Joseph meets his Brothers

Joseph meets his Brothers

Joseph was the favorite son of Israel, whose name was changed from Jacob.  He was a naive yet good young man or perhaps adolescent.  He did not comprehend that his father's attentions would make his brothers jealous.  The result was that Joseph was very surprised that his brothers would throw him into a pit and then sell him to some travelers who were going to Egypt. 

But Joseph was not without faith.  He held onto his faith AND his values.  Joseph was blessed and was able to rise in power in Potiphar's house.  When his master/s wife tried to seduce him he fled.  Then he was framed by her an thrown in prison.  Even in the prison he was well respected and kind of rose to the position of lead prisoner.

Then he interpreted dreams from the Pharoah's butler and baker and things evetually worked out to where he was able to interpret Pharoah's dreams.   Interpreting of those dreams led to Joseph being made second in command of Egypt.

When Joseph's brothers showed up due to a famine in Palastine they did not recognize their brother.  Of course Joseph was able to recognize them.  He spoke to them via an interpreter so they could not recognize his voice and so they would not know he could understand their language.  Because of this he heard them talking to each other about how they were repentant for selling him into Egypt.  They assumed he was dead too.  This made Joseph have to withdraw himself to prevent them from seeing him cry.

Joseph kind of led them on a merry chase and scared them.  He even got his servants to frame his brother Benjamin.  Then he told them who he was and told them that it must have been God's will for him to be sold into Egypt.  Then he told them to bring his father...ok, Israel was the father of all of them.  So Jacob, or Israel, and all of his household were saved from the terrible famine.  Isn't it weird how sometimes a terrible thing that happens to someone can sometimes turn into a great blessing.

I want to tell you a personal story.  I was teased mercilessly in high school.  My family had just moved to a different small town and I was put in a P.E. Class with all of the school's athletes.  I had just had a tracheotomy removed a few months before.  I had lived with a trach for 8 years so I was not allowed to play sports for fear of getting smacked in the trach.

So, I had no sports skills and I was in a P.E. Class with all the athletes or Jocks.  The result was I was teased and bullied mercilessly.  They made up mean nicknames and used them on me all over the school.  I should have ignored them but I did not.  I was small and skinny and an easy target.  I should also mention that I was probably one of the smartest kids in that school.  So as an academic nerd I was again a target.

Years later I had decided to move back to my home state of Utah and I had a job interview in that town.  I was an elementary teacher at the time.  I was interviewed by the principal, I was bilingual, it was clear he was going to give me the job.  Then as I was about to leave the school secretary asked if I knew Jeff (not his real name) from that town.  Jeff was the captain of the school football team and my chief tormentor years before.  I told the secretary, in front of the principal, that I would like to punch Jeff right in the nose. 

When I said I wanted to punch Jeff the principal sucked in some air and looked pale.  I guess he thought I was violent or something.  The secretary smiled and said, "I think there are a lot of people who would like to punch Jeff right in the nose."   Jeff was her son in law.  Needless to say they never called me back.  I never got the job.  So I started looking elsewhere.

Since I did not get that job in the small town I found a job in a much bigger town 30 miles further north.  That is what is so funny about this.  I met my future wife in that bigger town.  She has been the love of my live, my Miss Wonderful too.  She and I never would have met if I had got the job in the smaller town 30 miles away.

So, I now find it much easier to forgive those "jocks" who bullied me for that year in the small town. After all, if it were not for them I may not have ever met my wonderful wife.  OK, I don't recommend being unforgiving for years, but really, I now don't feel animosity towards those guys.  I actually am grateful.   So for me a terrible thing I endured as an adolescent led to my wonderful 24 year marriage!  It makes me feel kind of like how Joseph must have felt.  Something bad turned into something great!

A couple of notes on the picture...  My initials are in a hieroglyphic and I used phonetic Egyptian hieroglyphics to spell my first name too.  They are on the wall, along with some Egyptian drawings and some other hieroglyphics.  Joseph's translator is a young man who is standing behind him.  The figure behind the translator is a wall painting inspired by a figure we saw at the British Museum in London, England.