FROM SLAVE TO VICEROY
Genesis 39.1 to 41.46
=Interpretation.= There are no surer tests of character than
transplantation to a strange country without hope of return and
degradation to a lower social stratum without hope of rising. For a
great part of our moral strength comes from the consciousness that
the eyes of others interested in our life are on us, that we dare
not disappoint their expectations of us, and that our acts affect
their happiness and honor. The person who finds himself alone in
a strange land from which he does not expect to return and from
which he does not expect rumors of his deeds to reach his former
associates must have an iron character to maintain his loyalty to
the moral standards of his earlier environment in the face of new
temptations. And particularly is this true if, at the same time as
he is transplanted into a strange land, he finds his social status
also reduced. For the ambition to rise in his new environment,
to achieve success and recognition there, might be sufficient
incentive for some "to scorn delights and live laborious days",
but for the enslaved in a new land this incentive also is lacking.
Both these tests of character Joseph had to meet and he met them
successfully. Arrived in Egypt, he wastes no time brooding over his
wrongs but sets to work diligently at his tasks in such a way as
to win him the confidence of his master. This confidence he will
not abuse even under the most seductive of temptations and even
though his fidelity to principle results in the very loss of his
master's confidence in him and in his consequent confinement in
the royal prison. Note that what keeps Joseph pure is the sense of
responsibility not only to Potiphar, but, in the first instance, to
God, so that the very fact which might lead others to sin, namely
the fact that Potiphar could not know of his misdeeds, fortifies him
against sin. "He refused and said unto his master's wife, 'Behold,
my master, having me, knoweth not what is in the house and he hath
put all that he hath into my hand; he is not greater in this house
than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee,
because thou art his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness,
_and sin against God_?'" In prison he shows the same qualities with
the same result of winning the confidence of people.
=Aim.= The aim of this lesson is to inspire the child with the
example of Joseph's patience, cheerfulness and faithfulness under
difficulties, all of which qualities were influenced by his trust in
God.
=Suggestions to the teacher.= The suggestions made in the preceding
chapter apply to this one as well. Help the child to visualize the
narrative and to make more explicit the feelings and motives of the
characters. Discuss, for instance, the loneliness of Joseph in this
strange land, far from his home and all that he loved, and contrast
with his early dreams of rulership his present status as a slave.
Try to give the child some idea of what slavery means, not by a
definition but by telling the different kinds of work that Joseph
had to do for his master in field and home without any pay or fixed
hours of rest and labor, and subject to unreasonable demands of
task masters, etc. Then point out that, though many people under
such circumstances would waste their time grumbling, Joseph trusted
that God would help him and made up his mind to do the best work
that he could.
The incident of Joseph's temptation by Potiphar's wife can, of
course, be told only in general terms, the teacher relating how
Potiphar's wife, who was a very wicked woman, wanted Joseph to
help her do something that was wrong, and he refused. His refusal
should be given in direct discourse and follow the general line
of thought of Genesis 39.8 to 9, keeping as much of the Biblical
language as possible. When Joseph is cast into prison the teacher
must again help the child realize emotionally what it meant for
Joseph, after all his faithful service of Potiphar, to be thrown
into prison as the very result of his fidelity and teach the pupil
to admire Joseph's resolution to make the best of this situation
too by patient and cheerful bearing and sympathetic interest in
the other prisoners. It is also well to make the child realize the
sharp contrasts of which there are so many in this story and which
greatly enhance its interest. When the king's butler, released from
prison, also forgets Joseph and Joseph's one hope of escape seems
doomed to complete disappointment, God provides the opportunity
not only for his escape but for his elevation to the vice-royalty.
This can be further emphasized by suggesting something of the pomp
and circumstance of Pharaoh's court. I say suggesting, because the
teacher should never indulge in pure description, which is always
a bore to children. An occasional descriptive adjective or phrase
can do the work quite as well. The narration of such incidents as
the removal of Joseph's prison clothes and his being attired in
fine linen before gaining admittance into the royal presence goes
far to emphasize the desired contrast between prison and palace.
So too the new dignity conferred on Joseph is made clearer to the
child by telling him how the king gave Joseph his ring and necklace
and made him ride in the chariot next his own while all the people
bowed before him than by the description of his new official duties.
The story might be summarized and the moral pointed out in a brief
statement such as "So the Hebrew slave boy, through his faithfulness
and trust in God, became the highest in rank of all of Pharaoh's
subjects".