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PART 3 – EXPLORE THE PLOT LINES

Chapter 14 - POTIPHAR, PRISON AND PROPHECIES

(Joseph episode 7)

In the previous chapter, we looked at the typical plot structure of an Agatha Christie detective novel, which is in fact the pervasive structure for many, if not the majority, of different story types. The story of Joseph is no exception, although we may need to add some extra twists to the structure in order to describe the way in which this particular story unfolds.

The introductory section of the story develops the theme of hatred and jealousy between Joseph and his brothers, or more accurately, if we consider the back-story of envy and jealousy within Joseph’s family, between Leah and her sons, and Rachel and her sons (though Benjamin, the youngest, plays only a minor part in the story).

This rising tide of envy and hatred leads to the main crisis point in the story - the confrontation between Joseph and his brothers which ends with Joseph being sold into slavery, the family split apart, and Jacob being deceived into believing his beloved son has been killed.

Just as the finding of the body in the library raises the obvious "Who dun it?" question, so the crisis point in the Joseph story raises question which will hold our attention and keep us involved until those questions are answered. Questions such as:

What will happen to Joseph in Egypt?
Will Joseph and his family ever be reunited?
How will Joseph deal with his family if and when he gets the opportunity?

If we return to the basic structure outlined in the last section, and ask ourselves, "Where and how are these questions resolved?", the obvious resolution point is the reconciliation scene (Genesis 45) where Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and forgives them, and is subsequently reunited with his father, Jacob.

But in fact the structure is rather more complicated than this. After the crisis point, which sees Joseph sold into slavery and heading off to Egypt to be sold by the Ishmaelite traders, the story splits into different strands, and each strand leads up to its own resolution.

PARALLEL PLOT LINES

After the crisis point at the end of chapter 37, with Joseph heading for the slave market in Egypt, and Jacob believing him dead, the plot follows the separate fortunes of Judah, Joseph, and the rest of Joseph's family in Canaan:

Chapter 38 follows the story of Judah and Tamar, leading up to a resolution of the story where Judah confesses his guilt, and accepts his responsibility in selling Joseph to the traders and deceiving his father Jacob into believing Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. Judah returns to the story when the brothers set off for Egypt on their second visit, taking responsibility for Benjamin, and pleading for Benjamin's freedom - which is Joseph's cue to reveal his identity and become reconciled with his brothers...

In chapter 39 we return to Joseph, taking up the story of Joseph in Egypt, which leads to the resolution of God's purpose for Joseph, becoming Prime Minister of Egypt, and responsible for gathering in the grain in preparation for the coming famine...

At the beginning of chapter 42, Joseph's family in Canaan come back into the story. At this point all 3 strands of the plot begin to reconverge.

Joseph, now Prime Minister, has the opportunity to prove his brothers and see if they have changed
The brothers go through an emotional roller-coaster ride as they react to Joseph's testing
Judah emerges as a truly reformed character, showing responsibility, compassion and self-sacrifice when put to the test

And these 3 strands converge to bring about the reconciliation of Joseph and his brothers, which can rightly be seen as the main resolution point for the story as a whole.

Identifying the crisis point and the resolution point (or points) in the story can really help to see how the separate strands of the plot weave together, and understand the message of the story as a whole.

JOSEPH IN EGYPT

So having looked at the overall plot structure of the story of Joseph, let's look at the next episode in our study of Joseph, and look at the development of the story in more detail. We take up the story at the beginning of Genesis 39...

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Potiphar (from Genesis 39:1 – 6)

Joseph was the best thing that happened for me and my household for a long time. I bought Joseph from a group of Ishmaelite traders in the local slave market who had come down to Egypt from Gilead with their perfumes and spices, and somehow acquired Joseph along the way.

I found Joseph to be a faithful and diligent worker. From the time that he began to work for me, my household affairs improved and ran with precision, and my crops and livestock flourished. Joseph always attributed the success of his labours to the blessing of his god, whom he loved and served with religious zeal.

I trusted and valued him so much that I made Joseph my personal attendant, and put him in charge of my entire household and everything I owned. With Joseph in charge, I never had to worry about a thing-- except what to eat for my next meal!

Potiphar's Wife (from Genesis 39:7-20)

I took a fancy to Joseph from the moment I first saw him. He was a very handsome, strapping young man, and I took every opportunity I could to seek him out and attract his interest. But Joseph didn’t respond to even the most blatant advances. The more I tried, the more Joseph avoided me and wouldn’t even come into the house if he thought I might be around. He had such a prudish attitude. I remember him saying to me:

"Look here, my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. No one has more authority than I do. He’s not kept anything back from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God."

Poor fellow didn’t know what he was missing!

One day Joseph came into the house to take care of his household business, not realising there was no-one else around – except me! I crept up on him and grabbed him by his cloak, but he tore himself away and ran from the house, leaving his cloak in my hands. I was furious with him for rejecting my advances, so I called out to the servants, and they came running.

"Look! My husband brought this Hebrew slave here to make fools of us! He came into my room to rape me, but I screamed, so he ran outside and got away, but he left his cloak behind with me. Look, here it is!"

I kept the cloak with her until my husband came home. Then I told him the same story. Of course Potiphar was furious when he heard what I had to say. So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where Pharaoh’s prisoners were held, and there he remained. And serve him right!!

The Butler (from Genesis 39:21 – 40:23)

I first became acquainted with Joseph when Pharaoh got upset with me and his chief baker and threw us both into the prison where Joseph was also held. It seems that Joseph had gained the favour of the prison warden, and had become a trusted servant. The warden had put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened inside the prison.

One night, the baker and I both had really strange and vivid dreams which left us feeling very unsettled and worried about what they might mean.

In the morning, Joseph came to check on us as he was used to, and he noticed that we both looked upset. He asked us,

"Why are you looking so worried this morning?"

"We both had dreams last night, but there’s no-one here who can tell us what they mean."

"Interpreting dreams is God's business. But go ahead and tell me your dreams."

So I told Joseph:

"I saw a grapevine in front of me. The vine had three branches that began to bud and blossom, and soon it produced clusters of ripe grapes. I was holding Pharaoh's cup in my hand, so I took a cluster of grapes and squeezed the juice into the cup. Then I placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand."

Joseph told me,

"This is what the dream means. The three branches represent three days. In three days Pharaoh will lift you up and restore you to your position as his chief cup-bearer.”

When the baker saw that Joseph had given my dream such a positive interpretation, he said to Joseph,

"In my dream I had three baskets stacked on my head. The top basket contained all kinds of pastries for Pharaoh, but the birds came and ate them from the basket on my head."

Joseph told him.

"This is what the dream means. The three baskets also represent three days. Three days from now Pharaoh will lift you up and hang you on a gibbet. Then birds will come and peck away at your flesh."

Well, three days later it was Pharaoh's birthday, He prepared a banquet for all his officials and staff. He summoned me and chief baker to join the other officials. He restored me to my former position as his chief cup-bearer. But he had the chief baker executed, just as Joseph had predicted.

Joseph had said to me when he interpreted my dream,

“When you are restored to your position as Pharaoh’s cup bearer, please remember me and do me a favour. Mention me to Pharaoh, and plead with him on my behalf. For I was forcibly carried off from my own homeland, and then thrown into prison, but I never did anything to deserve these things."

But I’m ashamed to say that I completely forgot about Joseph, and never gave him another thought. So Joseph was left in prison, where he remained for another two years…

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FALSE LEADS AND DASHED HOPES

We left Joseph heading for Egypt at the end of chapter 37, and chapter 38 left us in suspense while we followed the escapades of Judah and Tamar. So having been left hanging by this parenthetic episode, we are probably eager to find out what happens next!

As with all worthwhile stories, the development of the plot is never straightforward. If it was, we would quickly lose interest. An Agatha Christie detective novel will present us with numerous false leads, ambiguous clues, and keep us guessing until the very end. So the story of Joseph progresses through various false leads, that all turn out to end up with apparent disappointments...

Even before the crisis point of the story, Joseph's situation seems to be progressing with God's blessing. He is his father's favourite son, and is given priority above his siblings. And this position seems to be endorsed by his dreams, that predict him rising to a position of power and authority over his eleven brothers, and even above his father and mother. But instead of rising smoothly and steadily to this position, he ends up being sold to the Ishmaelite traders, and presented for sale in the slave market in Egypt.

In this episode of the story, Joseph’s experience continues to go from blessing to disaster and back again.

In Potiphar’s House: After being bought by Potiphar, he progresses in his work and becomes head over all of Potiphar's property. And we are told this is the result of God's blessing. "God was with him", and because of him blessed Potiphar's house and his animals and crops. So Joseph would be very justified in thinking this was God's solution, and that from here everything was uphill. But Potiphar's wife steps into the equation and things begin to get complicated.
Potiphar’s Wife: Joseph resolutely avoids the advances of Potiphar's wife, and maintains his integrity and his loyalty to his master Potiphar. He would have expected to receive God's blessing and protection for keeping faithful and righteous in God's sight. But instead Potiphar's wife accuses him falsely, and has him thrown into prison.
In Prison: Even here, God is with him and blesses him, so that the warden gives him responsibility over all the other prisoners. And then Pharaoh's butler and baker are thrown into prison, and he gets to interpret their dreams. Having interpreted the butler's dream, and predicting that God will raise him up and restore him to his former job as Pharaoh's cup-bearer, Joseph sees an opportunity for the butler to put in a good word for him and arrange his release. But we end chapter 40 with the butler forgetting all about Joseph, and leaving him languishing in jail.

LOWER STORY / UPPER STORY

A number of home groups in our church have discovered The Story which I mentioned in the previous chapter– a resource for personal or group study which encourages the reader to work through an overview of the whole Bible.

One thing which I especially appreciate about the teaching material that accompanies The Story is the differentiation between

the “Lower Story” – the events and progression of the story-line seen from a human standpoint, and
the “Upper Story” – the “Big Picture” of Bible history seen from God’s point of view.

This particular portion of the Joseph story give us an excellent opportunity to see the events from both Joseph’s immediate viewpoint, and from the perspective of God’s plan and purpose for Joseph’s life.

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Some questions for consideration or discussion

1. Joseph’s “Lower Story” perspective

For Joseph, the events described here are a real roller-coaster experience. Joseph sums up his view of these events when he says to the cup-bearer:

Imagine you are Joseph...

How would you feel after being apparently let down three times in succession?
How would you respond to being left in prison when you were completely innocent of any wrong-doing?
How do you think this would this affect your trust and confidence in God?

2. God’s “Upper Story” perspective

From God’s point of view, we can see these events very differently, since we know that God is preparing Joseph to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams and become Chief Minister over the land of Egypt.

How do these events fit into God's plan for Joseph's future role?
What practical skills is Joseph learning that will prepare him for the role of Chief Minister
What is God doing in Joseph's personal life through these experiences?
How is Joseph's character changing and developing from the naive, somewhat spoilt "favourite son" that we saw in chapter 37?

NEXT STUDY

NEXT JOSEPH EPISODE

CLOTHED AND IN MY RIGHT MIND

PART 3 – EXPLORE THE PLOT LINES

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Chapter 14 - POTIPHAR, PRISON AND PROPHECIES

(Joseph episode 7)