Promises You Can Count On: God will protect you

Whenever I read any part of the Joseph story from Genesis (starts in chapter 37 and goes to the end of Genesis, with a few asides regarding other members of the family), songs start playing in my head.

I read the list of Jacob's sons in Genesis 35 and my mind starts right in

Reuben was the eldest of the children of Israel
With Simeon and Levi the next in line
Naphtali and Isaachar with Asher and Dan
Zebulun and Gad took the total to nine
Jacob, Jacob and sons,
Benjamin and Judah, which leaves only one 
Jacob, Jacob and sons,
Joseph - Jacob's favorite son

I read about the beautiful coat Jacob gives his favorite son, and suddenly, 

It was red and yellow and green and brown
And scarlet and black and ochre and peach
And ruby and olive and violet and fawn
And lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve
And cream and crimson and silver and rose...

I blame it on my daughter appearing not once, but twice (and I was also in it the second time) in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  Part of the reason that these songs come back so easily is that she still knows ALL. THE. WORDS and tends to randomly burst into song.

Back to Joseph...

When I read the story of Joseph in Potiphar's house, Genesis 39:1-23, the song that comes to mind is not the fun, riotous, and a bit naughty Potiphar, but the song from when Joseph is in prison.  Close Every Door had a wistful, haunting melody combined with words of pure faith:

Close every door to me,
Hide all the world from me
Bar all the windows
And shut out the light
Do what you want with me,
Hate me and laugh at me
Darken my daytime
And torture my night
If my life were important I
Would ask will I live or die
But I know the answers lie
Far from this world 

Close every door to me,
Keep those I love from me
Children of Israel
Are never alone
For I know I shall find
My own peace of mind
For I have been promised
A land of my own 

Joseph relies fully on God's promises - God's promise to Abraham to go with him everywhere he goes (last week's promise), God's promise to remember God's people.  He believes so completely in the covenant promise of land, descendants, and blessings that overflow to bless all the families of the world that he sings of his own unimportance in God's great plan.  It's enough that God is with him.

And it's true - God has not forgotten Joseph.  God is with Joseph and God is protecting Joseph.

Wait - you say - some kind of protection that is! Joseph is in prison - unfairly accused of a crime he didn't commit! And he's far from his family in Egypt, sold as a slave, by HIS OWN brothers!  

True.  Joseph has had some pretty tough times lately.  But look at verse 2:

The Lord was with Joseph, 

and he became a successful man 

and served in his Egyptian master’s household. 

In fact, Joseph was so successful, that Potiphar turned everything over to Joseph to handle.  Every. Single, Thing.   

Just like with his brothers and their jealously of his father's favor, jealously rears it's ugly head.  Some scholars believe that the motivation behind Potiphar's wife's seduction of Joseph was that she  resented Joseph because he was in charge of everything - even the things she would have been in charge over.  Successfully seducing him was a sure fire way to get rid of him - and get her power back.

She wasn't successful.  Joseph was to loyal to Potiphar, and to God.  But it didn't matter.  She had staged the scene so skillfully that she was able to make everyone believe that Joseph tried to seduce her.  (I would be remiss if I didn't point out that this text is problematic in today's #metoo culture.  True, Potiphar's wife made a false accusation against Joseph, but then, as now, false accusations are the exception.  There are many, many more accounts in the Bible of sexual abuse and violence against women, than there are false accusations made about men by a woman. Update:  I have since read a blogger who discusses in depth Josesph as a male survivor of sexual assualt  against other biblical stories of sexual assualt and accusations.)

Joseph goes to prison, where he again prospers. Look at verse 21

the Lord was with Joseph and remained loyal to him. 

He caused the jail’s commander to think highly of Joseph.

Once again Joseph is put in charge of everything.  

Later on in chapter 41, Joseph is brought from prison to interpret Pharaoh's dream.  God is with Joseph, and he successfully interprets the dream, advising Pharaoh what to do to prepare for the upcoming crisis.  Gratefully, Pharaoh puts Joseph (you guessed it) in charge of everything.

God protected Joseph, turning the bad (evil) that Joseph encountered to good.  In chapter 50 (verse 20), Joseph reassures his brothers that he won't seek revenge on them for selling him into slavery:

You planned something bad for me, 

but God produced something good from it, 

in order to save the lives of many people, 

just as he’s doing today.

Joseph's story reminds me that no matter what happens to me, God's got my back. Bad things happen - to good people, and to flawed people.  Yet, God's plans always prevail.  As St. Athanasius once said, "God writes straight with crooked lines."  God is in the business of bringing life out of death, of creating beauty out of brokenness, of turning chaos into order.  

Believing in God doesn't we're exempt from pain and sorrow - in fact Jesus promises that we will face trials and troubles - but God is with us in those times, blessing us again to bless those around us.  

I call that real protection!

You can count on it!

Close every door to me,
Keep those I love from me
Children of Israel
Are never alone
For we know we shall find
Our own peace of mind 
For we have been promised
A land of our own