Blog #8

The story of Joseph, within the Book of Genesis, is a story of forgiveness. Joseph, the favored son of Jacob (or Israel), always had things going for him. His brothers jealousy was strong. Once Joseph reported to have dreams of the divine and the stars bowing before him, his brother’s jealousy grew into anger until they sold him into slavery. Joseph’s travels lead him to Egypt, where he was sold to the Captain of the Pharaoh’s guard. Since Joseph always had things going for him, with the lord on his side, he received the favor from his new owner and the other important men in Egypt. After using his God-given abilities, Joseph interpreted the dreams of 2 prisoners, as well as the Pharaoh guard’s Captain, predicting 7 years of success in Egypt, followed by 7 years of famine. This allowed Joseph to be rewarded with a promotion. When the famine began, Jacob (Joseph’s father) sent his sons to Egypt to buy food. Upon arrival, Joseph conceals his identity and denies them grain, forcing them to return empty handed. Later on, where the famine is still holding strong, Jacob send the sons to Egypt once again. Upon arrival, the sons are invited to Joseph’s house (they still do not know who he is yet). During dinner, Joseph plants a silver cup in Benjamin’s (Joseph’s younger brother) bag. Joseph accuses him of theft and says that he must stay behind in the “guardhouse” (I interpret that means jail). Judah, another brother, says he will stay in place of Benjamin. This gives Joseph the realization of self-growth among his brothers. He then reveals his identity to his brothers, tells them they should not feel bad for the past because it was “God’s plan,” and sends the brothers back home to return to Egypt with the entire family to live with Joseph and ride out the rest of the famine. Joseph places the silver in Benjamin’s bag to test the brothers, for in the past, the brothers hearts were overwhelmed with jealousy. Now, he sees how time has changed all of them and forgives. This action relates to his status of the favorite son due to Joseph, who lived to please his father and god for most of his life, wanting to determine the strength of the family and growth of character of each of his brothers following his departure due to being sold into slavery.