CHAPTER XX
FROM SLAVE TO VICEROY
Genesis 39.1 to 41.46
Interpretation. There are no surer tests of character than transplantation to a strange country without hope of return and degradation to a lower social stratum without hope of rising. For a great part of our moral strength comes from the consciousness that the eyes of others interested in our life are on us, that we dare not disappoint their expectations of us, and that our acts affect their happiness and honor. The person who finds himself alone in a strange land from which he does not expect to return and from which he does not expect rumors of his deeds to reach his former associates must have an iron character to maintain his loyalty to the moral standards of his earlier environment in the face of new temptations. And particularly is this true if, at the same time as he is transplanted into a strange land, he finds his social status also reduced. For the ambition to rise in his new environment, to achieve success and recognition there, might be sufficient incentive for some "to scorn delights and live laborious days", but for the enslaved in a new land this incentive also is lacking. Both these tests of character Joseph had to meet and he met them successfully. Arrived in Egypt, he wastes no time brooding over his wrongs but sets to work diligently at his tasks in such a way as to win him the confidence of his master. This confidence he will not abuse even under the most seductive of temptations and even though his fidelity to principle results in the very loss of his master's confidence in him and in his consequent confinement in the royal prison. Note that what keeps Joseph pure is the sense of responsibility not only to Potiphar, but, in the first instance, to God, so that the very fact which might lead others to sin, namely the fact that Potiphar could not know of his misdeeds, fortifies him against sin. "He refused and said unto his master's wife, 'Behold, my master, having me, knoweth not what is in the house and he hath put all that he hath into my hand; he is not greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?'" In prison he shows the same qualities with the same result of winning the confidence of people.
Aim. The aim of this lesson is to inspire the child with the example of Joseph's patience, cheerfulness and faithfulness under difficulties, all of which qualities were influenced by his trust in God.
Suggestions to the teacher. The suggestions made in the preceding chapter apply to this one as well. Help the child to visualize the narrative and to make more explicit the feelings and motives of the characters. Discuss, for instance, the loneliness of Joseph in this strange land, far from his home and all that he loved, and contrast with his early dreams of rulership his present status as a slave. Try to give the child some idea of what slavery means, not by a definition but by telling the different kinds of work that Joseph had to do for his master in field and home without any pay or fixed hours of rest and labor, and subject to unreasonable demands of task masters, etc. Then point out that, though many people under such circumstances would waste their time grumbling, Joseph trusted that God would help him and made up his mind to do the best work that he could.
The incident of Joseph's temptation by Potiphar's wife can, of course, be told only in general terms, the teacher relating how Potiphar's wife, who was a very wicked woman, wanted Joseph to help her do something that was wrong, and he refused. His refusal should be given in direct discourse and follow the general line of thought of Genesis 39.8 to 9, keeping as much of the Biblical language as possible. When Joseph is cast into prison the teacher must again help the child realize emotionally what it meant for Joseph, after all his faithful service of Potiphar, to be thrown into prison as the very result of his fidelity and teach the pupil to admire Joseph's resolution to make the best of this situation too by patient and cheerful bearing and sympathetic interest in the other prisoners. It is also well to make the child realize the sharp contrasts of which there are so many in this story and which greatly enhance its interest. When the king's butler, released from prison, also forgets Joseph and Joseph's one hope of escape seems doomed to complete disappointment, God provides the opportunity not only for his escape but for his elevation to the vice-royalty. This can be further emphasized by suggesting something of the pomp and circumstance of Pharaoh's court. I say suggesting, because the teacher should never indulge in pure description, which is always a bore to children. An occasional descriptive adjective or phrase can do the work quite as well. The narration of such incidents as the removal of Joseph's prison clothes and his being attired in fine linen before gaining admittance into the royal presence goes far to emphasize the desired contrast between prison and palace. So too the new dignity conferred on Joseph is made clearer to the child by telling him how the king gave Joseph his ring and necklace and made him ride in the chariot next his own while all the people bowed before him than by the description of his new official duties. The story might be summarized and the moral pointed out in a brief statement such as "So the Hebrew slave boy, through his faithfulness and trust in God, became the highest in rank of all of Pharaoh's subjects".