WEEK THREE:
LEADERSHIP
i. JOSEPH’S EARLY LIFE AND ARRIVAL IN EGYPT – (Genesis 37:1-28)
Joseph was the eleventh son of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel after he had a contest with an angel. Jacob’s twelve sons became the twelve tribe of Israel. Joseph was also the first son of Rachael, the woman whom Jacob loved before he was deceived into marrying Leah first before working another seven years to earn Rachel. This made Jacob loved him more than he loved any of his twelve sons.
Jacob maid a coat of many colours for Joseph because he was his favourite. Joseph one day had a dream which states that his brothers’ sheaves move round his own sheaf and bowed to it while they were working on the farm. This made his brothers hated him more. He also had another dream which states that the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed to him. Here, his father rebuked him saying does he mean his mother and father along with his brothers would bow to him? However, he kept the dream in his heart.
One day, when Joseph was seventeen years old, Jacob sent him to take food to his brothers who were shepherding the flocks at Shechem. When he got there, they had left. So someone told him that they headed to Dothan. So Joseph went there to meet them. While he was afar off, the brothers conspired to kill him. But Reuben said they should not kill him but throw him in a dry pit and they would decide what to do with him later. He said that because he intended to save him secretly. When he got there, they stripped off his garment and cast him into a dry pit. While they were eating, Judah saw the traders from Ishmael and suggested they sold him. This they did and sold him for twenty shekels of silver. When Reuben got there, he was sad. So they killed a goat, tore his coat of many colours and dip it in the blood to deceive their father.
ii. JOSEPH, THE GOVERNOR IN EGYPT (Genesis 41:1-57)
When Joseph was sold to the Ishamelites, they sold him to Portiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. He put Joseph in charge of all things in the house except his wife. However he wife lust after Joseph and wanted him to sleep with her but Joseph refused. In other to cover up, she lied that Joseph wanted to rape her. This made Joseph to be committed to prison.
While in prison, the chief butler and the chief baker offended Pharaoh, king of Egypt and they were also committed to prison where Joseph was. The guard made Joseph to wait on them. One day, they both had a dream and were downcast because they didn’t understand their dreams. When Joseph got there, he noticed their sad faces and asked what the problem was. They told him and he by the grace of God was able to interpret their dreams which later came to pass. The butler was restored while the baker was beheaded within three days. While henwas interpreting the butler’s dream, he begged him to mention him to pharaoh but the butler forgot about him.
After two years, Pharaoh has two dreams and no one could interpret them. It was then the butler remembered Joseph and mentioned him to Pharaoh. Pharaoh ordered that he be brought and related the dreams. The first dream was that seven healthy cows feeding on the reeds by the Nile were eaten up by seven unhealthy cows. He was terrified and when he slept again, he had a second dream where seven healthy ears of grain were eaten up by seven thin ears of grain which were blighted by the east wind. Joseph on hearing these told Pharaoh that the two dreams meant the same. There will be seven years of plenty and will be follwoee by seven years of famine. He also advised that Egypt should store up food during the year of plenty to guard against hunger in the year of famine.
This made pharaoh promoted Joseph and made him the greatest and the most powerful officer in Egypt who made economic decisions in Egypt. Joseph married Pharaoh’s daughter as a gift to him and he had two sons who he named Manasseh, which means, God has made me forget all and my hardship and the second Ephraim meaning God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. During the years of plenty, Egypt stored up grains and when famine came hard on the land, the people had enough to eat.
iii. JOSEPH RECONCILED WITH HIS BROTHERS (Genesis 45:1-15)
The famine was everywhere on the earth. Jacob and his others sons also experienced the famine. People from other nations far and near came to Egypt to buy food and so also the brothers of Joseph. When they came, Joseph recognized them but they didn’t. They bowed to him and requested to buy food. Joseph took special interest in them and questioned them about their family. From their conversation, he told them to come along with their youngest brother, Benjamin.
When they came again to buy food, they brought Benjamin and Joseph ordered that a gold cup be hidden in their bag which they did. While they were going, he alarmed his soldiers to bring them back and threatened to detain Benjamin for stealing his gold cup. Judah begged and offered to be detained in place of Benjamin. It was at that point Joseph wept and revealed himself to his brothers and they all wept.
However, he told them not to be sad, that God sent him ahead of time to Egypt to preserve life. So he ordered his brothers to go back and bring his father down to Egypt to see him and requested they all move with their families to Egypt where they would stay in the land of Goshen. This pleased Pharaoh and that was how Israel moved with all his families to Egypt.
MORAL LESSONS:
1. God sees the future and He prepares us for the future
2. We must run from temptation that would distract our lives of purpose
3. You must live and be relevant to your world: build capacity
4. You must be faithful and dedicated to service with keen loyalty
5. You must not pay evil with evil. Learn to forgive
6. Parents should learn not to display preference of one child over the other
7. No competition is big enough to make us claim lives of others especially our own relations
8. Stay humble.
Unprecedented 