Till Shiloh Comes (15 page)

Joseph stood on the brink of disaster. He had the normal desires of a man, but suddenly the memories of his father's warnings about the Egyptians, who had no word for “sin,” and about the women who wore dresses as thin as air, came to him. He rose, disengaged her hands, and said, “My lady, this would be unfitting. You are not yourself. I will leave you.” He rose and moved away quickly, his heart pounding, for he knew that death was only a step away.

As for Lady Kesi, she sat there rebuffed and angry. “I will have him!” she whispered with fierce determination. “I will have him! He's a slave, and I will find a way to win his love.”

Joseph knew he was dreaming, yet it seemed so real he felt as if he were awake. Against the vivid color of the sky and the gritty sand of the earth, he watched a pure-white fleecy lamb move away from the protection of the flock. The lamb bent his head from time to time and nibbled at the rich foliage, moving farther and farther away until he was finally out of sight of the flock and the shepherd. He lifted his head when he heard the shepherd calling him, but with a shake of his head, the lamb moved on, looking for more delicacies.

Joseph wanted to call out to add his voice to that of the shepherd, but he could not speak, and he saw the lamb frolic around closer to an outcropping of sharp rocks.

Then suddenly a wolf appeared, his eyes green with fury and his fangs sharp as knives! The lamb looked up and panic took him. He tried to turn and flee, but the wolf was on him, his sharp fangs digging into his neck while the lamb bleated piteously—

Joseph woke up wet with sweat. He lay there for a while, his body stiff, for he could not interpret this dream. Who was the lamb? Who was the shepherd? What did the wolf stand for?

Finally he got up and went outside. He stared up at the stars. Many Chaldeans believed that the stars controlled the fate of men, but Joseph had no such belief. He knew in his heart that it was the great El Shaddai who had made the stars and the earth and the men and women who inhabited it. He was the one who controlled everything. Joseph cried out, “O great strong and mighty God, show me the meaning of this dream!” He stood in the night air, the cool breeze drying the sweat on his body, but no answer came. He turned to go back inside, but he could not shake the sense of danger surrounding him.

****

For a week Joseph had worried about the dream and what it could mean. He had other things on his mind too, for he had been receiving valuable presents from Lady Kesi. He sensed that she was giving him these gifts as a means of possessing him, and he had the awful feeling that if he accepted her gifts, she would believe he had become
hers
in some mysterious way. He tried to refuse them, but she insisted and there was little he could do.

Her latest gift was a very expensive gold ring with a precious red ruby in it. When he tried to turn down her offer, she said, “Don't be silly. It's just a little something to show my appreciation for your good work.”

But at the end of the week following Joseph's dream, he was brought a note by Kesi's maid Pili. She giggled and rolled her eyes as she handed it to him, and he waited until she left before he opened it. He saw it consisted of a series of Egyptian symbols, the meaning of which was vague, but what leaped to his mind as he read them was the phrase,
Come sleep with me
.

Feeling weak, Joseph quickly folded the note. He picked up a burning lamp and set fire to the note, holding it until it disintegrated into blackened ash. As he stared at the ash, thoughts raced through his mind. He knew he could not give her an answer she would accept. And if anyone had said,
Why don't you give in to the woman's invitation?
he would have said that he was dedicated to the God of his fathers. Even if the Egyptians saw nothing wrong with such an act, he knew it would be an abomination to God.

But there were other reasons, and Joseph was intelligent and sensitive enough to know that something was wrong with the fact that Kesi pursued him. He had become the object of a woman's bold invitation, and he felt it would be degrading to give in because she merely wanted to use him like one of the temple prostitutes.

Joseph was also kept from surrendering to the desires of his mistress because he held to a tradition of racial purity that warned him not to mingle his blood with hers. This teaching had been handed down to him by Jacob, and he had heard the stories of how Abraham had sent his servant to find a bride for his son Isaac among their own people so he would not have his blood tainted with a Canaanite heritage.

Over all of this, however, he also sensed that this was a test of whether he would be faithful to El Shaddai. He had heard the story so many times about how Abraham had been asked to slay his only son Isaac and had found victory of faith. He had heard how God had rewarded Abraham's faith, and now he was determined that since everything else had been stripped away from him, he would maintain his integrity no matter what the cost.

****

Ever since Joseph had received the love note from Lady Kesi, he had worked diligently never to be alone with her by keeping a servant by his side at all times. Now the household was busily preparing for a special festival Pharaoh had called for to give worship to the sun god. It was to be a momentous event, and the entire household of Potiphar was involved in one way or another.

Lady Kesi waited until it was time to leave for the celebration at the palace and then sent word to her husband by one of her maids that she would be unable to go. This brought a quick response from Potiphar, who came immediately to her quarters. His face was taut with irritation as he said, “What's this? We both must go. Pharaoh will be offended if we do not.”

“I cannot go, husband. I am in the manner of woman and so weak I cannot rise from my bed.”

Potiphar glared at her and argued stringently, but in the end he had to give up. He left her room, and when he encountered Ufa, he said, “The Lady Kesi will not be going to the celebration. I want you to stay with her, since all the other servants will be taking part.”

“Of course, master,” Ufa said. He smiled and thoughts began to occur in his mind. He knew it was not Kesi's time of the month, for he kept track of such things.
She's planning something,
he thought. An oily smile moved across his lips.
We will see what the dear lady is up to….

****

Joseph was so busy with the preparations for the sun festival that he put Lady Kesi out of his mind. He would be making an appearance, and he dressed in a rather modest garment. This was the tenth year since he had been snatched from the pit, and now at age twenty-seven he had been thoroughly immersed in the Egyptian way of life. With certain reservations, he participated in the feast and shared in some of the outlandish customs of the people. As the head steward of an important man in Pharaoh's government, this was necessary.

He had left for the festival before the others and was not aware that Kesi was staying home. He spent all afternoon coaching the servants in their responses to the rather complicated ceremony Pharaoh had devised.

In the middle of the festivities, he received a note from one of the house servants. He opened it and saw Lady Kesi's handwriting:
Come at once. I am in danger
.

Joseph questioned the servant, who was a rather stupid old man and could not tell him much. He had strong misgivings about going back home, but he knew he could do nothing but obey his mistress. He rushed away concerned, although he could not imagine what danger could have come to the lady or why she had remained at home. When he entered the house he was greeted at once by Kesi.

Lady Kesi's eyes looked unnaturally large and bright. She had applied quantities of black antimony to her brows and lashes with her pencil, and her mouth was painted and sensuous. She wore a garment of the thinnest royal linen, which revealed her contours, and from her hair came the odor of cypress. There was nothing subtle about her intentions as she put her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him. “I have been waiting for you. Come, you will lie with me, Joseph. I am dying with love for you!”

Joseph panicked as he realized he'd been ambushed. Instead of seeing the loveliness of the woman who clung to him, he searched frantically for a means of escape. With a short, sharp cry of distress he whirled, and as he did, Kesi's hands caught at his tunic. The garment ripped from his shoulders as he fled the room.

As the object of Kesi's unquenchable desire fled, she began to scream. She ripped the upper garment into shreds, and wrath flowed out of her in place of the lust that had been there. “Help me! Will nobody help me! I've been attacked!”

Almost at once Ufa appeared. He had lurked in the shadows, watching and listening, and knew exactly what the truth was, but he now rushed to her side, feigning concern. “Mistress, are you harmed?”

“Yes! I have been attacked by that vile Hebrew! Go, Ufa, stop him! Beat him! Tie him up! He will die for this outrage!”

Ufa cried out, “The beast! I will see to it, mistress.” He rushed from the room and called to the two men he had kept back from the festival. “Joseph has attacked the mistress. We must seize him.” Ufa grabbed a heavy beating stick, and the three of them ran straight to Joseph's quarters, where he had gone to put on another garment. They hurried in and grabbed him. Ufa lifted the stick and brought it down on Joseph, intending to smash his skull. Joseph managed to twist so that it struck him on the shoulder instead.

“Stop this, Ufa!” he cried. But he had no chance to do other than cry, for the two servants were on him, beating him to the ground. He heard Ufa's orders: “Seize him! Tie him up!” And as his hands were bound behind him, he realized with utter clarity that
he
was the lamb in his dream who had wandered into the jaws of a wild beast.

****

Asenath came immediately when she heard of the outrage her friend had suffered. She comforted Kesi, who wept and ripped her own garments, embellishing her story with each retelling.

Asenath held her and eventually found the courage to ask the question she had difficulty putting into words. “Did he actually have his way with you?”

Lady Kesi's eyes were swollen with weeping. “He would have, but I screamed and fought him like a beast. I clawed him with my fingernails and tried to bite him, but if Ufa had not come, he would have possessed me.”

“I knew he was an evil man!” Asenath cried vehemently. “Now we will see justice done.”

Justice was indeed meted out that very day. The household of Potiphar gathered together in the courtyard to observe Joseph's sentence. Asenath sat next to Lady Kesi, holding her friend's hand.

It was a strange group, for all of the servants trusted and loved Joseph and despised Ufa. Most of them also knew that it was Lady Kesi herself who had burned with desire for Joseph. The household gossip system kept them all informed, and they were well aware of the gifts she had poured on Joseph and of the melting looks she gave him.

Potiphar stood and cried out, “Bring in this man Joseph!”

Asenath was staring avidly, as was everyone else. Joseph came in with his hands bound and wearing only a loincloth and an apron. His body was terribly wounded and bruised by the beating he had taken. She kept her eyes on him; then he turned suddenly and their gazes met. Asenath could not fathom what was going on in his mind. She had formed a bad opinion of the man from the very beginning, but could not define why she disliked him so much. Now she tried to find some satisfaction in his downfall, but to her dismay she felt pity creeping into her heart instead. She could not breathe a word of this to Kesi, of course, who was calling out, “My lord, give me justice!”

Potiphar lifted his hand for silence and spoke. “I have brought you here for judgment, Joseph,” he said sternly. “You have betrayed my trust in the most terrible way. What went through your mind to do such a thing?” But then he shook his head. “Do not answer. We know the truth. The mistress has told me of your attack on her, and now I shall pronounce your sentence.”

Lady Kesi was staring. Her lips were opened, and her eyes wild. “Death! It must be death!” she cried.

Potiphar ignored her, and at that moment Joseph, who had purposed to say nothing in his own defense, saw something in his master's eyes.
He's known about his wife all this time!

As Joseph's eyes locked with Potiphar's, he knew he had found the truth.
How could Potiphar have not known what was going on in his house?

Potiphar let the silence run on. Nobody spoke or moved. Then he addressed Joseph. “You are fortunate that your attack on my wife did not come to the uttermost end. If it had, you would have been thrown to the crocodiles. But I do pronounce this sentence on you. You will be taken to the prison at Khari-de-Sun, where you will no longer belong to me but to Pharaoh.”

Kesi's voice broke out in a wild cry. “You call this justice, my husband?”

Potiphar turned and moved toward his wife. She flinched at the frightening look in his eyes, then closed her mouth and dropped her head, not making another sound.

Asenath did not understand what was happening, for she had fully expected Joseph to be staked out to the crocodiles, a most horrible death. Earlier, she would have welcomed this, but now she thought there might be more to this story than anyone supposed. She turned and faced Joseph, who was watching Potiphar and his wife. His eyes lifted and his gaze met hers. Neither of them spoke, and then Potiphar said, “Take him away. I no longer want him in my house.” Joseph was seized and marched out of the room, and the door closed behind them. Then Potiphar said in a low voice, “Wife, you will never speak of this again. Do you understand me?”

Kesi was trembling, and her voice was a mere whisper. “Yes, my lord, I will obey.”

And so the drama was over, but Asenath remained disturbed by it all. She could not understand how this slave had aroused such strong feelings in her. She tried to put them away and purposed to herself,
I will never think of him. I thank the gods he's out of my life forever!