Joseph's Cycle
“All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose” - Romans 8:28
Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a reason to doubt that verse of scripture, even for once. Maybe you lost a job, you prayed for something and still didn’t get it, you failed an exam you had prayed and prepared for, or you were disappointed, you got heartbroken, you suffered for something you didn’t do, you were lied against… the list goes on. Sometimes, we have these experiences and one can’t help but ask, “What is the good in all of this? Why do I have to suffer?” If this has been you, at any point in your life, I am glad you are reading this letter because I wrote this for you.
Today, we will be looking at the life of someone who had a similar experience in the Bible, Joseph. The story of Joseph begins at Genesis 37:3 and it goes all the way to the end of the book of Genesis. Do read it for better understanding.
Apart from Jesus himself, Joseph is my favorite Bible character. Most times, people refer to Joseph’s story as “From prison to palace” but it’s much more than that. Today, we will be analyzing the progression of the life of Joseph in what I call the Joseph’s cycle. stay with me.
Home - Joseph’s story began at home, with his family. For context, Joseph was the 11th son of Jacob. He was also the first son of his mother, Racheal whom Jacob loved so much. Because of the love he had for Joseph, Jacob made him a colorful coat and this aroused jealousy amongst his siblings. Joseph was also a dreamer. He had dreamt that his father, mother and 11 brothers will bow to him. He had this dream twice and shared it with his family..
Slavery - Joseph’s brothers out of the jealousy they had for him decided to kill him but the eldest brother objected to it so some of them decided to sell him into slavery.
King of slaves - He found favor in Potiphar’s house, where he was sold into slavery, and was placed above all other slaves.
Prison - Potiphar’s wife had him framed and thrown into prison for refusing her advances towards him.
Head of prisoners - In the prison again, he was favored and kept in charge of all the prisoners.
Forgotten - Whilst in the prison as the head of the prisoners, he interpreted the dreams of two fellow prisoners. They both worked for Pharaoh, the King of Egypt at the time. One was to be reinstated, one was to be put to death just as he had told them according to his interpretation. He pleaded with the one who would return to the palace to remember him and tender his case before the king so that he might be set free. As soon as the fellow got to the palace, he forgot him.
Remembered - In due course, The king had two troubling dreams and none of the magicians and wise men in the land could interpret it. Then the chief butler remembered Joseph and mentioned him to Pharaoh.
Palace - Pharaoh ordered that he be brought from the prison to the palace. At once, he was brought out of the prison, given a makeover and went to stand before the King.
Interpretation & Wise counsel: Basically, Pharaoh’s dream was God showing him what would happen in the next few years; 7 years of plenty, more than the land of Egypt had ever seen and more than they will ever see. And 7 years of famine, more severe they had ever and will ever witness. So Joseph interpreted to Pharaoh and did not only stop there, he gave wise counsel. He advised Pharaoh to put someone in charge of gathering and storing food during the season of plenty so that it can be sold to the people during the famine.
Enthroned - “So Pharaoh asked his officials, ‘can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the Spirit of God?’ Then he said to Joseph, ‘since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are. You will be in charge of my court, and all my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on the throne will have a rank higher than yours.” Genesis 41: 38-40 (NLT)
Plenty - The years of plenty came and Joseph got to work. He made sure that there was storage enough for the imminent years of famine
Famine - Sure enough, the famine followed and people began to come from all over to buy grain from Egypt.
Brother’s arrival - When the famine became so severe, the brothers of Jacob had to leave their home for Egypt to get food. They got to the palace but couldn’t recognize Joseph and guess what? They bowed to him (Genesis 42:6) Wasn’t this what his dream was about? Stay with me.
Reunited with his father - Eventually, Joseph was reunited with his father in his old age.
The Analysis
All the stages of trials were stages of preparation - God knew Joseph’s destiny was to save an entire nation from destruction so he decided, I’d not just take him from stage 1 to stage 8, I’d take him through all the stages. I want him to manage a nation’s resource - matter of fact, the greatest harvest the land of Egypt has ever seen and will ever see so he must manage the small things first. How would he treat the people when I enthrone him? (How did he treat his fellow slaves when I put him as the head of slaves in Potiphar’s house?) If he sees a chance to commit sin in secret, without anyone knowing, how would he respond? (How did he respond when he was alone with Mrs. Potiphar?) If he’s going through his own emotional problems, would he take it out on the people or still treat them well? (He was still asking after the wellbeing of his fellow prisoners when he himself was imprisoned for no just cause)
He stayed faithful - Remember when he was at Potiphar’s house? No one knew him there. If he had agreed to the advances of Mrs Potiphar, they might have given him a raise. He’d have lived a comfortable life. Would have had a nice cottage, married a wife and had children and they’d have all continued to be Potiphar’s favorite slaves but no, he didn’t consent because he feared God. One would think that the reward for the fear of the Lord should be something good, rather, he was thrown straight into prison. You may have felt that way before. Maybe you didn’t cheat in an exam where everyone else did and then you failed. You didn’t change figures at your workplace to make money and you still got driven out of your house due to failure to pay rent. And then you ask God, where’s my testimony? where’s the reward I deserve? But did Joseph get his reward or not? More often than not, God’s plan is way bigger than the immediate rewards you seek
He wasn’t forgotten, God was working things out - So here you are, giving up at the slavery stage, at the prison stage, or worse still, at the stage when you have been forgotten. Believe me, that had to hurt the most. If I were Joseph, I’d be expecting that few hours after the butler returned to the palace, an official would be sent to get me. If I heard a knock on the door, I would run to find out if it was me they were looking for. Imagine going through that. Hoping earnestly on something and being disappointed. Even if a messenger had come and said “We tendered your case to Pharaoh but he disapproved” That would have been much better. But no, Joseph was waiting, hoping, everyday. Checking the book of visitors to see if any official had come to attend to his case. And I know that someone reading this is in that stage right now. You’ve hoped and prayed and done all things right yet, it seems you have been forgotten. If only you know the glory that lies ahead of you!
It doesn’t take him time - I can imagine Joseph hoping and hoping and eventually losing hope. After accepting that he will die a prisoner, one random day, two years after the butler had left, they sent for him. He must have been so puzzled. I’m sure it all happened so fast, he’d have been awe struck. See, when the glory comes, there’d be no words to say. That is God’s message to someone today. Whatever it is that you’re going through today, the prison phase, the pit phase, it is nothing compared to the glory that God is preparing for you. (Romans 8:18) The Bible in Psalm 126:1 says, When God turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. It’s one of God’s specialties, doing that which would have taken years in the twinkling of an eye. In a dream-like manner. I pray that you experience such miracle sooner than you expect In Jesus Name. After all the years, God was finally ready for him. At the beginning of that day, he was prisoner Joseph and at the end of the day, he was “Your Excellency” See how God works!
Don’t give in too easily, you’d ruin the bigger picture - Am I the only one who wondered… if Joseph was so important, why was Jesus not a direct descendant of his? Of all Jacob’s children, the spotlight was on Joseph so why was Judah chosen? Do you think I have the answer? I don't. What I do know is that Joseph was as important because without Joseph, there would be no Judah. If God did not reveal Pharaoh’s dream to Joseph, the plenty would have come and no one would have had an idea that famine was coming. The famine would come, also the most severe Egypt has ever had and of course, there would have been mass death, including Judah and all his siblings so in a sense, Joseph was a saviour. He was instrumental in ensuring that life was sustained. That was the bigger picture God had ordained. Too many people are leaving the track of their divine destiny because they aren’t getting to stage 8 quickly enough. Hang in there, if you throw in the towel at stage 3, you would never get to stage 8.
Seeing God’s plan finally come to play - It took 13 years for the dream to become a reality. God is the greatest master planner there is. If he has said something, he will surely do it. He will follow it to the letter. Even you will look back and stand in awe at the fulfilment of his word. Remember how Joseph dreamt that his mother, father and 11 brothers will bow to him? They laughed at him and nicknamed him the dreamer. I mean, it makes sense why they would act that way. You are the 11th child and you think everyone in the family would ow to you? who do you even think you are? Even his father who loved him did not approve of that. See, sometimes your dreams and visions would be too large for even your closest family to comprehend. Now, after 13 years of having that dream, IT CAME TO PASS! I had tears in my eyes reading that verse (Genesis 42:6) It actually did come to pass! It didn’t look like it in Potiphar’s house. It sure didn’t look like it in the prison, it didn’t look like it when his only shot to experiencing freedom forgot him. And to you right now, it might not look like it but what I want you to hold on strongly to is that if he has said it, then he will do it.
In conclusion,
All things still work together for good. Not all good things, all things. Even when it seems like it’s not good, it’s working together for good. Joseph’s story is living proof that even out of the bad, God is bringing out good. So whatever it is that you are going through right now, it’s just one of the stages. Rejoice because your palace days are near. Have a very pleasant week.
Until next week,
Titilayo.
Joseph really stood the test of time.
I really love this approach. The cycle he had to take, just to make it back “home”. He was as much invested in the now as he was in the future; and he did this by being faithful to all he believed and held to be true. If he wasn’t successful in 3&5 for example, I wonder how he would’ve managed 10-13. A call to being faithful to God, to the plan, to the purpose he has for us. Thank you for this.