Sunday, September 23, 2012

IntraText #6 - Genesis 39 part II

Ok, so you're up on Genesis 39 read in the context of Genesis 3?  Schweet.

Joseph's story is converse to Eve's in a couple more ways: in terms of (1) what he had and (2) what he didn't grasp at.

(1) Joseph felt like he had everything as Potipher's overseer, so at first it doesn't look like he's rewarded for his wisdom.  He goes to prison.  Yet the author is so keen to make sure we don't mistake this for curse from God that sticks in three verses of caveats right away:

But athe LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love band gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed. (Gen 39:21-23 ESV)
As if he couldn't wait until the next chapter when we'd get to find this out for ourselves.

In fact, as a result of his trust in God's goodness, looking at the everything given rather than the one thing withheld, Joseph goes from 2nd in charge of Potipher's household, to 2nd in charge of the whole flipping Egyptian nation.  Eve distrusted that God was good, looking at the thing supposedly withheld, and in grasping for it she lost it.  (I suspect that there's some interesting work to be done here with respect to seeing God's new methodology to bring blessing somehow in and through curse and negative things, but that's a whole different trajectory in Genesis.)

(2) Also, as a result of his right dealing with women, Joseph ends up with a woman.
And Pharaoh ... gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. (Gen 41:45 ESV)
Now I'm not sure if Potiphar and Potiphera are related.  But even if they're not, surely we're told this to make us connect the two characters in some way.  So as a part of the blessing for refusing to fornicate with Potipher's wife, Joseph ends up with Potiphera's daughter as his wife.

Eve had grasped at the fake, believing God to be stingy, and lost the real thing.

But Joseph refused to obey the tempter offering the fake, and so he gained the truly good thing that the fake thing looked so much like.


Amazingly crafted, these narratives, aren't they?  I think the point that all this literary art is driving at is God's positive disposition towards humanity despite human sinfulness.  God just seems determined to bless us, despite our self-destructive and world destructive and anti-God tendencies.  Determined to bring about life, even when the curse of death has been brought down upon us.

He's pretty awesome.