The sons of Israel spent their days shepherding their father’s flocks. On one occasion, Joseph went to his father and spoke poorly of his brothers’ work. When his brothers learned of this, a hatred for Joseph began to grow in them. When Joseph turned 17, Israel made him a beautiful robe and when his brothers saw the gift they hated him even more.
One night, as Joseph slept, he dreamt that he and his brothers were tying wheat together into bundles. Suddenly, his brothers' bundles of wheat gathered around Joseph’s bundle and bowed down in front of it. The next morning, Joseph enthusiastically shared this dream with his brothers. Offended by the implication that they would EVER bow to their younger brother, their hatred for him continued to grow.
Soon after, Israel sent Joseph to check in on his brothers, who were some distance from home with the flocks. His brothers recognized him coming from a distance because of his ornate coat. At that moment the same whispers heard by Cain floated on the wind between the brothers. As he approached they said to each other, “Here comes the dreamer. We should kill him, throw him in one of these wells, and tell our father that he was eaten by a wild animal. Then we will see what comes of his dream.”
But Reuben said, “We can’t have blood on our hands. Let’s just throw him into this empty well and leave him there.” The brothers agreed and when Joseph arrived they tore off his treasured robe and threw him into the well. Reuben then left his brothers, and though it appeared to them that he intended Joseph to die indirectly, he was, in fact, planning to return in secret to free his brother.
As they ate dinner, with Joseph still languishing in the nearby cistern, Judah espied a traveling caravan of Ishmaelites. He was unaware of Reuben’s plan to rescue Joseph, but also did not want his brother to die. Seeing as his brothers outnumbered him 10 to 1, he felt he would then be powerless to prevent Joseph’s death if was unsuccessful at convincing them to free him. So Judah came up with a plan to save Joseph’s life. He said to his brothers, “Why leave Joseph here to die when we could make some money off of him? Let’s sell him to these Ishmaelites instead.” They agreed, pulled Joseph out of the well, and sold him into slavery.
When Reuben went to secretly free Joseph but saw that he was gone he demanded an answer from his brothers. When he learned what they had done he cried out, “What are going to tell our father when asks what happened to Joseph?!” Since they still had his unique coat they decided to kill one of their goats and smear its blood on the garment. After returning home they showed Israel the coat, saying, “We found this. Examine it and tell us if it is Joseph’s.”
Israel cried out, “It is. He has been devoured by a wild animal.” And no one could comfort Israel as he mourned the death of his son, crying out, “My sadness will continue without ceasing until I join my son in death.”
Upon his arrival in Egypt, the Ishmaelites sold Joseph to Potiphar, the captain of the guards of the current pharaoh. And though Joseph’s former life had been torn off his shoulders, God’s loving mercy covered Joseph, causing him to succeed in every endeavor. Potiphar could see that everything Joseph did was blessed, so he quickly placed him in charge of his entire household, where he lived as the chief servant for years.
Joseph was a handsome young man and soon Potiphar’s wife became attracted to him. Whenever she told him of her desires he would reply, “Everything in my master’s house has been placed under my authority, except for you, because you are his wife. How could I possibly repay him with evil under his own roof and before the eyes of God? But she relentlessly persisted, and one day she finally tore off his robe, causing him to run from her out of the house.
Angry and embarrassed at being rejected by her own servant, she went to Potiphar and said, “That slave you put in charge of our house tried to force himself on me. But I refused and when I screamed for help he ran out of the house leaving his robe behind.
Potiphar was furious with Joseph and threw him in prison. But once again, though his comfortable life had torn away from him, God’s loving mercy covered Joseph, blessing every moment of his life in prison. Eventually, the warden took notice and placed him in charge of the rest of the prisoners. This position Joseph held for many more years.
It came to pass that the royal baker and the royal cupbearer had been imprisoned for angering the pharaoh and were placed under Joseph’s care. One night, both the baker and the cupbearer had dreams that troubled them. Joseph could tell something was wrong, so he asked, “What is bothering you?”
The replied, “We both had dreams last night, but we do not understand what they mean.”
“The meanings of dreams belong to the God I serve. Tell me what you dreamed,” Joseph said.
The cupbearer said, “In my dream, I saw a grapevine with three branches. It quickly budded, bloomed, and grew many grapes. The pharaoh’s cup was in my hand and I squeezed the grapes into it and handed the cup to him.”
Joseph, having received the meaning of the dream from God, told the cupbearer, “The three branches represent three days. After that time, the pharaoh will release you from prison and restore you to your position. But after you are released, please show me kindness by mentioning me to the pharaoh. I was wrongfully taken from the land of my father and sold into slavery and I have done nothing to deserve being imprisoned.”
The baker, excited by the good news Joseph had given the cupbearer said, “In my dream, I had three baskets of bread on my head to give to the Pharaoh, but the birds were eating from the top basket.”
God again revealed the dream’s meaning, and Joseph said, “The three baskets also represent three days. After this time, Pharaoh is going to have you executed, I’m sorry.” Three days later these things happened exactly as Joseph had said. But the cupbearer forgot his promise to Joseph, who remained in prison.
Two years later, the pharaoh started having disturbing dreams of his own. He sent for his advisors, but none of them could interpret what the dreams meant. The pharaoh’s cupbearer observed all of this and in that moment remembered his promise. Nervously, he said to the pharaoh, “I am ashamed that I have failed to keep a promise. Two years ago when your royal baker and I had angered you, and we were imprisoned, we also had dreams that we could not understand. It was there that we met a man, a foreigner, named Joseph, who was able to accurately interpret our dreams down to the last detail.”
With this revelation, the pharaoh ordered that Joseph be taken out of prison, cleaned, shaved, given fresh clothes, and brought before him. Upon Joseph’s arrival, the pharaoh said, “I had a dream that has left my advisors dumbfounded. But I have been told that you are a Oneiromancer.”
“I possess no magic, but my God will give you your answer,” Joseph told him.
Hearing this, the pharaoh revealed his dream. “I was standing on the edge of the Nile River. Seven healthy cows swam out of the river and ate the reeds on the riverbank. Then seven disgusting, thin cows swam out of the river and ate the seven healthy cows. But even after eating them they were still ugly and thin. In my other dream, I saw seven healthy heads of grain growing on a stalk, but then seven withered heads of grain appeared on the same stalk and ate the seven healthy heads of grain. What do these dreams mean?”
Joseph answered, “Pharaoh, my God seeks to rescue us from the future this dream has foretold. There will be seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of total famine. The only hope for your kingdom is for you to choose the wisest among your advisors to collect one-fifth of all the food grown during the seven good years so that you will have enough to ration during the seven years of famine.”
They all saw the wisdom in this plan, so the pharaoh said, “Where could we possibly find another man like Joseph, who is blessed by the gods. Joseph, since the god you serve, has made all these things known to you, there is no one more qualified to carry out the plan that has been revealed to you. I proclaim that you will be put in charge of everything in Egypt. In all matters, only I will be above you.” Then Pharaoh took off his royal ring and put it on Joseph’s finger. He had him dressed in the finest clothes, gave him a gold chain to wear, and a chariot. The pharaoh then gave him an Egyptian name, Zaphenath-Paneah, and also gave him Asenath, the daughter of a priest of Heliopolis, to be his wife, so that he would be respected among the Egyptians. All these things happened when Joseph was 30 years old, 13 years after being sold into slavery.
During the seven years of plenty, Joseph traveled across all of Egypt and arranged for a portion of the harvest to be stored. The abundance of the food they collected was as vast as the surrounding desert itself and they were no longer able to keep a record of it.
It was also during this time that Asenath bore Joseph two sons. When his eldest son was born, Joseph said, “He will be named Manasseh because God has made me forget my troubles.” When his younger son was born, he said, “His name is Ephraim because God has made me fruitful in this land where I once suffered.”
As God had foretold through the pharaoh’s dream, after seven years, a terrible famine struck Egypt and the regions surrounding it. Facing starvation, the people cried out for food. The pharaoh told them, “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.” So Joseph opened the grain stores and sold it to the Egyptians, and everyone from the surrounding regions, who were also in need. In this way, Joseph saved an entire region from starvation, and yet this was a mere foreshadowing of the fullness of God’s promise to bless the world through Abraham’s line.
It was during this time that Israel, having learned that Egypt was selling its grain surplus, said to his sons, “Why do you keep staring at each other doing nothing? I have heard there is food in Egypt for sale. Go and buy us some so we don’t starve to death.” Israel sent all of his sons, except for Benjamin, because he feared for his safety.
They traveled across the Sinai to Egypt, and when they reached their destination, they were told they would conduct their business with the overseer, a wise and powerful man named Zaphenath-Paneah. So it was that they came before their estranged brother and bowed down to him, as had been foretold in Joseph’s dream many years before because they did not recognize him in his Egyptian garb. Joseph, however, recognized them immediately, and whether the sight of them kindled long-dormant anger or he chose to test their character is unknown, but he angrily said to them through an interpreter, “You are spies come to Egypt to find and exploit our weaknesses.”
“No, my lord,” they protested, “We are honest men, brothers, not spies. We left our father and youngest brother in the land of Canaan and have come here to buy food like so many others.”
“I say you are spies,” he insisted, “but I will give you a test to prove your innocence. I will let all of you except one return to your home with the food you came to buy, but if you wish to save the life of the one who remains, you must return here with your youngest brother to prove your story is true.”
They had no choice but to agree and as they prepared to return home they started saying among themselves, “We are being punished for what we did to Joseph.”
They said this in front of him, not knowing that he could understand them without his interpreter, and Joseph was overwhelmed by their words, so he went off alone and wept. When he returned he had Simeon imprisoned.
Joseph then gave the order to have their bags filled with food and secretly had all of their money returned as well. After a long day of traveling back towards Canaan they stopped for the night and prepared to have supper. When one of them opened his bag, he exclaimed, “My silver has been returned.”
Their hearts sank as they looked at each other fearfully and said, “What has God done to us?” When they finally returned to Israel they told him everything that had happened.
Israel looked and them and said, “Whenever I send you out I lose one of my children. Joseph is dead. Simeon is gone. Now you want me to send the son of my right hand with you? I will not let you take Benjamin to Egypt. He is all I have left of my beloved Rachel. If something happened to him it would kill me.”
But as the famine continued and Israel looked at his food stores he knew it would not last. So he said to his sons, “Go back to Egypt and purchase more food.”
Judah replied, “The overseer said we must return with our youngest brother. I know this troubles you greatly, but I will guarantee his safety. You can hold me personally responsible for the rest of my life if we do not return him to you, but we need to leave now. We’ve delayed so long we could have made the journey twice already. Meanwhile, Simeon sits in prison.”
Israel answered, “If this is how it must be, then it must be. Bring this overseer gifts when you return, the best our land has to offer, and twice the amount of silver as last time to pay back what you found in your bags. Perhaps it was all a misunderstanding. May God watch over you so that you may all return safely to me.”
Israel’s sons quickly prepared to make the long journey to Egypt. When they finally arrived, Joseph instructed his servants to prepare a meal and escort the men to his house. The brothers feared they would be taken as slaves because of the missing silver. So they approached Joseph’s chief servant and said, “Please forgive us. When we were returning to our home, we discovered that our silver had somehow been returned to our bags. We don’t know how it got there. We’ve brought it back, along with gifts from our homeland, and additional silver to buy more food.”
But the man replied, “Don’t be afraid. Your god has blessed you with treasure. I personally received your first payment.” Then Simeon was brought out to join them.
When Joseph arrived they gave him their gifts and bowed down before him. Joseph asked, “How is your father that you told me about? Does he yet live?”
“He is alive and well,” they replied cautiously.
“And is this your youngest brother that you mentioned? May God bless you, young man.” The sight of his little brother was too much for Joseph and he quickly left the room to weep. After washing the tears off his face, he returned to the room and had the meal served. Joseph, as the ruler of the house, ate at his own table. His Egyptian guests ate at another table and his brothers ate at a third table because it was detestable for Egyptians to eat with shepherds. But when Joseph’s brothers sat down, they realized that even though they had never mentioned it, they were seated from oldest to youngest. They also saw that Benjamin was given five times as much food as they were.
After the meal, they paid for more food and prepared for their long journey home. But Joseph secretly told his servant, “In addition to the food they bought, take my silver cup, the one I used when we ate together and put it in the youngest brother’s bag.
Not long after the brothers left, Joseph sent his servant after them with a message which said, “Why have you repaid my kindness with evil? You have stolen my silver cup.”
But the brothers replied, “Why would we do something like that? We brought back the silver we found in our bags from our first trip. Why on earth would we steal from your master? Listen, if any of us has stolen anything, you can kill him and enslave the rest of us.” So they all unloaded their bags and had them searched. When they discovered the silver cup in Benjamin’s bag they were devastated and insisted that they return with him to the city.
When they returned they bowed to the ground and begged, “What can we say to prove our innocence? God has uncovered our past guilt and now we are all being punished.”
“I would never do anything so cruel as to punish all of you,” Joseph replied, “I will enslave the one who stole my cup and the rest of you will be free to go.”
Then Judah said, “Please, let me speak with you. Do not be angry with me. I know you are second only to the pharaoh. You asked us about our father. He is very old, and he has already lost a son. Our youngest brother is the only remaining son of his wife Rachel and he loves him dearly. Even bringing him on this journey, as you demanded of us, was almost too much for him to bear. If we go back without him, it would kill our father. I promised him that Benjamin would be safe in my care, so please, make me a slave in his place. I will not allow my father to die because I was unable to protect my brother.” And with those words, Judah proved that the mantle of leadership would rightly be passed from Israel to him.
Hearing this, Joseph could no longer hide his feelings. He ordered his servants out of the room, leaving him alone with his brothers. He wept loudly and said, “Brothers, it is me, Joseph. Is our father still alive?” Shocked and afraid, they could not speak. But Joseph came close to them and said, “Do not be afraid and do not torture yourself over what has been done in the past. It was not you, but God, who sent me here so that I could save lives during this famine. I oversee all of Egypt now and am second only to the pharaoh. Go home, tell our father all of this, and tell him that he should come here immediately. I can give you land to live in until this famine is over. Then he hugged and kissed all of his brothers and went with them to speak with the pharaoh.
When the pharaoh heard that Joseph had invited his family to live in Egypt he said, “I will give them the best land in Egypt for their own. Send them home with some of our carts so they can bring everyone here. Do not worry about bringing any of your own things because all the best Egypt has, anything you need will be yours.
With this promise, Joseph’s brothers left Egypt with plenty of supplies and returned to Canaan. They clamored to tell their father, “Joseph is alive, and he oversees all of Egypt. The pharaoh has promised to give us land in Egypt where we can stay until the famine has passed.” Israel doubted them at first, but after they told him everything that had happened, he was finally convinced. Overjoyed that his son was still alive, Israel quickly prepared for the journey. In the long years of Joseph’s absence, Israel’s family had grown. His sons were all married, with children of their own. When they finally set off for Egypt their caravan contained more than sixty people.
But along the road to Egypt, knowing his reticence to leave the land that was promised to him, God appeared to Israel in a dream and said, “I am your God, the God of your father, and your grandfather. Do not be afraid to travel to Egypt. I will make you into a great nation there. I will go with you and bless you, and when you die, your own son Joseph will be beside you to comfort you.” When they arrived in Egypt they received directions to the region of Goshen, where they were met by Joseph. When he saw his father he hugged him and wept as Israel said, “Now I can die a happy man because I have seen for myself that you are alive.”
Though Israel had lost so many years with Joseph, he was blessed that he was able to spend his last days with his son. But after seventeen years, when it was clear that he was going to die in his old age, he asked to speak with Joseph. He said, “Promise me that you will bury me with my fathers in Canaan. As I traveled here to meet you, after all those years of thinking you were dead, God appeared to me. He reminded me of his promise, the same promise made to my father Isaac, and my grandfather Abraham. I want you and your brothers to remember this promise after I die. God will bless you and make you into a great nation. He will give you the land of Canaan as your home. And though I think of Canaan as my home, I want you to know that I accept your Egyptian children, Manasseh and Ephraim, as though they were my own. Bring them to me, so that I can bless them. I never expected to see your face again, Joseph, and now I have been able to watch your children grow up as well.”
Joseph sent for his sons. But when they came before their grandfather and knelt down to receive their blessing, Israel put his right hand, which signified the first and greater blessing, on the head of Ephraim, the younger son, and his left hand on Manasseh. When Joseph saw this, he tried to move Israel’s hand, saying, “No father, Manasseh is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”
But Israel replied, “I know my son, and he will become a great tribe. But his younger brother will become a greater tribe than he is. May the God of Abraham and Isaac, the God who has been my shepherd my whole life, the God who protected me, bless these two boys. Let them be included among the sons of Israel.”
After adopting Joseph’s children, Israel called the rest of his sons to join him. He then passed the blessing of the firstborn to Judah, declaring that it would be through his line that Israel’s greatest leader would one day be born. Then Israel breathed his last and died surrounded by all of his family.
With the pharaoh’s permission, Joseph, his brothers, and many Egyptian officials traveled to Canaan. There, Israel was buried alongside Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah who had died many years prior.
Many more years passed in Egypt. Joseph lived long enough to see his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. When the time came for him to die he said to his family, “God will surely one day lead our people back to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. When that time comes, swear to me that you will carry my bones out of this place.”
But the children of Israel did not return to Canaan once the famine ended. Indeed, centuries went by for them in Goshen and the story of Joseph, his family, and his ancestors became legend among them. God blessed them, as promised, and their numbers increased so greatly that they came to nearly equal the number of native Egyptians.
Their people became known as Hebrews because they were foreigners who had traveled across the Nile river. Entire dynasties of pharaohs came and went, each filling the throne made empty by the death of their predecessor. This is how it came to be a pharaoh ascended the throne of Egypt who had no regard for the past service of Joseph or the honor bestowed on his family.
One night, as Joseph slept, he dreamt that he and his brothers were tying wheat together into bundles. Suddenly, his brothers' bundles of wheat gathered around Joseph’s bundle and bowed down in front of it. The next morning, Joseph enthusiastically shared this dream with his brothers. Offended by the implication that they would EVER bow to their younger brother, their hatred for him continued to grow.
Soon after, Israel sent Joseph to check in on his brothers, who were some distance from home with the flocks. His brothers recognized him coming from a distance because of his ornate coat. At that moment the same whispers heard by Cain floated on the wind between the brothers. As he approached they said to each other, “Here comes the dreamer. We should kill him, throw him in one of these wells, and tell our father that he was eaten by a wild animal. Then we will see what comes of his dream.”
But Reuben said, “We can’t have blood on our hands. Let’s just throw him into this empty well and leave him there.” The brothers agreed and when Joseph arrived they tore off his treasured robe and threw him into the well. Reuben then left his brothers, and though it appeared to them that he intended Joseph to die indirectly, he was, in fact, planning to return in secret to free his brother.
As they ate dinner, with Joseph still languishing in the nearby cistern, Judah espied a traveling caravan of Ishmaelites. He was unaware of Reuben’s plan to rescue Joseph, but also did not want his brother to die. Seeing as his brothers outnumbered him 10 to 1, he felt he would then be powerless to prevent Joseph’s death if was unsuccessful at convincing them to free him. So Judah came up with a plan to save Joseph’s life. He said to his brothers, “Why leave Joseph here to die when we could make some money off of him? Let’s sell him to these Ishmaelites instead.” They agreed, pulled Joseph out of the well, and sold him into slavery.
When Reuben went to secretly free Joseph but saw that he was gone he demanded an answer from his brothers. When he learned what they had done he cried out, “What are going to tell our father when asks what happened to Joseph?!” Since they still had his unique coat they decided to kill one of their goats and smear its blood on the garment. After returning home they showed Israel the coat, saying, “We found this. Examine it and tell us if it is Joseph’s.”
Israel cried out, “It is. He has been devoured by a wild animal.” And no one could comfort Israel as he mourned the death of his son, crying out, “My sadness will continue without ceasing until I join my son in death.”
Upon his arrival in Egypt, the Ishmaelites sold Joseph to Potiphar, the captain of the guards of the current pharaoh. And though Joseph’s former life had been torn off his shoulders, God’s loving mercy covered Joseph, causing him to succeed in every endeavor. Potiphar could see that everything Joseph did was blessed, so he quickly placed him in charge of his entire household, where he lived as the chief servant for years.
Joseph was a handsome young man and soon Potiphar’s wife became attracted to him. Whenever she told him of her desires he would reply, “Everything in my master’s house has been placed under my authority, except for you, because you are his wife. How could I possibly repay him with evil under his own roof and before the eyes of God? But she relentlessly persisted, and one day she finally tore off his robe, causing him to run from her out of the house.
Angry and embarrassed at being rejected by her own servant, she went to Potiphar and said, “That slave you put in charge of our house tried to force himself on me. But I refused and when I screamed for help he ran out of the house leaving his robe behind.
Potiphar was furious with Joseph and threw him in prison. But once again, though his comfortable life had torn away from him, God’s loving mercy covered Joseph, blessing every moment of his life in prison. Eventually, the warden took notice and placed him in charge of the rest of the prisoners. This position Joseph held for many more years.
It came to pass that the royal baker and the royal cupbearer had been imprisoned for angering the pharaoh and were placed under Joseph’s care. One night, both the baker and the cupbearer had dreams that troubled them. Joseph could tell something was wrong, so he asked, “What is bothering you?”
The replied, “We both had dreams last night, but we do not understand what they mean.”
“The meanings of dreams belong to the God I serve. Tell me what you dreamed,” Joseph said.
The cupbearer said, “In my dream, I saw a grapevine with three branches. It quickly budded, bloomed, and grew many grapes. The pharaoh’s cup was in my hand and I squeezed the grapes into it and handed the cup to him.”
Joseph, having received the meaning of the dream from God, told the cupbearer, “The three branches represent three days. After that time, the pharaoh will release you from prison and restore you to your position. But after you are released, please show me kindness by mentioning me to the pharaoh. I was wrongfully taken from the land of my father and sold into slavery and I have done nothing to deserve being imprisoned.”
The baker, excited by the good news Joseph had given the cupbearer said, “In my dream, I had three baskets of bread on my head to give to the Pharaoh, but the birds were eating from the top basket.”
God again revealed the dream’s meaning, and Joseph said, “The three baskets also represent three days. After this time, Pharaoh is going to have you executed, I’m sorry.” Three days later these things happened exactly as Joseph had said. But the cupbearer forgot his promise to Joseph, who remained in prison.
Two years later, the pharaoh started having disturbing dreams of his own. He sent for his advisors, but none of them could interpret what the dreams meant. The pharaoh’s cupbearer observed all of this and in that moment remembered his promise. Nervously, he said to the pharaoh, “I am ashamed that I have failed to keep a promise. Two years ago when your royal baker and I had angered you, and we were imprisoned, we also had dreams that we could not understand. It was there that we met a man, a foreigner, named Joseph, who was able to accurately interpret our dreams down to the last detail.”
With this revelation, the pharaoh ordered that Joseph be taken out of prison, cleaned, shaved, given fresh clothes, and brought before him. Upon Joseph’s arrival, the pharaoh said, “I had a dream that has left my advisors dumbfounded. But I have been told that you are a Oneiromancer.”
“I possess no magic, but my God will give you your answer,” Joseph told him.
Hearing this, the pharaoh revealed his dream. “I was standing on the edge of the Nile River. Seven healthy cows swam out of the river and ate the reeds on the riverbank. Then seven disgusting, thin cows swam out of the river and ate the seven healthy cows. But even after eating them they were still ugly and thin. In my other dream, I saw seven healthy heads of grain growing on a stalk, but then seven withered heads of grain appeared on the same stalk and ate the seven healthy heads of grain. What do these dreams mean?”
Joseph answered, “Pharaoh, my God seeks to rescue us from the future this dream has foretold. There will be seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of total famine. The only hope for your kingdom is for you to choose the wisest among your advisors to collect one-fifth of all the food grown during the seven good years so that you will have enough to ration during the seven years of famine.”
They all saw the wisdom in this plan, so the pharaoh said, “Where could we possibly find another man like Joseph, who is blessed by the gods. Joseph, since the god you serve, has made all these things known to you, there is no one more qualified to carry out the plan that has been revealed to you. I proclaim that you will be put in charge of everything in Egypt. In all matters, only I will be above you.” Then Pharaoh took off his royal ring and put it on Joseph’s finger. He had him dressed in the finest clothes, gave him a gold chain to wear, and a chariot. The pharaoh then gave him an Egyptian name, Zaphenath-Paneah, and also gave him Asenath, the daughter of a priest of Heliopolis, to be his wife, so that he would be respected among the Egyptians. All these things happened when Joseph was 30 years old, 13 years after being sold into slavery.
During the seven years of plenty, Joseph traveled across all of Egypt and arranged for a portion of the harvest to be stored. The abundance of the food they collected was as vast as the surrounding desert itself and they were no longer able to keep a record of it.
It was also during this time that Asenath bore Joseph two sons. When his eldest son was born, Joseph said, “He will be named Manasseh because God has made me forget my troubles.” When his younger son was born, he said, “His name is Ephraim because God has made me fruitful in this land where I once suffered.”
As God had foretold through the pharaoh’s dream, after seven years, a terrible famine struck Egypt and the regions surrounding it. Facing starvation, the people cried out for food. The pharaoh told them, “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.” So Joseph opened the grain stores and sold it to the Egyptians, and everyone from the surrounding regions, who were also in need. In this way, Joseph saved an entire region from starvation, and yet this was a mere foreshadowing of the fullness of God’s promise to bless the world through Abraham’s line.
It was during this time that Israel, having learned that Egypt was selling its grain surplus, said to his sons, “Why do you keep staring at each other doing nothing? I have heard there is food in Egypt for sale. Go and buy us some so we don’t starve to death.” Israel sent all of his sons, except for Benjamin, because he feared for his safety.
They traveled across the Sinai to Egypt, and when they reached their destination, they were told they would conduct their business with the overseer, a wise and powerful man named Zaphenath-Paneah. So it was that they came before their estranged brother and bowed down to him, as had been foretold in Joseph’s dream many years before because they did not recognize him in his Egyptian garb. Joseph, however, recognized them immediately, and whether the sight of them kindled long-dormant anger or he chose to test their character is unknown, but he angrily said to them through an interpreter, “You are spies come to Egypt to find and exploit our weaknesses.”
“No, my lord,” they protested, “We are honest men, brothers, not spies. We left our father and youngest brother in the land of Canaan and have come here to buy food like so many others.”
“I say you are spies,” he insisted, “but I will give you a test to prove your innocence. I will let all of you except one return to your home with the food you came to buy, but if you wish to save the life of the one who remains, you must return here with your youngest brother to prove your story is true.”
They had no choice but to agree and as they prepared to return home they started saying among themselves, “We are being punished for what we did to Joseph.”
They said this in front of him, not knowing that he could understand them without his interpreter, and Joseph was overwhelmed by their words, so he went off alone and wept. When he returned he had Simeon imprisoned.
Joseph then gave the order to have their bags filled with food and secretly had all of their money returned as well. After a long day of traveling back towards Canaan they stopped for the night and prepared to have supper. When one of them opened his bag, he exclaimed, “My silver has been returned.”
Their hearts sank as they looked at each other fearfully and said, “What has God done to us?” When they finally returned to Israel they told him everything that had happened.
Israel looked and them and said, “Whenever I send you out I lose one of my children. Joseph is dead. Simeon is gone. Now you want me to send the son of my right hand with you? I will not let you take Benjamin to Egypt. He is all I have left of my beloved Rachel. If something happened to him it would kill me.”
But as the famine continued and Israel looked at his food stores he knew it would not last. So he said to his sons, “Go back to Egypt and purchase more food.”
Judah replied, “The overseer said we must return with our youngest brother. I know this troubles you greatly, but I will guarantee his safety. You can hold me personally responsible for the rest of my life if we do not return him to you, but we need to leave now. We’ve delayed so long we could have made the journey twice already. Meanwhile, Simeon sits in prison.”
Israel answered, “If this is how it must be, then it must be. Bring this overseer gifts when you return, the best our land has to offer, and twice the amount of silver as last time to pay back what you found in your bags. Perhaps it was all a misunderstanding. May God watch over you so that you may all return safely to me.”
Israel’s sons quickly prepared to make the long journey to Egypt. When they finally arrived, Joseph instructed his servants to prepare a meal and escort the men to his house. The brothers feared they would be taken as slaves because of the missing silver. So they approached Joseph’s chief servant and said, “Please forgive us. When we were returning to our home, we discovered that our silver had somehow been returned to our bags. We don’t know how it got there. We’ve brought it back, along with gifts from our homeland, and additional silver to buy more food.”
But the man replied, “Don’t be afraid. Your god has blessed you with treasure. I personally received your first payment.” Then Simeon was brought out to join them.
When Joseph arrived they gave him their gifts and bowed down before him. Joseph asked, “How is your father that you told me about? Does he yet live?”
“He is alive and well,” they replied cautiously.
“And is this your youngest brother that you mentioned? May God bless you, young man.” The sight of his little brother was too much for Joseph and he quickly left the room to weep. After washing the tears off his face, he returned to the room and had the meal served. Joseph, as the ruler of the house, ate at his own table. His Egyptian guests ate at another table and his brothers ate at a third table because it was detestable for Egyptians to eat with shepherds. But when Joseph’s brothers sat down, they realized that even though they had never mentioned it, they were seated from oldest to youngest. They also saw that Benjamin was given five times as much food as they were.
After the meal, they paid for more food and prepared for their long journey home. But Joseph secretly told his servant, “In addition to the food they bought, take my silver cup, the one I used when we ate together and put it in the youngest brother’s bag.
Not long after the brothers left, Joseph sent his servant after them with a message which said, “Why have you repaid my kindness with evil? You have stolen my silver cup.”
But the brothers replied, “Why would we do something like that? We brought back the silver we found in our bags from our first trip. Why on earth would we steal from your master? Listen, if any of us has stolen anything, you can kill him and enslave the rest of us.” So they all unloaded their bags and had them searched. When they discovered the silver cup in Benjamin’s bag they were devastated and insisted that they return with him to the city.
When they returned they bowed to the ground and begged, “What can we say to prove our innocence? God has uncovered our past guilt and now we are all being punished.”
“I would never do anything so cruel as to punish all of you,” Joseph replied, “I will enslave the one who stole my cup and the rest of you will be free to go.”
Then Judah said, “Please, let me speak with you. Do not be angry with me. I know you are second only to the pharaoh. You asked us about our father. He is very old, and he has already lost a son. Our youngest brother is the only remaining son of his wife Rachel and he loves him dearly. Even bringing him on this journey, as you demanded of us, was almost too much for him to bear. If we go back without him, it would kill our father. I promised him that Benjamin would be safe in my care, so please, make me a slave in his place. I will not allow my father to die because I was unable to protect my brother.” And with those words, Judah proved that the mantle of leadership would rightly be passed from Israel to him.
Hearing this, Joseph could no longer hide his feelings. He ordered his servants out of the room, leaving him alone with his brothers. He wept loudly and said, “Brothers, it is me, Joseph. Is our father still alive?” Shocked and afraid, they could not speak. But Joseph came close to them and said, “Do not be afraid and do not torture yourself over what has been done in the past. It was not you, but God, who sent me here so that I could save lives during this famine. I oversee all of Egypt now and am second only to the pharaoh. Go home, tell our father all of this, and tell him that he should come here immediately. I can give you land to live in until this famine is over. Then he hugged and kissed all of his brothers and went with them to speak with the pharaoh.
When the pharaoh heard that Joseph had invited his family to live in Egypt he said, “I will give them the best land in Egypt for their own. Send them home with some of our carts so they can bring everyone here. Do not worry about bringing any of your own things because all the best Egypt has, anything you need will be yours.
With this promise, Joseph’s brothers left Egypt with plenty of supplies and returned to Canaan. They clamored to tell their father, “Joseph is alive, and he oversees all of Egypt. The pharaoh has promised to give us land in Egypt where we can stay until the famine has passed.” Israel doubted them at first, but after they told him everything that had happened, he was finally convinced. Overjoyed that his son was still alive, Israel quickly prepared for the journey. In the long years of Joseph’s absence, Israel’s family had grown. His sons were all married, with children of their own. When they finally set off for Egypt their caravan contained more than sixty people.
But along the road to Egypt, knowing his reticence to leave the land that was promised to him, God appeared to Israel in a dream and said, “I am your God, the God of your father, and your grandfather. Do not be afraid to travel to Egypt. I will make you into a great nation there. I will go with you and bless you, and when you die, your own son Joseph will be beside you to comfort you.” When they arrived in Egypt they received directions to the region of Goshen, where they were met by Joseph. When he saw his father he hugged him and wept as Israel said, “Now I can die a happy man because I have seen for myself that you are alive.”
Though Israel had lost so many years with Joseph, he was blessed that he was able to spend his last days with his son. But after seventeen years, when it was clear that he was going to die in his old age, he asked to speak with Joseph. He said, “Promise me that you will bury me with my fathers in Canaan. As I traveled here to meet you, after all those years of thinking you were dead, God appeared to me. He reminded me of his promise, the same promise made to my father Isaac, and my grandfather Abraham. I want you and your brothers to remember this promise after I die. God will bless you and make you into a great nation. He will give you the land of Canaan as your home. And though I think of Canaan as my home, I want you to know that I accept your Egyptian children, Manasseh and Ephraim, as though they were my own. Bring them to me, so that I can bless them. I never expected to see your face again, Joseph, and now I have been able to watch your children grow up as well.”
Joseph sent for his sons. But when they came before their grandfather and knelt down to receive their blessing, Israel put his right hand, which signified the first and greater blessing, on the head of Ephraim, the younger son, and his left hand on Manasseh. When Joseph saw this, he tried to move Israel’s hand, saying, “No father, Manasseh is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”
But Israel replied, “I know my son, and he will become a great tribe. But his younger brother will become a greater tribe than he is. May the God of Abraham and Isaac, the God who has been my shepherd my whole life, the God who protected me, bless these two boys. Let them be included among the sons of Israel.”
After adopting Joseph’s children, Israel called the rest of his sons to join him. He then passed the blessing of the firstborn to Judah, declaring that it would be through his line that Israel’s greatest leader would one day be born. Then Israel breathed his last and died surrounded by all of his family.
With the pharaoh’s permission, Joseph, his brothers, and many Egyptian officials traveled to Canaan. There, Israel was buried alongside Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah who had died many years prior.
Many more years passed in Egypt. Joseph lived long enough to see his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. When the time came for him to die he said to his family, “God will surely one day lead our people back to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. When that time comes, swear to me that you will carry my bones out of this place.”
But the children of Israel did not return to Canaan once the famine ended. Indeed, centuries went by for them in Goshen and the story of Joseph, his family, and his ancestors became legend among them. God blessed them, as promised, and their numbers increased so greatly that they came to nearly equal the number of native Egyptians.
Their people became known as Hebrews because they were foreigners who had traveled across the Nile river. Entire dynasties of pharaohs came and went, each filling the throne made empty by the death of their predecessor. This is how it came to be a pharaoh ascended the throne of Egypt who had no regard for the past service of Joseph or the honor bestowed on his family.
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