Compassion and Story of Joseph of Egypt

An admirable trait about Joseph was his compassion to his brothers: 

Compassion: brings more joy than revenge. 

(Joseph tearfully reveals himself to his brothers: Gen 45:1-5) 

When you are treated badly, having compassion on those who hurt you ultimately brings more happiness to the forgiver.  I love how Joseph was not revengeful in his reunion with his brothers.  He was definitely prepared by faithfulness to the Lord after he was sold into Egypt to be able to forgive and love his brothers even though they were disrespectful to him.  I think that it shows the value of the atonement in each of our lives.  Most, if not all humans would not be capable of such a charitable act without the blessing of the atonement.  I am hopeful that it will help me overcome anything that would keep me from becoming like Heavenly Father.  I think that it is a trait (compassion/ trying to be more like Jesus) that comes as we constantly try our very best!

Story of Joseph of Egypt:

Readings from: Genesis 29-30, 35, 37, 39-41 -inclusive 

Birth Order of Jacob’s sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Nephtali, Gad, Asher, Isaachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin.

Joseph’s brother’s: Joseph’s brothers had several reasons to envy him.  First of all, he was not clearly the first born.  Other brothers could have assumed their right to the birth right because they were either “a” first born (Jacob had several wives/sons of different women) or they were in order to receive the blessing that an elder brother or brothers forfeited by sin (Explanations based on the Institute Student Manual for Old Testament). The fact that Joseph had a dream that he told his brothers and father about depicting him as a leader and his family paying respects to him was also a reason they were jealous(Genesis 37:5-11).

 Challenges Joseph faced (from Genesis 37): Joseph’s brothers hated and envied him(vs. 8,11); Joseph’s father did not understand his dream (vs.10); Joseph’s brother’s conspired against him (vs.18); Joseph’s coat was taken from him (vs. 23); his brother’s cast him into a pit without water (vs.24); Joseph was sold basically as a servant to some travelers going to Egypt and became a servant (vs.28, 36); Joseph’s brothers conspired again and were dishonest to their father about what happened to Joseph (vs. 31-33).

How Joseph faced his challenges successfully/How the Lord was with him:

In Genesis 39:2-3, 21, 23 the phrase “the Lord was with [him/Joseph]” is similar.  In Genesis 39, Joseph is invited again and again by Potipher’s wife to lie with her.  He refused and eventually she was more demanding, so he ran.  He was falsely accused of adultery and was sent to prison (vs. 7-20).  

Remaining morally clean:

I think Joseph made the decision to be morally clean when he was young.  He made consistent decisions to resist anything that would keep him from remaining morally clean up to that point in his life, so he was prepared to resist.

In Genesis 40:12-13, 18-19, Joseph is able to interpret two dreams of his fellow prisoners.  He is able to do this because the Lord blesses him.  Later this proves to be a great blessing when the butler remembers and tells Pharaoh that Joseph interpreted the dreams accurately and Pharaoh asks Joseph to interpret his own dream (Gen.41:12-16).  Joseph then goes on to interpret Pharaoh’s dream (vs. 25-32) and then gives Pharaoh wise council regarding the dream (vs. 33-36).  Following the council to appoint a wise man to lead the people through the time of prospering and famine successfully, Pharaoh recognizes that the Lord is with Joseph and appoints him (vs. 39-41).

~Lessons learned from Joseph’s life~

There are many lessons that I can learn from Joseph’s life.  First of all, he was born to a situation easily suited for hardship because his brothers were jealous of the blessings and favor that Joseph would receive from their father.  He, however seemed unaffected by their envy-ings because he just kept going in life, as far as we know, without complaint.  I think he was blessed with a disposition to be kind and a desire to be righteous. 

The result of his brothers’ continued jealousy was a great adversity to Joseph in my eyes.  Being away from home because your brothers don’t like you and paid someone else to own you as a servant is not ideal by most peoples’ standards, but he didn’t seem to complain here either.  As he was pressed with adversity by temptation and betrayal his spirit was strong in keeping the commandments and not losing faith in God.  He was blessed because he was obedient and I think also because he did not complain but made the best of each situation steadfastly and seemingly cheerfully! :)