real.
We haven't seen the ending of our story yet, but we do have the benefit of seeing the end of Joseph's story. We see that he does not end his life as a slave, and in fact the dreams God gives him come true. We also see that if Joseph's brothers had succeeded in killing Joseph, they would be taking away their own future. Joseph's blessing resulted in the blessing and survival of many families including the whole family of Israel.
God can seem hidden in Joseph's life, but by the time we get to the end we realize that God was involved all along. God was working the whole time to preserve the promise that He made to the family of Abraham. However, God's activity went unseen. God used whatever circumstances were present to preserve the dream He had given Joseph. God was able to use and transform the brothers' hatred and jealousy. God was able to even work through and transform Joseph's slavery to the end that Joseph's dreams come true.
This story is a powerful reminder that though God can seem hidden in our lives, that does not mean that God is not active. God is active and faithful to bring about what he has promised. The ways of God are at work regardless of the actions of Egypt, his brothers, or Joseph himself. God works mysteriously and unpredictably, but unstoppably towards the end He has determined.
Don't worry if you can't see God's obvious actions in your life right now. God is always at work. He was active in the life of Joseph in spite of jealous brothers and slavery. God is active even when it seems as though He couldn't possibly be present- such as on a cross or in a tomb. God is at work. Though He may be hidden, He is at work. And for those who dream the dream of Jesus' kingdom they will find themselves part of an overwhelming reality that cannot be stopped. AMEN
It is easy to say that from the end of Joseph’s story, but the trick in our lives is to be able to trust God in the middle of the mess. … Before he’s sold into slavery Joseph has dreams. To him they must seem like visions of God’s will for him. Joseph's dreams speak about the authority he would be given. His family would bow down to him. As expected this kind of a vision doesn’t go over well with his older brothers. Joseph’s brothers are quick to take advantage of the opportunity to rid themselves of this favorite son of their fathers, so they sell him into slavery and tell his Father he was killed by an animal. … What is Joseph to think of the vision God gave him as he travels to Egypt as a slave? What would any of us think? We might blame ourselves. Have we sinned in some way to cause God to reject us? Maybe we blame God. We shake our fist at the sky. Maybe we blame the people around us. They are sinners getting in the way of God’s will.
Many of us have felt that kind of disappointment. We might not have been sold into slavery, but most of us have at some point in our lives felt as if our future has been taken from us. You have a time in your life when you see a really bright future ahead of you. It might have been a relationship, or a pregnancy, or it might have been a job. Whatever it was- you had your hope tied to that person or that position and then you feel like that robe was stripped from your shoulders.
We are hit with a sickness, or we lose a friend, our partner dies, and we wonder if God is present at all. We want to believe in a world where honesty and truth triumph, but often instead it seems like victory goes to the highest bidder, or the one with the biggest muscles, or the person with the hottest temper. It seems like the slave trader and the jealous brothers win.
God can sometimes be hard to spot, but the empty wells we get stuck in are very real. The voice of God can go unheard, but the shout of the slave master and the snap of the whip on our backs feels very real.
We haven't seen the ending of our story yet, but we do have the benefit of seeing the end of Joseph's story. We see that he does not end his life as a slave, and in fact the dreams God gives him come true. We also see that if Joseph's brothers had succeeded in killing Joseph, they would be taking away their own future. Joseph's blessing resulted in the blessing and survival of many families including the whole family of Israel.
God can seem hidden in Joseph's life, but by the time we get to the end we realize that God was involved all along. God was working the whole time to preserve the promise that He made to the family of Abraham. However, God's activity went unseen. God used whatever circumstances were present to preserve the dream He had given Joseph. God was able to use and transform the brothers' hatred and jealousy. God was able to even work through and transform Joseph's slavery to the end that Joseph's dreams come true.
This story is a powerful reminder that though God can seem hidden in our lives, that does not mean that God is not active. God is active and faithful to bring about what he has promised. The ways of God are at work regardless of the actions of Egypt, his brothers, or Joseph himself. God works mysteriously and unpredictably, but unstoppably towards the end He has determined.
Don't worry if you can't see God's obvious actions in your life right now. God is always at work. He was active in the life of Joseph in spite of jealous brothers and slavery. God is active even when it seems as though He couldn't possibly be present- such as on a cross or in a tomb. God is at work. Though He may be hidden, He is at work. And for those who dream the dream of Jesus' kingdom they will find themselves part of an overwhelming reality that cannot be stopped. AMEN
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