Life Situations in Stress and Crisis
Joseph
The crisis projected here is real, the events are based
on a true story, but is not an actual account. It is written about Joseph
in the Old Testament.
Now Joseph was favored by his father although he was a younger brother.
He had a dream that he related to his family; his brothers became so upset
at it that they wanted to rid themselves of this younger sibling.
As the brothers were out tending the sheep, Jacob, their father, sent
the younger Joseph to check up on them and bring them some needed supplies.
Not finding his brothers at the designated place, he received information
from a local man as to where they had gone. He traveled on to do his fathers bidding. As he approached his brothers, from a distance, they recognized
him by his coat and they began plotting against him.
"And they said to one another ,'here comes the dreamer. Now then
come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will
say "a wild beast killed him," then let us see what will become
of his dreams'."1 One brother, Reuben, felt distressed
over this talk of killing Joseph so he argued for them not to kill Joseph
but just to put him in one of the pits and leave him to die. Reuben had
plans to return later and free Joseph. The brothers agreed and when Joseph
approached they grabbed him, ripped his coat from his body and cast him
into a dry cistern.
This was the first of many crises Joseph would encounter in his life
and possibly the most traumatic. Joseph was caught totally by surprise by
the reception he had received from his brothers. Sure they had teased and
poked fun at him; they had been angry and pushed him around before; but
this time it was not in a brotherly manner. Joseph was put in a role he
had never known before.
He was seeing a side of his family he would have never believed. Even
as they put him in the pit, through his fright and trauma, there remained
a spark that they were only teasing. That spark quickly was extinguished as they feasted and let him go hungry. "They slighted him when he
was in distress, and were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph; for
when he was pinning away in the pit, bemoaning his own misery, with a languished
cry calling to them for pity, they sat down to eat bread."2
His fears changed, knowing that real harm could be done to him set deeply
in his mind. All too soon came the realization he was truly in danger of
loosing his life. Horror filled his heart and he screamed again and pleaded
for mercy from those who should have been his protectors. Years later
in Joseph's court the brothers remembered, "then they said to one
another, 'truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the
distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen;..."3
If his family would not protect him then whom could he depend on to
help him? He was distraught beyond anything he had ever felt, seen or even
imagined. The hopelessness of the hour filled his soul with torment. Reuben
had spoken up for them not to kill him and planned to return but Joseph
was unaware of his plan. To Joseph all hope was slowly fading into darkness
of the pit.
They would leave him to starve, or die of thirst, "Reuben's counter-suggestion
was accepted only because it seemed to still entail eventual death for
Joseph in the dry cistern."4 When those you trust turn
against you your world seems to fall apart, but keep to heart there is
still yet one who will stand by your side even unto death.
While the brothers ate, a caravan from Gilead traveling to Egypt approached.
Joseph could hear the men from the caravan talking with his brothers. Earlier
he had heard one of his brothers, it sounded like Judah, persuade the others
to sell Joseph to the traders of the caravan, the Ismaelites. Now the trading
had begun. Joseph could hear the ringing of the silver as it was put on
the scale and the clink of the brass counterweights as the price was weighed
out.
"The transaction was time consuming, for a shekel was not then
a simple coin that could be counted quickly, but a unit of weight."5
Each clank of medal or lifted voice went through Joseph like a sword, cutting
deep into his very fiber. Yesterday he was a favored son, commanding servants
at will; now, in a pit, narrowly escaping death and being purchased by
strangers from another country.
Joseph's thoughts then turned to his father, "What will father
do? How will he handle this? I have let him down." As he was being
dragged from the pit thoughts of escape and pleadings for mercy were quickly
dashed. Hands bound, head covered, Joseph's body was being jerked around
like a sack of grain, but it was as if it were happening to someone else.
Numbness had taken the place where fright and panic once dwelled. Thoughts
of what was and will never be again filtered through the haze of his mind.
The dreams of this dreamer now were replaced; but only for a time.
Would you like to find out what happened to Joseph? Read in the Bible in
the Old Testament beginning with Genesis 39.
References
1 Genesis 37:20.
2 Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible,
Hendrickson Publishers, Inc, USA 1991, 3rd printing 1993, p78.
3 Genesis 42:21.
4 D. Guthrie, J.A> Moyer, Editors, The Bible Commentary, Third
Edition, William B. Eerdmas Publishing Co, Grand Rapids MI 1970, p107
5 G.Ernest White, Principle Advisor, Great People of the Bible and How
They Lived, The readers Digest Association, Inc. USA 1974, p61.
