ACT 4: COVENANT - SCENE 2: JOSEPH

SCENE 2: JOSEPH

Genesis 37-50 tells the fascinating story of Joseph, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, and his journey from being sold into slavery by his jealous brothers to becoming a prominent figure in Egypt. This narrative is rich in theological themes, showcasing God's providence, forgiveness, and the fulfillment of divine promises.

SCENE 2: JOSEPH

The story begins with Joseph's dreams of leadership, which provoke the jealousy of his brothers. They betray him by selling him into slavery in Egypt, leading to his servitude in Potiphar's house. Despite his circumstances, Joseph remains faithful to God and prospers. However, he is falsely accused of a crime and imprisoned.

SCENE 2: JOSEPH

In prison, Joseph interprets dreams for fellow inmates, and his reputation as a dream interpreter eventually reaches Pharaoh. Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dream about seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, leading to his appointment as Egypt's chief administrator. His wise governance during the years of plenty prepares Egypt for the impending famine.

SCENE 2: JOSEPH

Meanwhile, Joseph's brothers, facing starvation, journey to Egypt to buy grain. They encounter Joseph but do not recognize him. Joseph tests their character and, after revealing his identity, forgives them. This remarkable act of forgiveness exemplifies God's redemptive grace, and Joseph acknowledges that God used even the evil intentions of his brothers for a greater purpose.

SCENE 2: JOSEPH

The narrative showcases the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham that his descendants would become a great nation. The family is eventually reconciled, and Jacob's clan settles in Egypt.

SCENE 2: JOSEPH

In summary, Genesis 37-50 provides theological insights into God's providence, the importance of faithfulness during adversity, the power of forgiveness, and the realization of God's promises. It underscores that even in the midst of trials and suffering, God can work all things for good, as exemplified by Joseph's journey from slavery to salvation.

THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD

Above all, the story of Joseph is about God working his will through the everyday events of life. There were no miracles here. God did not suspend his natural laws to make things happen.

THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD

The story was about the hidden but sure way of God. God’s hidden hand arranges everything without show or explanation or violating the nature of things.

God is involved in all events and directs all things to their appointed end.

This entire story sets the stage for the punch line in Genesis 50:20, I am convinced the best punch line in all the Old Testament. What does this mean,

Genesis 50:20 ESV

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

What does that mean, the providence of God?

I want you to see here the providence of God in this whole picture. What does that mean, the providence of God?

He is the ever-present Lord.

This is what God’s providence means. He is the ever-present Lord. This is most beautifully illustrated in the story of Joseph in Potiphar’s house, so go back real quick with me to Genesis 39.

GENESIS 39

Let’s fill in a couple of the gaps here. I want to show you a phrase that is mentioned four times in Genesis 39 – you might underline it – two times in the very beginning of the chapter, two times in the end, kind of bookends on the chapter that the author gives us to draw our attention to it.

Genesis 39:1 ESV

Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.

Genesis 39:2 ESV

The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.

Genesis 39:3 ESV

His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.

Why was Joseph successful in Potiphar’s house?

Was it his intellect, his skill, his great leadership personality? No. He was successful because the Lord was with him.

Chapter 38 ends with Joseph being sold into slavery, and Chapter 39 ends with him being thrown into the slammer.

Genesis 39:21 ESV

But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

Genesis 39:23 ESV

The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.

Whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed. The low points of Joseph’s life here – a slave, a prisoner. What we observe here are those low points, but God was with him, and it is God who is credited with each of Joseph’s advancements. The deepest, darkest times of Joseph’s life, the Lord was with him. He’s the ever-present Lord.

God is the ever-subtle King

He is not only an ever-present Lord, but he is the ever-subtle King. He is King, and yet He is subtle. When you look at this whole story from Genesis 37 to Genesis 50, you really don’t see any breathtaking, overwhelming displays of supernatural power from God.

God is the ever-subtle King.

Instead, you see subtle indicators all along the way that point us to the invisible hand of God that is at work in every detail of this story.

God is the ever-subtle King

Look at Chapter 45. This is when Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers, and I want you to hear what he says. When Joseph confronts the men, the brothers who had sold him into slavery, which resulted in his imprisonment, he suffered for years as a result of what they had done, right? But listen to what he says.

Genesis 45:4 ESV

So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.

Genesis 45:5 ESV

And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.

Genesis 45:6 ESV

For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.

GOD SENT ME

This is an incredible picture. These brothers deserve condemnation, and he says, “No, come near to me; I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt, and now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me.

GOD SENT ME

Genesis 45:7 ESV

And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.

Do you hear what Joseph is saying to his brothers?

You sold me, but God sent me here. God did this. When I was sold into slavery, that was God at work. When I was thrown into prison, that was God at work. When I was summoned before Pharaoh, that was God at work. God has been doing this whole thing.

Notice what Joseph doesn’t say.

He doesn’t say, “Well, you sold me and God responded by figuring out a way to take that and turn it into good.” No. Joseph is saying that God was in control of the whole picture.

Psalm 105:16 ESV

When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread,

Psalm 105:17 ESV

he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

God is the one who summoned the famine on the land and broke all supply of bread, and sent a man, Joseph, ahead to be sold as a slave. God did it all.

Now, how does this work?

How can the brothers sell him, and God send him?

This is where we see, in the Old Testament and all throughout Scripture,

Two unexplainable friends.

Divine Sovereignty

“God sent me. God did this. God sent me to be a slave, to be a prisoner. God did all of this.” So, God is in control of this whole picture, sovereign over the whole picture.

Human Responsibility

However, this does not mean the brothers had nothing to do with it. This is where we meet our second unexplainable friend human responsibility,

Human Responsibility

You sold me into slavery. You decided to do that. You made a choice.” And so the picture here is divine sovereignty and human responsibility, both side by side.

Now, how do you reconcile those two together?

They are unexplainable yet undeniable. It’s throughout Scripture. It’s the mystery of divine sovereignty and human responsibility, and we must be careful.

The Ultimate Conclusion

The conclusion here that we’ve got to come to, based on Scripture and what we will see throughout this journey, is that

Man's responsibility cannot be ignored.

We’ve got to be careful when we think about the sovereignty of God not to begin to think that we’re just puppets in a play, robotically doing whatever is mandated that we do. We have responsibility. We are held responsible for our choices.

The will of God cannot be thwarted.

While at the same time, the will of God cannot be thwarted. God will carry out what He intends, guaranteed. Even in the worst circumstances – slavery and the slammer – Joseph says,

God sent me here.

Divine sovereignty, human responsibility; the will of God cannot be thwarted. God intends things.

He is the ever-faithful Savior.

This picture of God, in the story of Joseph, helps us understand His providence that He is the ever-faithful Savior.

God keeps His promises.

Don’t miss where God’s sovereignty and providence are leading. The story demonstrates that God keeps His promises. These dreams that Joseph had in the very beginning of his brothers bowing down to him. Did they come true? Absolutely! How did it happen?

The brothers’ efforts to destroy the dreamer ended up fulfilling the dreams.

It was not in their plans, “Let’s sell him into slavery, and his dreams will come true.” The will of God cannot be thwarted. God keeps His promises.

Remember God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 that through his line would come blessings for the nation.

We’re seeing blessings all over Egypt and all over the land through the line of Abraham. This is what God has promised.

What God said in Genesis 15, “Your people will be sojourners in a land that is not their own for 400 years.”

That’s exactly what’s happening. God is taking the line of Abraham, the people of Abraham, the people of Israel to a land not their own, where they will be for generations before they come into the Promised Land. God is keeping His promises.

God preserves His people.

Look at Chapter 46, when God speaks to Jacob, He says,

Genesis 46:2 ESV

And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.”

Genesis 46:3 ESV

Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation.

Genesis 46:4 ESV

I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.”

The ever-faithful Savior, who keeps His promises and God, preserves His people.

Table of Nations

In Genesis 10, you have the Table of Nations. In Genesis 11, the Tower of Babel, nations scattered because of the rebellion against God, and if you look at the Table of Nations in Genesis 10 and you count it; there are 70 nations.

Table of Nations

So, the picture is 70 nations scattered because of the rebellion against God, and then, right after that, in Genesis 12, God begins to call out a people, a nation for Himself, the nation of Israel.

Table of Nations

The story from that point is the development and the preservation of this people, and in the middle of famine, God brings His people safely into the prosperous land of Egypt, and look at what it says in

Genesis 46:27 ESV

And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.

The sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were how many? Seventy. That’s, like, totally not a coincidence.

Deuteronomy 32:8 ESV

When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.

The picture is God is forming a people for Himself.

We saw in the very beginning of the story, God’s people, Adam and Eve, in the prosperous land of Eden, marred by the fall, but by the end of the book, we see that God has formed a people for Himself and placed them in the prosperous land of Egypt.

It shows that God is forming a people for Himself, and even in the midst of famine, He will work through the most unusual of circumstances to preserve His people.

The ever-faithful Savior, who keeps His promises and preserves His people. So, he’s the ever-present Lord, ever-subtle Kind, ever-faithful Savior, keeping promises and preserving His people.

So, what does that mean?

What does that mean when it comes to how this story fits into the whole story of redemption, and what does that mean for our stories represented across this room?

THREE TRUTHS

I want to put before you three truths that I pray God will lodge deeply into your heart and your soul, especially if you are walking right now through pain or difficulty or hurt, or that these truths will be preparation for pain and difficulty and hurt that lies ahead, that these truths will be deep within you.

We have a Lord who is with us.

The same God whose presence was with Joseph when he was sold into slavery, the same God whose presence was with Joseph in the dark recesses of that dungeon, the same God who was with Joseph as he was summoned before Pharaoh to become a leader over all the land; that same God is with you.

He is with you in your exultation

when things are going great, and when your life and family are prospering, He is with you and you’re prospering due to the presence of God, and

He is with you in your humiliation

when things are at their worst and when nothing is going right. When you think you are alone, you are not alone. When you feel that you have been abandoned and no one understands, no one is with you, God is with you. It’s Paul, in

2 Timothy 4:16 ESV

At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!

2 Timothy 4:17 ESV

But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.

No matter what you are walking through or will walk through, as a child of God, you will never, ever, ever be alone.

This is bedrock truth. Know this, no matter what you are walking through or will walk through, as a child of God, you will never, ever, ever be alone. He will be with you. We have the Lord, who is with us.

I WILL NEVER LEAVE OR FORSAKE YOU - YOU FORSAKE OR LEAVE NEVER WILL I

We have a king who is guiding us.

We learn, in Genesis 37-50, the picture of God is ever-subtle King. What this means for our lives – don’t miss this;

God is not overlooking some of the details in your life.

Do you ever wonder if He is? Do you ever wonder, like, “God, do you see what is happening? Do you not see I can’t handle this? Do you see all of this that is happening? Do you care about what is happening?”

Not only is He not overlooking some of the details in your life, but, God is orchestrating all the details in your life.

He is orchestrating all the details in your life. Not in some robotic way; not in a way that you or others are not responsible for sinful decisions or otherwise.

Instead, in the same way we’ve seen here, God is working behind the scenes throughout the story to bring Joseph to the right place at the right time, and He is doing the same thing in our lives.

He is orchestrating a variety of circumstances.

You look at Joseph’s life. You could take any one of these isolated incidences, and just label everything a tragedy if that’s all you look at. But when you put all these pictures together, you see this beautiful tapestry of grace that God has woven through Joseph’s life to bring about good, great good. You think about these circumstances coming together, Joseph sitting there in a dungeon in prison, and it just so happens that a cupbearer and a baker catch Pharaoh in a bad mood, and they get thrown into prison.

And it just so happens that after they’ve had dreams, Joseph walks by the next morning and sees their face. And it just so happens that he interprets these dreams and says to the cupbearer, “Don’t forget me.”

And it just so happens that the cupbearer totally forgets him, until the day when Pharaoh has a dream that needs to be interpreted, and cupbearer just so happens to overhear it, and the cupbearer says, “I know exactly where a guy is who can help you with this,” and he goes to Joseph.

And it just so happens Joseph is brought before Pharaoh to become leader of the land. You don’t plan that, like you don’t sit down and make out a to-do list and put that on your schedule. It’s not the way it works. Do we realize that your life and my life are not the only lives God is working in?

This may come as a stunning realization to some of us, but we are not the center of God’s universe. He’s working in 6.8 billion people’s lives. That doesn’t mean He is not intimately involved in the details of our lives. He is, every single one of them.

God, what are you doing in my life?

But it does mean that when we ask the question, “God, what are you doing in my life?” the answer actually may be about what He is doing in someone else’s life, and what He is doing in your life or my life at any point may not be ultimately for us, but it may actually be for who knows who else, or how many other people’s lives.

He is orchestrating a variety of circumstances and a variety of people for a variety of goals.

God was bringing Joseph to a point of humility, and in the end, joy and gladness. He was bringing Joseph’s brothers, Jacob’s sons, to a point of confession, their sin; was bringing Jacob to a point of ultimate fulfillment, and God weaving all of this together.

He is orchestrating a variety of circumstances and a variety of people for a variety of goals.

And don’t miss it; this is the point of Genesis 50:20, “For God’s people, he’s always bringing it all together for good.” Always for good. The same truth we see reiterated in the New Testament,

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

God’s providence is the only foundation for embracing life’s pain.

Let this be a rock that you stand on. There are many people today, even people who claim to be Christians, who say God is not in control. God doesn’t know what’s going to happen in the end. He doesn’t know the future. He’s just discovering it as we are.

This may be the God of modern man, but it wasn’t the God of Joseph.

He doesn’t stand on that kind of hollow worldview. That’s sinking. He stands on a rock, and when he confronts his brothers – you think about this – he is free from bitterness, revenge, and hatred. Because he knows the providence of God, and he confronts his brothers.

He gets out of prison, and he doesn’t go lashing out at Potiphar’s wife. He doesn’t go off on the cupbearer, who has no memory whatsoever, and he doesn’t stand before his brothers and condemn them, knock them down.

He knows that God takes evil and turns it into good.

Instead, he says, “Come near to me. God did this.” What freedom. He knows that God takes evil and turns it into good. When you know this truth it frees you up.

The evil words and actions of sinful men against you, people who want to harm you, God takes their evil actions against you and uses them for good. This truth will free you from bitterness, revenge, and hatred toward them because you can rejoice, “Thank you, this is good,” in the end.

He takes suffering and turns it into satisfaction.

He takes evil and turns it into good, and He takes suffering – now this is even more beautiful – He takes suffering and turns it into satisfaction. Listen to this: 41:51-52, is when Joseph names his sons. Listen to what he names them.

Genesis 41:51 ESV

Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.”

Genesis 41:52 ESV

The name of the second he called Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

What a good word. God takes the land of affliction in your life, and He bears fruit. Is that really true? Does God really take suffering and turn it into satisfaction? I believe he does.

He brings fruit to His people in the middle of affliction. How do we know that?

We know because we have a Savior who has redeemed us.

Don’t miss the parallels in this story.

God uses a dreadful sin to preserve His people in Genesis.

A dreadful sin: brothers selling their brother into slavery. What shame and dishonor, lying to cover it up, dreadful sin, and God uses dreadful sin to preserve His people in Genesis, setting the stage for one day when

God will use a dreadful sin to save His people for eternity.

When God will take those who will falsely accuse, try and murder Christ on a cross, and He will use that dreadful sin to bring about salvation for His people for all of eternity.

In both stories, God takes the sins of the destroyers and makes them the means of their deliverance.

Brothers harming their brother, selling him into slavery, and God takes their sins against them to provide for their deliverance one day. Their sin provides for their deliverance.

Picture the cross.

They’re nailing Christ to the cross, and we, in a sense, with them, but do they realize as they crucify Him that in their murderous sin they are actually making it possible for the forgiveness of their sins?

That makes no sense, but it is the Gospel.

Think about Joseph when he reveals his identity to his brothers, and instead of cursing them and condemning them, he says, “Come near to me. Because you sinned against me, I now provide for you.”

Now, see yourself before Christ.

The one you have sinned against in His holiness and righteousness, and instead of curses and condemnation, you hear Christ saying to you, “Come near to me. Because you sinned against me, I will now provide for you.”He has redeemed us.

Don’t miss the promise here.

We mentioned earlier how this is really an interplay in the story between Judah and Joseph, and we see Judah leading the people of God into the land of Goshen in Egypt, and when Jacob blesses his sons, he certainly richly blesses Joseph, but the richest blessing is reserved for who? For Judah.

Did you see it? Don’t miss it.

Genesis 49:8 ESV

“Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you.

Genesis 49:9 ESV

Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?

Genesis 49:10 ESV

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

See the picture here?

Father’s sons bowing down before you, Judah. “Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouches as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?

See the picture here?

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff (the sign of a king) from between his feet, until tribute comes to him, comes to him, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” The promise here of a king, who would come from Judah’s line, the one to whom belongs the obedience of all the peoples.

There is a promise here points us forward,

God will take the lion of Judah and make him the lamb who was slain.

That’s the promise of Christ, who would come through, from the line of Judah. What we see in this story is not just about Joseph; it’s God using Joseph to preserve His people, and, more specifically, it’s to preserve a Lion that would come from Judah that would bring about the Lamb who is slain. This is the picture in Revelations 5,

Revelation 5:5 ESV

And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Revelation 5:9 ESV

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,

Joseph is in Scripture to point us to Jesus.

It’s the fulfillment of Genesis 49, Revelations 5, the Lion of Judah is the lamb who was slain.” This is Christ. This is the point here. Ultimately, Joseph is in Scripture not so that we walk away saying, “Wow, what a great story. We really like Joseph.” No.

Joseph is in Scripture to point us to Jesus.

That’s why he’s here. I want you to think back with me over the life of Joseph, and then I want you to think about Jesus. Now, the parallels are not exact, and the details cannot be pressed too far, but picture with me.

The favorite son of the father, who came to the earth despised by his brothers, his fellow men, you and me.

He humbled himself and became a slave in a foreign land, pure and righteous in every way.

He was slandered and sentenced to death on a cross. God did it. God ordained that sinful men would murder His only son so that He might be raised as Lord over all the land, that it might be said in every corner of the earth, “Bow the knee before Him,” and He made a way for His brothers, you and I, to be restored.

He ascended to the right hand the Father, where He became the reunited son, and where He promises you and me full and final redemption with Him.

This is how you can know that no matter how deep and dark it gets in this world, that evil will be turned into good and suffering into satisfaction.

You can know that because, in this grand story of redemption, the one who has saved us from our sins will one day glorify us with Him.

Christians, the most important thing about you is what you believe about God. What you believe defines you. What you believe determines how you live.

So I must ask, do you believe with your whole mind and heart that God is all-powerful?

Do you believe with everything in you that God is spatially and specially present with you?

Do you believe wholeheartedly that he knows everything, even your inarticulate words and thoughts before you say them?

Do you believe that God is absolutely sovereign in all of life?

Do you believe that God’s providence is working in and through your life to effect your good?[