Chuck Larsen

Joseph accuses his brothers of being spies and locks them in the pit of prison for three days. Joseph had spent some years in that prison pit because of these ten brothers, and now they would experience the pit themselves but only for three days. I’m not sure it was vengeance as much as it was putting the brothers in a situation where they had to think about what they had done. That’s precisely what they did. Joseph heard them repenting of what they had done to him, and the text in Genesis 42:24 tells us that he had to turn away and cry. He did not let them see that. Then we read that the Egyptian Ruler, Joseph, “took Simeon and bound him before their eyes.” We don’t know for sure, but Reuben and Judah were mentioned by name in the episode of Joseph’s life being threatened and sold as a slave to Egypt. I’m trying to understand why Joseph chose Simeon to be the one bound, and I can’t come up with a good reason. None of the brothers could be called “innocent,” but the two instigators seem to be Reuben and Judah. Maybe he was less involved than some others.

The fact that Joseph bound him in full view of the others could have been Joseph’s way of showing that what goes around comes around! They all saw Joseph being bound up years earlier, and now they saw another brother being bound up. They did not step up to rescue Joseph at that time. Maybe Joseph wanted to know if they would step up and save Simeon at this time. During this story, the brothers confess their guilt and believe God is punishing them. When they discover their money has been returned in their sacks of grain on their way home, they ask, “What is this that God has done to us.”

Joseph took Simeon as a substitute for the others. By taking Simeon, Joseph declared that the others could go free. They took money from the traders for their brother Joseph and now Joseph makes sure they have money in their bags as they leave Simeon behind. I’m not saying that Simeon was innocent, but he was singled out to pay the penalty for the sins of the whole family. The other brothers could just return home and leave Simeon to rot in the pit, take their money, and go home. So Simeon, in a sense, became the substitute who would pay for the sins of the whole family. This is a “type” of Christ. He died the death that we deserve. The death of Christ as the Substitute for sinners is the great truth from which all other truth flows. Our hope, that of restoration, freedom, forgiveness, and eternal life in paradise rests upon the work that Jesus did, that of giving Himself for our sins. Without that, our faith would be meaningless. We might as well place our hope and trust in a statue of a fish. Salvation comes only through the blood, the blood of Christ.

Let me make another observation about the life of our favorite character: Joseph. He spent a lot of time in pits. His brothers threw him into a pit as they debated what to do with him. Potiphar’s wife lied about Joseph. He was arrested and thrown into another pit in Egypt. When Joseph pleads with Pharaoh’s cupbearer to remember him and inform Pharaoh of his innocence, he says, “here also, I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.” He was innocent in Israel and in Egypt. His brothers unjustly threw him into the pit back in his homeland, and Potiphar’s wife brought false charges against him, and he was thrown into another pit unjustly. There was no reason for him to find himself in these pits. But there he was! Joseph was in the pits! Joseph was left in this prison pit when the cupbearer failed to keep his promise! It appears that Joseph had been in Egypt for about 13 years, most of which was probably spent in the pit.

Most of the sermons I’ve preached on this portion of the life of Joseph had to do with being in the pits. I’m sure you’ve been in the pits! Maybe your job has you in the pits. Perhaps some broken relationship has put you in the pits. Perhaps guilt and despair have put you in the pit. Perhaps you’re in the pits, and like Joseph, you don’t even know why. Joseph could not get himself out of either pit. He was unable to help himself. The only thing he could do was trust God, be faithful in his duties, and wait. When God finally acted on his behalf, he became supreme ruler in Egypt, was given a wife and had two sons. He named his sons, “God has made me forget my hardship (Manasseh), and “God made me fruitful” (Ephraim). The point is God is the one who did it. Joseph waited on God when he was in the pit. He went about his daily life trusting God to act in His good time. So, what do you do when you’re in the pits? Wait. Just wait upon the Lord. As attractive as that message is, the story about Joseph and even the exact details of his life were not recorded in scripture, so I can find encouragement when I’m down in the pits. Yet, I still find encouragement personally but not nearly the kind of encouragement I get when I stand by my father’s gravesite and realize the pit is the pit of death. Joseph is about the one who is to come and save us from that pit.

Jesus himself said that the whole Old Testament, including the stories, are really about him. Jesus is the one delivered from the one pit, the grave; Joseph’s story foretells that. All who believe in him will also be delivered from that great pit. John 3:16 fits here: “For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.” Pink wraps up my thought for me very well: “‘And they took him, and cast him into a pit; and the pit was empty, there was no water in it’ (37:24). We quote now from Dr. Haldeman: ‘The pit wherein is no water, is another name for Hades, the underworld, the abode of the disembodied dead of all the dead before the resurrection of Christ. ‘The pit wherein is no water’ (Zech. 9:11). ‘For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth’ (Matt. 12:40). It was here our Lord, as to His Soul, abode between death and resurrection.”¹ But Jesus was raised from the pit on the third day. Genesis 41:14 tells of Joseph’s deliverance, “Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh.” You and I will be cleaned up and given new clothes when we are ultimately delivered from the big pit! Now that’s exciting!

¹ Arthur Walkington Pink, Gleanings in Genesis (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2005), 359.

If Joseph knew what God was planning, he would be a happy prisoner at this very moment. While he was slaving away, serving the other prisoners, as a servant of the captain of the guard, God was giving Pharaoh dreams. God prevented the interpretation of those dreams by any of the court wizards because there was an expert dream interpreter in prison that God had some plans for. Joseph had already interpreted the dreams of the baker and the cup-bearer. The baker’s head was cut off as Joseph said, and the cup-bearer was released from prison and promised to let Pharaoh know about Joseph’s unique gifts. But it wasn’t until the wizards in the court failed to give Pharaoh an adequate interpretation of his dreams that the cup-bearer remembered that there was a Hebrew man in prison who was pretty good at dream interpreting. God convicted the cup-bearer of his sin of breaking his promise to Joseph, leaving him in jail for as much as a couple of years. During those two years, while Joseph was still in prison, what was going on?

The cup-bearer was re-establishing himself in Pharaoh’s house, Joseph appeared to be languishing in prison, losing hope, but God was giving Pharaoh dreams. There were several dreams that the wizards could not understand nor interpret. God was convicting the cup-bearer of his failure to keep his promise to Joseph, and God was giving Pharaoh dreams! While Joseph languished, God already had a plan and worked out those details. Joseph didn’t see it at the time, but he continued to serve the chief of prison’s guard and just waited. Joseph expected to be released because he was innocent. Had the cup-bearer told Pharaoh about Joseph immediately, Pharaoh may have replied that everyone in prison claims to be innocent and just ignored the cup-bearer. But now, Pharaoh needed Joseph and his abilities. In God’s perfect timing, the cup-bearer was reminded of his sin against Joseph and brought the Hebrew youth to Pharaoh’s attention. No matter what situation holds you captive today, you can be assured that God is working out his perfect plan for your redemption at this very moment. Don’t worry, be happy, and wait on God.

Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dream and predicts seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. He then recommends that Pharaoh find a qualified individual to manage the portfolio while things are good to make the lean times manageable. Genesis 41:39-41 then informs us that “…Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are.  You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.’ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.’” Pink wraps up his discussion with this: “What a blessed change this was: from shame to glory, from the dungeon to the place of rule, from being a slave in fetters to being elevated high above all, Pharaoh alone being excepted. This was a grand reward for his previous fidelity and a fitting recognition of his worth. And how beautifully this speaks to us of the One whom Joseph foreshadowed! He was here in humiliation and shame, but He is here so no longer. God has highly exalted Him. He is “gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him” (1 Pet. 3:22).”¹

¹ Arthur Walkington Pink, Gleanings in Genesis (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2005), 377.

Joseph’s brothers sold him as a slave to traders on their way to Egypt. It was Judah’s idea to sell him rather than murdering him. The text makes it pretty clear that it was because of the profit motive most of all. Judah may have wanted to save Joseph’s life, but that’s just a guess. After Joseph was taken away, Judah’s life went downhill, but Joseph’s life went uphill. At the same time, Judah was negotiating sex with a cult prostitute in Canaan. The prostitute was Tamar, his daughter-in-law. The story shifts back to Joseph in Egypt. There we see Judah’s little brother resisting the sexual advances of his bosses’ wife. Tamar, Judah’s sexual partner, uses Judah’s staff and ring to convict him of his guilt in this affair. He repents and acknowledges his wrong and says that Tamar was more righteous than he was. It’s like having a blue dress covered with DNA evidence proving sexual contact. It just can’t be ignored.

Now we move to Egypt and see Potiphar’s wife falsely accuses Joseph of seducing her. She, too, brings evidence against Joseph. She has taken the garment he had left behind and used it as evidence that he had attempted to rape her. Interestingly, Joseph’s accuser presents proof of his guilt with Joseph’s garment. This is the 2nd time in Joseph’s life that the person he’s responsible to, first his father then Potiphar, is deceived about him by one of his garments. His brothers brought the coat of many colors to Jacob with blood on it to prove that Joseph had been killed by wild animals (or something!). Tamar uses her evidence to convict Judah of the truth of his guilt in her conception. Potiphar’s wife uses her evidence to deceive Potiphar concerning Joseph’s guilt. Judah appeared innocent until proven guilty. Joseph was sinless while appearing guilty.

Sometimes we care more about appearing innocent than we do about actually being innocent. Yet, while man looks at outward appearances, God always looks at the heart. In Joseph’s apparent guilt, the story includes three statements that say “and God was with Joseph.” In Judah’s report, the mention of God is totally absent. It’s more important to God for us to “be” innocent than it is to “appear” innocent. I like the way Susan Brayford concludes her discussion on Joseph’s story. She writes, “Despite the blaming and sarcastic tone of his wife’s accusation, Potiphar believes her version of the story and, because of his anger, has Joseph thrown into prison. Joseph’s real Lord, however, knows the truth and continues to work in the margins to secure a favorable situation for Joseph.”¹

¹ Susan A. Brayford, Genesis: Commentary, ed. Stanley E. Porter, Richard S. Hess, and John Jarick, Septuagint Commentary Series (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2007), 407.