10. Jacob's family becomes the Israelites

Joseph was sold as a slave to some Ishmaelites on their way to Egypt (see the last lesson). They then sold him to one of Pharaoh's officials, Potiphar. God was pleased with Joseph. He was put in charge of Potiphar’s house.

Potiphar's wife came on to Joseph, but Joseph refused her advances. (You can say, "Potiphar's wife accused Joseph of doing something wrong that he didn't do"). She became enraged and accused him of coming on to her.  He was put into prison. But God was with Joseph while he was in prison too, and he was put in charge of all the prisoners. 

Pharaoh became angry with his two officials, the chief wine taster and the chief baker. He put them in the same prison where Joseph was kept. They both had dreams while they were in prison and couldn't figure out what they meant. Joseph was able to interpret their dreams. Some time later the Pharaoh began having dreams.  He dreamt that there were 7 fat cows and 7 skinny cows, and the skinny cows ate the fat cows. Then he dreamt that there were 7 full heads of grain, and 7 thin heads of grain, and the full heads swallowed the thin heads.

He did not understand what the dreams meant and no one could interpret them for him. Word had gotten around that Joseph was able to interpret dreams. So he was recommended to Pharaoh. He was able to interpret Pharaoh's dream and tell him that there was going to be 7 years of good rain and crops and then 7 years of drought and famine. Pharaoh was pleased that Joseph interpreted the dreams and put him in charge of storing away crops for the first 7 years so that there would be enough to last Egypt through the 7 years of famine. Joseph became very important and was the second most important person in the kingdom after Pharaoh.

During the drought, there was not enough food in Canaan, where Joseph’s family still lived. People came from all over to buy food from the Egyptians. Jacob (Israel) sent his sons to Egypt to buy food. They met Joseph in Egypt, but did not recognize him, until Joseph revealed himself to them as his brother. He invited his family to move to Egypt, so they would have enough food. The brothers returned home and then brought their families and their father back to Egypt to live, so they had enough food during the years of famine. 

It is very important to begin to understand the fact that Jacob’s 12 sons become the 12 tribes of Israel (Jacob’s new name). Read the names of Joseph and his brothers:

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. 

You would think the 12th tribe would be Joseph, but there is actually no tribe of Joseph! Joseph's sons Ephraim and Manasseh were elevated to the status of tribal leaders along with their uncles. Far from a demotion, this gave Joseph more honor and blessing than before! 

Before Jacob passed, he gave Joseph a double portion of an inheritance. The firstborn, Reuben, would have gotten this double portion, but Jacob took it away as a punishment to Reuben for sleeping with his Jacob's concubine Bilhah (this was a messed up family!).

So that makes 13 tribes! But if you look on a map of land allotment, you will only see 12 tribes listed there. What gives? Well, the tribe that is missing from the map is Levi, because that became the tribe of priests. They lived scattered throughout the 12 tribes with no land allotment to call their own.

So here is the list of the 12 tribes of Israel based on land allotments:

Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin. 

You will see those names over and over in the Old Testament. 

Once Jacob passed away, Joseph's brothers were sure that he would exact revenge on them for everything they had done to him. But Joseph forgave them instead.  “You planned to harm me. But God planned it for good.” (Genesis 50:20)

God used Joseph's obedience, excellence in his work, and forgiveness of his brothers, to fulfill his promises to Abraham and Isaac.