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Joseph: God Had A Plan!
In February 1926, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, founder of the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History (1915) and the Journal of Negro History (1916), launched the first Negro History Week. Fifty years later, it evolved into its more popular name, Black History Month. Dr. Woodson launched Negro History Week to highlight the contributions of African-Americans to the nation’s history, to correct White misperceptions of Negroes, and to build self-esteem among African-Americans.
With Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebrated on the third Monday in January, followed by Black History Month in February, issues affecting African-American life, chiefly slavery and its aftermath, receive sustained attention during that time, and rightfully so. The history of Black people in the United States is largely the study of slavery and its legacy. At the heart of any such study must be the formation, growth, and contribution of the Black church to the remarkable survival of the race, during and after slavery.
The word “church” connotes not only religion but also spirituality—the level at which the individual interacts in all spheres of life with the tenets of his or her religion. For barefooted slaves toiling in Southern cotton fields, the expectation of putting on shoes and “walking all over God’s heaven” bred hope. So, too, was the biblical story of Moses who liberated the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. The God who sent Moses also sent Harriet Tubman with her low-swinging “sweet chariot” to free the slaves.
In secrecy they worshipped; in secrecy they learned to read; in secrecy they read the inspired Word; in secrecy they planned escapes, believing that God sided with them. They wrote and sang hymns that sustained them spiritually and physically. They taught biblical truths that were also coded messages to which their vigilant masters were largely clueless. They kept hope alive this way.
Not the diet, not the work conditions, not the benevolence of their Christian masters, not the polite outrage of a few White Christians sustained the slaves. No, not those or a thousand other considerations. Faith, hope, belief in one’s rightful and dignified place in the great web of humanity, death rather than dishonor, natural and acquired ingenuity, and the throbbing consciousness that God commiserated with them—these all contributed immensely to the survival of the slaves.
These factors are essentially spiritual realities to the one who views life through a spiritual lens, which the slaves tended to do, whether the lens was crafted from the traditional religions of Africa, or from the religion of the new country, or, as was usually the case, from elements of both. Small wonder, then, that the Black church’s role as the most powerful institution in African-American his-tory has hardly been challenged.
Church is an umbrella term for faith, hope, inter-action with the Divine One, prayer, development of one’s God-given gifts, living above and beyond temporal circumstances, and expectation of a better life to come. These, to varying degrees, impacted the life of a famous Bible slave named Joseph. Lessons from his life can benefit those who study his experiences in Genesis 37–50.
Joseph’s jealous brothers sold him into slavery (Genesis 37:28), not for profit, nor as punishment after defeat in battle (as was often the case in West Africa, the source of most of the New World slaves), but out of envy for what they perceived to be the undue favor shown him by his earthly and heavenly fathers. Sold by his brothers to the Ishmaelites, Joseph was then sold in Egypt to Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh’s guard. Joseph served Potiphar faithfully until Mrs. Potiphar, wounded by Joseph’s rejection of her advances, framed him for attempted rape. This led to a number of years of imprisonment for Joseph. From prison, Joseph rose to the second highest position in Egypt, where he served until his death at the ripe age of 110. What sustained Joseph during his enslavement and imprisonment? Can that same resource sustain those in harrowing circumstances now?
Before suggesting a biblical answer, we must ask the following question: Is there any circumstance under which a genuine child of God cannot continue to be a child of God? Put differently, one may ask, Is there any circumstance that can serve as an acceptable excuse for a true Christian compromising his or her relationship with God? Or, Is there any circumstance that can neutralize God’s power?
The key to Joseph’s triumph, against all odds, is the statement: “The Lord was with Joseph.” This reassuring theme occurs four times in Genesis 39:2, 3, 21, 23. Immediately, one sees a confrontation between circumstances and God. Which is greater? That depends on whether one uses society chiefly to interpret scripture or the other way around. Notwithstanding the unspeakable evil of slavery and its unmatched capacity for dehumanization, can one endure this horror and still maintain a sense of dignity and hope? Yes! Particularly if divinely sustained. Can a person overcome the legacy of slavery sufficiently to maintain his or her human dignity and to fulfill some measure of his or her potential as a human being? Yes! Can the power of the God who parted the Red Sea be shackled by the aftereffects of slavery today? No!
The discussion of slavery and its lingering effects on African-Americans tends to generate extreme emotions, and, like the Jews and the Samaritans in Jesus’ day, heated emotions and calm reason have no dealings with each other. The primary consideration is not how degrading slavery was or how similarly destructive its aftermath is. Legitimate and unavoidable as those questions are, they are superseded by “How powerful is God?”
God, who oversees the sweep of historical events to move them to His intended end, also oversees the events in the lives of His people. While His method may be baffling, God had a plan for Joseph’s life as He had for Moses when He kept him 40 years in a desert herding sheep: a man who graduated top of his class from the University of Egypt (Acts 7:22). Was a 27-year prison term essential for Nelson Mandela to eventually lead the nation of South Africa to freedom? Perhaps in God’s eyes it was.
The key to Joseph’s life can be the key to anyone else’s, regardless of daunting circumstances. “The Lord was with Joseph.” The horror of slavery, ancient and modern, must never be watered down; but for the child of God, the abounding nightmare of slavery, or any other related species of inhumanity, can never overshadow the much more abounding power of God to deliver. While God’s ways are past finding out, He has made known to us His ability to sustain and deliver. He can save from all troubles (Psalm 34:7).
Ultimately, the worst form of slavery is bondage to sin. Its heinous nature may not be apparent to the one trapped, but its vile effects extend to the life beyond. No doubt some slaves may have escaped without any help from God. But without a full surrender of the life to Christ, there is no escape from sin. The God of freedom through Christ (Galatians 5:1) stands ready to set you free today.
RANDY SKEETE writes from Ann Arbor, Michigan. He splits his time between international evangelism and also serving as campus evangelist for the Public Campus Ministries Department of the Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
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