A New Beginning for a Young Man

Lessons from the Life of Joseph
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“He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: until the time that his word came: the word of Jehovah tried him. The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance” (Psalm 105:17-21).

George Loumbardas

The light that shines from the story of Joseph, with its beam of sheer hope, also shines into the lives of many today who learn to wait in adverse circumstances. At last came the time for Joseph’s deliverance and exaltation. His dreams became a reality after the lapse of many years, when remarkable honors came to him suddenly.

Bible students know the story of Joseph. The way seemed long and gloomy from the pit at Dothan to the steps of Egypt’s throne (Genesis 37:23,24; 41:41-44). Yet in all those years God was training him for a grand purpose. God’s great designs are performed in a mysterious way. God’s ways are unfathomable yet appear stately at the end.

The butler’s dream came true in three days, but not much happened in the aftermath. Joseph was forgotten (Genesis 40:23). Thirteen years passed before Joseph was exalted and his dreams were realized. If a man’s work is of small importance, he can get ready for it without much delay. But when he has a great work to accomplish, as in Joseph’s case, it requires a much longer time to fit him for it: “And Jehovah was with Joseph” (Genesis 39:2,21), and that was the key element for the success of God’s purpose.

There is no need for anyone in God’s school of character to grow impatient, regardless of how slow the progress may be. The harder the discipline, the larger may be your opportunity when the training is finished.

No doubt Joseph believed in God’s providence in all those slow years when he was being prepared for his remarkable mission. This was the secret of his invincible hope and courage. He knew that he was in God’s school, and that God’s providence attended him in every circumstance.

For Us As Well

The same may be just as true in our lives as it was in his. If we accept the trials we have as God’s appointment for us, then we are obliged not to complain against them. Then we become able to read God’s will for us as on a printed sheet under our eye. Then we may cease our restless struggling, for now we know better the proper attitude we should take towards God. We will no longer fight for our own way, but gladly embrace God’s way. A time of testing is now upon only those who have heard God’s call: “Judgment must begin at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17).

In this way we can accomplish what God has for us to do in this world. God has a plan for the life of every one of his children. We can fulfill that plan by considering daily what the future has for each of us. It may not always be pleasant. But if it is God’s will for us, then the providences we perceive daily constitute a guide for us: God’s guidance for our direction. We made a consecration to God — individually, and deliberately — and, if accepted, whatever comes to each of us thereafter is not accidental, but providential.

God is behind all the trials we may have. In disappointment, in sorrow, in loss, in suffering injuries at the hands of others, in the midst of pain and agony, the solution comes when each of us responds by saying, “God is teaching me some new lesson essential for my promotion to a higher station.” So it is better to live as we should live, without making efforts to change the course of events directed by God.

Trusting God to the utmost, under all circumstances, will end in the fulfillment of our hopes for an extraordinary position, as happened to Joseph. Our reward will be life eternal and immortality in the spiritual realm. Then we will see God “face to face” (1 John 3:2). We will become “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17), and “partakers of Christ, if we hold [our first] confidence firm to the end” (Hebrews 3:14).

It is important to emphasize that even one incident left out in Joseph’s career might have broken the chain of events and spoiled all the efforts and purposes that God intended. So it is in our lives. All events, being under God’s supervision, are necessary to fit us for the place God is preparing for us. It is a call to higher service, when the right time comes. Joseph, we may add, is a type of our Lord Jesus, including the church of 144,000 members, and this prospect, in theory and in substance, is thrilling beyond description.

Completing the Church

Right now, in God’s agenda, the completion of the church is the chief matter at hand. This deserves chief consideration and implementation. Thus we speak plainly, clearly, and directly: “If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” (1 Corinthians 14:8).

Beyond doubt, the door of the “High Calling” is not yet closed. If the “door” were closed, and the remaining members of the church were gone from us entirely, and only few of us were left behind, the world would be upside down in chaos — but such a thing has not happened yet. This in itself indicates that we have some time to go, which is diametrically against expectations we have long cherished, of a speedy fulfillment.

For the last members of the church, more time is needed to get ready to go over Jordan and “meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17), in the spirit condition. It is up to each of us, individually, to judge best what comes next. Shaping our opinion, arriving at right conclusions, depends upon our individual initiative. There may be dramatic events that we never considered before, contrary to our expectations. But whatever lies before us, if we are prepared to accept the will of God for us, then we will have no serious difficulty.

Human efforts to help God are useless. Impressions are only impressions, and can often be wrong along various lines unless we are able to discern “what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2) for us. We witness the progressive steps of the harvest work and seek to cooperate accordingly. Blessed are those who see that our Lord Jesus is again present, gathering his jewels (Malachi 3:17).

Our pursuit in the present should not be to convert the world, but to help our brethren in the truth, and to fill and complete the remaining vacancies in the church. Thus our duty as brethren is to advise the weak and bewildered, who may be a majority of the Lord’s people, to concentrate on making their calling and election sure. This does not mean to stop telling the truth to outsiders when the occasion arises. But as for world conversion, that time has not yet come. God intends to set up a mighty kingdom, under Christ, which will last a thousand years. Then the world will be converted.

Next in rank in God’s agenda is the restoration of Israel. Already they are a nation again, but instilling them with faith in Jesus as their Messiah is a work for the future. The relevant details of prophecy respecting this may be thorny. Currently, Israel’s faults are disbelief on one hand, and moral corruption on the other.

These will lead to Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7), which will befall all Jews. But at last, “all Israel shall be saved,” because “they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes” (Romans 11:26,28). These climactic events for Israel are still far off, though the length of time remaining is unknown.

In brief, the last members of the church ought to be beyond the second veil before other concluding events will occur respecting natural Israel. Thus all necessary emphasis should be given to this matter of completing the church.

By that time the “door” of the high calling will be closed, and the calling of consecration to God in this age will have run its course. Christ, head and body, will then sit upon “a throne of glory,” as prefigured by Joseph when he became prince over all Egypt. Thus we have, before our eyes, a panoramic picture of remarkable significance that is in the course of fulfillment.