ENDURING INJUSTICE

Genesis 39:21-40:23
August 26, 2007
Bob Bonner

During World War II, Dr. Viktor Frankl was imprisoned in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz and other prisons for three grim years. When Dr. Frankl gained his freedom, he did so only to learn that almost his entire family had been wiped out by the Germans. If anyone could speak to the subject of surviving the pain of suffering unjustly, Dr. Fankl would surely be an expert. In his classic work, Man’s Search for Meaning, Dr. Frankl speaks to the importance of having the proper attitude in the midst of suffering. He wrote, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last human freedom—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

The pain of suffering unjustly is inescapable and is one of the severest trials of life we all face. You and I cannot control on any given day whether we will be treated fairly or not. For every day children are stolen, abused and aborted. Wives are battered. Spouses are abandoned by unfaithful partners. Drunk drivers maim and kill. Gossip and slander ruin reputations. Many of these common situations affect our lives. Through it all, Frankl rightly states that the key to surviving injustice on an emotional level is our choice of attitude and of focus toward the injustice suffered.

Our attitude is something we can control. What determines our attitude is what we choose to focus upon.  Resentment, hostility, bitterness, revenge--these are the common attitudes people choose when they’re mistreated, because what we tend to focus first on is ourselves or our hurt and not necessarily the truth that surrounds our circumstances. Furthermore, those negative attitudes only add distress to the ailing soul.

God, however, encourages us to have a different focus on our circumstances when we feel we are being treated unfairly. In 1 Peter 2:20, God’s word instructs us, “For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.”

So God’s solution to suffering injustice, is to “patiently endure it.” But what does that mean? And how do we do that and why would someone want to do that? More importantly, what biblical truth will allow us to properly and patiently endure injustice. That’s what we want to see from our study of God’s Word today.

We are going to continue our study of Genesis, and in particular, we are going to continue our close look at Joseph, one of Jacob’s twelve sons, who endured harsh injustices. First, Joseph was wrongly sold into slavery. Then, after proving himself to be a faithful and worthwhile slave for actually doing what was right, he was falsely accused of wrongdoing and then tossed into jail. If you were Joseph, what would you be feeling about God at such a time as that? Abandoned? Forsaken? Cheated? Sure you would. But let’s look at how Joseph responded.  

“But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him.” Please note, the fact that the text says, “the Lord was with him” does not mean that God removed Joe from suffering. It simply means that even though Joseph may not have known that God was moving on his behalf behind the scenes, God remained with Joseph throughout his ordeal. From Joseph’s side, not having a clue as to why this was all happening to him, Joseph continued to obey God in the midst of this injustice. He did not whine, become bitter or angry. He simply continued to serve God.

Let’s keep reading, “and God gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper. Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended [literally “sinned against”] their lord, the king of Egypt.” 

Moses purposefully uses a term that states that these two employees had sinned against Pharaoh so as to contrast their behavior against Joseph’s innocent behavior before Potiphar in the previous chapter. In other words, three people are in the same jail, one innocently and two who had reason for being put there.

“Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned. The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.” 

Before we go further, let’s make sure we have a good grip on this prison situation, and particularly the five people involved. First, we have the “captain of the bodyguard.” He and Potiphar are one and the same person. The prison which held these three prisoners and others was situated on Potiphar’s estate, near the “house of the captain of the bodyguard” or Potiphar’s house. Even though Potiphar threw Joseph in prison, Joseph wasn’t very far away from Potiphar’s house. I personally believe that Potiphar didn’t execute Joseph, which should have been expected, because he probably knew deep down that Joseph wasn’t guilty of seducing his wife as she had claimed; and secondly, Potiphar probably hoped to use Joseph’s skills at business management sometime in the future.

Now, let’s take a moment to consider what being in prison was like for Joseph and how long he was there. The only clue we have as to the conditions of his stay in prison is given to us in Psalm 105:18-19, which says of Joseph, “They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true.” We don’t know for sure how much time Joseph actually spent in prison or in shackles in prison. Most Bible commentators suggest many months, perhaps even some years. According to the evidence of Scripture, we know that Joseph arrived in Egypt at about the age of 17. We also know that he was 30 years old when he got out of prison. According to 41:1, we know that the events surrounding the cupbearer and the baker in chapter 40 take place two years before he leaves jail. Hence, if you do the math, you have a total of 13 years that Joseph spent in Potiphar’s employ and in prison. 

I suspect that it took Joseph a few years to climb the ladder of success in Potiphar’s house to earn his trust and to prove himself. My guess is maybe 5-7 years in Potiphar’s house and 8-6 years in prison. Furthermore, once in prison, we don’t know how long he was actually in shackles before he was given the responsibility to look after the VIP prisoners. But from Psalm 105, it was painfully long enough! 

In any event, suddenly, two VIP prisoners are thrown into this jail. Wanting to make sure that there are no mistakes made in handling these two men, the “captain of the bodyguard,” Potiphar, gives the chief jailer orders to assign Joseph to oversee these two special prisoners. That was no problem for the chief jailer because he had already been convinced that God was with Joseph. At that point, Joseph was probably unshackled and given free roam inside the prison.  This action of Potiphar, to promote Joseph to this level of responsibility adds credence to the idea that Potiphar knew that Joseph was innocent.

The most senior of these two VIP prisoners was the Pharaoh’s personal cupbearer. The cupbearer was the man who tasted all wines and foods served to the Pharaoh to make sure none of it had been poisoned. He also wouldn’t allow poorly-prepared food to be served to the monarch, for he was also in charge of the ruler’s diet. Having to be near the Pharaoh to test his food at any moment the Pharaoh wanted a meal or a snack required him to be close at hand at all times. This usually led to a very close relationship between the cupbearer and the Pharaoh. Because of such a close access to the Pharaoh, it was quite common for the ruler to confide in the cupbearer concerning important matters of state. Hence, the cupbearer was one of the most trusted men in Pharaoh’s court. If that trust was ever broken, serious consequences followed for the cupbearer.

More than likely, due to both their jobs being centered around the Pharaoh’s meals and meal preparation, the second VIP prisoner, the baker, would answer to the cupbearer. The fact that both of them ended up in jail suggests that the baker did something seriously wrong in his food preparation, and the cupbearer didn’t catch it in time and thus guilt by association. 

This event was enough to damage the trust of the Pharaoh toward his cupbearer and to infuriate Pharaoh toward his other servant, the baker. That fact that both of them were not immediately executed but thrown in prison suggests that Pharaoh was taking time to search out the evidence and to consider what he was going to do with these two fellows.

In the meantime, the cupbearer and baker both have dreams on the same night while in jail, and they can’t figure out these dreams; which really disturbs them. Joseph comes in to where they are being held, sees that they are dejected and asks in verse 7, “Why are your faces so sad today? Then they said to him, ‘We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.’ Then Joseph said to them, ‘Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.’”

Please notice Joseph’s response, while keeping in mind his condition. He wasn’t guilty for doing anything wrong, yet he was in prison. While there, he wasn’t wallowing in past injustices he had suffered. He wasn’t whining about his condition. Instead, the moment Joseph saw these two men, he knew something was wrong with them and he became concerned for them. He immediately offered to help if he could. That, in itself, is amazing for those who are familiar with living in the culture of a prison.

In his book, Born Again, Chuck Colson records much of his early experiences in prison. At one point he writes about some advice given to him soon after he first entered prison. This old-timer advised him, “Mind your own business, and whatever you do, don’t get involved.” Suffering, whether from injustice or just hardship, often turns us in on ourselves, so engrossing us in our own pain that we fail to be sensitive to the hurts of others around. But that’s not how Joseph functioned. Joseph was ordered to be their butler, but he was never commanded to be their psychologist or dream interpreter.  Nonetheless, Joseph reached out to them and got involved. Or, to put it another way, “In times of distress, others may have muttered, but Joseph ministered.”

Realizing a serious offer to help when they saw it, both men shared their dreams with Joseph. “So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, ‘In my dream, behold, there was a vine in front of me; and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.’ Then Joseph said to him, ‘This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer. Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.’ When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, ‘I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head; and in the top basket there were some of all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.’ Then Joseph answered and said, ‘This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a tree, [literally “impale you on a pole”] and the birds will eat your flesh off you.’” This was obviously not good news to tell, but it was the truth. This baker was going to be executed and his corpse would be publicly exposed after execution and likely pecked by carrion birds. This is a sign that this baker had committed a grave crime against Pharaoh that demanded public censure.

Shortly thereafter, the Pharaoh has probably researched the facts concerning whatever crime had taken place and has come to a decision as to what to do with his two servants. “Thus it came about on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants [including the cupbearer and baker who were in jail]; and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.”

You’ve got to know that when both men came to the Pharaoh’s birthday party, they really had no guarantee as to what to expect. One hoped that Joseph was wrong, the other that he was right. The Pharaoh walks over to his Cupbearer, puts his hand under his chin and lifts it up. Then he does the same thing to the Baker. Hopes are high at this moment. It appears that maybe both will be handled the same. Then, we read, “He restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand; but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.”

The fact that the baker was executed indicates that it was indeed he who was guilty of instigating what had happened to get them imprisoned. The fact that Pharaoh reinstated the cupbearer to such a prominent position demanding so much trust also points to his innocence.

At this point, you would think that both men immediately would have recalled Joseph’s prophecy. The one who survived the Pharaoh’s hand would live many years to tell others about his fellow prisoner’s ability to interpret dreams. But, verse 23, tells us differently. We read, “Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.” Perhaps, in the joy and excitement of his restoration and the subsequent press of his cupbearer duties, catching up on everything that had been delayed while he was in prison, the chief butler gradually let Joseph and his promise to him slip from his mind. Whatever, we will see next time that Joseph remains in prison for two more years before the cupbearer remembers his promise to Joseph.

Let’s stop and reflect upon Joseph’s life thus far. Why did God allow so much injustice in Joseph’s life? Because God is using these circumstances to discipline, to train and prepare this young arrogant man for leadership. By the time he has finished his schooling, Joseph would have learned humility through trusting God, while learning to be sensitive to and serving others, even being loyal to others, when they weren’t loyal to him. These were new and hard lessons for this previously spoiled teenager to learn, but he had to learn them if he was going to be an effectual leader of Egypt and his family.

But by the time he turns 30, and is called out of prison to become the V.P. of Egypt, Joseph will have developed the character and proven the maturity that God’s prophesied tasks will require. Meanwhile, for the next two years, Joseph waits in prison contemplating how God’s prophetic dream of his becoming the leader/protector of his family would be fulfilled. 

Bruised and wounded, Joseph’s attitudes and actions throughout his whole ordeal were exemplary. Therefore, let’s see if we can summarize what we can learn from Joseph’s actions as to how to survive amidst distressing times, whether they be difficult times caused by our foolish choices, or difficult times that appear to happen for reasons outside of us.

First of all, Joseph didn’t do what is so common of many.  He didn’t focus on his loss and become consumed by self-pity. He never allowed bitterness to poison his soul.  Neither did he turn against God. Instead, he clung for dear life to what He knew of God’s character, He waited patiently for God to vindicate him. What a picture of patience he is. As someone else defined it, “patience” is the capacity to maintain our spiritual and emotional equilibrium when things are happening all around us that make us uncomfortable. Rather than focusing on his past or even his present unjust, unfavorable circumstance, Joseph endured patiently by choosing to focus on God’s character.

The prophet Isaiah would later record these words, which point to how one can be patient amidst challenging situations. He writes of God, in Isaiah 26:3-4 “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.”

Joseph’s mind was stayed upon God. He believed God to be not only all-wise and all-loving, but all-powerful. He knew that it was not by accident that he was in prison. God had not made a mistake or overlooked Joseph. From his own family’s history, all the way back to Abraham, Joseph knew that from time to time, the God he served, did place his servants in circumstances that were harsh and unpleasant. Take Abraham and his facing the reality of having to sacrifice his own son Isaac. From this past, Joseph knew that God often operated in a manner that did not make sense, but he also knew that God never abandoned His children. He was always with them, and gave them His grace to endure the distresses of life. Joseph’s dark days remind every one of us that believers will suffer and that God employs precisely those times to accomplish His purposes in and through our lives. Yet the only way one can survive those distressful times, is if we choose to focus on God’s character rather than the trouble of our surrounding circumstances.

To me, no promise is more comforting amidst challenging and confusing times than God’s promise to us, found in Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave you, nor will I ever desert you.” God records that same promise in similar words several times throughout Scripture. Moses reminds the Israelites of this just before he is about to die and they are going to march into the promised land filled with all sorts of dangers as well as blessings.  Moses records, “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” (Deut. 31:6) Similarly, as Joshua was to take over for Moses, fearful of whether or not he could fill that great leader’s shoes, God says to Joshua, “Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5)

And interestingly, God’s promise isn’t just to the faithful or mature believer. God had even told Joseph’s scheming father, Jacob, in Genesis 28:15, “Behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” If you know Jesus, God will never abandon you. You can claim this truth as well. In the midst of fearful and lonely times, God says to you, “I will never leave you, nor will I ever desert you.”

The second lesson we can learn from Joseph’s experience is that he not only focused on God’s character, but he chose to focus on God’s promise rather than his present confusing situation.  Joseph, through 13 years of injustice and hardship, chose to focus on that dream God gave him when he was 17. That dream was God’s promise to Joseph that God had great plans for Joseph’s future, not purposeless distressful times. These painful times were real, but Joseph chose to focus on and trust in God’s promise for his future. Joseph’s unswerving confidence in God was based in knowing what Peter would later write: “God is not slow, in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness.” (2 Peter 3:9)

There was a third point of focus that Joseph zeroed in on, in the midst of his troubles. Rather than focusing on injustices suffered or his circumstances, Joseph chose to focus on the needs of others around him. Obviously, he served these two dreamers, but don’t forget what Joseph did for the chief jailer. He stepped in and did such a great job for him that 39:23, tells us that the chief “did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge.” Joseph didn’t whine or get worried or manipulate the situation. He instead responded by serving others.

We should not miss the incredible transformation in Joseph’s life. Joseph was no longer a man consumed with himself as the favored spoiled child. Rather, he engages with His God, he senses God’s presence, and he leads by serving others. 

So, what are we to do when we face hard times? How are we to live in the face of injustice? Allow me to suggest three things: the first two are cautions: Number one: Don’t blame God or give in to bitterness. God is good and His plans are perfect. There is no evil intention on His part, by allowing us to be placed in harsh circumstances.

If you keep blaming God rather than focusing on His promises, His character and His past faithfulness to you, you will soon become bitter and fed up with Him and life. Hence, my second caution, is if you have reached this point, Don’t give up on God or the experience--God has plans that you know not of. In Jeremiah 29:11, God declares, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

If you have any questions concerning God’s good plans for you when they look disastrous from your perspective, read Job.  Instead of blaming God or giving up on God or giving up on the situation turn to Him as Job did and cry out to Him, “Lord, God, help me now. Right at this moment. Deliver me from this prison I find myself in. Help me to see beyond this present darkness to your hand. Help me to see you in the midst of this abandonment I feel or this impossible situation.” As you turn to Him, He will meet you and sustain you. He may not let you out of your prison for two years, but He will sustain you and use those that time to do a miracle in your life and through your life.

Finally, while in your personal prison, do give out...serve others. The best guardian against bitterness and self-pity is to focus on the needs of others around you.

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