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3. SUFFERING AND SUPPORTED Genesis 39, 40

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The history of Joseph already considered presents in type the rejection of Christ by the Jew. The history that follows gives the experience of Joseph in the hands of the Egyptians, speaking to us of the rejection of Christ by the Gentiles. At the hands of his brethren Joseph is consigned to the pit. In the hands of the Gentiles he is bound in the prison. We need both pictures to adequately set forth the truth, for the coming of the Son of God into the world cannot be confined to the Jew. Truly He was sent by the Father to His own, but equally true He came that the world through Him might be saved. Alas! He was rejected by both Jew and Gentile, "He was in the world . . . and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own and His own received Him not" (John 1: 10, 11).

TWOFOLD SUFFERING

While, however, both Jew and Gentile joined in rejecting Christ, there was a difference in the way they treated Him; a difference that was foreshadowed in he history of Joseph. With the brethren the leading motive for their rejection of Joseph was envy and hatred. However, in the house of the Gentile, though we see corruption and injustice at work, and in the prison of the Gentile selfish indifference, yet in neither case was there actual enmity to Joseph. And these differences between Jew and Gentile are strikingly seen at the Cross. Cross injustice and callous indifference may mark Herod and Pontius Pilate, the representatives of the Gentiles, but envy and deadly hatred mark the Jews — such envy that it is even discerned by the Gentile, and such hatred that it blinded them to every appeal of reason, every demand of justice, and to all sense of shame.

PROLONGED SUFFERING

Returning to the story of Joseph in Egypt we have other lessons to learn. Cut off from his own people in a strange land he becomes a slave in the house of the Egyptian; falsely accused by a wicked woman, and under the stigma of a great sin, he is cast into prison. There treated with base ingratitude, he is left to languish, a forgotten man. Suffering dishonour upon dishonour, his path is ever downward. The clouds gather round him and his way grows darker, until apparently his sun has set in hopeless gloom.

CRUEL SUFFERING

But behind all that is apparent to nature, faith can discern the purpose of God to exalt Joseph to a position of supremacy and glory. If God is set upon the fulfilment of His purpose, Satan will put forth every effort to thwart God's purpose. Satan uses the wickedness of the brethren to banish Joseph from house and home; he uses Potiphar's wicked wife to bring Joseph into prison; and he uses Pharaoh's ungrateful butler to keep him there. Every step in the downward path is an apparent triumph for Satan, and would seem to make the fulfilment of God's purpose more remote. To the natural view Satan's plans appear to prosper, and God's purposes suffered apparent defeat.

NECESSARY SUFFERING

Faith, however, can discern the hand of God behind the wiles of Satan. If Satan is using man to hinder God's purposes, God is using Satan to carry them out. Every kind of agent is at God's disposal. Angels and archangels, saints and sinners, the devil and his demons, all serve to carry out God's plans. The very elements — fire and hail, snow and vapours, and stormy wind — are "fulfilling His word" (Ps. 148: 8). Nor is it otherwise with the circumstances of life, as we see in the story of Joseph. The trials he passes through, the treatment at the hands of his brethren, the bondage in the house of the Egyptian, the false accusations of Potiphar's wife, the prison of Pharaoh, and the neglect of Pharaoh's butler, are only so many stages in the path that leads to glory. His labours as a shepherd, his mission to his brethren, his services in Potiphar's house and in Pharaoh's prison are preparing for the exercise of power in the day of his glory. The service in the trials prepares for the right use of glory.

TYPICAL SUFFERING

In all this Joseph is but a type of One whose sufferings were far deeper even as His glory is far greater. He, too, in the days of His flesh was amongst us as One that serves, for He could say, "Man acquired Me as bondman from My youth" (Zech. 13: 5, N . Tr.) . He, too, suffered under the false accusations of the wicked, for again He can say, "They laid to My charge things that I knew not" (Ps. 35: 11). He, too, was led to prison and to death; and in a full measure He had to meet the base ingratitude of those who had received only good at His hands, so that, with a heart broken by unrequited love, He cries, "I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind" (Ps. 31: 12).

PREPARATORY SUFFERING

But as with Joseph in type, so with Christ the glorious antitype, every downward step in the path of suffering was but a further stage on the way to glory. His service in the days of His flesh prepares for His rule as King of kings and Lord of lords. The false witnesses that rose up against Him will bow down before Him when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father. The day is not far distant when the "poor wise Man" that no man remembered shall be "in everlasting remembrance" (Ecc. 9: 15; Ps. 112: 6).

SUBMISSIVE SUFFERING

But not only does this portion of the history of Joseph supply a beautiful type of Christ, but it is rich with practical instruction for the saint in his individual path. First, we cannot read the story without being impressed with the fact that he was a submissive man. His circumstances were hard and his position trying. Cut off from his kindred, a stranger in a foreign land, he had passed from the love of his father's home to the bondage of the Egyptian's house, yet there is no repining. He harbours no bitter thoughts against his brethren, utters no complaints as to his hard lot, nor a single rebellious word against the ways of God. His spirit was kept in beautiful submission. Had not God revealed to him his high destiny - and faith, resting in quiet confidence in God's word looks on with clear vision to the glorious end (see 2 Cor. 4: 17, 18). Faith kept God and His word between himself and his circumstances. In the path of God's purpose he submits to God's ways. So Paul, another prisoner of the Lord in another day, in like spirit of submission, writes from his prison, "the circumstances in which I am have fallen out rather to the furtherance of the gospel."

PROFITABLE SUFFERING

As a result, "the Lord was with Joseph and he was a prosperous man" (verse 2). The submissive man will ever be a prosperous man. Nature would say that slavery and prosperity must be an impossible combination, but if we submit to His ways, the presence of the Lord can turn days of adversity into days of prosperity. All the world would admit that Joseph was a prosperous man in the day of his exaltation, jut faith sees, and God declares, that he was a prosperous man in the day of his humiliation. He will, in due time ride prosperously as the ruler of Egypt, but first he must live prosperously as the slave of an Egyptian. The prosperity of the prison must precede The prosperity of the palace. The trials and the sorrows, the losses and the crosses, the rough ways and the dark valleys, will all become occasions of the greatest soul prosperity if we remember that God has a settled purpose for us in glory, and in the meantime all His ways with us are in view of His purpose for us. In the light of His purpose we shall be able to submit to His ways, and submitting we shall find the Lord with us, and if the Lord is with us we shall prosper with that prosperity that is above all — the prosperity of the soul. "Beloved," says the aged apostle, "I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper, and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth" (3 John 2).

PATIENT SUFFERING

Moreover, being a prosperous man Joseph became l witness for the Lord in the house of bondage. We read, "His master saw that the Lord was with him" (v. 3). His testimony, too, was the testimony of his life rather than his lips. Potiphar was impressed by what he "saw" rather than by what he heard. "His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand." Had Joseph been for ever complaining of his hard lot, or enlarging upon his high destiny, he would have been no witness for the Lord in the house of Potiphar. The Egyptian cared nothing about his past, and, even if set before him, would comprehend nothing of his future, but his daily life of wholehearted attention to his duties Potiphar could see and appreciate. Nor is it otherwise today. For a Christian servant to be often grumbling at his lot before his unconverted master, and saying that the day is coming when he will judge the world and even angels, would be wholly out of place. To an unconverted master it would not only be the wildest folly but also the grossest impertinence. To speak to the world of the glorious purposes of God is only to cast pearls before swine. These are things totally beyond the comprehension of the natural man. But to see a Christian servant living a quiet, consistent, uncomplaining life, in the faithful discharge of daily duties, is indeed a true witness for the Lord, and is something that the unconverted master can appreciate.

REWARDED SUFFERING

Thus it was In the history of Joseph, with the result that the one who was a witness for the Lord was respected and trusted by man. So we read, "Joseph found grace in his sight . . . and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand" (v. 4). The Lord was not only with Joseph, but He was for Joseph, disposing the heart of the master in favour of his servant. It follows that Joseph became a source of blessing in the house of the Gentile: "It came to pass from the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake, and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field" (v. 5). The Christian is not only called to blessing but, as he passes along his way, to be a blessing.

MEEK SUFFERING

Viewing Joseph as a type of Christ, it is important to remember that it was God's purpose to set Joseph in the place of supremacy, and hence every one who submits to his supremacy is blessed. Thus Potiphar gives Joseph a place of supremacy in his household, and immediately Potiphar is blessed. A little later the jailer makes Joseph supreme in the prison and blessing follows. Just as in the day of his universal supremacy all submit to him, and all are blessed. The world will be compelled to submit to the supremacy of Christ in the day of His manifested power, but faith delights to anticipate that day and own His supremacy in the day of His rejection. And in the measure in which we yield ourselves, our lives, our all, to the supremacy of Christ, we too shall be blessed, even as the world will be blessed when it submits to His universal sway. The supremacy of Christ demands the submission of man, and the submission of man leads to the blessing of man, though in the day of His rejection that blessing is spiritual rather than material.

Thus we have seen that in the house of the Gentile Joseph was a submissive man, a prosperous man, a witness for the Lord, a respected and trusted man, and a centre of blessing. Such characteristics constitute a very complete life, and hence we are not surprised to read that "Joseph was of a beautiful form and of a beautiful countenance" (v. 6, N. Tr.). The life that is beautiful before God and man is exemplified in this Old Testament saint.

TRIUMPHANT SUFFERING

It is not, however, to be expected that the devil will leave unmolested a life that is beautiful in the sight of God and man. Devotion to the Lord exposes Joseph to the hatred of the devil. Having entirely failed to overcome Joseph by the frowns of the world and the trials of hard circumstances, the devil alters his tactics and seeks to overcome Joseph by the pleasures of sin. In the person of Potiphar's wife he has a ready instrument whereby to tempt Joseph, combined with circumstances that favour her evil designs. In result the temptation only serves to bring out the moral excellence of Joseph. He escapes the snare through maintaining his faithfulness to his master and his tear of God. "Behold," says Joseph, "my master . . . hath committed all that he hath to my hand . . . how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" (vv. 8, 9). Here is the secret of Joseph's consistent life before his master. He served faithfully in the presence of man, because he walked continually in the presence of God; and walking in the fear of God he was kept in the hour of temptation. Well for each one of us, if the moment of fierce temptation finds us walking so near to God, that at once we ask, "Can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" To ask that question is to escape the snare. The only thing we have really to be afraid of is fearing anything, or anyone, more than God.

PROLONGED SUFFERING

The devil, however, is not content with isolated attacks upon the children of God. He will wage a continual warfare. It was so with Joseph. The temptation came "day by day" (v. 10), and the attacks more persistent until Joseph "flees" from the temptation and the devil is foiled. But having failed as the tempter, he now becomes the persecutor (vv. 13-18). The woman who formerly had cast her evil eyes upon Joseph now witnesses with lying tongue against him, as an old divine has said, "Those who have broken the bonds of modesty will never be held by the bonds of truth. It is no new thing for the best of men to be falsely accused of the worst crimes by those who are themselves the worst of criminals." In result Joseph escapes from a bad woman and retains a good conscience. But to retain a good conscience may cost much. Joseph has to exchange the comfort of Potiphar's house for the hardships of Pharaoh's prison.

Here Joseph must pass through a new testing. In the house of Potiphar he has borne a bright witness for God, he has overcome temptation, and endured persecution. In the prison of Pharaoh he must learn not only to witness for God, but to wait for God. This as we well know, is one of the hardest lessons for the saint to learn. It is one thing to witness for God in the busy world, it is a very different thing to wait for God in the lonely prison; in fact it is impossible to nature. Saul the natural man, lost his kingdom because he could not wait for God (1 Sam. 10: 8; 1 Sam. 13: 8-14). But while it is impossible to nature it is a sore trial for the man of faith. Abraham in his day must earn to wait for God. Under the stress of waiting he yields to the suggestion of nature and unbelief and attempts to obtain the promised seed by fleshly means, only to find that he is shut up to God, and must wait thirteen long years to reach God's due time. So, too, at a later date no one could have given a bolder witless than John the Baptist in the day of Bethabara; in the presence of the assembled crowd, he exclaims, 'This is He of whom I said, After me cometh a Man which is preferred before me; for He was before me." But when John finds himself within the prison walls, when the crowds have gone, when the witnessing time is over, and the waiting time has come, then under the stress of this new trial he exclaims, "Art Thou He that should come?" (John 1: 30; Matt. 11: 3).

UNRELIEVED SUFFERING

Thus Joseph, in his day, finds the waiting time in prison a testing time for faith. He, too, seeks deliverance by an arm of flesh. Having befriended the king's butler, he naturally concludes the butler will intervene with Pharaoh to obtain his release. "Think on me," says Joseph, "when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of his house." Joseph must not only learn that the help of man is vain, but that God is his only resource. 'God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." But to receive this "help" we must learn to "be still" and know that God is God (Ps. 46: 1, 10). God has His time as well as His way to bring His purposes to pass.

RELIEF IN SUFFERING

In the meantime, if man forgets to show Joseph Kindness, God will not forget to show him mercy. As we read, "The Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy." Joseph may fail, just as we may and do, but the Lord's "compassions fail not, they are new every mornings great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion saith my soul; therefore I hope in Him" (Lam. 3: 22-24). The devil may tempt us day by day, and God may test by keeping us waiting from day to lay, nevertheless His mercy will be renewed every lay. Thus though we oft-times have to wait for the Lord's deliverance, yet "The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him," and on our side we learn that "It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait For the salvation of the Lord" (Lam. 3: 25, 26). Forgotten by man Joseph is remembered by the Lord, until in God's due time he learns that "those that wait upon the Lord . . . shall inherit the earth" (Ps. 37: 9) .

Commit thy way to God,
The weight that makes thee faint;
Worlds are to Him no load,
To Him breathe thy complaint.
He, who for winds and clouds
Maketh a pathway free,
Through wastes and hostile crowds,
Can make a way for thee.
Hope, then, though woes doubled;
Hope and be undismayed;
Let not thy heart he troubled,
Nor let it be afraid.
This prison where thou art —
Thy God will break it soon,
And flood with light thy heart
In His own blessed noon.

Paul Gerhardt


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