"My greatest thrill in studying the Scripture is that God always reveals Himself to us! I especially enjoy word studies. Often the original definition of a word will open up the meaning of a whole passage or story. One of my greatest joys is teaching the Bible. The Bible never gets tiring, the more I learn about the background of the Bible, the clearer it becomes. I do pray that God would always enable me to be a student of the Word." Ginnie Lunt

WHAT LEGACY WILL YOU LEAVE?

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20 NIV

Joseph's life began full of promise. He was the son of Jacob and Rachel. Rachel was the love of Jacob's life and died giving birth to Joseph's brother Benjamin. As Joseph grew, his father began to favor him, eventually giving him a beautiful, richly ornamented coat marking him as the next head of the household. Jacob also gave Joseph the position of managing his step brothers as they tended the family flocks and herds. To make matters worse, at age seventeen, Joseph had two dreams which foretold a day that his entire family would bow down to him.

His stepbrothers felt intense jealousy and hatred toward Joseph and took action against him at a time when he was away from their father, capturing him and selling him into slavery to Egypt. Although they spared his life, they took Joseph's beautiful coat back to Jacob torn and soaked in blood; they convinced him that Joseph was dead. Jacob grieved over his son, with a deep and inconsolable sorrow.

Sold as a domestic slave to a high government official, over the years, Joseph, rose in prominence through gifted administration of his master's household. Unfortunately handsome young Joseph caught the eye of the mistress of the house who did her best to seduce Joseph. When Joseph refused her advances she charged him with attempted rape. He was thrown in the king?s prison without a trial. Again, his life was spared.

Working with the prison warden, Joseph now began to administrate day to day affairs and minister to the king's prisoners. During that time Joseph had an opportunity to interpret the dreams of the king's butler and the king's baker. Joseph appealed to the butler to remember him when he was restored to his position. He was forgotten for two years until the king had an unusual dream that no one was able to interpret. When the butler remembered Joseph's ability to interpret dreams, Joseph was given a shave, a bath, appropriate clothing, and ushered into the throne room where he was asked to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

Giving honor and credit to Yahweh, Lord of heaven and earth, Joseph began to interpret the strange dream describing 7 years of overabundance followed by 7 years of devastation and famine in which the "whole earth" would be subject to starvation if the abundant harvest of the years of plenty were not conserved. He recommended that Pharaoh find a man who could administrate a project to conserve the harvest of the next seven years, subsequently distributing it during the time of famine. Who better than Joseph! He carried out the duties of his new office and saved Egypt from a devastating famine.

Now, Joseph’s family was also hit hard by the famine, enough so that they traveled to Egypt to buy grain to sustain their families. Arriving in Egypt as foreigners, they bowed before their unrecognized brother, Joseph, to beg for grain to prevent their families from starving. Joseph gave them grain and tried their character. After a second trip to Egypt, Joseph threatened to keep Benjamin, his younger brother. Judah begged for Benjamin’s life, offering his own in return. The older ten brothers knew that they could not cause their father any more grief than they had already perpetrated with the loss of Joseph. Shortly after this incident, Joseph dismissed his servants and, with tears in his eyes, revealed himself to his brothers. He sent them back to get their father and the rest of the families so that they could remain in Egypt and thrive. His statement (from our opening verse) to his brothers shows that Joseph harbored no bitterness toward his brothers. Joseph knew that despite his brother’s initial intentions of harm, God had an overarching plan that would save his people.

The family of seventy members grew to approximately two and a half million people before God released them to go back to the Promised Land. It was through Joseph’s faithfulness that God saved the nation of Israel.

Thousand’s of years later another Joseph, son of Jacob, husband of Mary would flee Judea to Egypt, saving the life of Jesus. These two Joseph’s left a legacy. One saved a nation, the other our Savior. Each man, only one person, who was obedient to God, accomplished a great feat for the Kingdom of God.

As I began to follow the Lord and read Joseph’s story, it became crucial in my own life. I remember being shocked that Joseph could forgive his own brothers and not only forgive, but to see that the hand of God was on his life to do good even through those treacherous circumstances. At that moment I knew that God wanted me to release my own grudges, bitterness and hatred. There were long lists of perceived offenses that God was asking me to forgive. Although I did not have the ability to do so, I told God that I was willing to be made willing. I struggled for two weeks knowing that this was a battle for my soul. God released me from the demons of anger and hate; I walked out of the darkness into the light!

Joseph teaches that adversity does not always mean that we have missed God. He is present with us even when he does not show his face. Who knows what future event is dependent on today’s obedience? What legacy (though unseen today) will you leave for future generations?

Do You Know Jesus?

Jewels from the Scriptures Archives