Genesis 49:23

Here we see Joseph filling up the measure of his sorrow, while his brothers are filling up the measure of their sins. He is in exile, keeping his purity and separation to God, while they at home are defiling the covenant. God is with him, and man against him. He takes his place in the cloud of witnesses, suffering for righteousness' sake... The archers are grieving him deeply and shooting at him. But his bow stays strong, and the mighty God of Jacob makes the arms of his hands strong. He may be persecuted by men, but God will not forsake him.

"Joseph is a fruitful bough." It takes every rough blow without resentment, and gives back its own rich fruit... "The archers have sorely grieved him" — and this is not the calm of a man who feels nothing. They "shot at and hated him, but his bow stayed firm." He did not use it against them; he kept it for their enemies. And it "stayed firm in strength": this is the self-restraint of power, not the slackness of weakness.

These verses give us a beautiful picture of "the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." "The archers" have done their work; but God was stronger than they. The true Joseph was shot at and badly wounded in the house of His friends. But "the arms of His hands have been made strong" in the power of resurrection... Look at Joseph in the pit and in the prison, then as ruler over all the land of Egypt. You see the difference between the thoughts of God and the thoughts of men. Look at the cross, then at "the throne of the majesty in the heavens," and you see the same thing.

There is no strength without dependence. Strength is not found in us, but in Him whose strength never fails on our behalf. The Man Jesus Christ is the example of this. He looked for strength only in God; otherwise He would not have been the Perfect Man. Struck by the archers, His strength did not leave Him. When His weakness appeared to give way to the enemy's power, His bow remained strong — His strength was full.

In this tired Man, who sat by the well of Sychar in the noonday heat, we see the true Joseph. Even while we look at Him, we see His branches running over the wall of Judaism, reaching this poor woman of Samaria with their good fruit. Not in fact, but morally, the archers had grieved Him deeply, shot at Him and hated Him. Yet His bow stayed firm. You can see it in the deliverance He worked that day for this poor captive of Satan.

As for ourselves, fellow Christians, our bow will stay whole on one condition. We must put our confidence in God, who gives us His strength... Nothing is weaker than a Christian who has given up Christ as his strength... Let us not weep over our weakness as though we had no resources: that would not be faith, nor confidence in Christ.