An Introduction to a Great Man

Over the next several weeks, I will be posting a number of articles/essays on the life of Joseph. These posts will follow the timeline presented in the book of Genesis and provide some expositional and devotional observations on the life of Joseph, who was certainly a great man.

There is a theory on how to understand world history that is called the “Great Man Theory.” This theory asserts that history is primarily influenced by the actions and ideas of key men rather than societal forces. Thomas Carlyle, one of the leading proponents of this perspective, put it this way: “The history of the world is but the biography of great men” (On Heroes, Hero-Worship). This approach to history may be overly simplistic, but there certainly seems to be something credible about the idea that God uses significant men. In fact, there are many examples that lend some credence to the idea that God uses significant leaders to significantly impact world history, especially in the book of Genesis. The narrative of Genesis follows the lives of great men like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The story of Genesis is the story of the Patriarchs and their generations. Bible commentators have long recognized that the book of Genesis is broken up into the generations of 10  men (Hebrew: “toledoths”) that tell the story of the world through families of these men. All this to say, the “Great Man Theory” is not necessarily the only way to study history, but it is certainly true that the history of the world is told through the lives of great men, and Joseph is one of those great men.

We are first introduced to Joseph in Genesis 37, and he takes center stage for the rest of the book of Genesis. It is close, but there is more space devoted in the book of Genesis to the life of Joseph than there is to the life of Abraham. That is pretty amazing when you think about it. Additionally, the life of Joseph is one of the Bible’s most famous stories and one of the most frequently studied subjects—he was certainly a great man!

“If there was ever a man for all seasons, it was Joseph, the favorite son of the patriarch Jacob, whose story begins in the 37th chapter of Genesis. Joseph's life spanned the social spectrum of the ancient world. Raised as the future heir of the wealthy Jewish patriarch, he fell into slavery in a far-off gentile land, but later arose to a position of prominence as second-in-command only to Pharaoh. He was loved and hated, favored and abused, tempted, and trusted, exalted, and abased. Yet at no point in the 110-year life of Joseph did he ever seem to get his eyes off God or cease to trust him. Adversity did not harden his character. Prosperity did not ruin him. He was the same in private as in public. He was a truly great man.” (James Montgomery Boice, Genesis, vol. 3, 857)

Have you ever stopped to consider what makes Joseph so significant? Moses wrote Genesis to the people of Israel after they fled from Egypt, and so the life of Joseph provides a helpful explanation and the necessary context for the Israelites to understand the Exodus. But is there more to it than that? How does Joseph move biblical history forward? Why does Moses devote so much time to his story?  Genesis 37:1-11 introduces us to Joseph and helps us to understand why Joseph plays such an important role in the book of Genesis.

Joseph is introduced as a son (vv. 1-4).

“Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.” (Genesis 37:1–4, ESV)

Going all the way back to Genesis 3:15, readers have been waiting for the Son/Seed God promised would be born. This Son, promised in the protoevangelion, will defeat Satan and save sinners.

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15, ESV)

We know that this is referring to Christ, but the original readers of Genesis did not yet have that information. All they knew was that the son would come from Abraham’s family… Isaac, not Ishmael… Jacob, not Esau… but who will be next? Readers are posed with a question at this point in the narrative: Is Joseph the Son or at least the next in the line of the son?

From the text, we also know that Joseph was a good son. Joseph was 17 years old, but he had been through a lot—Rachel, Deborah, and Isaac had all recently died, which is why he was living with Bilhah and Zilpah. Despite these trials, he was trusted by his father to oversee his older brothers in the family enterprise. Some think that the report he gave about his brothers was malicious, but the text does not actually say that. In fact, Joseph was doing what Jacob had asked him to do (v. 14). It may have been unwise for Jacob to put his son in this position with his older brothers, but that’s not Joseph’s fault. I think that the text presents Joseph as a young man who set a godly direction for his life very early on, and then lived the rest of his life moving in that direction. This is an exhortation especially for our young people, especially if they are growing up in a Christian home. From the age of 17 on, everywhere that Joseph went, he was put in charge of whatever he was doing because he was meticulously faithful. More than that, God blessed what he was doing because his life and his ambitions were submitted to God. All this to say, Joseph was a good son.   

From the text, we also know that Joseph was a favored son. Favoritism was a generational sin in this family that went all the way back to Isaac’s preference for Esau (Gen 25:28). The fact that Jacob preferred Joseph over his brothers because of “his old age,” which could mean any number of things. It might be because Joseph was born later to Rachel, or it might be referring to the fact that Joseph was more supportive of his dad’s late-in-life repentance. Whatever the exact details, Jacob preferred Joseph over his brother, and he showed that favoritism in the form of responsibilities and privileges (cf. John 4:5).  Jacob was treating Joseph as the heir to the family empire and assuming that God would choose him as the favored son of the covenant. Jacob most famously showed his favoritism with a coat. Keep in mind, people in the ancient world did not have multiple sets of clothes and coats like we do today, which meant that this coat was another reminder that his father favored him over his brother and intended for him to be the heir apparent of the family.

Unsurprisingly, the text also presents Joseph as an envied son.  The response of Joseph’s brothers is predictable, but it wasn’t Joseph’s fault that Dad was playing favorite. They hated Joseph so much that they could not even speak to him, which is certainly sinful/fleshly behavior (4, 5, 8, 11). They should’ve looked in the mirror if they wanted to know why Dad didn’t trust them with family matters. The truth of the matter is that Joseph’s brothers despised him because of their own jealousy. Stephen specifically mentions the sinful jealousy of Joseph’s brothers in Acts 7:9:

“And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him” (Acts 7:9, ESV)

After a careful examination, Genesis 37 presents Joseph as a son, and even as a significant son. However, readers are still left trying to answer the question: was Joseph the son through whom the Abrahamic Covenant will continue? Spoiler Alert: Joseph was NOT the son God would use to perpetuate the line of the Messiah. Joseph is not the son that readers have been waiting for since 3:15, and he’s not the one who will continue the line of the promise. In fact, in a shocking turn of events, the line of the seed/son will go through Judah (Gen 44:10)! Thus, Joseph’s significance in the book of Genesis is NOT that he is the son or that son will come through him… so what is the significance?

Joseph is Introduced as a Savior (vv. 5-11)

“Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.” (Genesis 37:5–11, ESV)

As we’ll see in these verses, the main significance of Joseph’s life is that he will be used by God to save his family. Joseph is not the son who was promised, but he was to be used by God to deliver his family so that son could come, which is a role that is revealed in the dreams that Joseph has about his family. When you take a step back to consider his story within the context of redemptive history, Joseph’s life prepares readers for the reality of how God is going to fulfill his promises to Adam and Abraham. These promises will be fulfilled through hardship and a remnant rather than prosperity and popularity. Additionally, these promises would be fulfilled through the work of a Messiah/Savior/Deliver rather than the efforts of the people. These are truths that Israel struggled with during the life of Christ, and they still struggle with today. However, God was preparing the way for these truths all the way back in the life of Joseph. God was not only going to use Joseph to feed his family, he was also going to be the leader of the family. Got put Joseph in charge of everything he did, and this was going to apply to his family as well. His family did not believe it, but it is exactly what happened. God used Joseph to save his family:“Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.” (Genesis 42:6, ESV)“Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents.” (Genesis 47:11–12, ESV)“But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.” (Genesis 50:19–21, ESV)

In light of Joseph’s dreams and the fulfillment of these dreams, it is clear that he saved his family. In this way, Joseph is an exemplary savior! To put it another way, Joseph serves as a pattern—or a type—for the kind of Savior that God would use to save the world from sin. He is used by God to show his people the way he works salvation and the kind of savior he uses in salvation. Joseph is a preliminary savior/deliver, like Moses, who points forward to the ultimate Savior, Jesus Christ. All this to say, Joseph’s life and the way God used Joseph to save his family revealed a pattern for how God works salvation in the lives of his people. Consider some of the similarities between how God used Joseph and Christ (cf. MacArthur Study Bible for a full list of similarities between Joseph and Christ):

• Both Joseph and Christ were shepherds of their father’s sheep (Gen 37:2; John 10:11).

• Both Joseph and Christ were beloved sons to their fathers (Gen 37:3; Matt 3:17).

• Both Joseph and Christ were initially hated by their brothers (Gen 37:4; John 7:4).

• Both Joseph and Christ were sent to Egypt by God (Gen 37:26; Matt 2:14).

• Both Joseph and Christ were betrayed/sold for pieces of silver (Gen 37:28; Matt 26:15).

• Both Joseph and Christ forgave those who wronged them (Gen 45:1-15; Luke 23:34).

• Both Joseph and Christ saved their people (Gen 45:7; Matt 1:21).

• Both Joseph and Christ were sinned against, but God used it for salvation (Gen 50:20; Gospel). 

The way that God used Joseph not only saved Israel, it prepared God’s people for the ultimate salvation that would one day come through Christ. Joseph is not a replacement for Christ, but he does remind us of our need for salvation in Christ. His life is a reminder that we all need a Savior who has been sent by God for the purpose of salvation (John 3:16). Moses presents Joseph to us as a human savior who will be used by God to deliver his people from danger and from death. And in this way, Joseph points us back to our need for salvation in Christ.

When you think about it, Joseph’s life demonstrates the faithfulness of God. There is a lot of truth to the great man theory, but even the greatest men are like streams of water in God’s hands. More than anything else, history moves forward according to the undeniably and unhurried sovereignty of God. This is what I would call the “great God” theory of history; there are certainly men who are greatly used, but it is God who gets the glory. Behind the story of Joseph is a Great God who is keeping the promises that he made from the very beginning.