August 18, 1999

FAMILY BIBLE SERIES:
A life of character and integrity
is its own reward
___ Genesis 41
___By Susan Pigott
___Logsdon School of Theology, Abilene
___I love "rags to riches" stories. You know the kind--an unknown actor or musician gets "discovered" and becomes a star, or a person living in poverty receives a notice that he/she is the inheritor of a long-lost relative's billion-dollar estate. All of us fantasize at one time or another about some sort of deus ex machina lifting us miraculously out of our plight. And on the surface, Joseph's rise to power may seem like such a story; but in truth there's something more valuable to be learned.
___ Spiritual insight (Genesis 41:14-16). After years of slavery and imprisonment, Joseph was at last given an opportunity for freedom when Pharaoh asked him to interpret a dream. Although Pharaoh was convinced of Joseph's abilities, Joseph no longer boasted in himself (compare with Genesis 37:5-11), but acknowledged God was the one who made dreams come true.
___ Divine warning (Genesis 41:25-27). In the Old Testament, God sometimes communicated through dreams (Genesis 28:10-17; Daniel 2). Certainly, in this case, God used Pharaoh's dream as a means to prepare Egypt for the future famine. But in fact, this was not God's ultimate purpose. By interpreting Pharaoh's dream, Joseph was providentially placed in a position to secure Israel's future in Egypt (Genesis 42-48).
___ Royal appointment (Genesis 41:34-40). Pharaoh recognized Joseph's divinely-ordained wisdom and offered him the opportunity of a lifetime--to be in charge of Pharaoh's palace and to administer the grain-storage program. Certainly it was an unprecedented rise to success. A former slave and convict, and a non-Egyptian, Joseph was now second only to Pharaoh in terms of power and prestige. But for Joseph it had been a long and arduous journey punctuated by betrayal (Genesis 37), false accusations (Genesis 39) and loneliness (Genesis 40:23).
___The key to Joseph's success is not in the way he seems to win the sweepstakes in the end. It's in his character. Joseph continued to cling to God even though the circumstances around him indicated God had forsaken him. When many would have sought a way out by any means, ethical or otherwise, Joseph remained strong.
___Joseph's story may seem unreal to modern readers for just this reason. We're not accustomed to hearing about people who maintain their integrity and win. Instead, we are bombarded with the message that integrity doesn't matter--that to succeed in the world of politics or business you have to compromise or lose.
___Perhaps therein lies our problem. We deem success to be in the sole possession of the one who makes it to the top. And some may read the story of Joseph as a plan to do so: stay faithful and God will ultimately reward you with material blessings. But this "name it, claim it" philosophy is not the true message of Genesis. It is that character and integrity must become for us a reward in and of themselves, something far more valuable than anything money can buy.

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