How did God raise Joseph in prison?
Joseph went from a slave in Potiphar's house to a prisoner for doing right, and from prison to the second throne of Egypt. The text repeats one explanation for every rise and every fall: Yahweh was with him. God did not spare him the dungeon; He met him there and used it to place him where his family could be saved.
This question arose from studying How did Jacob become Israel?.
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The refrain is that Yahweh was with him
Genesis repeats it in the house and again in the prison: Yahweh was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man, and the keeper of the prison committed everything to his hand. The presence of God did not exempt him from injustice; it made him fruitful inside it. What looked like a detour was the road the promise was traveling.
Yahweh was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master the Egyptian. His master saw that Yahweh was with him, and that Yahweh made all that he did prosper in his hand.And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
But Yahweh was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. The keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever they did there, he was responsible for it. The keeper of the prison didn’t look after anything that was under his hand, because Yahweh was with him; and that which he did, Yahweh made it prosper.But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper.
He refused to claim the power to interpret
When the prisoners despaired over their dreams, Joseph asked, 'Don't interpretations belong to God?' and when Pharaoh asked him directly, he answered, 'It isn't in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.' Twice offered the chance to look impressive before powerful people, he handed the credit away. That is why he could be trusted with the promotion.
They said to him, “We have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it.” Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Please tell it to me.”And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.
Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It isn’t in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
God used the delay, not only the outcome
The cupbearer forgot Joseph, and two more years passed. Psalm 105 says his feet were bruised with shackles and his neck locked in irons until the time His word happened, and that Yahweh's word proved him true. The waiting was not wasted; it was how the word tested and formed the man who would administer grain to the nations.
Yet the chief cup bearer didn’t remember Joseph, but forgot him.Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.
He sent a man before them. Joseph was sold for a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles. His neck was locked in irons, until the time that his word happened, and Yahweh’s word proved him true.He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: Until the time that his word came: the word of the Lord tried him.
The rise was for rescue, not for Joseph alone
Pharaoh recognized a man in whom was the Spirit of God and set him over all the land of Egypt. That throne existed for one purpose the reader already knows: to keep a family alive through a famine. Joseph names it himself in the end, saying that God sent him ahead to preserve life. The exaltation of one man is the rescue of the covenant line.
Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one so discreet and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and according to your word will all my people be ruled. Only in the throne I will be greater than you.” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art: Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
Now don’t be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that 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 yet five years, in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
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What was God doing in Joseph's slavery?→“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive.But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”Explore further
Why does God allow suffering and evil?→Suffering & God's Will trail“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”Is God really in control?→Suffering & God's Will trail“in whom also we were assigned an inheritance, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his will;In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
Yahweh was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master the Egyptian.And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
But Yahweh was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It isn’t in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
until the time that his word happened, and Yahweh’s word proved him true.Until the time that his word came: the word of the Lord tried him.
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