Not You Average Joe

There’s Nothing Ordinary About You

Joseph

13 in the Bible:

1. The eleventh son of Jacob and elder of the two sons Rachel (Genesis 30:23, 24). He is Jacob's favorite (Genesis 37:3). Moreover, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia notes:

“The name Joseph denotes the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh in Deut. 33:13-17; the kingdom of Israel in Ezek. 37:16, 19, Amos 5:6; and the whole covenant people of Israel in Ps. 81:4.”

Joseph—The Beloved Son

Joseph1 was born in the Mesopotamian town of Haran, to his parents Jacob and Rachel. At the age of six,2 he left Haran along with his family and journeyed to the land of Canaan, eventually settling in Hebron.

Jacob displayed extra affection to Joseph, who was born to his father’s old age, presenting him with a specially-crafted garment. This prompted feelings of jealousy within his brothers, especially the sons of Jacob’s other wife, Leah. These ill feelings exacerbated when Joseph repeated two of his dreams to them, in which he was portrayed as ruling over his brethren. In the first, the brothers were gathering wheat in the field, and the brothers’ bundles bowed to Joseph’s bundle. In the second, Joseph envisioned the sun, the moon, and eleven stars (symbolizing his parents and brothers) bowing to him.

Read: Dreams to Cherish

Soon enough, when Joseph was seventeen, the tension came to a head.

Sold by His Brothers

One day, Jacob instructed Joseph to visit his brothers in Shechem, where they were tending their sheep. Little did he know that this would be the last time he would see his dear son, until their reunion a long twenty-two years later.

Seizing their chance, the brothers threw the unsuspecting Joseph into a pit. A short while later they spotted an Arab caravan passing the scene, and the brothers sold Joseph to the traders. He was eventually brought to Egypt, where he was sold to Potiphar, one of King Pharaoh’s ministers.

Steadfast Morality

For a while, things started to look up for young Joseph. Divine success enabled him to find favor in his master’s eyes, and he was appointed head of Potiphar’s estate. However, this would not last for long.

Attracted by his handsome looks, Potiphar’s wife desired to be intimate with him. To her consternation, Joseph continuously refused. One day, when no one was home other than the two of them, the mistress grasped Joseph’s garment, demanding that he consent. Thinking quickly, Joseph slid out of his cloak and ran outside. This self-control earned him the appellation, “Joseph the righteous.”3

But Potiphar’s wife turned the tables on Joseph, telling her husband that it was Joseph who had tried to entice her. The angry master reacted by placing his trustworthy assistant in prison.

Joseph—Interpreter and Viceroy

Joseph’s charisma followed him to prison as well, and the warden soon appointed him as his right-hand man. In time, his unique qualities expressed themselves in an additional area: when the king’s royal cupbearer and baker were imprisoned, Joseph successfully interpreted their dreams, correctly predicting that the cupbearer would be released and the baker, hanged.

Two years later, King Pharaoh himself envisioned two dreams, which none of his advisors were able to explain. Remembering the Hebrew youth from his prison days, the cupbearer suggested that Joseph be summoned. Joseph, then thirty, interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams as being a Divine prediction for seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, and advised Pharaoh to prepare by storing grain during the first seven years. Impressed by Joseph’s wisdom, Pharaoh appointed him as his viceroy, second only to the king himself, and tasked him with readying the nation for the years of famine.

Climactic Reunion

Meanwhile, the effects of the famine were felt in nearby Canaan. Hearing that there was grain in Egypt, Joseph’s brothers journeyed there to buy precious food from the viceroy, not realizing that he was their very own brother.

Joseph decided to utilize this opportunity to observe whether his brothers truly regretted having sold him. Using a succession of dramatic maneuvers, Joseph tested his brothers’ determination to save their youngest brother Benjamin—Joseph’s only maternal brother—from the plot he set up for him. Once he saw their devotion toward Benjamin, Joseph finally revealed his identity to his astonished siblings.

Following this heartfelt reunion, Jacob and his family settled in the Goshen section of Egypt. This series of events served as the backdrop for Israel’s ultimate enslavement in Egypt and the subsequent Exodus.

After appointing Joseph as viceroy, Pharaoh gave him as a wife Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. Midrashic sources identify Potiphera as none other than Potiphar, Joseph’s previous master.4

Joseph and Asenath had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, both born during the seven years of plenty. Before Jacob’s death, he gave Joseph a gift: his children would be the only ones from among Jacob’s grandsons to be treated as independent tribes.5 Indeed, throughout the Jews’ journey in the desert, the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim received equal status to the other tribes, and they inherited individual portions of the Land of Israel.

Joseph ruled Egypt for a total of eighty years, until his death at the age of 110. Before his passing, he made his brothers promise to take his coffin along with them when they would eventually leave Egypt for the Promised Land. After his death, he was embalmed and laid to rest in Egypt.6 Indeed, when the Jews left Egypt many years later, Moses made sure to locate Joseph’s tomb and carry his remains to the Land of Israel.7

Joseph was subsequently buried in Shechem8 (known today as Nablus), and his resting place is visited until today.

Behind the Name

Joseph was born to Rachel after many years of infertility. She named her son Joseph, Yosef in Hebrew, which means “increase,” expressing her wish that G‑d grant her an additional son.9 (Her prayers were indeed fulfilled, as she later begot Benjamin.) Additionally, Yosef is similar to asaf, to “bring in” and “conceal,” for with his birth, Rachel’s shame in being childless was obscured.10

In one place in scripture, Joseph’s name appears with an added letter, spelling Yehosef.11 He merited the additional letter hei, which together with the preceding yud stands for G‑d, due to having sanctified G‑d’s name when refusing to lie with Potiphar's wife.12

Upon his appointment as viceroy, Pharaoh named Joseph Tzafnat Paaneach, meaning “one who clarifies secrets.”

Yosef becomes Yehosef

Psalm 81:6 (Hebrew Translation) “As a testimony for Jehoseph, He ordained it, when he went forth over the land of Egypt, [when] I understood a language that I had not known.”

Psalm 81:4–15 NKJV

4 For this is a statute for Israel, A law of the God of Jacob. 5 This He established in Joseph as a testimony, When He went throughout the land of Egypt, Where I heard a language I did not understand. 6 “I removed his shoulder from the burden; His hands were freed from the baskets. 7 You called in trouble, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah 8 “Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you! O Israel, if you will listen to Me! 9 There shall be no foreign god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god. 10 I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. 11 “But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me. 12 So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels. 13 “Oh, that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways! 14 I would soon subdue their enemies, And turn My hand against their adversaries. 15 The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him, But their fate would endure forever.

Psalm 81:16 NKJV

16 He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.”

When God adds Himself to us:

Author, Date, and Recipients

The apostle Paul wrote this letter to Christians living in the small city of Colossae. It was probably written c. A.D. 62, while Paul was in prison in Rome (Acts 27–28). This was about the same time he wrote Ephesians and Philemon. All three letters were sent with Tychicus and Onesimus.

Theme

Christ is Lord over all of creation, including the invisible realm. He has redeemed his people, enabling them to participate in his death, resurrection, and fullness.

Purpose, Occasion, and Background

A dangerous teaching was threatening the church at Colossae, one that lessened Christ’s role and undermined the new identity of believers “in Christ” (1:2, 28). Paul wrote to warn against this false teaching and to encourage the believers in their growth toward Christian maturity. He emphasizes Christ’s authority over all evil powers. Christians are united with the risen Christ, and therefore they share in his power and authority. Paul also encourages these believers to fight against sin, pursue holiness, and live as distinctively Christian households.

“We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,” Colossians 1:11 (NLT)

Colossians 1:11 AMP

[we pray that you may be] strengthened and invigorated with all power, according to His glorious might, to attain every kind of endurance and patience with joy

COLOSSIANS 1:27

KJ21

To them God would make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

ASV

to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

AMP

God [in His eternal plan] chose to make known to them how great for the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in andamong you, the hope andguarantee of [realizing the] glory.

“That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.” Colossians 1:29 (NLT)

Colossians 1:29 AMP

For this I labor [often to the point of exhaustion], striving with His power and energy, which so greatly works within me.

Colossians 1:29 ESV

For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

PHILIPPIANS 2:13

KJ21

For it is God who worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

ASV

for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.

AMP

For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure.

Galatians 2:20

KJV

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me

TPT

My old identity has been co-crucified with Christ and no longer lives. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives his life through me—we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God who loves me so much that he gave himself for me, dispensing his life into mine!

EPHESIANS 3:20

KJ21

Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

ASV

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

AMP

Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us,

Philippians 4:10-14 King James Version

10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.

11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

14 Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction.