English > What role does God play in the stories of Joseph, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Noah and his generation?

The story of Joseph is one of the most interesting stories of the Old Testament. An important question that is worth discussing is what is God’s role, if any, in the life of Joseph? In this essay I will discuss how Joseph’s faith was determined by God, and not by his brothers as it would first seem. I will then talk about the role of God in the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Noah and his family, and see if there could be any comparisons made among them.

All four stories that I will talk about can be found in the Book of Genesis, which is part of the Old Testament. As we know, the Old Testament is the Holy Book of the Hebrews and was written around 1000-300 B.C. The book contains the religious beliefs of this nation, beginning with the creation of the world. In addition to serving as a Holy text for one single nation, it provides a universal guideline that applies to all humanity. In the Old Testament, God is depicted as the Creator of the Universe; He is all-knowing and just. It is His will that determines the lives of all the men, and whoever follows His rules will be successful and prosperous. There are two stories in the Old Testament that may suggest otherwise. One is the story of Joseph and the other one is the story of Job. In this paper I will not discuss Job’s quest, but instead focus on Joseph’s and his brothers’ deed.

The central question is: why does Joseph, as a righteous man, has to endure all the hardships? We might think at first that he, being an honorable and God fearing man, would deserve a better life than what his brothers thought out for him. We know, however, that God’s sole purpose with Joseph is to make him the savior of his family, but also the rescuer of the whole Hebrew nation. We have to though realize that whatever happens to Joseph is not his, or his brothers will, but God’s. At the end of the story, when Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, he says the followings: “God did send me before you to preserve life.” He has all the reasons to be angry with his brothers for what they did to him, but he is not. He is content because he knows that God’s will was to make him a prosperous man in Egypt, and when the seven years of the famine comes, he will have the opportunity to save his nation.

In all his life, Joseph was a God-fearing man; he knew that no matter where life takes him, it is because God wishes it. Early in his life, Joseph realized that he was different from his eleven brothers. Not only because he was his father’s favorite son, but because he saw two dreams. He interpreted these dreams in a way that angered his brothers greatly, but Joseph knew that these dreams are telling his future. He learnt it early on that he could understand dreams, and he knew that it was God, who gave him this knowledge. That’s why these dreams, in his opinion, had to tell the truth. He had the opportunity two additional times in the story to interpret dreams, and both of those occasions were life changing. The first time, when he was in the Pharaoh’s prison, he met two of the Pharaoh’s servants. Both servants had a dream which they weren’t able to interpret, and asked Joseph for help. Joseph than said to them:”Do not interpretations belong to God?” suggesting that it’s not him, but God, who can understand dreams. The second time he interpreted someone else’s dream was when the Pharaoh had a dream that no one else could understand. Joseph told the King what his dreams meant saying once again:”It is not me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” Joseph, as we can see, clearly acknowledged that his abilities are God’s gifts.

Joseph never in his life turned against his Lord. Not when he was sold by his brothers into slavery, not when he was imprisoned in spite of his innocence, and not even when he was forgotten by the Pharaoh’s butler. He devoted his life to the service of God, and he knew that he had a higher purpose than just be a successful and prosperous man. Only at the end of the story he realized what this purpose was. He was indeed sent by God to save the Hebrews from the seven years of famine and starvation that awaited them. God’s role therefore in the life of Joseph is to place him on earth to endure all the suffering He sends in his way to see if Joseph can be the one to save his nation. He was wrongly imprisoned and enslaved for thirteen years, but he never blamed God, or anyone else. God can fulfill his plan to save the Jewish nation through, and with the help of Joseph. After his brothers had come to Egypt for the second time to plead for his help, he reveled himself, and explained God’s wishes: “And God sent me here before you to preserve you a prosperity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and a lord of all of his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” Joseph is not angry at his brothers, but instead happy to see them again. He realizes that they’ve changed since last he saw them, and they regret now what they did to their little brother out of jealousy. One of Joseph’s brothers, Judah even offered himself to be the slave of Joseph in place of Benjamin. Without God’s intentions Joseph wouldn’t have been able to interpret the Pharaoh’s dreams, and he wouldn’t have become the second most powerful man in Egypt. Consequently he couldn’t have saved the Hebrews from the famine. Everything that happened to Joseph was God’s will, and through him, God was able to save the Hebrew nation. Not only Joseph’s family was safe from the scarcity, but also their children, grandchildren, and the future of the nation was secured through him.

Let’s turn now our attention to the role of God in the Adam and Eve story. First of all, it was God, who created man and woman after everything else was done. On the sixth day, God “formed a man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” God then placed them into the Garden of Eden, but forbid them to eat from one tree. This was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God never says why they are not allowed to eat from it, but Adam was supposed to obey his Lord without questioning His authority. God made Adam responsible for the keeping of the garden and for all of its creatures; He trusted him at first. As we can see God has a direct role in this story, he actually talks to Adam and Eve when he forbids them to eat from the trees. When God sees that Adam and Eve does not obey Him, he punishes them by bringing pain and suffering to them. Adam and Eve does not understand why they were prohibited from eating from the tree of knowledge, so when the serpent approaches Eve, she finally eats a piece of fruit. She gives some to Adam as well, and immediately they realize that they’re naked. God was right, the tree gave them knowledge. God then called for Adam, who hid himself in the forest out of guilt. God, by forbidding them the tree gave them a choice. They can either do what he says, and live happily in the Garden of Eden, or disobey Him, but then take responsibility for their actions. God gave them a choice, as He gives to all of us. We can choose to follow His rules and then get a gift of prosperity, or disobey Him, and live in guilt. God punished Adam by making him and all man after him work hard for their food. He punished Eve by giving her the pains of childbirth, and punished the serpent by making it crawl on the ground and to be hated by everyone.

As we can see, God plays a more direct role in the lives of Adam and Eve, than in the life of Joseph. Joseph was chosen by God to be the savior of the Hebrews and gave him the knowledge of interpreting dreams. But the rest was up to Joseph to show he was worthy of God’s intentions. Adam and Eve was created by God, was spoken to by God, and directly punished by God. They were a disappointment to Him. But there was a relatively close relationship physically between God and man, but after their sin, this relationship could only be spiritual.

After Adam and Eve had left the Garden of Eden, Eve gave birth to three sons: Cain, Abel and Seth. The story of The First Murder presents us the murder of Abel, by his brother Cain, whose sole purpose was to punish him for being favored by God. God, in this story again, plays a direct role. The two brothers, Cain and Abel, both bring their offerings to Him, but he prefers Abel’s gifts. The reason is that Abel brought him the “firstlings oh his flock” while Cain just brought him something ordinary. Cain got so angry that he killed his brother, and when God was asking about him, Cain said he doesn’t know where he is. But God already knew what happened, and punished Cain by making him an outcast in society, an untouchable. Before this murder, there was no forbidding of murder in the Ten Commandments, and only after God saw how Cain denied what he did, taught him and all humanity a lesson.

God’s role in the last two stories is much more direct than in the Joseph story. In these, God provides a close guidance and requires accountability for the deeds of all characters. God tells them what to do, and what not to do. When they disappoint Him, punishment will follow that serves as a lesson to all following generations.

In the case of Noah, we can still say that God plays a very direct role; He is close to Noah, and has a direct influence on what is happening. Noah is chosen by God to gather his family and all the living creatures of the earth, and to make an ark that would save them from the flood. God decided to destroy all man and all the animals because they become “wicked.” Noah and his family were the only people God wished to save, along with a pair of every species of animals. God gave instructions to Noah as to what the ark should look like and how it should be built. When the ark was finally ready for its mission, God opened the “windows of heaven” and the rain fell for forty days and forty nights. The ark that Noah built served its purpose very well: everyone and everything onboard had survived the flood. After hundred and fifty days, God sent the winds to dry the earth out, but didn’t help Noah in any other way. Only when the earth was dried out, could Noah and his family leave the ark. It was then, when God spoke to Noah again, saying that he should “be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth.” With this God ordered Noah to make sure that he and his children will repopulate the earth, since they are the only humans left to do this task. God established a covenant between Him and man, promising that He would never again destroy the living creatures of the earth, and every time it will rain, He will draw a rainbow in the sky as a reminder of His covenant.

So what sets the story of Joseph apart from the other three stories? I would say that it is the degree of the directness with which God intervenes in the everyday lives of the characters. As I noted earlier, Joseph’s never really spoken to by God, nor is heard by him. Joseph only knows that God has some purpose with him, but he’s unsure what this purpose is. Joseph knows that he has a talent which he got from God; he can interpret dreams like no one else, but uncertain of what his final mission will be. This ability of his helps fulfill his dream and duty, and he indeed is worthy to be the savior of his family and of the whole Hebrew nation. As to Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Noah and his family, God plays a role where He is present in the everyday lives of the heroes; He talks to them and judges them as an all-knowing authority, which He is.

Resources:

1. 20 October. 2005
<http://www.josephcompany.org/>

2. Os Hilman. Reasons For Adversity. 20 October. 2005
<http://www.marketplaceleaders.org/articles_view.asp?articleid=9103&columnid=>

3. 20 October. 2005
<http://prophetess.lstc.edu/~rklein/Documents/advent.htm>

 

 

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