Shortly before his death, Joseph’s father, Jacob, called all twelve of his sons to his side to tell them quite plainly what would become of their lives and their legacies.
Simeon and Levi were summarily denounced for their anger and cruelty. Reuben was described as unstable and told he’d accomplish little in life. Jacob likened Isaachar to a donkey, Dan to a serpent, and Benjamin to a wolf.
It must have been tough to hear their dad’s straight talk, though not all Jacob said was hard to hear, for Joseph, he said, would be a fruitful vine that flourished alongside a spring and whose branches would climb over the wall (Genesis 49:22), a beautiful promise that prompted Harold Wilmington in his masterful work, Wilmington’s Guide to the Bible, to describe Joseph and his legacy as “the fruitful shade tree.” I certainly wouldn’t mind if legacy is a fruitful shade tree, and I think it’s a great description of Joseph’s life.
His story first takes root in Genesis 37 with these words, “Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers” (v. 2). Joseph quickly spreads out his branches “in the land of Canaan” (v. 1) until finally we read in Genesis 50:26, the final verse of Genesis, “So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old … and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.”
From age 17 to 110, from Canaan to Egypt, and from Genesis 37 to 50, we see Joseph’s fruitful shade tree planted, survive through storm and drought (none of it his making as best as I can tell), and produce thick, spreading branches, branches made strong “by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob” (Genesis 49:24-25) “who will help [him] and … bless [him] with blessings of heaven above [and] blessings of the deep that lie beneath,” word pictures that suggest blessings enjoyed by Joseph because he stayed close to God throughout every season of his life. That’s our charge as well!
Wilmington summarizes Joseph’s story in this way. He’s called …
- The Favored Son, chapter 37
- The Faithful Steward, chapter 39
- The Forgotten Servant, chapter 40
- The Famed and Forgiving Statesman, chapters 41-44
- The Forgiving Saint, chapters 45-48, and
- The Fruitful Shade Tree, 49-50.
But what’s interesting about Wilmington’s outline (and by any outline of Joseph’s life for that matter) is that Joseph went from Favored Son in chapter 37 to Faithful Steward in chapter 39 with the narrative skipping over chapter 38 entirely. Chapter 38 doesn’t mention Joseph at all, only Judah, one of Joseph’s older brothers, who had a very unusual encounter with Tamar, his daughter-in-law.
What’s this chapter doing then in the middle of the story of Joseph? Chapter 38 seems out of place, and some believe that it is, but then you realize that it’s an intentional insertion by Moses of a parallel story that contrasts the deceit and immorality of Judah with the integrity and purity of Joseph, and that further serves to reinforce Joseph’s deserved reputation as a godly man and a fit example for imitation. For whereas Judah slept with a woman he believed to be a harlot, Joseph in the very next chapter refuses to sleep with his boss’ wife despite her advances toward him.
Observing Joseph’s dependence on the Lord should motivate us to flourish next to God’s spring of blessings and climb to great heights that please him.
– Daniel McCabe