Reading: Genesis 41-42, Psalm 13
One of the great tragic characters in fantasy literature is Denethor, Lord Steward of Gondor in The Lord of the Rings. While the Peter Jackson movies portrays him in an entirely negative light, in the original story Denethor is the greatest man of his time, who holds back the tide of Mordor and resists corruption, something even the wizard Saruman cannot do, despite overwhelming odds. His fatal flaw is in believing he is responsible fighting a battle he cannot win, and his despair leads him to madness.
Joseph, still in prison at the beginning of our story, is about to go through a major shift. Up to this point, things have gone really pretty poorly for Joseph- sold into slavery, falsely accused, imprisoned, forgotten by someone he did a favor for. But then Pharaoh has a dream. Actually two dreams, and they bug him. None of his own astrologers can tell him what they mean. And finally, Joseph’s fortunes seem to turn.
Joseph, who is known as an interpreter of dreams by the Pharaoh’s cupbearer, is brought before Pharaoh and, giving God the credit, interprets Pharaoh’s dream. The dreams are really pretty simple, and so is the interpretation: things are going to be really good for the next seven years, but plan ahead, because then there will be seven years that are really poor. But Joseph doesn’t stop there, but offers a course of action to Pharaoh as well. The end of all this is Joseph is elevated to the highest authority in the country. He takes over the daily management of the kingdom of Egypt. He is given a wife from the Egyptian priesthood. He has literally traversed the entire social range of the culture: from foreign slave to “father to Pharaoh” a title that will come up in a couple of chapters. The last has become first.
Seven years pass, and the promised famine comes. Joseph’s plan works so well that Egypt becomes the one place the surrounding nations can come and purchase food. The family of Israel, still in Canaan, hears about this and the ten elder sons journey to Egypt to buy food. They arrive and don’t know Joseph, but he knows them. The story that follows is open to interpretation, but in effect Joseph messes with his brothers in a whole bunch of ways.
He does not tell them who he is, or reveal that he knows their language and so can overhear their conversations. He accuses them of being spies. He sells them food then secretly hides their money back in their bags. He demands to see their youngest brother as evidence of their truthfulness. What is Joseph up to? The story doesn’t tell us, and guessing at motives is a hard game, but I’m not sure Joseph knows himself what he’s up to. He has attained to the highest office in the kingdom of Egypt, and here comes a reminder that he was once sold into slavery. Joseph’s reaction is haphazard. He generously returns their money, but does so in a way that terrifies them. He agrees to sell food to them, but only after accusing them of spying and threatening them, then imprisons Simeon before allowing them to go.
What has happened to our responsible, Godly hero? His actions are manipulative, confusing, and result in a great deal of anxiety for both his brothers and his father, not to mention an indeterminate amount of prison time for Simeon. Joseph, faithful to both God and those in authority over him, has become the authority. And while he’s not exactly evil, there certainly are some cracks in his use of authority here. Joseph, the most heroic character we’ve met since at least Noah, is like his brother Judah, on a journey, and we’ve yet to see where these two end up.