The narrative about Joseph in Genesis chapters 37 and 39 brings up some interesting concerns. Joseph seemed to be a good guy, doing the right things, honoring God, and, yet, all of these bad things were happening. Of course, we know what happens in the end, but up to the end of chapter 39 things just seem to keep getting worse for Joseph. His brothers were jealous and hated him (Genesis 37:4, 5, 8, 11) and wanted to kill him (Genesis 37:18, 20). They opted, however, not to kill him outright, but to leave him to die in a cistern (Genesis 37:24). Opportunism won out, though, and Joseph was sold as a slave to the Ishmaelite/Midianite merchants (Genesis 37:28). Joseph was taken to Egypt and was sold to Potiphar, the captain of the guard (Genesis 39:1). Things began to look up for Joseph and he prospered (Genesis 39:2-6). He was promoted by Potiphar and he excelled at all that he did. But then Potiphar's wife lusted after Joseph and tempted him (Genesis 39:7). When Joseph refused her advances and she could not get what she wanted, she lied about him to strike back at him (Genesis 39:13-18). Potiphar believed his wife's lies and put Joseph in prison (Genesis 39:19-20). Even though Joseph was in prison, the LORD blessed him and Joseph prospered even there (Genesis 39:20-23). He was promoted from a mere prisoner to the prison warden's operations manager and he excelled at all that he did.
Now, here is the interesting thing in this narrative.
Did God make these bad things happen to Joseph or, at least, allow them to happen? Well, what do the scriptures say that God did? When Joseph was sold as a slave, the LORD was with Joseph and he prospered (Genesis 39:2). The LORD was with him and gave him success in everything he did (Genesis 39:3). The LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field (Genesis 39:5). While Joseph was in the prison, the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden (Genesis 39:20-21). The LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did (Genesis 39:23). All that is attributed to the LORD appears to me to be good things.
So where do all of these bad things come from? Well, let's see. Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons (Genesis 37:3). That is, Jacob showed favoritism. As a result, Joseph's brothers hated him and could not speak a kind word to him (Genesis 37:4). A choice made by the father, caused a reaction in the other sons. They chose to hate Joseph. When Joseph had the dreams and told his brothers about them, his brothers recognized the implications of the dreams and were jealous and hated him all the more (Genesis 37:5, 8, 11). Now, Joseph may not be completely innocent in this situation, because he surely recognized the implications of the dreams, too, and may have been less than humble in the telling of them, being seventeen and second from the youngest of the brothers. So, his own choices may have played a part in the eventual outcome. The brothers then plotted to kill him (Genesis 37:18). First, they planned to kill him and discard his body in a cistern (Genesis 37:20). Then Reuben convinced them to just throw Joseph in the cistern alive (Genesis 37:21-22). Of course, Reuben may have had his own selfish motives, since he had fallen out of favor with his father (Genesis 35:22). Ultimately, the brothers decided to sell Joseph as a slave (Genesis 37:26-27). "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? ... after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." I'm sure the twenty shekels of silver soothed their guilty consciences. To cover up their deed they fabricated a lie for their father (Genesis 37:31-32). In Egypt, when the situation began to improve for Joseph, Potiphar's wife sought to satisfy her own lust (Genesis 39:7). When Joseph remained steadfast in his integrity and refused her advances, she chose to strike back with an elaborate lie, knowing that nothing good could come from it for Joseph (Genesis 39:13-18). And so, Joseph ended up in prison.
Again, where do all of these bad things come from? Certainly, the bad things that happened to Joseph did not come from God. As we can see from the scriptures, God blessed a faithful Joseph and showed him kindness in the midst of the bad things happening. What God did do, however, was give all human beings a free will and the responsibility to make their own choices. Unfortunately, our choices as human beings are often influenced by our own self-interest to the detriment of others. Our choices are our own, though, and we cannot blame God for the choices that we make ourselves or for the choices that other people make. And so, it appears to me that all of the bad things that happened to Joseph were the result of choices made by others and perhaps some of his own choices. Jacob showed favoritism. His brothers were jealous and chose to hate Joseph. They chose to do harm to Joseph to be rid of him and eventually sold him as a slave. Potiphar's wife chose to pursue her own lust and when she was not satisfied, she chose to lie. And so, Joseph ended up a slave in Egypt as a direct result of the choices of his brothers and he ended up in prison as a direct result of the choices of Potiphar's wife.
Why do bad things happen to good people? Often (not always, but often) bad things happen to us as a consequence of the choices that we make ourselves and/or the choices that other people make. We can't blame God for that. Each of us has to take responsibility for his own choices. We can't control the choices that other people make. We can, however, control the choices that we make ourselves and how we react to the choices of other people and other circumstances beyond our control. If we are faithful, God is faithful. God works in the midst of the bad things that happen.
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original composition by Steven E. Weible
