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Joseph and Social Injustice:  Lessons for Society Today

Joseph and Social Injustice: Lessons for Society Today

The Bible tells us that the stories of the Old Testament were recorded “as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did” (1 Corinthians 10:6 NIV84). And perhaps no story contrasts more effectively the differences between the methods of God and the methods of this sinful world than the story of Joseph.

Ever since Adam and Eve sinned, two antagonistic principles have been contending for the supremacy of every human heart and mind: God’s methods of truth, love, and freedom have been warring against Satan’s lies, fear-driven selfishness, and coercion.

These Bible stories reveal that without God’s love working in our hearts, fear and selfishness (sin) corrupts us and will lead us to betray and exploit others, even those closest to us—our own families. These stories reveal the unavoidable results of sin—which is anti-love, selfishness, and fear, the survival drives.

These stories document that it is sin, not God, that destroys and how that destruction happens. Further, they reveal that the only solution to sin is God’s law of love, His methods and principles applied to the life.

Tale of Injustice

Joseph’s brothers allowed their fear, selfishness, and jealousy to take control of their hearts, minds, and actions. Had they truly loved Joseph, they would have celebrated him and rejoiced when their father honored him. But they loved themselves more. So they sold him as a slave and misled their father into believing Joseph had been killed by wild animals.

Joseph suffered terrible injustice from his own brothers. His human rights were violated. He was not treated as an individual but as property. He was taken by slave traders and sold in a slave market to Potiphar.

There is no question that what happened to Joseph was wrong; it was sin; it was unjust. Yet, Joseph had no ability to stop it. He could not control the choices of others. Thus, Joseph had to decide how he would, in governance of self, deal with the many injustices. Would he become resentful, bitter, hateful? Would he fantasize about getting even with his brothers? Would he pray to God to take vengeance upon the Egyptians? Would he seek to sabotage and injure those who treated him as a slave?

Or would Joseph surrender his life to God? Would he seek God’s presence, God’s methods, God’s law, God’s purpose in his life? Would he trust God to right the wrongs done to him? Would he refuse to become bitter and angry? Would he refuse to let selfishness corrupt his character? Would Joseph, in the face of corruption, become corrupt himself—or would he become more just, more righteous, through the living out of God’s methods in his life?

Joseph chose to trust God and apply God’s methods, the law of love, in his life. And how did Joseph treat Potiphar? He was a faithful, loyal, reliable, diligent, true, dedicated, and honest worker, and he carried out all of his slave duties with integrity. This is incredible, going against every notion of human justice in our contemporary worldly culture.

Why would Joseph behave this way? Potiphar was an Egyptian. He wasn’t a member of Joseph’s family. He wasn’t a descendant of Abraham. He wasn’t a worshiper of Yahweh. He was a pagan, an idol worshipper, and worst of all—he was a slave owner! He must be a corrupt person, and certainly his buying of Joseph and owning him as a slave made Potiphar undeserving of Joseph’s loyalty—right?

Was Joseph loyal to Potiphar because Potiphar deserved it, or was Joseph loyal because Joseph deserved it—that is, because Joseph was innocent and Joseph didn’t deserve to have his character corrupted by hate, bitterness, and evil? So Joseph, as a loyal subject of the Creator, sought to honor God by living out His law of love even in the face of injustice.

How Satan Ensnares

One of Satan’s most effective traps is to incite real injustice and then get people to seek justice through the application of Satan’s methods, his laws, his principles of inflicted punishments and retaliation—because such evildoers “deserve” it. “It is right,” Satan says, “for us to be resentful and to harbor fantasies of suffering toward our enemies.” It is right in the world’s system to use whatever means necessary to ensure that the evil get what they deserve.

Therefore, it is just to riot, to destroy the properties of others, to shoplift, to disrupt traffic, to drag people out of their cars and beat them, as long as doing so is to “right” some “wrong”—to do “justice.” Oh, how Satan rejoices.

In contrast, Joseph didn’t seek to undermine his slave master. Yet despite Joseph’s high moral standard, his faithful and loyal service, he suffered even more injustice. Joseph was accused of sexual assault and imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. What an outrage—falsely accused, falsely imprisoned after years of loyal and faithful service! Certainly, it was now right and just for Joseph to be bitter and to seek justice.

But again, how did Joseph actually respond? Did he become bitter and hateful? Did he seek to retaliate? Did he fantasize about getting even? No, he lived out God’s law of love in governance of himself. And eventually, through God’s miraculous interventions, Joseph was elevated to the second most powerful position in the world—second only to Pharaoh himself.

And once Joseph had such power, what did he do? He had the authority to right all past injustices against him. He could have punished Potiphar’s wife and Potiphar if he had wanted. By today’s standards, it would have been just and right to put them in prison, fine them, and make them pay reparations.

So why didn’t Joseph do it when he had the power to do so?

Corruption Begets Corruption

What would have happened to Joseph—to his heart, mind, and character—if he had practiced the methods of this sinful world in seeking “justice”? What kind of person would he have become had he harbored resentment and bitterness, longing to retaliate eye for eye?

What happens to the hearts of people today when they focus on past wrongs (real wrongs, like Joseph experienced), either to them or to their ancestors, and they hold to bitterness and resentment and seek to use the governments of this world to make others pay? But from whom? Whom do rioters injure? Those who practiced Jim Crow?  Those who actually held slaves? And what of those who did nothing to deserve their businesses being looted yet suffered under mob justice? Won’t they now have their own personal injustice to resolve? And if not handled with godly grace, won’t they seek the government or other means to punish those who just injured them … and the cycle continues?

Do you see how all the kingdoms of this world are Satan’s and that using human governments to inflict punishment to make others pay only spreads sin, causes more hatred, division, conflict, and impairs the gospel from advancing?

If Joseph would have applied the philosophy of today’s world and rebelled against Potiphar in overt or covert ways—say, actually had an affair with his wife—what would have been the likely outcome? Chances are, Joseph would have been executed. He wouldn’t have been there to protect his family during the famine, and Satan would have succeeded in terminating the family line that would bring the Messiah.

God cannot win His cause through people whose hearts harbor resentment, bitterness, and desire for retaliation, people who long to inflict punishment on others or seek to force reparations. God can win His cause only through people who trust Him and allow Him to eliminate fear, selfishness, bitterness, jealousy, and the desire for retaliation from their hearts and minds and to restore in them His love, His character, so that they love their enemies as Christ loves us. Then our enemies become our friends. This is the only way forward.

The so-called social-justice movements of the world today are traps of Satan designed to inflame selfishness, incite division, and cause more hostility between people. Only God’s laws of love, truth, and liberty will heal and unite humanity. Only as we trust God with our lives, our futures, the outcomes, and stay faithful in governing ourselves in harmony with His principles can we overcome Satan and the powers of this world. As Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5 NIV84).

I invite you to seek the justice of God, the rightness of a new heart and right spirit within, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and then, like Joseph, love your neighbor as yourself, even those neighbors who do injustice.

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I was introduced to Come and Reason Ministries by accident, via a passing comment made in a bible study class we were visiting. I checked this website out and my life was changed. The understanding of the truth of God’s character, and how we apply it, is so right. The tricky part is consistently applying which “lens” to look through. As I began to understand, I started sharing the basics of this understanding with a discussion group I was leading and, suddenly, a lot of things started to make sense that never used to. At the same time, I enjoyed an amazing opportunity. I was able to conduct a full bible study at WORK! What an amazing experience! It is such a joy to share the truth about God and to share how it all fits in the war between God and Satan. So many people benefit when we have a correct understanding about how God works and who He really is! Thank you for this transformational understanding. Keep up the good work! God Bless you!

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I had a lot of pressure, as a pastor’s kid, to conform and be “good.” I was good at being “good.” I thought my life was going along well until it all started falling apart and I could not figure out why! In my search for “why is this happening to me, God?” I came across your book, “Could it be this Simple,” and God started revealing to me the many distortions I held about His character, His principles, and how He has designed His universe to operate. I remember thinking, “Wow, I have had this all backwards.” I was happy and angry all at the same time. Happy to have the light of truth break through the darkness, revealing a wonderful, beautiful way of understanding God and His plan for His children, and angry, because I felt deceived and cheated by the church, my family, and myself!

My heart thrills when I listen to your bible study lessons. Literally I have gone from death to life. It is a journey I look forward to every day, as God reveals areas this distortion affects. Praise GOD! I will ever be grateful to God for this ministry and your cooperation with the Spirit!

Karen S., Portal, AZ, USA

 

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I have been tuning into your weekly study classes for a while now and wanted express my appreciation for the teachings that ha been a huge blessing in opening up the true message of the word. Viewing scripture under an imposed law theory always, without fail, raised more questions, concerns, and conflicting scripture interpretations that were discouraging at the very least. Looking at scripture through the design law lens has brought more truth to light for me personally and an understanding of our Heavenly Father that places Him “above all others,” where I am now more than thrilled to witness and serve Him.  I “stumbled” across this ministry a year or so ago and would only watch a few minutes at a time. But the more I listened and the longer I paid attention, the more my spiritual eyes were opened to the ever present truths of scripture. The comprehension of the great controversy and it’s origin by the lies perpetrated and perpetuated throughout the Bible on the attack of God’s character and government is truly priceless. Keep up the Good Work! Your servanthood is desperately needed in such a time as this!

Jeff D., Reading, MA, USA

 

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When I was 9 years old, I remember setting at our devotional table with a hunger and thirst for God that wanted more, deeper, BETTER. I can remember literally crying and pounding on the table, “I know these teachers didn’t mean to give us error. They taught what THEY had been TAUGHT, but didn’t ANYBODY READ THE BOOK?!?!?” It mattered to me then. It mattered to me as a teenager. It matters now as I teach bible classes. It didn’t have to be so hard as I watched so many give up and lay God’s great plan and gift of salvation aside as being “impossible.” Then, a friend sent me a link to Come And Reason’s website. I grew excited. YES! FINALLY! Then another friend told me to stay away, saying her son had just broken up with a girl because she was involved with Come And Reason and that “Tim Jennings preaches a false gospel.” But, AFTER many years of developing an authentic and, dare I say FUN relationship with Jesus, through the Holy Spirit I see this message has been around a LONG time, since the apostle Paul, Ellen White, Graham Maxwell, Ray Foucher, and yourself (though I admit, you’ve made me back up, rewind and replay the clips, and get out my well-worn Bible on a few things.) I’m so thankful I have found LIGHT during these DARK days. I am not alone.

Vicki DiNitto

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I wanted to thank you very much for presenting your understanding of God. I’ve always been troubled by this question: Why did Jesus have to die? Since my conversion I understood that The Father & Jesus are one, I did not have issues with that. But was there not any other way to save us than for Jesus to die? I guess I actually had a question about God – if He is so wise, how come He did not find another way? I did not see the real ‘beauty’  in the cross. Only when you explained the picture in the medical context, Jesus providing medicine for my selfishness, have I started to finally ‘see the light’. Thank you so much. Your seminar, “Healing the Mind,” are absolutely marvelous & have shared them with my family and many other people, including colleagues at work. Thanks, thanks, thanks. May God bless you abundantly in your ministry.

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Testimony 38

Since November 2015, when I started studying Gods word from this God Is Love point of view, my life has been transformed. My troubled marriage of 15 years has been healed and my husband and I are truly happy for the first time in 15 years. Now When I read the word of God I understand it so much better and I can’t help but see Gods love radiating through the pages to humanity. Gods word is living and active and I am blessed beyond measure to be having this amazing experience. God has given me a beautiful understanding of Jn 3:16 that amazes me more and more each day. Thank you again for your ministry.

Helen D., London, England

 

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I was brought up in a different faith and have been petrified my whole life of God. I believed that I would burn in hell for eternity. When I was 12 I started pursuing the things of this world, but for the next 45 years the Spirit was always calling me, as I knew there was a God through nature. I could see the vast sea of stars in the universe and knew there was something bigger out there. Five years ago, through a Revelation seminar, I was blessed to learn about God’s character and government.

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I have always wanted to find out for myself the truth about God, so I stayed with the Design Law construct and have been liberated to understand the big picture. Once we consider Design Law, all other Bible stories and prophecies seem to fit perfectly. It is truly beautiful to see people grasping how God operates this Universe of Love and the liberation it has provided in their lives. It blows my mind to see how consistent Design law is with what our founders believed. I hear statements like “This makes so much sense.”

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Testimony 68

Your message of design law vs imperial law is so uplifting and makes so much sense- it is a game changer for me. The fact that Jesus’s death is not a big payment by an angry God is , quite frankly, a relief.

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