Joseph

Living like Jesus

Genesis 50:17–21 KJV 1900

So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

Joseph played a big role in the history of the Hebrew people. Through many circumstances that were certainly not comfortable for him, God brought Joseph from the status of a favored son, through slavery and unjust imprisonment, to a place of prominence in a foreign country. When famine came to the land of Canaan, Joseph in Egypt became the savior of his family.

Introduction

In all of Scripture, there is probably no greater type of Jesus Christ than Joseph. The life of Joseph speaks to believers in a wide variety of walks of life, because wherever he was, he was always found faithful.

Faithfulness is uselessly something we talk about in the life of a believer who is older and has been faithful to Christ for a long time. But Faithfulness is not just for the older and wiser. How do you think that became known as faithful?

Before we drive into the faithfulness of Joseph I want to make sure we all understand what is means to be faithful.

Faithfulness - “adjective. characterized by steadfast affection or allegiance (to someone or something).” “Faithfulness denotes trustworthiness or dependability.”

D. Mark Parks, “Faith, Faithfulness,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 547.

Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Faith, Faithfulness)

Throughout the Scriptures faith is the trustful human response to God’s self-revelation via His words and His actions. God initiates the relationship between Himself and human beings. He expects people to trust Him; failure to trust Him is in essence sin

So, let’s look at a few ares Joseph was faithful in. First

Faithful as a Son

It all started with Israel and Rachel. It was with his parents that Joseph began his preparation and training that ultimately allowed him to save both his own family and his people.

Do you want to be known as faithful? Be faithful to your parents. That means to be trustworthy and dependable to their wishes.

"Walk a Little Plainer, Daddy")

"Walk a little plainer, daddy"

Said a little boy so frail "I'm following in your footsteps And I don't want to fail

"Sometimes your steps are very plain

Sometimes they are so hard to see So walk a little plainer, daddy For you are leading me.

"1 know that once you walked this way

Many years ago

And what you did along the way I'd really like to know

"For sometimes when I am tempted

I don't know what to do So walk a little plainer, daddy For I must follow you.

"Someday when I'm grown up

You are like I want to be

Then I will have a little boy

Who will want to follow me

And I would want to lead him right

And help him to be true

So walk a little plainer, daddy

For we must follow you." (Author Unknown)

This poem speaks volumes not only to the father who should be someone who his children would want to follow but also to the faithful son who wants to be near and obedient to his wishes.

Some tonight may not have a father or mother on earth who you can or you should follow in godly matter. But many of you do. But we all have a heavenly father to be faithful to.

LOVED BY HIS FATHER

Genesis 37:3 KJV 1900

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 colours.

It is well-known that Joseph was his father's favorite. It is imperative for believers today to know that God not only loves the world as a whole, but that He loves us individually. God wants to do special things for each and every one of us as well. Just as Joseph was loved by his earthly father, we too are loved by our Heavenly Father.

HATED BY HIS BROTHERS

Genesis 37:4 KJV 1900

And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Joseph had a great burden in his life, and that was his unpleasant relationship with his brothers. Jealousy was their problem, just as it is a problem in many families today. The Word of God says that his brothers hated Joseph to the point that they could not speak even peaceably to him (Genesis 37:4). It is a beautiful picture for believers today to realize that, while many will not accept us or be happy with us, our Father still loves us and can still use us.

OBEDIENT TO HIS CALL

Genesis 37:14 KJV 1900

And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

One of the great lessons of Joseph's life was that he obeyed his father even when the commands could not have been comfortable or enjoyable. His father sent him to his brothers who, as we have already learned, hated him. Joseph simply obeyed. Our Heavenly Father has sent us to evangelize a world which sometimes hates us. But it is simply our job to obey.

Faithful as a Servant

Joseph's brothers wanted to get rid of him; through a series of circumstances, Joseph was sold as a slave and taken to Egypt. He had been faithful as a son, and it seemed that all it brought him was persecution. Now he would prove that he would be faithful in the role of a servant as well.

There is always a job for those who are willing to serve. The greatest example of a servant is the Lord Jesus Christ. It was said about our Saviour, that:

Mark 10:45 KJV 1900

For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

). Everywhere Joseph went, he was willing to serve. His willingness to serve brought him into leadership and, ultimately, opportunity. It is very important to note that God raises up and God puts down. In Potiphar's house (Genesis 39:2) and in the prison (Genesis 39:21), we see that it is clearly stated that "the LORD was with Joseph."

Genesis 39:21 KJV 1900

But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

Matthew 23:11 KJV 1900

But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

When we reach Heaven, it won't matter what our title, our position, or our social or economic standing was here on Earth. Our Lord's highest praise will be, "Well done.”

Matthew 25:21 KJV 1900

His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

POTIPHAR'S HOUSE

Joseph became a servant in the house of Potiphar, a prominent man in Egypt who was an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard. Potiphar saw Joseph's faithfulness and grew to trust him with everything.

Genesis 39:4 KJV 1900

And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

This kind of trust is a valuable gift and should never be taken lightly.

Proverbs 22:1 KJV 1900

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, And loving favour rather than silver and gold.

In the first of several uncomfortable positions, Joseph was willing to serve. There is no doubt that a hateful, lazy man would not have been made overseer of Potiphar's house. Joseph did not grow bitter at his terrible situation: he decided to serve, faithfully and diligently.

PHARAOH'S PRISON

Potiphar's wife also appreciated Joseph, but for a different and unsavory reason. She tried to seduce him, but Joseph refused her and said, . . . how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" (Genesis 39:9). She wouldn't give up, kept after him, and finally one day when they were all alone she physically grabbed him. He was forced to run away, leaving his garment in her hand. She looked at it and saw her opportunity to get even. She claimed he had tried to attack her and got him thrown into prison. So again, Joseph was in trouble through no fault of his own. How would he react?

This time, he was faithful as a prisoner—and so faithful that he was virtually put in charge of the prison!

Genesis 39:21–22 KJV 1900

But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour 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.

Being lied about and mistreated did not stop Joseph from receiving God's favor or from serving his Lord. Admittedly, being lied about can be very painful, but a faithful Christian must learn to accept mistreatment, unfairness, and misunderstanding.

Romans 8:35 KJV 1900

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

2 Timothy 3:12 KJV 1900

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

John 16:33 KJV 1900

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Often times, all that it takes to stop people from serving God is for others to lie about them. This was not true of Joseph: he was always faithful.

PEOPLE OF EGYPT

After being marooned in prison for years, Joseph remained faithful and, ultimately, was made prime minister over the entire country of Egypt. He had been given the opportunity to show Pharaoh that he had true wisdom from God, and Pharaoh knew that Joseph was the man to help him rule his nation.

Genesis 41:38–44 KJV 1900

And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art: 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 ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures 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 made him ruler 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 foot in all the land of Egypt.

Joseph had a lot of ups and downs in his life: from his father's favorite son to a slave in a foreign land, from a trusted servant to a disgraced prisoner to a prison trustee, and now to second in command of the nation of Egypt. To Joseph, this was another opportunity to serve.

God's ways are not our ways, and God's timing is not always our timing. But as the psalmist urged, we sometimes need to simply wait on the Lord.

Psalm 27:14 KJV 1900

Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on the Lord.

Faithful as a Sovereign

The final stage of Joseph's life was spent as a sovereign. Even in this role, he foreshadowed the coming Messiah. Like the Lord Jesus Christ, he was rejected by his brethren, imprisoned, and mistreated, but after it all he also emerged victorious.

Almost everyone has heard of John Deere. You've seen the name on farm, forestry, construction, and lawn equipment. You don't even need to see the name because you will probably recognize the familiar green and yellow color scheme. For many years, the advertising slogan was "Nothing runs like a Deere." But John Deere himself—as developer of the world's first commercially successful, self-scouring steel plow—might have been just another footnote in history instead of one of the world's most famous brand names, had it not been for his son Charles. From the John Deere company website, we have this information: "With his education completed, Charles joined the company as a bookkeeper in 1853, at the age of 16. Working his way through a variety of positions, Charles quickly earned a reputation as a keen businessman. This must have delighted John, as it allowed the father and son to both focus on what they did best—Charles handling the business, and John attending to the products and sales.... By 1858, John had turned over management of the business to Charles, who was just 21 at the time."

"Charles Deere was an outstanding businessman who established marketing centers, called branch houses, to serve the network of independent retail dealers. By the time of Charles Deere's death in 1907, the company was making a wide range of steel plows, cultivators, corn and cotton planters, and other implements." John Deere himself died in 1886, but "his legacy lived on in a way he could have never imagined. His descendents or their spouses went on to lead the company John Deere founded for the next 96 years."

FORGIVING SOVEREIGN

In his position of Pharaoh's right-hand man and in charge of the food supply, Joseph one day received some visitors. Famine had come to the land of Canaan, and Israel sent his sons to Egypt because (thanks to Joseph's wisdom and planning) there was grain there. The brothers did not recognize this regal and imposing figure as the annoying little brother they thought they had rid themselves of years ago, but Joseph knew them. He had been at their mercy and they sought his destruction; now they were at his mercy and he had the same opportunity: if he had sent them away empty-handed, he would be consigning them to death by starvation. But in a beautiful act of mercy and forgiveness, Joseph took them in and met their needs abundantly.

Genesis 50:17–21 KJV 1900

So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

Once again we see a picture of Jesus in the life of Joseph. What do we sinners deserve from God but death and eternal separation? And yet...

Romans 5:8–10 KJV 1900

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Ephesians 4:32 KJV 1900

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Joseph was willing to forgive the incredible injustices that had been visited upon him by his hateful brothers. One of the most beautiful lessons in all of the pages of Scripture is located in Genesis where Joseph clearly states that he understood that judgment was of the Lord, and that his brothers were not to fear, for he would take care of them.

Human logic would have compelled Joseph to use his vast power to distribute to his brothers a just retribution for their mean and evil acts toward him, but Joseph did not conduct himself according to human logic, nor was he a slave to his emotions. Joseph reacted with love, mercy and true justice. He would allow God to deliver retribution as He saw fit. Joseph would not overstep his authority and take God's job into his own hands. Although the words would not be penned for many centuries, Joseph understood this truth:

Romans 12:19 KJV 1900

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Joseph realized that God had put him into a position to save his family and his people, and he decided that he would accept this responsibility with personal passion and fervent diligence.

Like the Lord has for us, Joseph had a place for his family, and he had a plan for them. He would not allow his family to go uncared for, unprotected, and unprovided for. Not only was it Joseph's immediate family who found salvation and blessing, but the nation of Israel itself was strengthened and brought into prominence because of Joseph. God used this man to minister to an entire nation. In our quest to be like our Saviour, by whose name we claim our very identity as Christians, it is easy to overlook many to whom God would have us minister. As you look for the return of Christ on the horizon, are you overlooking those to whom He desires you to minister at this moment? Be very cautious that, in your impatience for His return, you do not overlook the mission you have now.

Conclusion

Faithfulness. If one word would be used to describe the life of Joseph, it would without a doubt be the word faithfulness. In every situation into which he was plunged, thrown, or placed, Joseph was completely faithful: he was dedicated to his cause and to his testimony and the testimony of God. How dedicated are you? How faithful are you to the name of the Lord and to the calling and responsibility He has placed in your life? Perhaps it's time you allowed yourself to accept the truths of the life of Joseph as if you had never heard them before. Do not be afraid to let them affect you. Do not be afraid to let the truths of God's Word change who you are. And do not be afraid to stand up and live for Christ!