Children
have always fascinated me. They are a biological blend of two different
people, the combining of two parents into one flesh. Further, the way
children adopt the characteristics of their parents intrigues me—their
speech mannerisms, gestures, laughs, attitudes, fashion consciousness,
and so on.
For
this reason genealogy has likewise intrigued me. I sometimes wonder how
much of my ancestry I still carry in me, how far back into my
genealogical roots I could trace my own mannerisms, physical attributes,
and character traits. How fascinating it would be to have a detailed
written and visual account of each of our ancestors with which to
compare ourselves.
Unfortunately,
such records are not available to us and our vision of our total
ancestry is sketchy at best. Ironically, some of our best genealogical
information is that concerning our earliest parentage. Sometimes we
forget when reading the early portion of the Bible that many of us are
reading our own family history and that we share a very special
relationship with those individuals.
Few
of us would think of claiming Iraq as an ancestral homeland, yet that is
where our father Abraham was born and reared to early maturity. Syria
remains a foreign country in the minds of many of us, yet our
grandmothers Rebecca and Rachel were born there, as was our grandfather
Joseph. And while our grandfather Joseph claimed Israel as his homeland,
his wife, our grandmother, Asenath, was not only Egyptian, but a
daughter of an Egyptian priest. Ephraim and Manasseh, then, were both
half-Egyptian. Truly, through our roots, most of us are citizens of the
world, and whatever happens in the world often affects those who are our
distant cousins.
Although
separated by an unrecorded gap from these early ancestors, we can still
find models worthy of imitation. Joseph, whose name (or that of one of
his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh) appears on hundreds of thousands of our
patriarchal blessings, is a good case in point. If we would adopt his
manner of life we would not only excel as citizens of this world, but we
would also become candidates for celestial life in the next.
Firstborn of Jacob and Rachel
To
his father, Jacob, Joseph was the living reminder of one of the greatest
love stories of all time. Few, like Joseph, could lay claim to a father
who had given fourteen years of service for the hand of their mother.
So intense was Jacob’s love for Rachel that Moses records concerning the
first seven years, “They seemed unto him [Jacob] but a few days, for
the love he had to her” (
Gen. 29:20).
After
this marriage Rachel had difficulty in bearing a child, which fact
troubled her deeply. Her sister, Leah, was to produce six sons and one
daughter before Rachel was blessed with her firstborn, Joseph. A third
wife, Bilhah, and a fourth, Zilpah, were each to add two more sons to
Jacob’s posterity before the birth of Joseph.
By
that time Jacob was nearly ninety years old, almost the age that his
grandfather, Abraham, had been when Sarah bore Jacob’s father, Isaac. He
and Rachel had waited long for this child and loved Joseph with a
special love. But within a few short years of that birth Rachel would
die in another land while giving birth to her second son, Benjamin.
Within seventeen years Jacob would lose Joseph to slavery in Egypt,
thinking him dead; and it was nearly a quarter of a century after that
before Jacob was reunited with Joseph, now grown to maturity and second
in authority to the Pharaoh of Egypt. Thirty years after this reunion
Jacob himself would die and be returned to his native land for burial.
It
would be interesting to know how much Joseph remembered of the first
seventeen years of this life. It is doubtful that he would remember much
about the land of his birth, Haran, for shortly after Joseph was born
Jacob took his family back to his native land—the land that now bears
his name, Israel. What, if anything, would Joseph remember of the
tenseness of the dramatic parting of his father from his grandfather,
Laban, or of the fear-laden reunion of his father and his uncle, Esau,
after twenty years of separation—a separation that had occurred when
Jacob had fled for his life from the wrath of Esau?
It
is doubtful that Joseph remembered much because he likely was a babe in
arms during most of this. Yet we would do well to remember that Joseph
was an important part, in the eyes of his parents, of all of these
experiences. This young man, favored of the Lord, was also highly
favored of his father, especially after the death of his mother.
Kinship With Moses
For
Moses, who lived two centuries later, Joseph must have held another
type of fascination. Perhaps Moses also was interested in the
characteristics of his famous kinsman. He doubtless wondered what Joseph
was like as the Israelites carried his body in a coffin for forty years
of wandering in the wilderness. What were his thoughts concerning the
man who had saved the Israelites by leading them into Egypt as Moses
would save them by leading them out? Both men had known positions of
great power in that nation; both had suffered at the hands of their
brethren. Both were capable administrators; both were highly blessed of
the Lord.
Where
had Moses received his information concerning Joseph? How much did he
know of Joseph as he worked on the Torah? Was it given to him by
revelation, as a portion of his record would later be given to another
Joseph? Or was he reading from records dictated by Joseph himself so
many years before?
Of
special interest to Moses must have been the prophecies of Joseph now
contained in the last chapter of Genesis as rendered by Joseph Smith.
What feelings must have coursed through the mind of Moses when he first
read the words: “For a seer will I raise up to deliver my people out of
the land of Egypt; and he shall be called Moses. And by this name he
shall know that he is of thy house; for he shall be nursed by the king’s
daughter, and shall be called her son” (JST, Gen. 50:29).
Joseph
further prophesied that Moses, with a rod in his hand, would smite the
waters of the Red Sea and lead the children of Israel from their
bondage. Moses’ brother, Aaron, was to be his spokesman, as Moses would
be the spokesman for the Lord in delivering God’s law to the Israelites.
It would be interesting to know if Moses read these prophecies before
or after they had been fulfilled. If before, were they instrumental in
determining the course he followed?
Also
contained in the information given to Moses was a prophecy of Joseph’s
concerning a record to be written by his posterity after a branch of
them had been severed from the main body of Israelites. That prophecy
spoke of another Joseph—one named after his father—who would be chosen
seer in latter-day Israel. These prophecies are also contained in the
Book of Mormon, a record of Joseph’s posterity, translated by this other
Joseph, the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. (see
2 Ne. 3).
The interest of the Nephites in Joseph of old is demonstrated in Lehi’s
comment concerning the prophecies of Joseph: “And the prophecies which
he wrote, there are not many greater. And he prophesied concerning us,
and our future generations; and they are written upon the plates of
brass” (
2 Ne. 4:2).
Apparently, then, these brass plates of Laban contained a Josephite
record. They traced the ancestry of Lehi back to Joseph. They contained
information concerning prophets such as Zenos and Zenock—who were also
descendents of Joseph but are not mentioned in the Bible. They also
record information concerning Joseph that is not found in other sources.
Moroni, for example, refers to Joseph’s coat that his brothers brought
back to Jacob, telling him that Joseph had been devoured by wild beasts.
Apparently
Jacob kept a fragment of that coat as a reminder of his son. Later, as
he neared death, Jacob looked upon the fragment of the coat he had
preserved, now over a half century old, and prophesied that as part of
the remnant had been maintained, part of Joseph’s seed would be
preserved; as part had decayed, part of Joseph’s seed would be lost to
the Lord (
Alma 46:24–27).
Fascination of Biblical Scholars
Biblical
scholars have also found great interest in Joseph and his story,
especially those who seek archetypes—prophetic foreshadowings of events
to come, notably those related to the life of the Messiah. A good
example of a rendering of biblical history in archetypical fashion is
found in Paul’s comparison of the birth of Ishmael and Isaac to the
giving of the Mosaic law and the law of Christ (see
Gal. 4:22–31). In its general outline, the account of Joseph’s life is an excellent foreshadowing of the life of the Master.
He
is the favored son of the father, sent by the father on a mission to his
rebellious brethren. His brethren, resenting his closeness to the
father and his teachings to them, reject his message, maltreat him, and
eventually take his life, as it were. The next phase of his life,
beginning with his descent into the pit and concluding with his
experience in prison in Egypt, may be compared typologically with the
descent of Christ into the pit of hell and his mission to the spirit
prison.
Ultimately
he is brought out of the prison and given a position of power second
only to the ruler of the kingdom. His coat, which his brethren had taken
from him (a symbol of his flesh), is replaced with a majestic robe, and
every knee is made to bow to him. In his new exalted position he
becomes the savior of his brethren, extending forgiveness, and feeding
them, as it were, with the bread of life.
It
is easy to see why Joseph should hold such a fascination for biblical
scholars, as well as for literary figures, such as Thomas Mann, who
wrote a four-volume work on the theme of Joseph and his brothers. But it
seems to me that Joseph should be of greatest interest to us, his
posterity. Not only is he a great historical and religious figure, but
he can also be a personal example to us, a model in our lives.
A Knowledge of Christ
If
we were to follow Joseph’s example and acquire his character traits our
lives would be richer and generally more successful. He shows us the way
to a knowledge of the Master, and in that sense learning about our
father Joseph (or any of our righteous ancestors) is an exercise in
growing closer to the Lord. Elder Bruce R. McConkie described how near
the Lord we must eventually draw. Noting that we must know Him to gain
eternal life. Elder McConkie said in a general conference address, “To
know God in that full sense which will enable us to gain eternal
salvation means that we must know what he knows, enjoy what he enjoys,
experience what he experiences. In the New Testament language, we must
‘be like him’” (Improvement Era, June 1966, p. 528).
In
speaking of those character traits that qualify one for a knowledge of
Christ, the Apostle Peter lists the following: “Giving all diligence,
add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
“And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
“And
to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity,”
for, Peter continues, “If these things be in you, and abound, they make
you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of
our Lord Jesus Christ” (
2 Pet. 1:5–8).
Faith
in God is the beginning, including trust in his way and his promises.
To follow the way outlined by God requires courage—Peter’s virtue—and
understanding. Further, it requires one to have temperance or
self-control, subjecting one’s own will to that of God. It requires
patience if one is to see the fruits of Christian efforts; it requires
also a piety that attempts to remain close to God in understanding his
way. Ultimately, it requires the development of brotherly kindness and
then the blossoming of that brotherly feeling into the quality of
charity, the pure love of Christ—love like Christ and love for Christ.
Joseph’s Faith and Virtue
Joseph
was the living personification of all of these character traits; they
truly did abound in him. His faith in God was tried almost to the limit.
If anyone ever had reason to feel that God had abandoned him it would
be Joseph, rejected and sold into slavery for teaching what God had told
him through his dreams, falsely accused and cast into prison for
attempting to keep the commandments of God, remaining in that prison for
more than two years.
His namesake, Joseph Smith, who was to suffer a similar fate, cried out from his prison, “O God, where art thou?” (
D&C 121:1).
Joseph of Egypt must have had similar feelings, yet there is no
evidence in all of the record that he ever let his faith waver. Instead
he continued to sense the hand of God in every incident of his life.
Virtue,
the second of the character traits listed by Peter, has far wider
ramifications than sexual purity—which Joseph demonstrated in the
incident with Potiphar’s wife. Virtue in its root vir is
associated with the “virile,” and has connotations of manliness, of
courage, and of strength. Living in the manner of Jesus, who was to be
known as the Son of Man, Joseph followed a lifestyle that commanded the
notice of men as well as women. Not only were women, such as the wife of
Potiphar, drawn to him, but also many of the men he met quickly
recognized his leadership potential. Potiphar placed him in charge of
his household and left everything to Joseph. The jailer in the prison
placed him over the other prisoners, and Pharaoh made him second in
command only to himself.
Joseph’s Knowledge and Patience
Peter
records, “Add to your … virtue knowledge.” God would have knowledgeable
disciples. Christ said, “Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless
as doves” (
Matt. 10:16). Paul records, “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men” (
1 Cor. 14:20). Blind faith is not sufficient for the Christian disciple.
When
we consider the rise of a shepherd to a position of world power, then
we begin to glimpse the knowledge and understanding that Joseph must
have accumulated. We assume that initially his knowledge was gained
through listening to the Lord; but we must also note the wisdom that
must have been required in his position in the Egyptian government,
especially in the administration of the crops and lands of Egypt. After
Joseph had interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh he commented, “Now
therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over
the land of Egypt.” To this Pharaoh responded, “There is none so
discreet and wise as thou art” (
Gen. 41:33, 39).
While this may be viewed as a statement of Pharaoh’s recognition of
Joseph’s spiritual powers, it proved to be true of Joseph’s wisdom in
temporal administration as well.
Joseph’s
self-control and patience are seen again and again in the fabric of his
lifestyle. They show in the incident with Potiphar’s wife; they show in
his willingness to trust in the Lord during his long imprisonment. In
fact, Josephus, the Jewish historian, makes an interesting comment
concerning Joseph’s reaction to his imprisonment. In a passage sounding
amazingly like Christ before Pilate, Josephus records:
“Now
Joseph, commending all his affairs to God, did not betake himself to
make his defence, nor to give an account of the exact circumstances of
the fact, but silently underwent the bonds and the distress he was in,
firmly believing that God, who knew the cause of his affliction and the
truth of the fact, would be more powerful than those that inflicted the
punishments upon him” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book II, v:1).
Joseph’s Godliness and Charity
Piety
or godliness was also an integral part of Joseph. Though none of his
prayers are recorded, one senses throughout the narrative of his story
the closeness that he feels with the Lord. The hand of God is in every
affair of his life. He refuses the invitation of Potiphar’s wife on the
grounds that it would be an offense against God. When he is reunited
with his brothers in Egypt, he quiets their fears of retaliation by
explaining that their selling him into Egypt was the Lord’s way of
allowing him to prepare the way before them.
It
is in Joseph’s relationship with his brothers that one sees his most
Christlike features, especially the characteristics of brotherly
kindness and charity. In naming his son
Manasseh, Joseph gives the understanding that the Lord has caused him to “forget all my toil, and all my father’s house” (
Gen. 41:51).
What a shock it must have been, then, when Joseph confronted his
brothers again for the first time in twenty-two years. What thoughts
must have raced through his mind! Again one senses his great patience in
not revealing himself to them until he discovers their feelings.
History
would search far to find another scene so filled with human feelings as
that of Joseph listening to his brethren (who were unaware that he
could understand them, since he had always spoken to them through an
interpreter) speak of their punishment for having sold their brother
into slavery. Joseph responded with sternness, as God must sometimes do
with us, but when one sees him moved to tears on two occasions—to the
point that he must leave the room to hide his face from his brethren—one
senses the depth of his Christlike love, filled with forgiveness for
the truly penitent.
I
respect our father Joseph for many things—for his faith, his virtue, his
knowledge, his temperance and patience, and for his godliness. But most
of all I respect him for his brotherly kindness and love. These are his
most godlike attributes; these are his touch-point with the Savior and
his touch-point with us, his posterity. These are the attributes we
should attempt to emulate as the grandchildren of this model of
Christian excellence; one of the greatest men this world has ever
produced, a father who taught all of his posterity what it means to
truly know Christ.
