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Tiverton Interior - Christopher Benson , 2010.

American, b. 1960 -

Oil on linen , 70 x 60 in.

#Christopher Benson #american artist #interior #interior scene

The Real Reason the Lord Took Joseph to Egypt

by Christopher Benson

"And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt" - Genesis 45:7-8

Remarkable indeed is the spirit of penetration into the divine counsels, of reliance on the divine promises, and of esteem for divine privileges which Joseph's declaration betrays. A common mind would have thought that Pharaoh and his house were the objects of God's care in the wonderful provision which was made to meet the coming famine, and that Joseph had been raised up to be a special blessing to the Egyptian. But Joseph himself looked deeper into Providence and saw in the whole the power of the Almighty stretched forth to save his father's race principally, if not alone, in the dispensation. Touched and subdued by the sense of the present Deity, he said, "God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save you by a great deliverance."

But who were they, these simple shepherds of Canaan (a family at most but "of threescore and fifteen souls") that they should have the eye of Heaven fixed upon them and call forth so many of its mighty acts? It was because the blessing of Abraham was upon them. It was because the everlasting covenant of God was theirs, and in their loins was the salvation of the world shut up, and in their seed were all the families of the earth to be blessed. Blot out the name of Israel from under Heaven, and man must have gone mourning all the days of his life, without remedy of his wretchedness and without redemption from the grave; for to the name of Israel alone were the promises of God assured, and in the name of Israel alone had the sons of Adam hope, and Joseph himself was nothing except as he belonged to Israel.

To us nothing is more easy than to see the importance of this race, "though few in number, and they strangers of the land." Living in a brighter hour and under a better revelation, we are conscious that all the interests of humanity were bound up in the preservation of their posterity; and walking in the midday blaze of that life and immortality which has been brought to light through the Gospel, we count the very hairs of their head to have been of more value to the solid welfare of the world than Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his host.

But it was far otherwise in the fainter illumination of those early days, when a few scattered rays of prophecy, faint and far-between, were the only light to guide the steps of the believer and show to him the finger of Providence as it pointed the way to the great end of all revelation and all hope. Yet Joseph did see the tendency of God's wonders. And great indeed must have been the piety, the humility, and the faith towards God which could thus teach him that in the eye of the Almighty he himself was nothing, and that Egypt was nothing; that all the mercies which Egypt had felt and all the greatness and glory and power of Joseph were but the secret workings of an over-ruling Providence wrought for the direct and special purpose of saving Israel from famine by a great deliverance and preserving to Israel a posterity in the earth.

#Christopher Benson #The Real Reason the Lord Took Joseph to Egypt #Genesis 45:7-8 #Inspirational Reading

Christopher Benson | Brenton Point Surf | Oil on linen | 16 x 20"

#art #Christopher Benson #inspiration

Streaming LIVE on Facebook this Sunday at 7:30 pm: Join us for “Perspectives on Race and Representation: An Evening with the Racial Imaginary Institute.” Taking the debate around Dana Schutz’s painting, Open Casket, as a starting point, the program will look at questions about the ethics of representation and the responsibilities of artists and museums. The Whitney is partnering with Claudia Rankine and the Racial Imaginary Institute to convene this conversation with artists, scholars, and critics to gain their insights into these issues in relation to the 2017 Biennial and our contemporary moment.

There will be contributions from Elizabeth Alexander, Christopher Benson, LeRonn P. Brooks, Ken Chen, Malik Gaines, Lyle Ashton Harris, Terrance Hayes, Ajay Kurian, Christopher Y. Lew, Casey Llewellyn, Mia Locks, Claudia Rankine, Sarah Schulman, Christina Sharpe, and Herb Tam, among others.