Happy Anniversary to our dear friends, Kim and Martin Nealey.

The Moral of the Story 

Genesis 41 

Joseph, lesson 16 

Pharoah said to Joseph, ‘see, I have set you overall the land of Egypt.’ Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put the gold necklace around his neck. He had him ride in his second chariot; and they proclaimed before him, ‘bow the knee!’ And he set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘though I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.’ Then Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as his wife. And Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt. 

What a difference a day makes. One day Joseph is languishing in jail. The next day he is before the king. The next day after that, he rises to second in power in the most powerful nation in the world. He rides around in a royal chariot and the people bow before him. Why did God orchestrate these events? What did Joseph do to earn this? 

As I mentioned last time, the narrative tells the story but doesn’t provide any commentary. A good story usually provides descriptions of what is going through the minds of the main characters. What is God thinking while He is creating these events? What is going through Joseph’ mind as he is going through these events? I want to know. Instead, the external events are simply described without the internal thoughts revealed. 

• Pharaoh gave Joseph an Egyptian name. How did Joseph feel about that? Did he resist it because of his Jewish heritage or did he just go with it? 
• Pharaoh gave Joseph an Egyptian wife, the daughter of a pagan priest. Why did Joseph agree to marry a foreigner? Did he resist in his mind but go with it anyway? 
• How did Joseph feel about all the people bowing before him? 

These are some of the moral questions we’d like to know about so that we can learn moral lessons from Joseph. Back in my day as a child, we were taught all of these Old Testament narratives in Sunday School. The lesson always ended with a moral lesson for us to live by. In telling Bible stories, it’s easy for us to acquiesce to ‘the moral of the story is…’. But that’s not what God is trying to teach us here. 

Reminder: my blog is all about the discoveries I am making in my personal Bible studies. I didn’t decide to write about Joseph because I’m an Old Testament scholar who had it all figured out. I began this study of Joseph to personally discover the fulness of God’s purpose in this text. I thought the main point was going to be the faithful actions of Joseph. Some of that is certainly here but it’s just clearly not the main point. The moral of the story, as best I can discern, really isn’t a moral lesson, per se, after all. The theme is “God is accomplishing his purposes in His ways and in His timing”. 

The purpose, I believe, of the story of Joseph goes back to God’s covenants with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. More on that next time. 

Lord, You are writing the story of our lives. We tend to think we are insignificant. But we are not. For many of us, our lives haven’t turned out like we planned. In our youth, we dreamed of much better things for ourselves and we envisioned something different. Joseph must have felt that way for ten long years as a slave and prisoner. But You always have a plan. May we seek You today and ask that we remain faithful to You during the good and bad times of life…so that You can fulfill Your good work within us in Your perfect way and in Your perfect timing. Amen!