“God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” So Joseph would have had every reason to believe before the fateful day he was sent out once again to check on his brothers in the fields (Gen. 37:12–13). Thus far, his life had all been grace and glory: the favorite son of a wealthy father, a multicolored robe marking him out from the crowd, and, to cap it all off, two dreams from heaven promising that one day his family would bow in admiration before him. God did indeed have a wonderful plan for Joseph’s life, but as with Christ, whose life Joseph so fascinatingly foreshadows, the path would be one of suffering before glory.

Into the Pit

The story of Joseph’s downfall is well known. Out in the wilderness, away from Jacob’s watchful eye, the hatred of the brothers of Joseph toward him gives birth to sin. The eldest brother, Reuben, manages to persuade the others to stop short of murder. Instead they pounce on Joseph, strip him of his robe, and throw him into a pit. With Reuben offstage, the nine remaining patriarchs spot a caravan of Ishmaelites heading to Egypt and quickly resolve to sell Joseph for twenty shekels of silver. But Joseph’s journey to the “pit” is far from over. Bought by Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh’s guard, he initially rises to be placed over everything in his master’s household. But Potiphar’s wife has her eye on the handsome Hebrew slave, and she demands that he come and lie with her. When righteous Joseph spurns her advances, she falsely accuses him of attempted rape, grabbing his robe from him to use as evidence in her deceiving Potiphar—rather as the brothers seized his first robe to deceive their father. Two unjust attacks, two lying robes, and two pits for Joseph. Surprisingly, Joseph is again spared death—perhaps Potiphar had his suspicions about his wife’s honesty—but he returns to “the pit,” as Joseph calls his prison (Gen. 40:15).