Joseph's Reward and How God Shares His Glory With the Righteous

R. Abin the Levite [son of Rabbi] said: Joseph would offer blessing, and his master saw him whispering with his mouth. He said to him: Joseph, what are you saying? And he answered and said to him: I am blessing the Holy One, blessed be He. He said to him: I wish to see your God. Joseph said to him: Behold the sun, which is one of His many servants — you cannot gaze upon it; how much more so His glory! The Holy One, blessed be He, said: For your sake I am revealing Myself to him, as it is stated (Genesis 39:3), "And his master saw that the Lord was with him," and so forth. R. Abin the Levite son of Rabbi said: What is the meaning of (Psalms 24:9) "[Who is this] King of glory" — He who shares His glory with those who fear Him, this is the Holy One, blessed be He. A king of flesh and blood — no one else makes use of his scepter, but the Holy One, blessed be He, gave His scepter to Moses, as it is stated (Exodus 4:20), "And Moses took the staff of God in his hand." And no one else sits upon his throne, [but the Holy One, blessed be He, seated Solomon upon His throne], as it is written (1 Chronicles 29:23), "And Solomon sat upon the throne of the Lord as king." And no one else rides upon his horse, [but the Holy One, blessed be He, mounted Elijah upon His horse]. And what is the horse of the Holy One, blessed be He? Tempest and storm, as it is stated (Nahum 1:3), "The Lord — His way is in the whirlwind and in the storm," and it is written (2 Kings 2:11), "And Elijah went up in a whirlwind to heaven." Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, shares His glory with those who fear Him. And His garment He gave to the King Messiah, as it is stated (Psalms 21:6), "Honor and majesty You bestow upon him," and the garment of the Holy One, blessed be He, is honor and majesty, [as it is stated] (Psalms 104:1), "You have clothed Yourself with honor and majesty." What is written concerning the Holy One, blessed be He? (Jeremiah 51:56) "For the Lord is a God of recompense, He shall surely repay" — for He repays the good according to their good and the wicked according to their wickedness. What is written concerning Joseph? (Genesis 49:22) "Joseph is a fruitful son." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Joseph, let there be peace upon the eye that shut itself and did not look at any of the Egyptian women, as it is stated (ibid.), "Daughters stepped upon the wall." R. Reuben said: What is the meaning of "upon the wall" ('alei shur)? The Holy One, blessed be He, said: It is upon Me ('alai) to pay reward to that eye. Our Rabbis taught that they would eat in the Sanctuary within the curtains, but at Shiloh — as far as the eye could see. Whatever Joseph did, the Holy One, blessed be He, repaid him. What is written? (Genesis 39:12) "And he left his garment [in her hand and fled and went outside]." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: [By your life,] when the children of Israel go out from Egypt, the sea is destined to see your coffin and to flee, as it is stated (Psalms 114:3), "The sea saw and fled." And what did it see? [It saw] that Joseph had kept all Ten of the Commandments. Simeon, the man of Kitron, says: It saw the bones of Joseph. And moreover, the coffin of Joseph would proceed before the Ark, and the nations of the world would see it and say: What is the nature of this coffin that proceeds together with the Ark of the Torah? And Israel would answer them and say: The one in this coffin fulfilled what is written in this Ark. And what was in the Ark? The Ten Commandments. And Joseph fulfilled them all before they were even given at Sinai. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Joseph: Joseph, even though I have repaid you a portion of your reward in this world, the principal endures for you in the world to come, when Israel is redeemed with an everlasting redemption. By the merit of Jacob and by your merit they are redeemed, as it is stated (Psalms 77:16), "You redeemed Your people with Your arm, the children of Jacob and Joseph, Selah."