They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.
To put it gently, Joseph was a prig. Even his own father, who loved him dearly and favored him over his eleven brothers, rebuked his arrogance.
But he didn't deserve what they did to him.
It would be easy to say he brought it on himself and he had it coming. Joseph didn't go along to get along. He made himself stand out from the others.
Why he should take that attitude is mysterious. It would be easy to blame the parent Jacob but there were surely enough warnings -- both verbal and non-verbal -- from his brothers. He ignored them.
He would pay a bitter price for his foolishness. Perhaps, as he waited in the desert cistern for deliverance, or as he was dragged into slavery, or as he lay in an Egyptian prison he had time to think about his family, to remember his father's warnings and to repent.
Betrayal, it seems, is more than a fact of life. There is purpose to it. From the sin of Adam and Eve, through the killing of Abel and Judas' betrayal, God makes betrayal serve his purpose.
In the end, Joseph saw that. He said to his brothers,
"But now do not be distressed, and do not be angry with yourselves for having sold me here. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you. The famine has been in the land for two years now, and for five more years cultivation will yield no harvest. God, therefore, sent me on ahead of you to ensure for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives in an extraordinary deliverance. So it was not really you but God who had me come here; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his household, and ruler over the whole land of Egypt." (Genesis 45)During Lent we consider our own betrayal of God's hospitable mercy. I have been given so much and returned so little. I have looked out for myself first, and then thought about others. I have sinned.
What purpose there is to my sin I cannot and need not imagine. Certainly no good can come of my deliberately evil act. The Church insists "Two wrongs don't make a right," and "The end does not justify the means." I cannot justify my sinful actions by their consequences, not even by fortunate consequences.
God alone will make it whole and turn it to good purpose. God is good.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.