Chapter 11
JOSEPH A
TYPE OF THE CHRIST
GENESIS 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41
Charles Fillmore
Mysteries of Genesis
MAN, AN IDEA in Divine
Mind, is manifested in various states
of consciousness. These appear
outwardly as personalities and take
form as bodies. In describing states of
consciousness the Bible uses the
personality in a representative sense,
with the meaning of the name as a key
to the state of being
explained.
The meaning of the name
Joseph is "whom Jehovah will add to."
He represents the "increasing" faculty
of the mind, that state of
consciousness in which we increase in
all phases of our character. This is
especially true of substance; for
Joseph as imagination molds mind
substance in the realm of forms. He had
a coat of many colors; his dreams were
always of forms and shapes--the sheaves
of wheat, the stars and moon. An
interpreter of dreams, the phenomenal
was his field of action. This formative
power is characteristic of the
imagination, and among the twelve
primal faculties of mind we find that
this faculty of the imagination is
represented by Joseph.
The Joseph faculty is
the dreamer of dreams and the seer of
visions, which are expressed always in
forms and symbols. If you are a vivid
dreamer and can correctly interpret
your own dreams, you may know that you
are developing your Joseph faculty.
However, it is one thing to dream and
quite another to interpret dreams
correctly. All people dream more or
less, but few can interpret dreams.
Visions come under the same head, for
dreams are not necessarily the sole
concomitant of sleep.
Gen. 37:1-8. And
Jacob dwelt in the land of his
father's sojournings, in the land
of Canaan. These are the
generations of Jacob. Joseph, being
seventeen years old, was feeding
the flock with his brethren; and he
was a lad with the sons of Bilhah,
and with the sons of Zilpah, his
father's wives: and Joseph brought
the evil report of them unto his
father. Now Israel loved Joseph
more than all his children, because
he was the son of his old age: and
he made him a coat of many colors.
And his brethren saw that their
father loved him more than all his
brethren; and they hated him, and
could not speak peaceably unto
him.
And Joseph
dreamed a dream, and he told it to
his brethren: and they hated him
yet the more. And he said unto
them, Hear, I pray you, this dream
which I have dreamed: for, behold,
we were binding sheaves in the
field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and
also stood upright; and, behold,
your sheaves came round about, and
made obeisance to my sheaf. And his
brethren said to him, Shalt thou
indeed reign over us? or shalt thou
indeed have dominion over us? And
they hated him yet the more for his
dreams, and for his
words.
Joseph represents the
faculty of imagination. This faculty
produces the pictures or images that
make visible every idea that the mind
can conceive and reveals to the
illumined intellect (Jacob) the
activities of the other faculties
(Joseph's brothers; in this case the
sons of Bilhah and Zilpah).
Joseph was the proud
owner of a coat of many colors, a gift
from his father. The coat is the symbol
of the Truth given to us by the Father.
Truth in its entirety is symbolized by
the seamless garment that Jesus wore,
for it cannot be separated into
divisions or parts. All truth is one
Truth. Joseph's coat being of many
colors indicates that when we open up
this new realm of consciousness and
begin to use the imagination, our
conception of Truth is colored by the
many previous mental states that have
so long herded our flocks of thoughts.
At this stage we have not yet come into
the understanding, into the pure white
light of unqualified Truth, that is
symbolized by the seamless robe of
unity.
The home of the
imagination is in the realm of ideas,
where another dimension of mind is
opened to it, even the kingdom of the
heavens. The imaging faculty gives man
the ability to project himself through
time and space and thus rise above
these limitations as well as all other
limitations. Even when the conscious
mind is asleep the imagination
continues its activity and we have
dreams.
As we have learned, we
cannot take our dreams literally but
must interpret them by means of the
symbols given us. For instance,
Joseph's dream about the sheaves was a
dream about substance and a prophecy of
his attainment of a superior
consciousness of universal substance.
That consciousness of substance
afterward brought forth fruit when he
supervised the storage of grain in
Egypt, and this grain furnished needed
supply to his father and brothers and
brought them to him. Imagination uses
ideas to increase its store of
universal substance and clothes ideas
in form; for it is both a formative and
an increasing faculty.
An uncontrolled
imagination will often exaggerate and
increase one's consciousness of trivial
or even unreal things until both mind
and body are affected. (Joseph carried
tales about his brothers to his
father.) The imagination is a very
powerful faculty, and we must learn to
discipline it if we would make it
practical in serving our highest good.
By following the inspiration of the
supermind or Jehovah consciousness we
can control the imagination and direct
its work to practical ends.
Gen. 37:9-22. And he
dreamed yet another dream, and told
it to his brethren, and said,
Behold, I have dreamed yet a dream;
and, behold, the sun and the moon
and eleven stars made obeisance to
me. And he told it to his father,
and to his brethren; and his father
rebuked him, and said unto him,
What is this dream that thou hast
dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and
thy brethren indeed come to bow
down ourselves to thee to the
earth? And his brethren envied him;
but his father kept the saying in
mind.
And his brethren
went to feed their father's flock
in Shechem. And Israel said unto
Joseph, Are not thy brethren
feeding the flock in Shechem? come,
and I will send thee unto them. And
he said to him, Here am I. And he
said to him, Go now, see whether it
is well with thy brethren, and well
with the flock; and bring me word
again. So he sent him out of the
vale of Hebron, and he came to
Shechem. And a certain man found
him, and behold, he was wandering
in the field: and the man asked
him, saying, What seekest thou? And
he said, I am seeking my brethren:
tell me, I pray thee, where they
are feeding the flock. And the man
said, They are departed hence; for
I heard them say, Let us go to
Dothan. And Joseph went after his
brethren, and found them in
Dothan.
And they saw him
afar off, and before he came near
unto them, they conspired against
him to slay him. And they said one
to another, Behold, this dreamer
cometh. Come now therefore, and let
us slay him, and cast him into one
of the pits, and we will say, An
evil beast hath devoured him: and
we shall see what will become of
his dreams. And Reuben heard it,
and delivered him out of their
hand, and said, Let us not take his
life. And Reuben said unto them,
Shed no blood; cast him into this
pit that is in the wilderness, but
lay no hand upon him: that he might
deliver him out of their hand, to
restore him to his
father.
In the foregoing
Scripture Joseph's dream is very
significant. Jacob's words "Shall I and
thy mother and thy brethren indeed come
to bow down ourselves to thee to the
earth?" are
self-explanatory.
Shechem denotes a
thought of burdens, which reveals that
the brothers took to heart Joseph's
superior attitude. Joseph's talebearing
propensity and the fact that their
father loved Joseph better than he did
his brothers served to stir up the
antagonism of the other sons toward
Joseph. Jacob (the I AM) (functioning
in Hebron, which means "united," "bound
by a common bond") sent Joseph (the
imagination) down into Shechem
("bending down," "a burden") to see how
his brothers (the other faculties)
fared. Jacob (the I AM) operating in
the consciousness of friendship and
unity did not take seriously the
contention that Joseph (the boasting
imagination) had brought
about.
The name Dothan means
"two wells," "edicts," "customs."
Dothan symbolizes the double standard
of thought that man holds regarding his
life and substance, the law of Being on
the one hand, custom on the other. His
customary beliefs lead to limited,
warped experiences, while an
understanding of the true law of Being
increases the activity of the power of
God in his life and also makes him
conscious of that activity. (Dothan is
the place where Joseph found his
brethren.)
Reuben, symbolizing the
faculty of discernment in the outer,
suggested the pit (which represents a
pitfall or trap), intending later to
deliver Joseph and thus restore him to
the arms of his father.
Gen. 37:23-28. And
it came to pass, when Joseph was
come unto his brethren, that they
stripped Joseph of his coat, the
coat of many colors that was on
him; and they took him, and cast
him into the pit: and the pit was
empty, there was no water in
it.
And they sat down
to eat bread: and they lifted up
their eyes and looked, and, behold,
a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming
from Gilead, with their camels
bearing spicery and balm and myrrh,
going to carry it down to Egypt.
And Judah said unto his brethren,
What profit is it if we slay our
brother and conceal his blood?
Come, and let us sell him to the
Ishmaelites, and let not our hand
be upon him; for he is our brother,
our flesh. And his brethren
hearkened unto him. And there
passed by Midianites, merchantmen;
and they drew and lifted up Joseph
out of the pit, and sold Joseph to
the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces
of silver. And they brought Joseph
into Egypt.
Gilead represents the
high place in consciousness where
Spirit discerns and witnesses to what
is true and to all man's thoughts and
acts so that an adjustment may be made
throughout mind and body. The
Ishmaelites represent the fruit of the
thought of the natural man at work in
the flesh; also the consciousness that
recognizes God but that, because of the
seeming opposition of the outer world,
does not find expression according to
the highest standard.
The Midianites were
enemies of the Israelites. The
Midianites represent discrimination or
judgment employed according to human
standards. Judging according to outer
appearances produces discordant
thoughts and jealousies and their
kin.
The fact that Joseph was
sold as a slave into Egypt by his
brothers signifies that at a certain
stage of his unfoldment man will barter
away his high ideals of Truth in order
to go on living in sense consciousness.
He will even debase his imagination
(Joseph) and send it down into his body
consciousness to stir up his emotions
and get the thrill of sensation.
However the faculty of imagination, if
it has been trained and disciplined,
will work for the good of man even in
the darkened realm of sense (Egypt).
Though the purpose in selling Joseph
into Egypt was error, the result proved
to be good. This shows the outworking
of the law stated in Romans 8:28: "To
them that love God all things work
together for good." Even when error
seems to be in the ascendancy there is
that in us which remains true to God
and finally brings about our
deliverance. "The wrath of man shall
praise thee."
The great point in the
story is that Joseph, even when
overcome by error from without and sold
into Egyptian slavery, still remained
true to the divine ideas of his Father.
In any department of life the
imagination will work for the
development and perfection of the
individual or for the direct opposite
of this, depending on how it has been
trained. It is a powerful faculty, for
it forms ideas in substance and brings
desire into manifestation. If the
desires are allowed to run riot on the
sense plane, the imagination will
proceed directly to bring them into
manifestation as inharmony or disease.
On the other hand, when the imagination
is kept busy with high ideas, ideas
originally inspired in it by the I AM,
it is the most effective of all the
faculties for the work of spiritual
development. Faithfulness to high
ideas, when coupled with an unshaken
confidence in the I AM, cannot be
wholly overcome by error, nor can
anyone who exercises these faculties be
kept for long in the
background.
Judah (representing
prayer and praise), the fourth son of
Jacob and Leah, suggested the idea of
selling Joseph into Egypt rather than
taking his life.
Gen. 37:29-36. And
Reuben returned unto the pit; and,
behold, Joseph was not in the pit;
and he rent his clothes. And he
returned unto his brethren, and
said, The child is not; and I,
whither shall I go? And they took
Joseph's coat, and killed a
he-goat, and dipped the coat in the
blood; and they sent the coat of
many colors, and they brought it to
their father, and said, This have
we found: know now whether it is
thy son's coat or not. And he knew
it, and said, It is my son's coat;
an evil beast hath devoured him;
Joseph is without doubt torn in
pieces. And Jacob rent his
garments, and put sackcloth upon
his loins, and mourned for his son
many days. And all his sons and all
his daughters rose up to comfort
him; but he refused to be
comforted; and he said, For I will
go down to Sheol to my son
mourning. And his father wept for
him. And the Midianites sold him
into Egypt unto Potiphar, an
officer of Pharaoh's, the captain
of the guard.
Jacob represents
intellectual illumination. However
illumination on the intellectual plane
often lacks discernment; it has not
attained the power to express the sure,
steady, revealing light of Spirit.
Jacob was in the dark as regards the
fate of his son Joseph (symbolical of
the imagination). Hence Jacob was
deceived by blood on the coat and
mourned with the crowd.
Among the twelve
faculties the imagination is least
understood in its evolution from sense
to soul consciousness. To this day
those who function in sense echo the
brothers of Joseph in their slighting
exclamation, "Here comes that dreamer."
Yet in art, science, literature,
religion, and even business the cry is
"Give us men of imagination!" The fact
is there is no progress of man or the
race without expansion of the
imagination. The history of Joseph, the
attempts of those nearest and dearest
to him to thwart the unfoldment of his
innate ability, and his final victory
in attaining the exalted office of
prime minister of Egypt, shows us in
symbols how the whole man will
eventually be glorified in
Spirit.
However in the early
stages of the Joseph quickening all the
other faculties combine to destroy it;
they think it visionary and
impractical.
The blood-drenched coat
represents the futile attempt of the
outer realm of sense to kill out the
inner Spirit life. Life marches on and
the vision of the soul finds new
expression in other states of
consciousness.
Pharaoh represents the
ego or will that rules the body under
the natural law. Potiphar symbolizes
the executive arm of the
will.
Sheol is the abode of
the dead conceived by the Hebrews as a
subterranean region clothed in thick
darkness. It represents the mental
gloom into which the personal man is
plunged when he gives himself over to
thoughts of death and grief.
Gen. 38:1-11. And it
came to pass at that time, that
Judah went down from his brethren,
and turned in to a certain
Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.
And Judah saw there a daughter of a
certain Canaanite whose name was
Shua; and he took her, and went in
unto her. And she conceived, and
bare a son; and he called his name
Er. And she conceived again, and
bare a son; and she called his name
Onan. And she yet again bare a son,
and called his name Shelah: and he
was at Chezib, when she bare him.
And Judah took a wife for Er his
first-born, and her name was Tamar.
And Er, Judah's first-born, was
wicked in the sight of Jehovah; and
Jehovah slew him. And Judah said
unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's
wife, and perform the duty of a
husbands' brother unto her, and
raise up seed to thy brother. And
Onan knew that the seed would not
be his; and it came to pass, when
he went in unto his brother's wife,
that he spilled it on the ground,
lest he should give seed to his
brother. And the thing which he did
was evil in the sight of Jehovah:
and he slew him also. Then said
Judah to Tamar his daughter-in-law,
Remain a widow in thy father's
house, till Shelah my son be grown
up; for he said, Lest he also die,
like his brethren. And Tamar went
and dwelt in her father's
house.
The predominant thought
in the minds of the people at that time
was to produce progeny (seed), and they
restored to every device in order to
attain their end.
Hirah was an Adullamite,
a friend of Judah. The name Hirah means
"splendid," "noble," "pure," "liberty."
An Adullamite was a native of the city
of Addullam, which represents a state
of poise in prayer in which spiritual
ideas flow into consciousness without
obstruction. Being in the valley, it
would not refer to a high, exalted
state of mind in prayer but rather to
an established equilibrium and
adjustment in the body consciousness.
But even if at first it seems to be
only in the material consciousness, it
imparts a "splendid," "noble" quality
to the man and leads toward true
"liberty." Such a state of
consciousness is represented by
Hirah.
Shua ("broad," "ample,"
"riches") represents the broad, rich
thoughts of abundant substance in the
depths of the subconscious mind. Judah
united with a daughter of Shua, who
symbolizes the feminine element in the
rich subconsciousness. Three sons were
born to this union:
Er represents observant,
vigilant thoughts. It matters a great
deal what one watches or gives
attention to. If one persists in
recognizing that which appears to be
evil, one cannot obtain abiding life
and good. (Er was wicked in the sight
of Jehovah.)
Onan symbolizes thoughts
pertaining to strength and vigor, yet
thoughts that are not spiritual but of
the intellect. They are influenced too
by the lower emotions and tendencies of
the carnal soul (Onan's mother was a
Canaanitish woman); therefore they are
likely to bring about inharmony and
error because of the misdirection of
energy. Yet in themselves these
thoughts are good and if directed by
spiritual understanding yield great
blessings.
Shelah represents a
sense of peace, harmony, and security
that has come about through prayer,
affirmation, and desire. However Shelah
was born in Chezib, which symbolizes a
deceptive state of mind that lies deep
within the elemental life forces of the
individual. This deceptive state of
consciousness must be cleansed
thoroughly of its error, its
double-minded, idolatrous belief in a
power of evil as well as a power of
good, so that the truth of the one life
and the one God, good, may be
established within its
depths.
Gen. 38:12-30. And
in process of time Shua's daughter,
the wife of Judah, died; and Judah
was comforted, and went up unto his
sheep-shearers to Timnah, he and
his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
And it was told Tamar, saying,
Behold, thy father-in-law goeth up
to Timnah to shear his sheep. And
she put off from her the garments
of her widowhood, and covered
herself with her veil, and wrapped
herself, and sat in the gate of
Enaim, which is by the way to
Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was
grown up, and she was not given
unto him to wife. When Judah saw
her, he thought her to be a harlot;
for she had covered her face. And
he turned unto her by the way, and
said, Come, I pray thee, let me
come in unto thee: for he knew not
that she was his daughter-in-law.
And she said, What wilt thou give
me, that thou mayest come in unto
me? And he said, I will send thee a
kid of the goats from the flock.
And she said, Wilt thou give me a
pledge, till thou send it? And he
said, What pledge shall I give
thee? And she said, Thy signet and
thy cord, and thy staff that is in
thy hand. And he gave them to her,
and came in unto her, and she
conceived by him. And she arose,
and went away, and put off her veil
from her, and put on the garments
of her widowhood. And Judah sent
the kid of the goats by the hand of
his friend the Adullamite, to
receive the pledge from the woman's
hand: but he found her not. Then he
asked the men of her place, saying,
Where is the prostitute, that was
at Enaim by the wayside? And they
said, There hath been no prostitute
here. And he returned to Judah, and
said, I have not found her; and
also the men of the place said,
There hath been no prostitute here.
And Judah said, Let her take it to
her, lest we be put to shame:
behold, I sent this kid, and thou
hast not found her.
And it came to
pass about three months after, that
it was told Judah, saying, Tamar
thy daughter-in-law hath played the
harlot; and moreover, behold, she
is with child by whoredom. And
Judah said, Bring her forth, and
let her be burnt. When she was
brought forth, she sent to her
father-in-law, saying, By the man,
whose these are, am I with child:
and she said; Discern, I pray thee,
whose are these, the signet, and
the cords, and the staff. And Judah
acknowledged them, and said, She is
more righteous than I, forasmuch as
I gave her not to Shelah my son.
And he knew her again no more. And
it came to pass in the time of her
travail, that, behold, twins were
in her womb. And it came to pass,
when she travailed, that one put
out a hand: and the midwife took
and bound upon his hand a scarlet
thread, saying, This came out
first. And it came to pass, as he
drew back his hand, that, behold,
his brother came out: and she said,
Wherefore hast thou made a breach
for thyself? therefore his name was
called Perez. And afterward came
out his brother, that had the
scarlet thread upon his hand: and
his name was called
Zerah.
The name Judah means
"praise Jehovah." Praise is closely
related to prayer; under the law of
mind, whatever we praise we increase.
Praise is the key to the increase of
life activity. If you depreciate your
life you decrease your consciousness of
life. Thus we find that, besides
symbolizing the place in consciousness
where we come in contact with the
highest activities of Divine Mind,
Judah also represents the central
faculty of consciousness.
This faculty operates in
the body consciousness through the
spinal cord, as well as in the top
head, and finds its outer expression
through the life center, which,
unregenerated, is Judas, who hath a
devil. When life is separated from the
inner faculties and endeavors to find
expression without their co-operation,
man gives himself over to his animal
nature and inclinations.
The name Tamar means
"palm," "erect," "upright." Tamar
represents victory and conquest through
uprightness. "And Judah . . . said, She
is more righteous than I, forasmuch as
I gave her not to Shelah my son." This
consciousness of victory or conquest
and overcoming power is of the soul in
the individual.
Timnah symbolizes the
error race belief that a share of the
life forces in man rightly belongs to
the purely animal, physical, and sense
part of his being. Judah kept his sheep
in this Canaanitish city. Sheep
represent the pure, natural life of the
organism and Canaanites the elemental
life forces in man.
Enaim, in whose gate
Tamar sat, is supposed to be one with
the city of Enam. The name means "two
eyes," "double springs." It signifies
the fountain of understanding in man,
which because of his belief in good and
evil, in materiality as well as
spirituality, is dedicated to both
generation and regeneration, both sense
and Spirit. Double-mindedness causes
instability. Stability is needed if one
is to grow and develop spiritually. One
establishes stability of character by
giving oneself up wholly, with
singleness of purpose, to the
regenerative law.
The name Perez means
"broken through," "torn asunder." Perez
represents victory through praise, or
making a way out of apparent limitation
and error and prevailing over them by
means of prayer and praise.
(Tamar said, "Wherefore
hast thou made a breach for thyself?
therefore his name was called
Perez.")
Zerah ("sunrise," "birth
of a child," "germination of a seed")
represents awakening to new light, new
understanding, in consciousness; the
first conscious awakening to the
presence of this new inner light or
understanding. (The sun rises in the
east, and the east denotes the
within.)
In the journey from
sense to Spirit the soul passes through
many phases, misdirects its faculties,
and practices multitudinous forms of
dissipation or waste. (These verses in
Genesis illustrate this fact.) But as
man follows the light as it is given
him to see the light, he gradually
learns to understand himself and his
soul activities. Then he begins to
conform to spiritual law and to
conserve his energies, forces, and
substance, which in turn results in
lifting up the whole man, spirit, soul,
and body, out of the mire of
materiality and sense into the new
estate of the regenerate man, the Jesus
Christ man.
Gen. 39:1-3. And
Joseph was brought down to Egypt;
and Potiphar, an Officer of
Pharaoh's, the captain of the
guard, an Egyptian, bought him of
the hand of the Ishmaelites, that
had brought him down thither. And
Jehovah was with Joseph, and he was
a prosperous man; and he was in the
house of his master the Egyptian.
And his master saw that Jehovah was
with him, and that Jehovah made all
that he did to prosper in his
hand.
Joseph's being brought
down into Egypt signifies the
imagination's becoming active in the
body consciousness and in the
subconsciousness. Imagination usually
reaches out into the unseen world about
us and forms substance according to the
pattern of our thoughts. But its first
duty is to go down into the Egyptian
darkness of our material and sense
thoughts and, under the law, lift the
body consciousness to a higher plane.
Body, soul, and spirit are unified as
one, and the Truth student cannot
afford to lose sight of the fact that
all three are to be lifted up. Unless
he is careful in this regard, the body
consciousness may be left far behind
the soul and spirit and some
unfavorable reaction become manifest in
the body or affairs.
The word Pharaoh means
"the sun," "the Ra." Joseph was sold to
Potiphar, an executive officer of
Pharaoh's court, who represents one of
the ruling ideas in the state of
consciousness symbolized by Pharaoh,
"the sun." Egypt symbolizes the
material body consciousness ruled by
the "sun" or solar plexus, which is the
center in the subconsciousness. Pharaoh
rules in obscurity or darkness because
the great sun of the body, the solar
plexus, is obscured or unknown to the
conscious mind. The light of the sun of
righteousness is veiled by our
conscious living on the low plane of
sense.
God prospers us when we
give the best that is in us and do all
things unto Him, acknowledging Him in
all our affairs. This is a sure way to
success, and when success does come we
should realize that it resulted from
the work of Spirit in us, because we
made ourselves channels through which
the Christ Mind could bring its ideas
into manifestation. The true Christian
never boasts that he is a self-made
man, for he well knows that all that he
is and has, together with all that he
can ever hope to be or to have, is but
God finding expression through him as
life.
Gen. 39:4-6. And
Joseph found favor in his sight,
and he ministered unto him: and he
made him overseer over his house,
and all that he had he put into his
hand. And it came to pass from the
time that he made him overseer in
his house, and over all that he
had, that Jehovah blessed the
Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake;
and the blessing of Jehovah was
upon all that he had, in the house
and in the field. And he left all
that he had in Joseph's hand; and
he knew not aught that was with
him, save the bread which he did
eat. And Joseph was comely, and
well favored.
Joseph was a spiritual
character and worked from principle,
hence he found favor in Potiphar's
house and brought added blessings to
it. This Scripture proves the simple
outworking of the law. "And Joseph was
comely, and well favored."
Gen. 39:7-23. And it
came to pass after these things,
that his master's wife cast her
eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie
with me. But he refused, and said
unto his master's wife, Behold, my
master knoweth not what is with me
in the house, and he hath put all
that he hath into my hand: he is
not greater in this house than I;
neither hath he kept back anything
from me but thee, because thou art
his wife: how then can I do this
great wickedness, and sin against
God? And it came to pass, as she
spake to Joseph day by day, that he
hearkened not unto her, to lie with
her, or to be with her. And it came
to pass about this time, that he
went into the house to do his work;
and there was none of the men of
the house there within. And she
caught him by his garment, saying,
Lie with me: and he left his
garment in her hand, and fled, and
got him out. And it came to pass,
when she saw that he had left his
garment in her hand, and was fled
forth, that she called unto the men
of her house, and spake unto them,
saying, See, he hath brought in a
Hebrew unto us to mock us: he came
in unto me to lie with me, and I
cried with a loud voice: and it
came to pass, when he heard that I
lifted up my voice and cried, that
he left his garment by me, and
fled, and got him out. And she laid
up his garment by her, until his
master came home. And she spake
unto him according to these words,
saying, The Hebrew servant, whom
thou hast brought unto us, came in
unto me to mock me: and it came to
pass, as I lifted up my voice and
cried, that he left his garment by
me, and fled out.
And it came to
pass, when his master heard the
words of his wife, which she spake
unto him, saying, After this manner
did thy servant to me; that his
wrath was kindled. And Joseph's
master took him, and put him into
the prison, the place where the
king's prisoners were bound: and he
was there in the prison. But
Jehovah was with Joseph, and showed
kindness unto him, and gave him
favor in the sight of the keeper of
the prison. And the keeper of the
prison committed to Joseph's hand
all the prisoners that were in the
prison; and whatsoever they did
there, he was the doer of it. The
keeper of the prison looked not to
anything that was under his hand,
because Jehovah was with him; and
that which he did, Jehovah made it
to prosper.
The imagination is
liable to get into trouble because it
is so little understood. The sense
consciousness of the animal soul
(Potiphar's wife) tempts us through the
imagination to gratify its sense
desires. When we refuse it expression
there is a reaction, and we seem for a
time to be imprisoned or limited in
making progress. But if we patiently
bide our time, knowing that only good
can come to us, the seemingly
imprisoned faculty (Joseph) will prove
its God-given power. Although
physically imprisoned, Joseph (the
imagination) expresses himself
spiritually, for the Lord (law) is with
him, and in due time he will come into
his rightful place as one of the
important faculties in the
consciousness. (Jehovah, the law, was
with Joseph.)
By faithfully performing
the routine duties intrusted to one,
even in a prison, one is certain to be
advanced to a better and more
remunerative position. However
faithfulness has an even greater reward
than this, for all the while the
faithful one is building a firmer,
truer, and more Godlike character in
himself, which is an enduring
recompense; for thus he enters into the
possession of the true riches, the
spiritual consciousness. Joseph was
made the overseer of all the prisoners
and later was released and given the
highest position in the land as prime
minister or adviser to
Pharaoh.
Gen. 40:1-23. And it
came to pass after these things,
that the butler of the king of
Egypt and his baker offended their
lord the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh
was wroth against his two officers,
against the chief of the butlers,
and against the chief of the
bakers. And he put them in ward in
the house of the captain of the
guard, into the prison, the place
where Joseph was bound. And the
captain of the guard charged Joseph
with them, and he ministered unto
them: and they continued a season
in ward. And they dreamed a dream
both of them, each man his dream,
in one night, each man according to
the interpretation of his dream,
the butler and the baker of the
king of Egypt, who were bound in
the prison. And Joseph came in unto
them in the morning, and saw them,
and, behold, they were sad. And he
asked Pharaoh's officers that were
with him in ward in his master's
house, saying, Wherefore look ye so
sad today? And they said unto him,
We have dreamed a dream, and there
is none that can interpret it. And
Joseph said unto them, Do not
interpretations belong to God? tell
it me, I pray you.
And the chief
butler told his dream to Joseph,
and said to him, In my dream,
behold, a vine was before me; and
in the vine were three branches:
and it was as though it budded, and
its blossoms shot forth; and the
clusters thereof brought forth ripe
grapes: and Pharaoh's cup was in my
hand; and I took the grapes, and
pressed them into Pharaoh's cup,
and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's
hand. And Joseph said unto him,
This is the interpretation of it:
the three branches are three days;
within yet three days shall Pharaoh
lift up thy head, and restore thee
unto thine office: and thou shalt
give Pharaoh's cup into his hand,
after the former manner when thou
wast his butler. But have me in thy
remembrance when it shall be well
with thee, and show kindness, I
pray thee, unto me, and make
mention of me unto Pharaoh, and
bring me out of this house: for
indeed I was stolen away out of the
land of the Hebrews: and here also
have I done nothing that they
should put me into the
dungeon.
When the chief
baker saw that the interpretation
was good, he said unto Joseph, I
also was in my dream, and, behold,
three baskets of white bread were
on my head: and in the uppermost
basket there was of all manner of
baked food for Pharaoh; and the
birds did eat them out of the
basket upon my head. And Joseph
answered and said, This is the
interpretation thereof: the three
baskets are three days; within yet
three days shall Pharaoh life up
thy head from off thee, and shall
hang thee on a tree; and the birds
shall eat thy flesh from off thee.
And it came to pass the third day,
which was Pharaoh's birthday, that
he made a feast unto all his
servants: and he lifted up the head
of the chief butler and the head of
the chief baker among his servants.
And he restored the chief butler
unto his butlership again; and he
gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand:
but he hanged the chief baker: as
Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet
did not the chief butler remember
Joseph, but forgat him.
The chief butler and the
chief baker were also in prison (the
subconsciousness). This shows how we
put the Spirit of life (the butler's
wine) and of substance (the baker's
bread) in bondage to or under the
dominion of the sense man. By this time
Joseph had become the warden in charge
of all the prisoners, so that life and
substance were under his control. When
imagination controls these it exercises
a powerful influence in the
subconsciousness, bringing into
manifestation many things that are so
foreign and strange to us that they
seem to come from without.
Joseph's interpretation
of the dreams and the coming to pass of
events exactly as he had predicted them
gave him prestige as an interpreter of
dreams and later brought him to the
attention of the king.
What is the significance
of dreams? The time of dreaming is
either when we are losing consciousness
in the process of going to sleep or
when we are regaining it during
awakening. When we are in deep sleep we
live in the subconsciousness, a life of
which the conscious mind knows nothing.
This mind catches glimpses of it when
we are making the transition from one
state to the other. However we are in
close touch with the superconscious,
the mind of Spirit, when we are in the
borderland state between sleeping and
waking. At such times one who is
spiritual-minded and who at all times
seeks to know what infinite wisdom has
to reveal, receives his message. Spirit
speaks in symbols such as the butler's
cup of wine and the baker's loaf of
bread, and the trained faculty of
imagination (Joseph) interprets the
symbols to the conscious
mind.
Gen. 41:1-44. And it
came to pass at the end of two full
years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and,
behold, he stood by the river. And,
behold, there came up out of the
river seven kine, well-favored and
fat-fleshed: and they fed in the
reed-grass. And, behold, seven
other kine came up after them out
of the river, ill-favored and
lean-fleshed, and stood by the
other kine upon the brink of the
river. And the ill-favored and
lean-fleshed kine did eat up the
seven well-favored and fat kine. So
Pharaoh awoke. And he slept and
dreamed a second time: and, behold,
seven ears of grain came up upon
one stalk, rank and good. And,
behold, seven ears, thin and
blasted with the east wind, sprang
up after them. And the thin ears
swallowed up the seven rank and
full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and,
behold, it was a dream. And it came
to pass in the morning that his
spirit was troubled; and he sent
and called for all the magicians of
Egypt, and all the wise men
thereof: and Pharaoh told them his
dream; but there was none that
could interpret them unto
Pharaoh.
Then spake the
chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying,
I do remember my faults this day:
Pharaoh was wroth with his
servants, and put me in ward in the
house of the captain of the guard,
me and the chief baker: and we
dreamed a dream in one night, I and
he; we dreamed each man according
to the interpretation of his dream.
And there was with us there a young
man, a Hebrew, servant to the
captain of the guard; and we told
him, and he interpreted to us our
dreams; to each man according to
his dream he did interpret. And it
came to pass, as he interpreted to
us, so it was; me he restored unto
mine office, and him he
hanged.
Then Pharaoh sent
and called Joseph, and they brought
him hastily out of the dungeon: and
he shaved himself, and changed his
raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I
have dreamed a dream, and there is
none that can interpret it: and I
have heard say of thee, that when
thou hearest a dream thou canst
interpret it. And Joseph answered
Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me:
God will give Pharaoh an answer of
peace. And Pharaoh spake unto
Joseph, In my dream, behold, I
stood upon the brink of the river:
and, behold, there came up out of
the river seven kine, fat-fleshed
and well-favored; and they fed in
the reed-grass: and, behold, seven
other kine came up after them, poor
and very ill-favored and
lean-fleshed, such as I never saw
in all the land of Egypt for
badness: and the lean and
ill-favored kine did eat up the
first seven fat kine: and when they
had eaten them up, it could not be
known that they had eaten them; but
they were still ill-favored, as at
the beginning. So I awoke. And I
saw in my dream, and, behold, seven
ears came up upon one stalk, full
and good: and, behold, seven ears,
withered, thin, and blasted with
the east wind, sprung up after
them: and the thin ears swallowed
up the seven good ears: and I told
it unto the magicians; but there
was none that could declare it to
me.
And Joseph said
unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh
is one: what God is about to do he
hath declared unto Pharaoh. The
seven good kine are seven years;
and the seven good ears are seven
years: the dream is one. And the
seven lean and ill-favored kine
that came up after them are seven
years, and also the seven empty
ears blasted with the east wind;
they shall be seven years of
famine. That is the thing which I
spake unto Pharaoh: what God is
about to do he hath showed unto
Pharaoh. Behold, there come seven
years of great plenty throughout
all the land of Egypt: and there
shall arise after them seven years
of famine; and all the plenty shall
be forgotten in the land of Egypt;
and the famine shall consume the
land; and the plenty shall not be
known in the land by reason of that
famine which followeth; for it
shall be very grievous. And for
that the dream was doubled unto
Pharaoh, it is because the thing is
established by God, and God will
shortly bring it to pass. Now
therefore let Pharaoh look out a
man discreet and wise, and set him
over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh
do this, and let him appoint
overseers over the land, and take
up the fifth part of the land of
Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
And let them gather all the food of
these good years that come, and lay
up grain under the hand of Pharaoh
for food in the cities, and let
them keep it. And the food shall be
for a store to the land against the
seven years of famine, which shall
be in the land of Egypt; and the
land perish not through the
famine.
And the thing was
good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in
the eyes of all his servants. And
Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can
we find such a one as this, a man
in whom the spirit of God is? And
Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch
as God hath showed thee all this,
there is none so discreet and wise
as thou: thou shalt be over my
house, and according unto thy word
shall all my people be ruled: only
in the throne will I be greater
than thou. And Pharaoh said unto
Joseph, See, I have set thee over
all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh
took off his signet ring from his
hand, and put it upon Joseph's
hand, and arrayed him in ventures
of fine linen, and put a gold chain
about his neck; and he made him to
ride in the second chariot which he
had; and they cried before him, Bow
the knee: and he set him over all
the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said
unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and
without thee shall no man lift up
his hand or his foot in all the
land of Egypt.
When a person has
developed the Joseph state of
consciousness and can give vivid form
of his ideas by using his imaginative
faculty, he does not take his dreams or
visions in a literal sense. He rather
unclothes the dream of its form by
using the same power that he has of
clothing ideas with form. Then he
clearly sees the idea hidden behind the
forms and symbols of his dream. He
knows that all forms represent ideas
and is able to resolve the form back
into the primal idea of Divine Mind.
Thus he is taught by Spirit more
directly than is the ordinary
individual. Spiritual Truth comes to
him directly through an always open
channel.
One of the surest proofs
that you have opened yourself to Spirit
is that you have symbolical dreams and
can spiritually interpret them. Divine
ideas are imaged in your placid soul
like shadows on a quiet pool. You see
them mentally and you may catch their
import if you meditate patiently and
persistently on the relation that each
image or symbol bears to thought.
Things are first ideas, then thoughts
reduced in radiation to the plane of
sense perception. When you still the
senses you will begin to perceive the
thoughts that are back of things. This
may be a slow way, but it is a sure way
to learn the language of mind, and in
time it will enable you to translate
all the shapes and forms you see on any
plane of consciousness, into their
corresponding thoughts. When this is
accomplished you have become a Joseph
and stand next to Jesus.
Joseph correctly
interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh that
later came to pass. The name Pharaoh
means "the sun," "the king"; he is the
king of the subconscious realm whose
throne is located in the solar plexus.
This brain of the body, plays an
important role in directing the
circulation, the digestion and
assimilation of food, and so forth.
Students of mind have discovered that
the solar plexus is but the organ
through which the ruling ego, Pharaoh,
acts.
The signet ring that
Pharaoh placed upon Joseph's hand
represents authority, and the fine
raiment with which he clothed Joseph
symbolizes approval; that is, the
ruling power of the body gives to the
imagination authority and approval in
both the within and the
without.
Gen. 41:45-57. And
Pharaoh called Joseph's name
Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him
to wife Asenath, the daughter of
Potiphera priest of On. And Joseph
went out over the land of
Egypt.
And Joseph was
thirty years old when he stood
before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And
Joseph went out from the presence
of Pharaoh, and went throughout all
the land of Egypt. And in the seven
plenteous years the earth brought
forth by handfuls. And he gathered
up all the food of the seven years
which were in the land of Egypt,
and laid up the food in the cities:
the food of the field, which was
round about every city, he up in
the same. And Joseph laid up grain
as the sand of the sea, very much,
until he left off numbering; for it
was without number. And unto Joseph
were born two sons before the year
of famine came, whom Asenath, the
daughter of Poti-phera priest of
On, bare unto him. And Joseph
called the name of the first-born
Manasseh: For, said he, God hath
made me forget all my toil, and all
my father's house. And the name of
the second called he Ephraim: For
God hath made me fruitful in the
land of my affliction. And the
seven years of plenty, that was in
the land of Egypt, came to an end.
And the seven years of famine began
to come, according as Joseph had
said: and there was famine in all
the lands; but in all the land of
Egypt there was bread. And when all
the land of Egypt was famished, the
people cried to Pharaoh for bread:
and Pharaoh said unto all the
Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he
saith to you, do. And the famine
was over all the face of the earth:
and Joseph opened all the
storehouses, and sold unto the
Egyptians; and the famine was sore
in the land of Egypt. And all
countries came into Egypt to Joseph
to buy grain, because the famine
was sore in all the
earth.
In lower Egypt during
the time of Joseph was the city of On,
one of the world's oldest cities. Here
was located one of the great temples of
Egypt, whose high priest was Potiphera.
The daughter of the high priest was
Asenath, who became Joseph's
wife.
Asenath represents the
feminine or love side of the natural
man. Two sons were born of this union,
Manasseh (understanding) and Ephraim
(will), and they inherited Joseph's
allotment in the Promised Land
(regenerated perfect body).
Understanding and will are dominant
forces in the race because they are
necessary in the development of the
soul. If the imagination (Joseph) were
wholly free (unmarried or without
responsibility), it would indulge in
daydreams and fanciful schemes that
could not be worked out in a practical
world governed by inexorable law. If in
this dreamy state the mind is given a
definite thought of Truth (such as
monotheism, taught at the school of On)
and is joined with the natural soul
(Asenath), it brings forth the two
stabilizing mental qualities will and
understanding, symbolized by Joseph's
sons Ephraim and Manasseh.
The name Manasseh means
"who makes to forget." Manasseh was the
first son born to Joseph, who had a
great deal to forget. Joseph needed to
forget the wrong done him by his
brothers, the temptation of Potiphar's
wife, and the error of long
imprisonment. Thus Manasseh represents
the understanding of how to use one's
ability to forget or deny that which is
no longer profitable to the
man.
The name Ephraim means
"very fruitful." Ephraim represents the
ability of man to add to his
consciousness through the action of his
will whatever he may choose to affirm
and to become fruitful in his thoughts
even in the land of
affliction.
The first step for the
beginner in Truth is to set up a new
and better state of consciousness based
on the absolute. He must develop the
Manasseh quality of forgetting the
not-good by denial and the Ephraim
quality of increasing the good by
affirming it to be the real. The
understanding and the will must be
especially active in one who would
overcome and master the sensations of
the body, which is one of the first
steps in its regeneration.
Joseph was thirty years
old when he began his great work in
Egypt. At about that age a man
completes a natural cycle in the
evolution of his soul and is ready for
an adventure into the spiritual. When
the spiritually awakening man has
reached this stage of development there
is an increase of energy throughout the
body. As we have previously noted, the
imagination is the "increasing faculty"
as well as the formative faculty. The
Hebrew meaning of the name Joseph is
"Jehovah shall increase." The great
increase that comes at this period in
his unfoldment lasts about seven years,
or passes through seven stages of
activity, symbolized in Pharaoh's dream
by the seven fat kine and the seven
full ears of corn.
Those who are wise will
conserve this energy in the storehouse
of subconsciousness, because there is
certain to be a reaction proportionate
to action. The law holds good for every
form of energy. When this generated
force is properly conserved, the
reaction is not felt. When we exalt the
Joseph state of consciousness (as did
Pharaoh) and let it rule in our body,
Spirit will show us how to handle the
situation. Then we shall make storage
batteries of our "cities," which are
the ganglionic centers of the body
(Egypt). When Pharaoh gave Joseph the
power and authority to do this
conserving work, he changed his name to
Zaphenathpaneah, a compound word
meaning "savior of the universe,"
"sustainer of the life of the world,"
"governor of the district or place of
stored-up life." This would clearly
indicate that the body should be ruled
over by the spiritualized imaginative
faculty working under the direction and
by the power of Spirit.
The word famine implies
extreme scarcity of food, reducing
people to an extremity of hunger, of
starvation. Here Egypt (the
subconsciousness), the storehouse of
plenty, is the source from which all
the surrounding countries (states of
consciousness) come for sustenance when
the outer man has exhausted his
resources.
The seven years of
plenty followed by seven years of
famine show that the unregenerate man
lives in a consciousness of duality,
seeing good and evil, heat and cold,
plenty and poverty, feast and famine;
the spiritualized imagination (Joseph)
sees the whole of life as one. He sees
no lack but recognizes a coming
consciousness of lack and relates it to
the present consciousness of plenty,
and by this unifying work he lays up a
store of substance for future use. The
imagination should rank high among all
the faculties of man, for without its
magic touch life would become flat,
stale, and meaningless; but once
imagination is awakened, man is filled
with health, life, substance, and
abundance.
Chapter
12 * * * * *
Mysteries of
Genesis
Table of
Contents
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