Joseph Wept Joseph has always been one of my favorite Bible characters. He is impressive as an underdog who repeatedly overcomes misfortune through patient continuance in doing right everyone loves an underdog and few stories rival this comeback kid. Joseph is captivating as a man who holds firm to his religious convictions in a foreign land flooded with foreign gods; as a man who refuses to hold a grudge against those who malign and mistreat him; as a man who loved his father deeply and as a man who had a tender heart. There are so many fascinating ways in which Joseph is like Jesus. So many, in fact, that it could not be merely coincidence. Joseph is obviously a type of Christ. Just as Jesus was only second to one, the Father, in power; so Joseph was subject only to Pharaoh. Both Jesus and Joseph are specially loved by their fathers. The brothers of both Jesus and Joseph were jealous of them and rejected them. As Jesus had to leave the comforts of home, so Joseph was thrust from his home to Egypt. Joseph saved multitudes from starvation while Jesus saved multitudes from damnation. Joseph was not recognized for who he was by his brothers; the same was true of Jesus. Eventually, Joseph s brothers eventually recognize and fully respect him; the same will someday be true for Jesus. God turned the cruelties unleashed on Joseph and Jesus into tremendous blessings for the whole world. Along these lines, I noticed something in our recent family Bible reading that I hadn t noticed before at least not to this extent. One of the most famous New Testament scriptures about Jesus, especially within families that practice some form of memorization, is John 11:35. Why? Because memorizing families know that this verse is so short - Jesus wept. Well, Joseph wept also. Before we explore Joseph s roller coaster life, we want you to know that we re here to help meet your spiritual needs. If you have a Bible question or would like to enroll in our six lesson Bible correspondence course, we encourage you to call us at 1-800-380-LTBS that s 1-800-380-5827. Now, enjoy our song The word wept is interesting. It is found only sixty-nine times in the entire Bible. Nine of the sixty-nine times that you find the word wept in the Bible are in the story of Joseph. Joseph is born in Genesis 30, but we don t really begin to get acquainted with Joseph until Genesis 37 when he is seventeen years old. Then, Joseph is the dominant character for the rest of the book. What makes Joseph s weeping so interesting is that we read nothing of Joseph weeping when his brothers strip him of the coat of many colors given him by his father Jacob as a token of his special love. We do not read of Joseph weeping when his brothers threw him in the pit (Genesis 37:23); no weeping as far as we know when they sold Joseph to Midianite traders for twenty pieces of silver (Genesis 37:28); no weeping in Genesis 39 when the wife of Potiphar, the captain of the Egyptian guard, had Joseph wrongly imprisoned for falsely accusing him of assaulting her; no weeping when the butler forgot to mention him to Pharaoh in return for interpreting his dream. You see, Joseph wasn t the kind of man that drowned in self-pity when everything turned against him, but he neither was he cold and heartless. In Genesis 41, you remember, Pharaoh had a troubling dream that none of his magicians or wise men could interpret. Finally the butler remembered Joseph and referred him to Pharaoh. Joseph confidently
interpreted Pharaoh s dreams fully crediting God with the explanation. The seven fat cows and the seven full heads of grain represented seven years of plenty; the seven lean cows and seven thin heads of grain previewed seven years of famine; then, the lean cows swallowing the fat cows and thin heads of grain devouring the healthy heads of grain indicated, Joseph said, that the years of plenty would be followed by the years of famine. Next, Joseph devised a plan of conserving twenty percent of the excess during the seven years of plenty so Egypt could survive and even thrive during the famine. The interpretation and plan so impressed Pharaoh that he turned the agricultural project over to Joseph and made him ruler over the entire country. Genesis 41:24 reads, Pharaoh also said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man may lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. " Events unfolded just as Joseph outlined and after the seven years of plenty, Genesis 41:56 says the famine was over all the face of the earth. People everywhere came to Egypt to buy food. As a result, Pharaoh s wealth and power exploded. Joseph had the Midas touch because God was with him. We learn in Genesis 42 that Canaan was not immune to the famine. The food supply for Jacob, his eleven sons and their families was decimated as well, forcing Joseph s brothers (except Benjamin) to make the journey to Egypt for provisions. The tension at Joseph s reunion with his brothers is worthy of our scrutiny. Listen to Genesis 42:7-23: Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, "Where do you come from?" And they said, "From the land of Canaan to buy food." So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, "You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!" And they said to him, "No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. We are all one man's sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies." But he said to them, "No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land." And they said, "Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more." But Joseph said to them, "It is as I spoke to you, saying, "You are spies!' In this manner you shall be tested: By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies!" So he put them all together in prison three days. Then Joseph said to them the third day, "Do this and live, for I fear God: If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you, go and carry grain for the famine of your houses. And bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die." And they did so. Then they said to one another, "We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us." And Reuben answered them, saying, "Did I not speak to you, saying, "Do not sin against the boy'; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us." But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter.
Joseph s brothers deserve full retribution and he puts the hammer down, but he has to work at it. We see in the next verse that he is not jaded by his mistreatment and suffering nor is he aloof or insensitive after his rise to such a position of great power. He is touched by their humility and contrition. His tenderness leads him to weep in verse 24: And he turned himself away from them and wept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. Zerr writes in his commentary, The censure is necessary for the brothers have been guilty. Yet Joseph is a humane being and his sympathy is moved so that he turned from them that he might not be discovered when he gave way to weeping. Four commentators I consulted say Simeon was likely chosen as the one to stay bound because he was the bitterest enemy of Joseph and the likely leader of the conspiracy against him so many years earlier. Jacob s last words to Simeon and Levi in Genesis 49:6-7 appear to justify that conclusion. On his deathbed, his own father speaks of his fierce anger and cruel wrath and also calls him an instrument of cruelty. On returning home with food, the brothers hearts sank when they realized that the money they had used to buy food had been placed back in their sacks. This, unbeknownst to them, was Joseph s doing. How will they now convince Egypt s prime minister that they were honorable. Jacob refused to let the other brothers take Benjamin back with them as Joseph demanded until the severity of the famine left him no choice. When Joseph saw them coming he had his steward prepare a great meal. The brothers were frightened when they learned they were to go to the prime minister s house. They thought surely this meant they would be taken as slaves. When they arrived, they explained to Joseph s steward in Genesis 43:19-23 how that the money that they had used to pay for their grain had ended up back in their bags on their way home, but that they had nothing to do with it. They made it clear that they had brought it all back plus money to buy more food. The steward reassured them saying that their God was responsible for sending the money back with them. After visiting with all the brethren and hearing that all was well with his father, Joseph looked at Benjamin and was once again overcome with emotion. Genesis 43:30-31 reads, Now his heart yearned for his brother; so Joseph made haste and sought somewhere to weep. And he went into his chamber and wept there. Then he washed his face and came out; and he restrained himself, and said, Serve the bread. " The brothers were dumbfounded when they were assigned seating in order from oldest to youngest. How could this be mere coincidence? And then, Benjamin was giving five times the food of the others, but they still were clueless. After enjoying an incomparable feast, they loaded up their provisions and headed home. Meanwhile, Joseph had his servants plant his silver cup in Benjamin s bag. After they had traveled a little while, Joseph sent his steward after them to check their sacks for his cup. They insisted that none of them would do such a thing and if the cup was found on one of them, let them die and let the rest of us be your slaves. Their worst nightmare was realized when Joseph s cup was found in Benjamin s bag. You can almost hear their collective guttural groans as they tore their clothes. They returned to Joseph and fell down
before him. Judah serves as spokesman, telling Joseph in Genesis 44:16-17, "What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; here we are, my lord's slaves, both we and he also with whom the cup was found." But he said, "Far be it from me that I should do so; the man in whose hand the cup was found, he shall be my slave. And as for you, go up in peace to your father." All these years, they have kept their dirty little secret from Jacob. They had gotten away with ridding the family of Joseph, but they could not escape their guilt. And now that trouble seems to be hounding them at every turn, their guilt steadily escalates. Next, Judah tells of their father, Jacob, losing Benjamin s older brother. Judah pleads with Joseph, If we come home without Benjamin, it will kill our father. Please let me stay in Benjamin s place; I can t bear to put my father to any more grief. Genesis 45:1-11 is the gut wrenching reaction to Judah s confession: Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, "Make everyone go out from me!" So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it. Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph; does my father still live?" But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. And Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come near to me." So they came near. Then he said: "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. "Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, "Thus says your son Joseph: "God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your children, your children's children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have. There I will provide for you, lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty; for there are still five years of famine."' What a gracious, God-centered response! Instead of unleashing a torrent of hate on his tormenters, Joseph puts all he endured in perspective. He never clears them of wrongdoing, but through it all he remembers that God is still on the throne. Three times in this speech on Providence, Joseph says God sent me. God sent me before you to preserve life. God sent me to preserve a prosperity for you and to save your lives. [I]t was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Clearly, Joseph gives us a great example of a man who walked by faith and not by sight. Although rosier in the end than it is for most of God s children, the story of Joseph serves as a great illustration of the apostle Paul s words in Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Burton Coffman nails it in his commentary when he insists that this promise is not universal, but is for members of the Lord s church. After all, who else could be described as those who love God and those called according to His purpose. Jesus made it abundantly clear in John 14:15 that those who loved Jesus were those who obeyed His commands. Obviously, those who refuse to obey the gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9) are shut out from this blessing. Jesus came that we might have life and that we might have it more abundantly (John 10:10), but Christians are, at times, a bit naïve about how God blesses His people. When Jesus said, My yoke is easy; my burden is light, He did say there is a yoke and there is a burden. The bottom line both of Romans 8:28 and the story of Joseph is that God will never leave us, He will give us the strength to shoulder our load and that ultimately there is a reward for remaining faithful to God that far outweighs our trials. The following song eloquently conveys this truth: God hath not promised skies always blue, Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through; God hath not promised sun without rain, Joy without sorrow, peace without pain. God hath not promised we shall not know Toil and temptation, trouble and woe; He hath not told us we shall not bear Many a burden, many a care. God hath not promised smooth roads and wide, Swift, easy travel, needing no guide; Never a mountain, rocky and steep, Never a river, turbid and deep. But God hath promised strength for the day, Rest for the labor, light for the way, Grace for the trials, help from above, Unfailing sympathy, undying love. I hope that you have been touched by this great story of perseverance, forgiveness and faithfulness to God. This world can be unkind and there s no sense in going through the difficulties of life without God holding your hand. We would welcome the opportunity to help you establish a genuine relationship with God through obeying the gospel. Don t settle for a bargain brand gospel or salvation shortcut. Stay with us and we ll tell you how you can arrange to get right with God and how to get a copy of this message after our song. Thank you for watching Let the Bible Speak. We hope you heard God speak to you through His word. If you d like to hear more about obeying the gospel, if you d like to get a free copy of today s message, Joseph Wept, or a Bible study course, please write us at the address to follow or call 1-800 380-5827. Please visit LetTheBibleSpeak.com to watch videos of the program. Finally, we echo the sentiment of the apostle Paul when he wrote in Romans 16:16, the churches of Christ salute you. Until next week, goodbye and God bless.