An Ancient Commentary on the Corona Quarantine from Joseph and the Famine
By Mark E. Moore
The most difficult thing about the coronavirus pandemic has been the quarantine. Call it “stay at home,” call it “shelter in place”—regardless what you call it, it is forced “waiting.” Waiting is hard work. It feels passive, stifling, a waste of time. However, the “waiting room” in God’s healthcare system is where much of the heart surgery takes place. Waiting is where our character is solidified so opportunities can be maximized. There is a pattern for waiting and then working that is as ancient as the Bible itself. This lesson is embedded in the biography of Joseph.
Sibling Rivalry: The Lesson of Humility
Joseph, as you know, is one of the heroes of the Old Testament. In fact, he is a type of Christ, hated by his brothers, yet ended up saving his people. So it may sound strange to be critical of a man who foreshadowed Jesus. But let’s be honest. He was a bad brother! It’s one thing when your father plays favorites, but to flaunt it is just not wise, particularly in a blended family. You know the narrative. Joseph had a dream in which his brothers bowed down to him. At 17, he didn’t have sense enough to keep it to himself. His brothers were incensed. It got worse with his second dream, in which his brothers were joined by his father and mother paying him homage as the sun, moon, and stars bowed to the boy. Even mom and dad said that was too much!
Young Joseph made the same mistake as have so many of us. He had a dream of significance that he interpreted as self-aggrandizement. He loved the coat of many colors and believed his future would be filled by the accolades of others. Waiting for these things taught him that leadership is more about serving and that significance requires suffering.
Dangerous Cougar: The Lesson of Character
Joseph had a noble core despite being spoiled as a child. As he matured past puberty, he became a valuable asset in Potiphar’s house. He developed a strong work ethic and moral authority. As a strapping young man in his early twenties, he oversaw the whole house. He had a keen mind and a physical physique that was, well, notable, at least to Mrs. Potiphar.
One day, so the story goes, he was taking care of his duties in the family dwelling. Potiphar was away on business. Whether she was lonely, unappreciated, or just evil may never be known. But she latched on to Joseph and propositioned him, “Come to bed with me.” When he refused, she was outraged. She ran straight to her husband and lied, “Joseph tried to rape me!” A false accusation with real ramifications.
To make the most of this or any crisis, you had better learn a critical lesson: Your leadership can take you only as far as your character can sustain you. Joseph would save his family, along with a host of other nations, from starvation. Yet his dream of public importance would come true only if his private moments were true to his character.
The coronavirus has tested our character in isolation. Pornographic website traffic increased more than 10 percent, prompting some sites to offer free premium subscriptions during the quarantine. Online alcohol sales spiked 243 percent even as liquor store sales increased 55 percent. (Liquor stores were deemed an essential service.) On March 16, sales of recreational marijuana jumped 159 percent in California.
Clearly, people in crisis can create problems or solve problems. What you do in isolation will determine how God can use you in the public square.
Baker & Cupbearer: The Lesson of Endurance
Because of Potiphar’s wife, Joseph found himself in prison. This presented an opportunity to display another leadership virtue: grit. If you want to be an agent of change, you must endure significant setbacks. It is not enough to have stellar character if you don’t have endurance. In order to leverage your abilities, resources, and influence, you have to develop the grit to get back up every time you are knocked down. Rather than giving in to cynicism or depression, Joseph continued to lead where he was. He was placed in charge of the prison as he had been in charge of Potiphar’s house.
Due to his quarantine, Joseph met a couple of guys—a baker and a cupbearer—he likely would never have run into otherwise. Both men had dreams they could not understand. Fortunately, Joseph had a kind of “technical” expertise in that area. (Think of it as a Zoom call with the Holy Spirit.) Joseph interpreted the dreams for the men—good news for the cupbearer (in three days he would be restored to his position), bad news for the baker (in three days he would be killed).
And it came to pass . . . but the cupbearer was slow to fulfill his promise to remember Joseph upon being restored to his position as a sort of sommelier. And so Joseph sat . . . and sat . . . and sat. It was two years before he had opportunity to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. While waiting in prison, Joseph was working on endurance.
From Rags to Riches: The Lesson of the Solution
Pharaoh’s dream was bizarre. Seven plump cows emerged from the Nile. Right behind them were seven mangy bovine who cannibalized their fellow heifers. What on earth? What could this possibly mean? All of Pharaoh’s magicians, sorcerers, and enchanters were dumbfounded. It was then that our amnesiac sommelier remembered Joseph’s spiritual Skype skills with God. No sooner had he said, “I know a guy,” than they raced to the prison to pull Joseph out from his “shelter in place.” After a quick shower and shave, he stood before the most powerful man on earth. Sure enough, Joseph not only interpreted the meaning of the dream, he offered a shrewd mechanism for managing it. He didn’t waste the crisis. He presented an unprecedented opportunity for Pharaoh to save his own people while raising their taxes, while also becoming a hero to the surrounding nations and getting stupid rich in the process.
This is a critical leadership lesson. If you want to advance your career, if you want to make a difference, if you are looking for significance, the secret is in the solution, not the problem. Joseph identified the problem. That showed his wisdom. But that’s not what made him significant. Rather than focusing on himself, Joseph put himself in the shoes of Pharaoh and offered a solution to Pharaoh’s problem. Identifying problems is relatively easy. Leaders, however, find solutions. When you identify problems you are focused on yourself. When you find solutions, you are focused on others. That’s what leads to significance. Think about it from your boss’s perspective. How many people come to him or her with a problem to be solved? If you come with a solution, it sets you apart. This is precisely what postured Joseph, during a crisis, to be a difference maker.
You know the end of the story. Joseph saved his family. But he did a lot more than that. He honored his God on an international stage. That never would have happened without the famine. Everyone can agree on that. Crises are opportunities for God to be honored and people to turn back to him. What is often missed, behind the crisis, is the quarantine. Waiting is working. Had it not been for his time in quarantine, Joseph likely would not have had the wherewithal to come up with an international strategy for healing the nations and unprecedented economic recovery for Pharaoh.
Most of us are working right now with a church, a business, or a family that needs solutions. The masses are talking about the coronavirus problem. The elite among us are finding solutions to specific problems.
Would you be the new Joseph? Perhaps your church needs someone just like you to develop small groups. Perhaps you know something about marketing or technology that would exponentially expand your church’s influence. Perhaps you understand distribution, community organization, healthcare, mental health, online education, or some new technology or system yet to be developed.
The future solutions to the current crisis will come from those with quarantine character. For God’s sake, let it be you.
Mark E. Moore serves as teaching pastor at Christ’s Church of the Valley in Peoria, Arizona, and is author of Core52: A Fifteen-Minute Daily Guide to Build Your Bible IQ in a Year.
(Be sure to read the companion article, “God Provides in Times of Crisis” by Gary Johnson and Jared Johnson.)
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