A FAMILY RE-UNITED

 

One of the most emotional stories of the Old Testament would have to be the reunion of Joseph of Egypt and his brothers. The story usually evokes the injustice perpetrated on Joseph and his ensuing benevolent forgiveness. Very seldom do we, however, recognize the remorse and recompense of his brothers in this scenario.

This heart rendering story begins with the brothers coming to Egypt and being recognized by Joseph who is unwilling to offer forgiveness so quickly. At Joseph’s accusation of spying, the brothers immediately recognized it was pay-back time for what they did to their brother. As the thread of reconciliation began to unravel, Joseph heard their guilt and wept unseen (Genesis 42:21-24).

In his clever plot to deepen his brothers’ guilt into remorse, Joseph imprisoned Simeon and requested the brothers bring back Benjamin. This request was too much for Jacob who lamented he was bereaved of his children (Genesis 42:36-38).

So affected was Reuben by his father’s grief that he offered him to ‘slay’ two of his sons if he doesn’t bring Simeon and Benjamin back to him (42:36,37). This is the point of the story that seared my heart. I could feel Reuben’s genuine love for his father and the remorse for what his sons had put him through. What is even more heart rendering is that Reuben, the oldest of the brothers, was the one who averted the brothers’ murderous plot by persuading them to lower Joseph into a pit so he could rescue him later (37;21,22). He was the least guilty yet he offered the lives of two of his sons in recompense.

The second least guilty was Judah who suggested the brothers sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites rather than kill him (37:26,27). He too stepped forward to pay the price. He promised his father that he will remain in Egypt as collateral for Benjamin and he will ‘bear the blame for ever’ (43:9)

When Joseph saw his brothers back in Egypt and Benjamin with them, the self-restraint could only be placated with his weeping (43:30)

The straw that broke the camel’s back came through Joseph’s attempt to keep Benjamin in Egypt through deception. Judah begged to be kept behind instead so that he didn’t have to see the sorrowful demise of his father (44:32-34).

Seeing the lengths his brothers would go to in payment for what they had done, Joseph knew the time for forgiveness had come. As he revealed himself to his brothers ‘he wept so loud, the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard…..and he kissed all his brethren and wept upon them….’  (45:2,15)

The absolution came as Joseph openly gave credit to God claiming that it was He who sent him to Egypt to preserve his brothers ‘posterity in the earth and ‘to save their lives by great deliverance’’ (45:5-8).

Sometimes the path to repentance and absolution is like that....rough and unforeseen. 

Joseph paid a high price so he can physically save the House of Israel….a prototype of Christ who paid an even greater price to save the entire human family for eternity. When He comes again, the repentant shall weep at His feet in gratitude for the price He paid at Calvary’s hill while the wicked will weep for their rejection of their Saviour and their King.

Will the sinner for whom You suffered,

Who rejected and reviled Thee

Weep in the end for Thy pain and Thy sorrow?

Will his heart understand

When he kneels before Thee

The debt he owes for the existence

Of his tomorrow?

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Home by David Bowman)

INTEGRITY

There is an interesting perspective on Joseph of Egypt in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha which contains the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. These ancient writings are not approved by the Church so they are not doctrine but this story of Joseph offers a tender consideration because Joseph was a prototype of the Saviour and this story supports this doctrine.

In the Testament of Joseph, he writes this: “For my brothers know how much my father loved me, yet I was not puffed up in my thoughts. Even while I was a child I had the fear of God in my heart, for I understood that all things pass away. I did not arouse myself with evil design, but HONOURED my brothers, and out of regard for them even when they sold me I was silent rather than tell the Ishmaelites that I was the son of Jacob, a great and righteous man.” (p 822)

Joseph goes on to say that the Ishmaelites, to whom his brothers sold him, did not believe that he was a slave because of his comely and well-kept appearance but Joseph assured them he was because he did not want to bring disgrace upon his brothers for what they had done. When the Ishmaelites left him in Egypt with a trader until their return and he fell into possession of Potiphar, the third in rank of Pharaoh’s officers, Potiphar also didn’t believe that Joseph was a slave because of his cultured manner yet Joseph persisted in this erroneous story.

And here the story thickens and just blows my mind. When the Ishmaelites returned to Egypt and caught up with Joseph again they told him they discovered who he was: a son of a great man in Canaan who is mourning greatly for his son in sackcloth and ashes and demanded of him that he admit who he was,  for they feared that Jacob would avenge himself on them.

Joseph merely replied: “I know nothing, I am a slave” (p 823). Imagine his return to his father and his home within his grasp yet Joseph’s one concern was that he did not want to dishonour his brothers and bring disgrace upon them. If this story is true, Joseph’s integrity is astounding.  This seems very plausible when you consider the importance the ancients placed on family honour (Genesis 37:9,10) and Joseph telling the chief butler in prison that he was ‘STOLEN away out of the land of the Hebrews’ (Genesis 39:15).

Joseph’s integrity was such that Potiphar made him the overseer of his house and left everything in his hands without supervision (Genesis 39:5,6). When the temptation came from his master’s wife, Joseph used the trust that was placed in his integrity as a shield to the temptation (vs 7-9).

Imagine if Joseph used the Ishmaelites to get him back home and he aborted his role of saving his family when the famine came……now imagine if the Saviour backed out of His role…..

When we sustained Him as our Saviour, we had full confidence in the integrity of His character. We knew, even back then, that He could and would save us, without fail. We knew no matter how bitter the cup, He would drink it; no matter how excruciating the pain, He would suffer it; no matter how dark and wide the jaws of hell, He would deliver us from it and no matter how scarlet the sin, He would forgive it. The Atonement performed in mortality was in fact just a formality…. But even in pre-mortal life it was our reality where we benefited from its effects and could be born free from sin (see Tad R. Callister, “The Infinite Atonement” p 80-85).

A life well lived,

The price willingly paid,

A glorious victory

At His feet laid. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Love and Faithfulness by Chris Brazelton)

 

JOSEPH THE PURE IN HEART

 

"Young man, a thousand miles away from home, can you keep the standards of your mother and father?  One man changed the history of the world by taking into a foreign country these standards: He was good looking, he had personality; he was young.  Because of his physique and general carriage, he carried prestige.  She was a woman of importance….. She tempted him once - she tempted him twice - yes, and many more times.  Each time he remembered the teachings of his folk at home.  He looked sin in the face and stood like a rock….. “ (Bishop Marvin O. Ashton, Improvement Era, Vol. XIviii, December, 1945, No. 12)

 

Joseph's ultimate test of faith came in the form of a woman.  This test of faith became the crowning glory of proof that he would never stray from his faith and commitment to live God's laws.  Joseph referred to Potiphar's wife's invitation as 'great wickedness' (Genesis 39:9).  The following insight into Joseph's character helps us have appreciation of his tenacity and ability to overcome what could have been an overwhelming sense of hopelessness as his life took a turn for the worse.

 

Joseph never failed to recognise that something good always comes out of something bad.  He believed that even his unjust imprisonment was a blessing.  The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs quotes Joseph as saying: "I gave thanks to the Lord and sang praise in the house of darkness, and how I rejoiced with cheerful voice, glorifying my God, because through her trumped-up charge I was set free from this Egyptian woman".

(James H. Charlesworth, The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments)

 

Joseph felt it was better to sit in a dark dungeon for two years then to have succumbed to sin. How easy it would have been to embrace a sinful life far away from his family….nobody would have known! But God would have known and this was more important to Joseph….because God sees all and He knows all. And Joseph knew if he was faithful to the God of his fathers, he would have the right to hope for help from Him.

 

It is staggering to think of what lay on the line when Joseph was tempted by his master's wife.  Had Joseph succumbed, his destiny, the destiny of his family and the destiny of his descendants would have all been in peril. Had he chosen the life of sin, he would never have become the man that he became.  This would have had disastrous effects not only on him but on us too.

 

Just as Joseph became a saviour of his family temporally, I am convinced his morally clean life has had an impact on his progeny and their role in becoming spiritual saviours to their brethren of Israel and the rest of the Father's children:

 

"Wherefore thy brethren (the other tribes of Israel) shall bow down unto thee, from generation to generation, unto the fruit of thy loins (Ephraim and Manasseh) for ever; For thou shalt be a light unto my people, to deliver them in the days of their captivity, from bondage; and to bring salvation unto them, when they are altogether bowed down under sin". (JST Gen. 48:10-11)

 

When I consider Ephraim’s responsibility of salvation, I am convinced that the lives that we live have an impact on our generation and on the generations to come: “No one sins in isolation. We cannot say that our actions influence only ourselves for even if we do something sinful that is completely personal, our individual loss of spiritual power means a lessening of power for all mankind and contributes to the withdrawal of the Lord’s Spirit, and that is damaging to all…..” (Old Testament Student Manual Gensis – 2 Samuel p 243)

 

But there is hope…in repentance and a God who can extend mercy to the penitent….

 

Like a bird in flight

Our sins ascend to Thee;

Rising from the ashes of mortality

They seek Thy mercy to set them free. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Though Your Sins Be As Scarlet by Greg Collins)

FAVOURED IN IMPERFECTION

 

If there is one thing we can learn from the characters that grace the pages of our scriptures it is that they too were imperfect. Sometimes we tend to remember those who are deceased only for their good qualities. This is where written history helps us see things in a better light. Even those exemplary leaders in the House of Israel had their weaknesses and imperfections.

Herein is the mercy of God. He favours even the imperfect and makes them His chosen people. We are perfect examples of that. We were chosen as the elect of God and assigned to the tribes of the House of Israel before we were even born (see James Talmage, “Articles of Faith” pp 193-94). We were elected based on our capacities, our willingness, our faith and our thirst for the truth:

“…the House of Israel is composed of the spirits from pre-mortal life who there developed a talent for spirituality, and who are therefore entitled to the blessing of heaven in this life on a preferential basis.” (Bruce R. McConkie, “Mortal Messiah Book 3” p 11)

On Judgment Day, our desires, our faith and our love of God and the truth will be considered as much as our good deeds. In writing to Romans, Paul told them that Abraham’s faith was accounted to him for righteousness and that man is justified by faith, righteous works, and grace (see Romans 4).

The Church has given us some guidelines to follow when we study about the House of Israel and consider the covenant people we belong to:

1.      Is there any evidence in the scriptural record that imperfect behaviour was in any way overlooked, condoned, or excused by the Lord?

2.      Can we learn from the faults and failings of our ancestors as well as from their strengths and successes?

3.      Do you see any evidences of growth, development, repentance, and commitment in the record of the earliest covenant people?

4.      Do the human interest details, such as the rivalry between Rachel and Leah, make it easier or harder for you to believe that God is a loving and patient Father, and that you, too, in spite of your own failings, may become a covenant person?

-          Old Testament Student Manual Genesis – 2 Samuel p 90

These guidelines suggest one thing very clearly. God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Mormon 9:9). He cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance so He holds us all to the same standard in that respect (D&C 1:31). As for the human condition of weakness, there is grace.

I marvel that you would love

Such an imperfect being like me.

With thankfulness, You remember the me

That once walked the clouds with Thee;

That You see who I once used to be,

And value me despite my humanity.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Compassionate Christ by Greg Sargent)

THE POWER OF PREPARATION

 

Joseph, the son of Jacob, would have to be the greatest example of the importance of preparation. Joseph started off as somewhat of an insufferable teenager. Not that he was unrighteous but because his advantages in early life were leading him to a possible path of pride. Here’s what I mean by that:

1.       He was favoured and most loved of all of his father’s children. He was the only one who was honoured with a coat of many colours which symbolized not only favouritism but high status in the ancient world  (Genesis 37:3). This alone had the potential of going to his head;

2.       He policed his brothers and reported their evil doings to his father (v 2);

3.       He bragged about his dreams of the prosperous future and leadership that they promised (v 5-10). This earned him the derision of his brothers who named him ‘the dreamer’ (v 19).

The favouritism, the self-righteousness, the revelations, all point to a teenage lack of humility and a slippery slide in the opposite direction. Joseph was 17 when his brothers cut him off from his home and sold him into servitude in Egypt but by the time he was 30 he was Egypt’s ruler (Genesis 37:2; 41:46). When his brothers arrived in Egypt to buy food, we see a different Joseph, a Joseph with a tender heart willing to forgive and yearning to embrace his brothers and re-unite with his family (Genesis 42:24; 43:24-31). This story alone is worth the weeping.

There was something wonderful about Joseph….besides his integrity and righteousness, he had an uncanny ability to make lemonade out of lemons. He possessed a positive attitude and God used this attribute to refine and teach him. Through his optimism Joseph could see and understand that his servitude in Egypt had a higher purpose, that of saving the entire House of Israel (Genesis 45:5-8). There was no pride in this admission, only credit and honour to God.

This was the preparation of Joseph, a prolific figure in the patriarchal line and a prototype of the promised Messiah. His life heralds the exciting and complicated history of the House of Israel that we belong to. Knowing the patriarchs and the people who shaped this history is a privilege we should consider to be of immense worth.

Sometimes God is preparing us for something great when it least seems like it…. “He has the ability to turn everything into something good. This is a godly characteristic. Everything, no matter how dire, becomes a victory to the Lord” (Hartman Rector Jr., “Live Above the Law To Be Free”, Ensign Jan 1973, p 130). It reminds me of this poem by Benjamin Malachi Franklin:

My life is but a weaving between my God and me,

I cannot choose the colours, He weaveth skillfully.

Oft times He weaveth sorrow; And I in foolish pride

Forget He sees the upper and I the underside.

Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly

Will God unroll the canvas and reveal the reason why

The dark threads are as needful in the weaver’s skillful hand

As the threads of gold and silver

In the pattern He has planned.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Joseph of Egypt by Michael T. Malm)

THE PROTOTYPE

 

Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught that all prophets are types of Christ (“The Promised Messiah, p 448).  A prophet is one who has the testimony of Jesus and knows by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Who can forget the promises God made to Joseph of Egypt and his prophecies as quoted by Lehi in the Book of Mormon? (2 Nephi 3) I was amazed to read how his life and mission also typifies the life and mission of Jesus:

1.       Joseph was the favoured son of his father; so was Jesus (see Genesis 37:3; Matthew 3:17; Mormon 5:14)

2.       Joseph was rejected by his brothers, the Israelites, as was Jesus (see Genesis37:4; John 1:11; Isaiah 53:3; 1 Nephi 19:13-14)

3.       Joseph was sold by his brothers into the hands of the Gentiles, just as Jesus was (see Genesis 37:25-27; Matthew 20:19)

4.       Judah, the head of the tribe of Judah, proposed the sale of Joseph. Certain leaders of the Jews in Jesus’ day turned Jesus over to the Romans. Judas (the Greek spelling of Judah) was the one who actually sold Jesus (see Genesis 37:26; Matthew 27:3)

5.       Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver, the price of a slave his age. Christ was sold for thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave of His age (see Genesis 37:28; Matthew 27:3; Exodus 21:32; Leviticus 27:5)

6.       In their attempt to destroy Joseph, his brothers actually set up the conditions that would bring about their eventual temporal salvation. By being sold, Joseph became the deliverer. Jesus, by being given into the hands of the Gentiles, was crucified and became the Deliverer for all mankind.

7.       Joseph began his mission of preparing salvation for Israel at age thirty, just as Jesus began His ministry of preparing salvation for the world at age thirty (see Genesis 41:46; Luke 3:23)

8.       When Joseph was finally raised to his exalted position in Egypt, all bowed the knee to him. All will eventually bow the knee to Jesus (see Genesis 41:43; D&C 88:104)

9.       Joseph provided bread for Israel and saved them from death, all without cost. Jesus, the Bread of Life, did the same for all men (see Genesis 42;35; John 6:48-57; 2 Nephi 9:50)

-          Old Testament Student Manual Gensis – 2 Samuel, p 97

How much You must love those

Who bear witness of Thy holy name.

Thy prophets, Thine everlasting friends,

Thine angels who herald

Thy gospel and Thy name;

To the ends of the earth they speak

And their words forever remain.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jesus by Land of Dreams)

TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD

 

Imagine sitting on a family feud for 20 years. Imagine having to face the person who sought to take away your life because of this feud after all the time you were estranged from them. This was the situation Jacob found himself in when God commanded him to return to Canaan. He knew he would come across his brother Esau and dread took possession of him. So much so that he prayed to God for protection.

Consider his humility in approaching God: “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant…deliver me I pray thee from the hand of my brother…..” (Genesis 32:10) Then he evoked God’s promise of the Abrahamic covenant through which he would be blessed with posterity ‘as the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered for multitude’ (vs 11,12)

Imagine Jacob’s joy when Esau “ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him”…..and instead of animosity, hatred and vengeance, they wept….(Genesis 33:4). And this is the reward of forgiveness in Jacob’s words: “I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God….” (v 10)

This reminds me of that famous quote from the finale of Victor Hugo’s novel “Les Miserables”, “To love another person is to see the face of God”, emphasizing that selfless love breaks all the barriers of contention, hatred and discord and represents the highest, divine and sacred experience.  

I could not imagine life without forgiveness. Living in such immense opposition and weakness, we simply could not survive spiritually without it because the imperfection of this life would canker our souls beyond saving. Forgiveness rescued me from the greatest trial of my life. This forgiveness was what made me ‘see the face of God’ because it came as His gift.

Now in this later stage of my life, I am learning more about self-forgiveness of my humanity. I erroneously and arrogantly expected I was going to be perfect in this life…..my weaknesses taught me otherwise. Self-forgiveness, like forgiveness of others, is a freeing tool that makes something wonderful of us. Consider Alma the Younger who suffered the godly sorrow asked of every repentant sinner (Alma36:18). 

Obviously’, the Saviour didn't require more than that of Alma.  He did not require him to live in the past or the future beating himself up for what he did.  What He did require of Alma was for Alma to become a great man.  A man who would be an instrument in His hands to convince others of His great power to save. 

Alma, who once went about with the intent to destroy the Church became Alma who led the Nephite armies in battle, who sat naked with Amulek in dungeons, who was spat upon by the unrepentant, who dumbfounded an anti-Christ, who baptised thousands of souls unto repentance (Alma 4:4,5), who the Lord in the end took up unto himself (Alma 45:19).  Alma certainly did become that great man that the Lord needed…because of forgiveness.

I am in awe of the ‘Man of Sorrows’……of His mercy and His love. The older I get the more I feel the overwhelming reliance I have on His salvation. He has made my earthly life possible and my eternal life a surety because of His forgiveness of my humanity. I am in awe of His ability to liberate the beauty in me.

 

If I had the might to plant Thee in each heart

Of all that breathes,

In pursuit of such a quest I would walk the earth

With apparent ease.

As I can do so little this desire to meet,

I lay my loyal love at Thy holy feet.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Gentle Saviour by Jay Bryant Ward)