2. Joseph’s Path from Prison to a Great Destiny

World Scripture

When Joseph attained his full manhood, We gave him power and knowledge; thus do We reward those who do right. But the woman in whose house he lived sought to seduce him from his true self: she bolted the doors and said, “Now come, dear!” He said, “God forbid! Truly your husband is my lord! He made my sojourn agreeable! Truly to no good come those who do wrong!” And with passion did she desire him, and he would have desired her, but that he saw the evidence of his Lord: thus did We order that We might turn away from him all evil and shameful deeds, for he was one of Our servants, sincere and purified.
So they both raced each other to the door, and she tore his shirt from the back; and they met her husband near the door. She said, “What is the penalty for one who formed an evil design against your wife but prison or a grievous chastisement?” He said, “It was she that sought to seduce me—from my true self.” And one of her household saw and bore witness, “If it be that his shirt is rent from the front, then is her tale true, and he is a liar!
But if it be that his shirt is torn from the back, then is she the liar, and he is telling the truth!” So when he saw his shirt, that it was torn at the back, her husband said, “Behold, it is a snare of you women! Truly, mighty is your snare! O Joseph, pass this over! O wife, ask forgiveness for your sin, for truly you have been at fault.” Ladies said in the city, “The wife of the ‘Aziz is seeking to seduce her slave from his true self; truly he has inspired her with violent love; we see she is evidently going astray.”
When she heard of their malicious talk, she sent for them and prepared a banquet for them; she gave each of them a knife and said [to Joseph], “Come out before them.” When they saw him, they did extol him and cut their hands; they said, “God preserve us! No mortal is this! This is none other than a noble angel!” She said, “There before you is the man about whom you blamed me! I did seek to seduce him from his true self, but he did firmly save himself guiltless… And now, if he does not do my bidding, he shall certainly be cast into prison and be of the company of the vilest!”²⁴
Qur’an 12.22-32

The chief butler said to Pharaoh, “I remember my faults today. When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning. A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard; and when we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. And as he interpreted to us, so it came to pass; I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it; and I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”… Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dream is one.
The seven lean and gaunt cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. It is as I told Pharaoh, God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of that famine which will follow, for it will be very grievous. And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
Now therefore let Pharaoh select a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land, and take the fifth part of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plenteous years. And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and lay up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it.
That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine which are to befall the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.” This proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants… Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are; you shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command… Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”
Genesis 41.9-41

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

A seemingly chance encounter may be fraught with destiny, so we should not take anything casually. You know the story of Joseph. His brothers put him in a well thinking to kill him, but they sold him instead and he was brought to Egypt as a slave. There the wife of his master Potiphar tried to seduce him, and when he would not be tempted she had him imprisoned. While in prison and awaiting the day of his execution, he interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and was raised to the rank of Prime Minister of Egypt. How, in the midst of his misery, could Joseph have even imagined that such good fortune would befall him? Yet these things opened the way for him to save the Israelites. Who could have known that it would turn out that way?
Likewise, if I had not been sent to Heung Nam prison for three years, I never would have committed myself to eradicate communism from this earth with my own hands. I would not have known the reality of communism, but would have simply dismissed it as just another philosophy. It was in prison that I experienced communism first-hand. You cannot imagine the cruelty and misery of life in that prison. Yet out of my experience there I resolved to liberate all people who suffered under the communist yoke. The inmates of that prison faced all kinds of evils, and many of them perished. Yet in that awful place a miracle occurred: something unexpected happened in my life that would one day change history [cause communism to fall].
When you consider this, how observant you should be in everything you do and at every moment! You should be able to digest any situation you encounter. This is absolutely necessary for your life as a human being. If you live your life with this attitude, success will walk by your side. If you do not, success will always be two steps ahead of you.
For example, suppose while walking down the street you trip over a crack and knock down a young lady who happens to be walking beside you, sending her to the hospital with a broken ankle. You visit her in the hospital, befriend her, and in time she becomes a church member and gains eternal life. Looking back on that accident, do you think she will curse you or be grateful that it happened? She would say, “It’s amazing! I am so glad that my ankle was broken.
Thank you, ankle! Amen!” and add proudly, “In all of history, there is no one who was witnessed to the way I was!” Therefore, do not pray, “Please God, guard me from getting into a car accident.” Instead, think that a car accident could be the opportunity that opens the door to many unexpected blessings. Who knows the future? You cannot see it. So how do you know whether to complain about your situation or be grateful? Since you do not know, be grateful. That is the attitude of a wise person.
(November 4, 1990)

People in prison fit into two categories. One category is criminals who violated the legitimate interests of society for selfish reasons and broke the law. Even Satan’s world²⁵ does not like such people. The second category is godly people who are disliked by people in Satan’s world. Since people in Satan’s world are God’s enemies, they target the people on God’s side for imprisonment. Everyone in prison, everyone who is executed under Satan’s sovereignty, belongs to one of these two categories. This has been so throughout history.
God uses the imprisonment of godly people to cut the satanic net that covers this world and, by casting Heaven’s net, to connect all people to the rope of God’s love. Even though the powers of the satanic world put a godly person in prison, they cannot handle him or digest him. Eventually, they will have to pay a penalty.
When a person whom Satan’s world imprisons loves God more intensely than Satan’s people love in their self-centered way, he creates a problem for Satan’s world. It will have to pay compensation a million-fold. Why? Satan knows that he should belong to God and be under the authority of God’s realm of true love. Therefore, as long as God is alive, when someone is exhibiting true love, Satan cannot show his face. If he nevertheless causes any harm to come to that person, he will have to pay a heavy price for eternity.
This is the very strategy of God. Often in the past, God sent His beloved children into a situation where they would stand up for righteousness and purposefully make problems for the evil world. They would be imprisoned and sometimes even executed. Yet by killing God’s children, the satanic world has had to pay compensation for thousands of years. By this strategy God could expand the foundation of religion throughout the world.
(167:305-06, August 20, 1987)