Holy Youth: St. Joseph the Righteous

“You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good.” -Genesis 50:20

St. Joseph the Righteous, as he is called in the Orthodox Church, is one of the earliest examples of Holy Youth, if not the earliest mentioned in the Bible.

Joseph is a great example of how God can use youth to do extraordinary things. We see this in that he was granted the gift of prophecy at the age of 17 when he had the dreams of the 11 sheaves bowing down to his, and also the dream of the sun, the moon, and the 11 stars bowing down to him. Also he had the gift of interpreting dreams, which he used when he interpreted the dreams of the butler, the baker, and Pharaoh. But we are focusing on his virtues.

The first of Joseph’s virtues that we see is his obedience, specifically his obedience to his father. “And Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come I will send you to them.’ So he said to him, ‘Here I am.’ Then he said to him, ‘Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.’ So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem” (Genesis 37:13-14). This obedience was very strong because what Jacob asked Joseph to do was not easy; it required a lot of walking, miles, and walking alone too. But Joseph answered, “Here I am.”

We also see that God was with him. In Genesis 39, when Joseph began his service to Potiphar, to whom he was sold, it says that “The Lord was with Joseph” or “with him,” four times. This brings us to a very important subject in Christianity which is synergy. Synergy is derived from a Greek word which means “working with.” Synergy in Christianity means working with God. This is as simple as it gets, without God we can do nothing! Jesus confirmed this when he told His disciples the night before He was crucified, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches, He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; FOR WITHOUT ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING” (John 15:4-5). In order to get to this level where God will work with us we must devote as much time as we can to prayer. Prayer that thanks and glorifies God, deep prayer in which God starts to reveal Himself to us and we see His works in the Creation more and more clearly, where we contemplate the wonderful things He has done, from the Creation itself, to virtue, to all the works of the Lord Jesus Christ, from the Incarnation to the Ascension.

Joseph had a very strong relationship with God and this is what caused the Lord to be with him. We see the words prosper or success come when it says “the Lord was with Joseph.” This comes before even the first psalm was written which says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly… but his will is in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by streams of water that produces its fruit in its season, and his leaf shall not wither and whatever he does shall prosper” (Psalm 1). This strong relationship Joseph had with God caused God to work with him (synergy), and this is what led to the rest of his virtues. Pope Shenouda III talks about synergy in his book Holy Zeal, talking about partnership with God, “Another example is that of an electric light and an electric current. You can find electric lights which are very beautiful, very powerful and of quite an exquisite type, which emit a light that gives people great joy to see. But in actual fact, such lights can only give light as long as they are connected to an electric current. If they are cut off from the electricity supply then they cease to work; their usefulness, beauty and attractive shape are worth nothing. So too will all your zeal be in vain if you are far away from God, who is the source of power.”

Joseph was also trustworthy. We see that Potiphar made Joseph the overseer of his house and everything in it because he “saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority” (Genesis 39:3-4). Even the unbeliever saw God working in Joseph, and because of this he exalted him to the position of overseer. We also see that “the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake” (Genesis 39:5). Synergy causes us to be filled with God’s Spirit as Christians and through this God’s power rests on everything we are entrusted with. Joseph’s trustworthiness also caused the keeper of the prison to have Joseph oversee the prison, and not just any prison, the prison of Pharaoh’s prisoners, “But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper” (Genesis 39:21-23).

This trustworthiness leads to faith in a person, and this faith will lead those who deal with us to believe in God because they will see us reflecting God who is the Most Trustworthy. It even led Pharaoh to commit all Egypt into Joseph’s hands and he confessed Joseph’s God saying, “And Pharaoh said to his servants, ‘Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?’ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.’ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.’ Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried out before him, ‘Bow the knee!’ So he set him over all the land of Egypt” (Genesis 41:38-43).

Joseph was also humble. When the butler and the baker asked Joseph if he was able to interpret their dreams he answered, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” (Genesis 40:8) And also when Pharaoh told Joseph that he had heard that he interpreted dreams, Joseph answered, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace” (Genesis 41:16). We can learn from this because today, unfortunately, we tend to exalt ourselves instead of giving God the glory. We say, “I did this, I did that,” and such. An interesting thing, the word for “I” in Greek is “Ego.” Humility is not only making nothing of ourselves, but more than that it is giving God the credit and glory. Many times if we parade a virtue or talent we have, God might take it away to teach us a lesson, then we will know what we had after it is gone, but our eyes will be on God because then we will know that he was the one giving that talent or virtue to us.

Among other things Joseph was wise (40:38-39), which Pharaoh confessed was because God was with him. But the most important virtue which Joseph had was his forgiveness. Even after all the things that his brothers did to him; betraying him and selling him to the Ishmaelites and causing him to bondage for more than 13 years when he was a slave to Potiphar and later a prisoner, up until the time Pharaoh appointed him over Egypt, he forgave them. He said to them, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive” (Genesis 50:20).

Joseph is a great example of all the things we should be, even youth, because he kept his eyes on God all the time, which is why even after his brothers betrayed and sold him, he said what God did, which by far was greater, “to save many people alive.” And as it says in the Epistle to the Romans, “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

So we should pray to God and ask him to be examples to others that our youth isn’t a stumbling block, but a great chance to witness to the Lord Jesus Christ, like St. Paul exhorts St. Timothy, “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).

And glory be to God both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.