Joseph's Story

"Joseph in Egypt," Jacopo Pontormo (1515-18)

Genesis 41:46:  "Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt."

Think about how long it took for Providence to reveal itself.  Think about how many years Joseph languished, not knowing if or when his sufferings were amounting to anything.  A sterile, sunday-school reading of the text might focus on Joseph's preternatural faith, or his abilities with prophecy--but in concrete terms, think about the length of time between his involuntary trip to Egypt and the time his brothers came to him for famine relief.  Think about how pointless it all must have seemed to a young man enslaved, imprisoned, and then apparently responsible for agricultural and financial policy throughout Egypt.

I wonder if, when he assures his brothers that their old trick of throwing him in the well was just a piece of God's plan to help them weather the famine, he's amazed himself at how it all seems to make sense all of a sudden.  After such a long time.  No wonder he wept.