Our Favourite Dreamer #2: Owned

Slaves aren’t much different from each other no matter how they come to be slaves. They could be spoils of war, trafficked kids, children betrothed before they could speak. But here’s what ties them: their freedom’s not theirs anymore. Their actions are decided by an overlord they’ve got to please if they’re going to survive. He owns them.  

Joseph was owned by Midianite merchants, then by Potiphar, and he came to Egypt. Here he was, torn from the coziness of his father’s pampering, taken from the land he grew up in, and flung into a place crawling with foreign people, foreign languages, foreign gods. And no, he didn’t have the luxury of warming into Egypt at his own pace. He had no luxury at all.  

Joseph was jerked from restless sleep by the haunting bark of a slave driver. Before cocks stirred, he was already milling, drawing water, hastening to mix enough mortar to avoid being whipped. Sweat poured from him like he was doomed to die from dehydration. It was tense; around him slaves were too busy watching their backs to build friendships. A break for lunch was a bowl of thin soup Joseph lapped at like a starved carnivore. When he returned to the cold floor, deep in the middle of the night, he was sucked into a whirl of nightmares. Where his brothers sold him, laughing cruelly. Where his father tried to save him from falling off a cliff but let go at the last moment, and Joe would bolt up from sleep with a start, his heart pounding, his body drenched in perspiration. Like every slave he wanted to return to familiar territory, wake up and realize this was a long, twisted, nightmare, know everything would be alright. He wanted to be free.

       He didn’t know when that would be.

That’s some life, no? The closest I’ve come to anything like it, where I had to do ridiculously hard work to pleasure someone’s ego, was boarding school, but it was easier to go through because I knew I would leave soon. But this was slavery. How could Joe possibly see the end in sight? Let’s see how our young hero came to be owned, shall we?

Joseph was owned because he’d chosen to do right. Think about it. His brothers sold him because he did what his father told him to do. If you’ve read about Jacob’s sons, you know they were an unruly bunch, always ready to display their manliness. Simeon and Levi killed all the Shechemite men because Prince Shechem had forced himself on their sister Dinah (Genesis 34). Joseph was the obedient one. That day he was sold, it was because his father sent him to them and he obeyed.

You’ve…probably been there, persecuted for opting for the good guy option. In school some of us were taunted because we’d rather fail than learn apor*. That’s mild! Maybe you’ve experienced real antagonism because your peers invited you for a smoke and you said no. You didn’t think it fashionable to sleep with everything that had boobs. So you were sort of ostracized. Not a nice feeling, is it?

Picture this: Diabetics crave sugar: it’s unhealthy, but they want it. That’s how sin is. Joseph’s brothers were like diabetics who not only craved sugar, but stuffed themselves with it. Imagine them out when they send the sheep to graze. They to decide kill a lamb and have a little feast; they’ll tell Jacob a wild animal stole it—it happens! So they do it, and offer some to Joseph, teasing him with it, because he’s the upright one, Father’s pet, he who does no wrong. Joseph was at that stage of adolescence when a person yearns to belong in a group. His brothers weren’t friendly with him, and he probably wanted to be closer to them. But he recognized that guzzling the sugar—sharing in their forbidden feast—much as it could bring him closer to them, would only create a rift between Jacob and him, then between God and him. His brothers hated him even more for being so…right.

And so he was sold! Joseph could have been ‘justifiably’ angry at God, because it was in being an obedient child that he’d come to be owned by foreigners. I mean, think about it. Some of you’ve been here, gotten in trouble because you did what was right. It didn’t feel fair, did it? (Stupid question.) Did you go ballistic? Did you take Mrs Job’s advice, curse God (Job 2:9), then wait for death to take you? Did you lock yourself in a silent fury, moving with vengeance in your heart?

Our hero didn’t live with the vengeance or hate in his heart. How do we know this? God prospered him. Let’s look in the Bible. Whoever says he loves God, yet hates his brother, is a liar (1 John 4:20). God hates a lying tongue (Psalm 36). Jesus himself says those who lie are only imitating their father the devil (John 8:44). Now, would God prosper someone who’d made it a point to live the devil? No; he’d prosper someone whose ambition it was to please Him, come tidal wave or tornado. The Lord gave him success in everything he did. Joseph’s life was so filled with God’s presence; he became a total blessing to the man that bought him (Genesis 39:2-6).

It goes without telling: trials are going to come. Jesus said, ‘in this world, you’ll have many troubles.’ Not comforting, is it? But this is: ‘But be of good cheer! I have overcome the world!’ (John 16:33.) Paul says something beautiful too: ‘We also boast of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance!’ (John 5:3.) Jesus says further, ‘Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven!’ (Matthew 5:11.) Apparently we’ve got to start loving our trials, because they’ve got great returns. I won’t fool you into believing I’m perfect. I possibly need this message more than you. I get mad and rave. Sometimes I imagine that when pastors look at me they see horns on my head. I get tossed with almost every wave of trial and temptation. I should start loving my trials to overcome them. But why don’t we do it together? Let’s get the Lord to give us success in all we do.

*

So…that was me being serious.

In next week’s post, the epic finale to my epic trilogy (the Mockingjay to my Hunger Games, the Allegiant to my Divergent, the As Sure as the Dawn to my A Voice in the Wind…yoo it’s okay), we look through the glasses of Potiphar’s wife (is it weird her name’s never mentioned?). Be sure to catch it!  

Happy Easter, and roasted plantain to you! Whatever that means.

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Debbtionary!

Apor /ah-paw/

noun. Leaked exam questions. Maya failed the test although she had apor. Smh. Origin: aa-ah.