Joseph in Egypt prophesies of Moses’ parentage

And I will make him great in mine eyes, for he shall do my work; and he shall be great like unto him whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel, out of the land of Egypt; 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 Genesis 50:29)

In JST Genesis 50:24-38 we have given to us Joseph Smith’s translation of words Joseph Smith said to his brothers about a prophecy the Lord said to Joseph (in Egypt) concerning Joseph Smith and Moses.

For a lot time I thought the above verse was saying that Moses was going to come out of Joseph’s lineage.  And of course we know from Exodus 2:1-10 that Moses was from the house of Levi, not Joseph.  So I wondered for a long time whether Joseph got carried away and made a false prophecy out of pride for his high status and thought that any son of a king’s daughter would have to come from his own family.

Recently I noticed in that verse Joseph addresses the house of Israel and he uses “house” again in that same verse to take about Moses’ birth origins.  Elsewhere when Joseph refers to his own descendants, speaking in the Lord’s words he calls them “the fruit of thy loins.”

So I realized that “thy house” was meant to refer to the house of Israel, not the house of Joseph.  And seen this way, the prophecy is definitely true; Moses was from the house of Israel.

This also helps the prophecy make more sense. because the name of Moses was meant to let Moses know he was an Israelite and not of the king’s family.  It may be this prophecy was instrumental in him learning about his real ancestry.  (We just assume he grew up knowing, but it may be that he didn’t and he had a major shock that the Bible gives us no clue about.)   

The cool thing is, no Israelite gave Moses his name; it was all the king’s daughter’s doing.  For Moses to come to prepare for his mission as prophet, it was most important for him to know that he was from Israelite stock in the first place and not Egyptian. 

Jacob considers how God is keeping the covenant

At the end of Jacob’s life, he talks to his son Joseph in Egypt and we see in the JST of Genesis 48 what his perspective is about the events of his life and how they fit with the covenant God made with him so long ago.

7  And Jacob said unto Joseph, When the God of my fathers appeared unto me in Luz, in the land of Canaan; he sware unto me, that he would give unto me, and unto my seed, the land for an everlasting possession.
8  Therefore, O my son, he hath blessed me in raising thee up to be a servant unto me, in saving my house from death;
9  In delivering my people, thy brethren, from famine which was sore in the land; wherefore the God of thy fathers shall bless thee, and the fruit of thy loins, that they shall be blessed above thy brethren, and above thy father’s house; (JST Genesis 48:7-9)

Jacob realized that in order for the Lord to keep the covenant to give the land Canaan to Jacob and his posterity, the Lord saved Jacob and his family from the famine.  (After all, if there are no people left to inherit, then the Lord can’t keep the covenant.) 

It must have given Jacob a good feeling to know that even if the Lord’s covenant hadn’t been fulfilled in his lifetime, he could still see how the Lord was working to prepare the way for it to be fulfilled in the future.  This gave him the hope that it would be fulfilled as the Lord said.  That’s a really faithful attitude—to not be angry that it wasn’t being fulfilled in his own lifetime.

Looking at it from another perspective, even though Jacob would die soon, his spirit would get to see over generations how the covenant would be fulfilled.  It would give a righteous spirit something to look forward to, wouldn’t it, seeing the culmination of all the promises and prophecies fulfilled little by little throughout the history of the world.

Both Jacob and Joseph had great spiritual maturity to see how their mutual suffering and grief was turned to the good of themselves and families.  I hope that at the end of my life I’ll be able to look back and see how my suffering 1) turned to my good and 2) helped prepare the way for the Lord to fulfill His covenant.

Judah compared to Joseph, then Judah’s redemption

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Genesis 38 is quite a sordid chapter.  It tells of how Judah’s family life goes after he sold Joseph into Egypt.  We see a number of things that are pretty disturbing.

First, Judah separates from his family and marries a Canaanite girl.  This is marrying out of the covenant.  Then, Judah’s son Er was wicked and was killed by God (we are told) after marrying Tamar (another Canaanite girl). Then, when Tamar is given to Judah’s second son Onan in Levirate marriage, Onan refrains from impregnating her, thus displaying selfishness, and is killed by God (we are told).  After this, Judah’s wife dies. (v12)

So far we can see that Judah has lost 3 out of 4 people in his family, which must have been very painful.  It would show him the pain and grief he had caused his father Jacob by selling Joseph and making his father think Joseph was dead.

I also can’t help but wonder if Tamar had some kind of sexually transmitted disease that she passed on to Judah’s two sons and which killed them.  Judah may have thought the same thing, since he was reluctant to give her in Levirate marriage to his third son—“for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did.”

So Tamar takes matters into her own hands in a way that makes us all cringe.  She plants herself in Judah’s way dressed as a harlot.  It makes me wonder if she had some idea that he was easy to seduce.  And Judah propositions her as soon as he sees her, so it seems her estimation of him was correct.

When Judah sends his payment to Tamar, he sends it by his friend.  It is as if he doesn’t want to be seen paying a harlot.  When his friend comes back, unable to find the harlot to give payment to, Judah is worried he will be shamed for not paying as he promised.  Clearly his priorities are messed up; he’s concerned about paying a debt when he should be concerned about having broken the law of chastity.

When Judah finds out Tamar is pregnant by whoredom we see his hypocrisy again—he hits the ceiling and demands Tamar be burned for her whoredom.  It is then that his hypocrisy is revealed to all the people when Tamar waves his pledges under his nose and reveals Judah was the father.  (We don’t know if she presses for the pledged payment or not..)

It is interesting Judah says Tamar has been more righteous than him.  I suppose if he hadn’t exonerated her, he would have to be burned too.  Tamar was more righteous in that she had only been trying to do her part to raise up seed to her first husband.  She kept it in the family, albeit in a .. wrongheaded way.  But Judah knew he was committing whoredom.

It is easy to wonder just why this whole story was put in the Bible.  However it gains meaning when we read Genesis 39 about Joseph in Egypt.  The contrast is like night and day.  Joseph, unlike skirt-chasing Judah, flees from temptation.  He is propositioned and he refuses.  He manages to keep his purity even when he is the slave of a very sexually aggressive woman.  Judah is the contrast by which we can better appreciate Joseph’s purity.

This isn’t the end of the story, however.

All Judah’s painful experience eventually brings him back to his family, though we don’t know exactly when.  And in the midst of the unusual difficultes of getting food from a strangely surly Egyptian ruler (Joseph), we see that Judah’s attitude has changed.

To convince Jacob to let Benjamin go to Egypt according to Joseph’s command, Judah says, “Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones.  I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:” (Genesis 48:8-9)

Here Judah becomes a type of Christ and we learn a certain particular truth about Christ’s mission that perhaps we may not have recognized before—that Jesus would bear the blame forever if He had not done all He could to fulfill His mission.  In short, it is His responsibility to bring us back to God in the resurrection to stand before God so we can be judged.  And because He fulfilled His mission of atoning for us and being resurrected, we can be sure we will stand before God to be judged.  It is also possible that He is duty-bound to do everything He possibly can (short of coercion) to get us to accept His salvation.

We also see Judah become a type of Christ in another thing.  When Joseph’s silver cup was found in Benjamin’s bag of food and it seemed as if Joseph would keep Benjamin as a slave in Egypt, Judah pled for Benjamin’s sake:

32 For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.

33 Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.

34 For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father. (Genesis 44:32-34)

Judah offered himself in Bejamin’s stead so that Benjamin could return to father Jacob—a type of Christ’s sacrificing Himself for all of us to bring us back to Heavenly Father.  Judah could not have made that offer without having had a drastically changed heart and being converted, especially considering all the things he had done wrong earlier.  He was determined not to repeat his offense and give more pain to his father.

We also see from Judah’s words a glimpse of the Christ’s feelings and how He knows it would affect Heavenly Father to lose His children forever without the plan of salvation—“How shall I go up to my Father and none of my brothers and sisters return with me?  How can I stand to see the grief that shall come upon my Father then?”

While Judah’s story in Genesis 38 demonstrates how bad choices lead to more bad choices, we also see later in Judah’s readiness to self-sacrifice that there is still the possibility of redemption and change, to the point that one can become a type of Christ. 

For more insights on Genesis 38, you can check out Ben Spackman's article "The Story of Judah and Tamar."

Joseph in Egypt and Confirming the Message

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I was reading in the Old Testament Student Manual Genesis –2 Samuel about Pharaoh’s dreams and Joseph’s interpretation of them in Genesis 41 and I ran across an interesting tidbit that really got me thinking.

“Many assume that the dreams of pharaoh were beyond the scope of Egypt’s wise men and yet, in some ways, it is remarkable that these magicians could not have come up with some kind of logical explanation using their own well-known symbolism.” (Old Testament Student Manual Genesis –2 Samuel 8-13, p96)

“Being troubled about this double dream, Pharaoh sent the next morning for all the scribes and wise men of Egypt, to have it interpreted….[The magicians were] men of the priestly caste, who occupied themselves with the sacred arts and sciences of the Egyptians, the hieroglyphic writings, astrology, the interpretation of dreams, the foretelling of events, magic, and conjuring, and who were regarded as the possessors of secret arts…and the wise men of the nation….the clue to the interpretation was to be found in the religious symbols of Egypt. For the cow was the symbol of Isis, the goddess of the all-sustaining earth, and in the hieroglyphics it represented the earth, agriculture, and food; and the Nile, by its overflowing, was the source of the fertility of the land.” (Keil and Delitzsch, as quoted by Old Testament Student Manual Genesis-2 Samuel, 8-13, p96)

God was speaking to Pharaoh (and his wise men) using the Egyptian language of symbolism, but neither he nor his wise men could understand it?  The whole point of the Lord using Egyptian symbols and experiences they were acquainted with was so they could understand.  And yet the text says they couldn’t.

So… what if they did understand the dreams but found them so disturbing that they didn’t know what to do and so preferred to pretend ignorance?

I think it likely that Pharaoh understood it, but found the message to be of such gravity that he felt he needed outside confirmation that it meant what he thought it meant before he took any action on it.   The Egyptian wise men, however, might have been hesitant to give their interpretation of the message because it carried some very bad news—seven years of famine after seven years of plenty.  It takes a lot of courage to deliver bad news to a king.  No doubt the wise men were afraid the interpretation would make the king angry and they would be in danger of demotion or execution.

It is here that the Pharaoh’s butler mentions the guy he met in prison who was really good at interpreting dreams – Joseph.  This man, the butler said, interpreted two different dreams correctly about what would happen and “me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged” (referring to himself and the baker). 

Pharaoh would be very interested to talk to Joseph because the two dreams and interpretations about the butler and the baker show that not only is Joseph skilled at interpreting dreams, but he is forthright about telling the meaning, even when the message is very bad news.  The Pharaoh especially needed that honesty.

There’s another consideration too. The wise men would be excited to have Joseph do the job of telling the bad news about famine because to them he is expendable.  He’s just a prisoner, for heaven’s sake!  If the Pharaoh doesn’t like the interpretation, he’ll just take it out on the prisoner and leave the wise men alone.  No one will care if the prisoner gets executed, right?  Win-win situation.

Something that is really cool about Joseph’s beginning introduction as Pharaoh asks him to interpret is Joseph says, “It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”  We see Joseph doesn’t take credit for spiritual ability to interpret; he’s firm on the fact it comes from God.  Additionally he says, “God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”  If Pharaoh already had an impression of the meaning of the dreams, he (and his wise men) would be very curious to see how news of famine might be an answer of peace from God.  And Joseph succeeds in showing how the dreams are a warning that give time for preparation before the trouble comes.  There is something they can do to make it through that famine.  That’s totally making lemonade out of lemons.

Another cool thing Joseph says just as he begins sharing the interpretation of the dreams is he says, “God hath showed Pharaoh what he is about to do.”  If Pharaoh already had an idea of what the dream meant, then Joseph’s words would imply that not only did Joseph know, but Joseph knew Pharaoh knew too and agreed that it really was from God as Pharaoh suspected.

I really like that Joseph doesn’t just deliver the bad news about famine, but he was all ready with a solution about what to do.  Possibly Pharaoh had an idea of the solution too but needed confirmation it was necessary to take all the trouble the kingdom would have to go through to organize this effort and carry it through all those years.  I think the Pharaoh was excited to find Joseph was so in favor of what needed to be done that he figured the best person to put in charge of the food gathering program would be him.  When you look at it pragmatically, no one does a better job than someone firmly convinced of the urgency and necessity of it.

Seen this way, the story of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams not only teaches about spiritual receptiveness, but also about courage to deliver messages honestly, even if it is bad news, and deliver solutions as well.

Now, I grant that I tend to speculate, so it may be that both Pharaoh and his wise men had no idea what the dreams meant.  It is possible they were believing enough to go from complete ignorance to agreement with Joseph’s interpretation.  But it seems more likely to me that they could accept what he said because they already had an inkling of the truth and he confirmed it.

In Which I Muck About With Prophecy in 2 Nephi 3

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In 2 Nephi 3, Lehi gives his words of goodbye to his son Joseph and prophesies of Joseph Smith and Moses.  We know this chapter pretty well, yes?  After all, a whole Sunday school lesson focuses on this chapter.

One of the things that has puzzled me about this chapter is that Lehi shares this prophecy with his son Joseph as if it has great significance for his son.  Yet Lehi’s son Joseph is not one of the people talked about in the prophecy!  It’s like a dying father saying, “My son, you have great reason to rejoice because some day this prophecy will be fulfilled even though you’ll never see it or know these people or play any part in it.”  It deserves a great big “SO WHAT?!” not only from Lehi’s son Joseph, but also from the rest of us.

So I had to go hunting for the significance it would have to Lehi’s son Joseph and also to us.  We can already easily imagine Joseph Smith would recognize himself in the prophecy, what with his translating and his father named Joseph too, but what about the other people?  There’s a bit of a hint in v3-5:

3 And now, Joseph, my last-born, whom I have brought out of the wilderness of mine afflictions, may the Lord bless thee forever, for thy seed shall not utterly be destroyed.

4 For behold, thou art the fruit of my loins; and I am a descendant of Joseph who was carried captive into Egypt. And great were the covenants of the Lord which he made unto Joseph.

5 Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And he obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of darkness unto light—yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom.

The prospect of the seed of Joseph (son of Lehi) being partially destroyed is not cheering, BUT Lehi points out the prophecy of a righteous branch that would be broken off, yet remembered in the covenants, and even though they would fall into darkness, they would be brought to the light by another of Joseph in Egypt’s seed.  And much of the rest of the prophecy is about this seer.  The part Lehi was trying to underline for his son was that this prophecy made so many years ago was now on its way to fulfillment.  Their exit from Jerusalem and journey to the new world marked the commencement and they could call themselves that “righteous branch…broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered.”   I suppose we can learn from this that the only thing that can come close to the excitement of watching prophecy be fulfilled is to watch the pieces of prophecy fall into place on the way to future fulfillment and find that your family is directly involved. 

The other thing Lehi was excited about was a prospect that one of Joseph (son of Lehi) descendents would end up being this choice seer that would do so much good.  This I find frankly confusing.  I don’t know if we’ve traced Joseph Smith Jr.’s ancestry all the way back to Lehi’s son Joseph.  Seems to me I heard somewhere that JS ancestry has been traced to Ireland.  Does this mean there is some crazy genetic linkage making JS a descendant of Lehi’s Joseph?  Who knows?  I’ll leave that to the skilled genealogists to work out.  Another possibility is that there may be a second seer, one that comes directly out of Lehi’s Joseph’s lineage to help other descendants of Lehi to the light.  Let’s look at v23-24:

23 Wherefore, because of this covenant thou art blessed; for thy seed shall not be destroyed, for they shall hearken unto the words of the book.

24 And there shall rise up one mighty among them, who shall do much good, both in word and in deed, being an instrument in the hands of God, with exceeding faith, to work mighty wonders, and do that thing which is great in the sight of God, unto the bringing to pass much restoration unto the house of Israel, and unto the seed of thy brethren.

Lehi specifically states that Joseph’s (son of Lehi) seed would hearken to the book and one of his seed would rise up and do much good and bring much restoration to the house of Israel and to the seed of Lehi.

If we assume that the restoration has been done already, then we tend to think this means Joseph Smith.  If so, then Joseph Smith is somehow a descendent of Joseph (son of Lehi).

But if we assume there is more to be restored (like, say, the implementation of a city called Zion..), then it becomes likely that another mighty one is to rise up, most likely through the ranks of the priesthood leadership, one who IS a descendant of Lehi’s Joseph.  And they’d have to be pretty dang awesome to stick out among all the fabulous priesthood leadership we already have, such that we can point to them as a fulfillment of Book of Mormon prophecy.

Naturally, these thoughts of mine are outside the usual discussions on this chapter.  Might I be wrong?  Of course!  But I am also willing to admit that there can be much more prophesied that we don’t recognize until it comes to pass right under our noses, and we do believe that there will yet be revealed many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

Also, the important thing for us to realize is the prophecy “thy seed…shall hearken unto the words of the book” is in the process of fulfillment right now with missionary work to South and Central America.  How exciting for the missionaries who get to be a part of that!  How exciting for the new converts coming into the church there! 

God’s Timing of Birth in Genesis

Today I was thinking about that desperate plea that Rachel made to Jacob when she finds she is barren.

Give me children, or else I die (Genesis 30:1)

As we know, Rachel finally became pregnant with Joseph much later, after 11 other children were born. And we know that Joseph ended up being sold into Egypt, where he was used as the Lord’s instrument to store food that ultimately saved the house of Israel (and a whole bunch of other people) from being wiped out by starvation. He was raised up for that purpose.

Would this purpose have been fulfilled if he had been born around the same time as Reuben and been one of the oldest of Jacob’s children rather than among the youngest? Would there have been that tension between the brothers? Would he have been sold into Egypt? Probably not.

Did Rachel realize that not getting to have children yet (as painful as it was) would culminate in the temporal salvation of her whole family? There’s no way that she could have known without revelation (And we don't know whether she ever knew.)

Thinking about this has suggested to me that Heavenly Father has good reasons behind His timing of people’s births in families of His Saints and good reasons for birth order. He is planning out not just parents’ lives, but he’s also synchronizing the lives of the children so that they are born at the necessary time that will build up to the fulfilling of His purposes for the maximum development of all of His children. Yet he has to also consider the agency of His children and provide backup plans. Some people may choose to be extraordinarily faithful, while others choose to drift and procrastinate their repentance.

We know that timing in some things for some people seems ideal, and timing for other people seems to be all skiddly-wampus. We can’t know why probably until much later when we get to see the end from the beginning. All we can do is do our part and trust the Lord.