Young Writers Society

XV

Asenath’s newfound bliss lasted about… two weeks. But she found, as many married couples find, that her spouse was not perfect.

One of his faults, other than his ridiculous devotion to his God, she found at a party the Pharaoh’s house. The party was merry and lively. That was until one man differed with Joseph’s opinion of a subject. Soon, a heated debate started. Joseph was red-faced and yelling. Pharaoh sat back lazily to watch the scene. Even some of the women got involved. Asenath was embarrassed, knowing that her husband had started it all over a petty comment.

After the dinner, in their room, Asenath approached her husband. “Joseph! What were you thinking?”

“What do you mean?”

“You started a fight and embarrassed me!”

“Ridiculous! It was just a discussion.”

“Why do you always have to argue?”

“Argue! I just have an opinion that I share!” Joseph protested.

“Sometimes… it’s better not to share an opinion.”

“Take your own advice!”

Asenath replied by staring at him with a stony expression.

Joseph stared back for a moment, then broke from her gaze. “I…I’m sorry, Asenath. Sometimes I get so angry, and I can’t admit that I’m wrong. Forgive me?”

That’s the good thing about him. After a fight, he always makes up. Even… when it is my fault…

“Yes. I love you too much to not forgive you. Forgive me as well?”

“Yes, my love.”

Often, he was plagued with worry. One day, after a stressful day of work, he came home dejected and tired. “Asenath, the storehouse near the Nile delta flooded! And some of the farmers are protesting to the one-fifth tax for the famine. They don’t believe.”

“Come, husband. Let me help. I can talk to some of the farmers.”

“That would be a relief.”

“And, I’m not too bad with architecture. May I see the blueprints?”

Joseph handed them to her and groaned. “There is no way all this will be done by the first year of famine! Why are you even helping me? You don’t even believe in this famine!”

“You’re right, I don’t. But, you are my husband. I see the problem. This floodgate should be facing the other way since the Nile runs north.”

He came over and hesitantly looked at the design. Then, he smiled and slapped his leg. “What a fool I was! Asenath, if you were a man, you could have been vizier!”

“Nonsense. You are the leader and organizer. I have a hard time keeping our storeroom organized! If it weren’t for Msrah, the whole place would be chaos.”

He smiled wider. “You cheer my spirits. Elohim has blessed me profoundly!”

Elohim again. I might think that he loves his God more than me.

The one thing that annoyed Asenath the most was that every morning Joseph was never in the room.

Where could he be?

She asked Oni about it.

“My lord Zaphenath-paneah goes to the old harem for an hour each morning. A guard stands at the door all day. No one knows what he does in there.”

The old harem? He’s betrayed me! I was foolish. No man can live for long with just one wife.

She marched defiantly to the door of the old harem. A guard stood there, just as Oni had said.

When he saw Asenath, he bowed low, but did not move otherwise.

“Step aside,” Asenath commanded.

“I’m sorry, my lady, but no one is to go in. Master Zaphenath-paneah’s orders.”

She snorted. “I will wait for him to come out then.”

A cunning man, but I will not stand for him cheating on me behind my back.

Finally, Joseph emerged. “Asenath, you are up early!”

“”Joseph! I…I am aghast! I trusted you, and you repay me by sneaking off to… to… the harem! While I’m asleep!”

“Asenath, dearest! I would never betray you!”

“Really? Then how do you explain this?”

“I transformed the harem into a place to worship Elohim. He is the most important person in my life so He deserves the first hours of my day.”Joseph was hurt, but his eyes told the truth.

But, this did not cool Asenath’s wrath. “Elohim! I’m sick of all this about Him! I’m fine that you believe this stuff, but why can’t you just keep your beliefs to yourself? And He is the most important person in your life! What about me?”

“I love you, but Elohim is my Creator and the Captain of my destiny. And yours.”

She spit. “No He is not. And even if He is, all He has given me is sorrow and pain!”

“But He has a plan to use all that for your own good. He has shown that many times in my life.”

“You cannot have known pain like I have known.”

“I would disagree. If you would allow me, I can tell you my story to prove it.”

Asenath was curious. In her flurry of love sickness, she somehow forgot that he was once a slave. “Tell me.”

“Let’s walk through the gardens while I tell you. Hmmm. Where to begin? Well, I grew up in Canaan, the son of a very wealthy sheep owner named Jacob. Jacob had four wives, and I am the eldest son of his favorite wife, Rachel.”

“I don’t believe it! You are a Canaanite.”

“Well, not exactly. I’m a Hebrew, a descendant of Abraham.”

“Abraham? I think I have heard of him.”

“Yes. He was my great grandfather. When I was a child, there was always an unspoken rivalry between me and my ten brothers. When I was thirteen, my mother died giving birth to my only full brother. I was now my father’s especially favored son. I was spoiled and proud. But my brothers humored me. That was until I heard about them cheating people when they were selling wool. I, of course, told my father who became angry at my brothers and loved me all the more. He even gave me a robe that looked like it was made for a king, not a shepherd. My brothers grew jealous and hated me.”

“That is somewhat understandable.”

“Maybe, but not right. It got even worse when I told them two dreams I had about my brothers and my parents bowing to me. Their envy brewed until one day, when my father sent me to check on them, they hatched an evil plot. When I reached them, they beat me, tore off my robe, and threw me into a deep, but dried up cistern. Though I called and pleaded, they stopped their ears. After an hour, they drew me out. I thought that I was saved, but no. They sold me to Ishmaelites for twenty silver coins! Deep anger, resentment, and bitterness sprang up as I watched my brothers divvy out the coins while I was pulled away. During the two weeks in the desert, I was reminded of Elohim. He forgives without holding back. I was alos reminded that anger and bitterness had motivated my brothers. I did not want to be like them. So, in the scorching sun of the wilderness, I chose to forgive.”

“Forgive,” Asenath whispered.

“Well, I was sold as a domestic slave to Potiphar, the captain of the guard. WE met him at our wedding feast if you remember. It was hard. The hardest thing I had ever done. Slaves, as you know, are not treated… courteously. And I started at the very bottom, washing feet. That definitely taught me humility! I began to move up in the ranks, but I never abandoned Elohim or defiled him by worshipping idols. Amazingly, people actually respected me for that. Potiphar soon noticed that I worked hard and did my best. He even promoted me to steward over his fields and whole household. The year that I took over as steward Potphar had the best crop ever.”

“Not surprisingly.”

“It was during this time that I first met you. Everything seemed to finally be going well. But there was one problem.”

“What was that?”

“Potiphar’s wife. Ever since I had first become steward, she had seemed to favor me. I did not know why at first. One day, she called me to her room and commanded me to lie with her.”

Asenath eyes opened wide. Joseph was handsome, but to lie with a slave!

“I refused saying that it would be a great wickedness against my master and my God. She continued to tempt me, day after day. Only by the strength of Elohim did I resist. But, one day, when I came into the house to start work, none of the men were there, but at the temple. She grabbed onto my cloak with a vice grip and whispered, ‘Lie with me.’ I tried to run, but she held on tight. I quickly slipped out of my cloak she was holding onto and ran, ran, ran, leaving my cloak. Behind me, I heard a blood-curdling scream. I knew that there were going to be problems. When my master got home, she told him that I had attacked her! I denied it, but it was a slave’s word against his mistress’s.”

“Why didn’t you just tell him the whole story?”

“And try to say that his wife was unfaithful? No, that would just have made things worse. I was sent to the royal prison. It was cold, wet, dirty, a disgusting place. The darkness often tried to close around me. I waited and waited for the truth to come out, but it never did. I began to lose all hope. Seeds of bitterness began to resurface. With nothing to do, thoughts of my life came back. I was reminded of the luxury I had lived in at my father’s house. After a year…”

“A year! A year in prison for something you had not done!”

Joseph nodded. “After a year, all hope seemed to have been suffocated. My body was weakening. I thought that I would die. But again, I was reminded of Elohim’s heart and faithfulness. I cried out to Him and said, ‘If you will give me the strength, I will forgive and live for You!’ He came through again. I woke up the next morning to find a mysterious jar of leek stew. The liquid revived me.”

“Where did it come from?”

“I still don’t know. It was a work of Elohim. I started to try to make the best of the situation. I cleaned up my cell and made friends with my guard. He told me about the problems in the prison. ‘There’s just not enough room. Fights are always breaking out. You are lucky that you got a solitary cell,’ he told me. I told him about my organization skills, and he told the captain of the prison. He put me in charge of organizing the prisoners and keeping them, well, civilized.”

“Quite a job.”

“It was difficult, but I found that when I gave them jobs to do it kept them contented. Every cell had a head prisoner who was to keep things in order. The captain put me in a cell with the Pharaoh’s baker and cupbearer. While in that prison, completely surrendered to Elohim’s will, He began to do something amazing. He opened my eyes to the meaning of dreams. Well, to make a long story shorter, both the baker and cupbearer had dreams, and I interpreted them. In three days, the cupbearer was to be rehired, and the baker was to be beheaded. It came true.”

“Not this again.”

“It’s true.”

“If you are so smart, what did your own dreams mean? The ones that made your brothers so angry.”

“First of all, I am not ‘so smart.’ It is Elohim’s gracious revelation. He showed me that I was to be raised to a high position where my whole family would bow to me. That is what I held onto for the next two years as t he cupbearer who promised to mention me to the Pharaoh forgot me.”

“How did you finally become vizier?”

“You already pretty much know that story. Finally, the cupbearer remembered me when Pharaoh had his strange dreams. See?”

“See what?”

“How Elohim meant all that for good!”

“Um, no.”

Joseph sighed. “He used my trials to mold me into a different man, one who could forgive and depend on Him. And you became my wife. I can’t even imagine the man I would be if I had stayed in Canaan.”

“I admit that you have gone through much pain and hardship like me, but I can’t see the good in my story like you can in yours.”

“Tell it to me?”

Reluctantly, Asenath relayed her story, sometimes in tears, sometimes with a stiff jaw. Joseph listened quietly and intently.

“Try to find good in that!” Asenath demanded.

“If you will listen.”

“Enlighten me,” she answered sarcastically.

“Elohim kept you from two undesirable marriages. One to a man who was cruel at heart and only needed a few months in the army to show it, and another who did not love you but lusted for your looks. He brought you to a place where you would be chosen as my wife. He taught you that love is not an emotion or a physical urge, but action. And I also believe that He has been showing you that the gods of Egypt are false. He is the only true God who loves you more than I. Though the gods of Egypt have not proved themselves, let Elohim have a chance.”

Asenath didn’t know how to respond. Some of the things that he had said made sense, but to think that it was this Elohim who worked it that way? It was too much.

“Joseph, I admire your devotion to your God, but…”

“It’s alright. Just think about what I said today. Please.”