Genesis 44:33  Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.

A good question to ask when pondering a passage of Scripture, especially a story, is, "where do I see myself in this?"  In reading the story of Joseph and his brothers I tend to identify with Joseph, who had to suffer in order to grow into the destiny God revealed in that dream he had as a young man.  But maybe I should be thinking about the brothers who chafed under their father's obvious favoritism and were sick of Joseph and his self-glorifying dreams.  Maybe I am one of the brothers, whose destiny is to honor and serve other and show them respect?  The Scriptures make it clear that our greatest ambition is to be a servant (cf. Matthew 20:26-28). 

Here,in this verse, is a moment of truth.  Judah, who led the brothers to sell Joseph as a slave (after Reuben, talked him out of murder), now bows before Joseph and offers himself as a slave to free Joseph's little brother, Benjamin.  Joseph needed to grow in order to fit the role he saw for himself in the dream, and so did Judah.  Is being the one who receives the honor (Joseph) really better than being one of those who gives honor (Judah and his brothers bowing before Joseph)?  Even the authority given to Joseph was for the benefit of others, including the brothers who hated him.  

Dysfunctional Saints and Family Favoritism

Genesis 42:1-38 (NKJV)
¹  When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, "Why do you look at one another?"

Note:  Can you be righteous and irritating at the same time?  Jacob is one of the heroes of the Hebrew Scriptures, yet those same Scriptures paint him in a light that isn't flattering.  He is devious, and learns about the sin of being deceptive the hard way.  It is years later, after living with Laban, a father in law who could not be trusted, that Jacob meets the Lord and becomes Israel, and is given a new name to match a new heart.  Still, even then he seems to struggle with integrity. 

            We know that he clearly played favorites.  Leah knew that he preferred her sister Rachel to her, and he did the same thing to his children.  He made no attempt to hide the fact that Joseph was his "golden child", something that was not lost on Joseph, nor on his brothers.  Joseph spent years as a slave to unlearn being the "golden child" so that he could be the person God desired to us to save people from famine.  His brothers spent years with the guilt of what they had done to their brother.  Even toward the end of the story, Benjamin has become the other favorite over the remaining brothers. Finally, at the beginning of the famine. Jacob (note that he is not called "Israel") is the grumpy, irritating old man who speaks in a tone that is disrespectful, and if habitual, galling. 

            A couple of takeaways from this:  First, the grace of God through Christ Jesus is wonderful in that Jacob is just one of many in the Scriptures who are dysfunctional, sinful and often less than honorable, and yet God still is there in their lives.  How great a love Christ has for us, who, as Paul wrote, loved us and died for us while yet sinners and enemies against Him. (cf. Romans 5:6-10).

            Second, note that is seems that family and marriage interactions seem to serve as a means to test the righteousness of an individual.  Jacob had mighty experiences with the Spirit of God, yet deceived his father, his brother, embittered a wife and doesn't seem to be a good father to most of his sons.  I need to take note of family interactions and dynamics.  My flaws may very well show up most clearly to myself and to others there.

            Finally, a note to parents.  You may have a favorite child, but it is probably best to "keep your cards close to the vest" in that case.  If parental favoritism becomes obvious, the results are not good.

Genesis 40:1-23 (NKJV)
¹  It came to pass after these things that the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt.
²  And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker.
³  So he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined.
⁴  And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while.

Note:  For Joseph to be prepared for his exalted position of leadership, he needed to learn a servant's heart.

⁵  Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream, both of them, each man's dream in one night and each man's dream with its own interpretation.

⁶  And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad.
⁷  So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in the custody of his lord's house, saying, "Why do you look so sad today?"
⁸  And they said to him, "We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it." So Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please."
⁹  Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, "Behold, in my dream a vine was before me,
¹⁰  and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes.
¹¹  Then Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand."
¹²  And Joseph said to him, "This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days.
¹³  Now within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your place, and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler.
¹⁴  But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house.
¹⁵  For indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon."
¹⁶  When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, "I also was in my dream, and there were three white baskets on my head.
¹⁷  In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head."
¹⁸  So Joseph answered and said, "This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days.
¹⁹  Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you."

Thursday, September 13, 2018  Note:  I feel sorry for the baker, who may have had hopes that his dream revealed a similar restoration as the butler, but it was just the opposite.  In three days he was to be beheaded on the king's birthday and his body hung on a tree in disgrace, left for the birds to eat.  Why would the Lord reveal such grim new to him?  What crime, if any, did he commit?

I know that the ghost of Samuel (or Satan or a demon impersonating Samuel-it depends upon who you ask) appeared to Saul and told him that he had less than 24 hours to live. 1 Samuel 28  Furthermore, Peter is told by Jesus that he will die a martyr's death, though He does not reveal a time frame, other than it will be when Peter is old.  John 21:18-19  Is it done as judgment or punishment? Is it warning?

How must it feel for people who listen to a doctor tell them that they have only eight or nine months to live?  I've heard it said that people, and I suspect my father was one of them, who face a potentially deadly disease sometimes realize that they will not survive before anyone else.  Does that help them live out the rest of their days in a better fashion?  Does it help them prepare to die?