The Alabama Baptist arrived this morning, and as usual, I began to read your editorial, “The Joseph Syndrome.”
I have two comments. You say, “Joseph, in fact, was so insensitive to his brothers that he told them that one day he, the next-to-youngest of the family, would rule over them all and they would all bow before him.”
He may have seemed “insensitive” to you, but actually, he was telling them what God had revealed to him about the future so they would know it and understand later when it came to pass.
Joseph, you remember, was the first-born son of Rachel, Jacob’s only beloved wife. (Leah was foisted on him by fraud by Laban, her father, and he never loved her, even after she bore him six sons.)
Furthermore, the 10 older brothers were “evil” and had a “bad report,” (Gen. 37:2).
They actually hated Joseph more and more and more (Gen. 37:4,5,8) “and could not speak peaceably to him.”
In spite of this, Joseph immediately and without question obeyed his father when he sent Joseph “to see if it well with your brothers… and bring back word to me.”
For this his brothers tried to kill him, finally sold him and lied to their father about him. In all of this, Joseph was a type of Christ Himself.
Was Jesus “insensitive” to the Pharisees when He called them hypocrites, vipers, and whited sepulchers?
Another item: You write that the butler “forgot about Joseph and let him languish in prison. For how long, we do not know.”
Wrong. The Word of God tells us exactly how long: “At the end of two full years.” (Gen. 41:1)
Let’s get our facts straight in The Alabama Baptist.
God bless you.
Betty Beckon
Enterprise, Ala.
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