Joseph's Rise to Power

Main Theme : God exalts his suffering servant to save the world.

Sub points: Even in the darkest times God’s plan can be trusted

Joseph did the best he could with in the circumstances he was given.

Joseph acknowledged God in the highs and in the lows.

We are quickly coming to a close of our study of Genesis. We will be in Genesis for 3 or 4 more weeks. After that we will do a short four week Easter series entitled : Passion. Then we will dive right into the book of Romans. I have entitled this series Romans: Theology for everyone.

But lets look at today passage.

Today’s passage is a longer narrative showing Joseph’s rescue from prison and rise to prominence in Egypt. This account outlines several accounts of dreams and interpretations. This account beings in chapter 40 and goes through the end of 41. If you remember in last weeks narrative, Joseph was wrongfully accused of attempted rape. Potipher had him imprisoned. This is where we will pick up today. Joseph is in prison. Scholars are torn between the amount of time. Some argue for about two years where others say it could have been over a decade. Either way any prison time is long when you are innocent.

It was also entirely possible that an Egyptian prison was more of a holding place for execution as in today’s account. What we do know for sure is that it was definitely a place you didn’t want to end up.

Genesis 39:21–23 CSB

21 But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him. He granted him favor with the prison warden. 22 The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph’s authority, and he was responsible for everything that was done there. 23 The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him, and the Lord made everything that he did successful.

The first thing that I want you to notice about this account is this.

I. Joseph didn’t play the victim.

No Joseph could have sat in a corner and did the bare minimum of what was asked of Him. After all he is a prisoner probably on death row. Why should he do anything?

Yet instead Joseph did the best that he could with the circumstances he had been given. No doubt the same gratitude and recognition of God’s presence that kept Joseph from sin when things were going well was the same shield that kept him from the sin of despair and victim hood.

You see you can’t be both grateful and play the victim at the same time. Joseph made the best of his circumstances even when there was no hope.

But even when things seem hopeless God can make a way.

II. God’s rescue plan is often undetectable but it is always remarkable.

Genesis 40:1–23 CSB

1 After this, the king of Egypt’s cupbearer and baker offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guards in the prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guards assigned Joseph to them as their personal attendant, and they were in custody for some time. 5 The king of Egypt’s cupbearer and baker, who were confined in the prison, each had a dream. Both had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning. 6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they looked distraught. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?” 8 “We had dreams,” they said to him, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.” 9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: “In my dream there was a vine in front of me. 10 On the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms came out and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” 12 “This is its interpretation,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. 13 In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand the way you used to when you were his cupbearer. 14 But when all goes well for you, remember that I was with you. Please show kindness to me by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this prison. 15 For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should put me in the dungeon.” 16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was positive, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream. Three baskets of white bread were on my head. 17 In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” 18 “This is its interpretation,” Joseph replied. “The three baskets are three days. 19 In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from off you—and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh from your body.” 20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he gave a feast for all his servants. He elevated the chief cupbearer and the chief baker among his servants. 21 Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position as cupbearer, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had explained to them. 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.

Now if you remember just a few years back Joseph in his arrogance went to his brothers and shared with him his dreams.

Sharing these dreams with his brothers was the straw that broke the proverbial back.

Now it would be dreams that would ultimately set in motion God’s plan to rescue Joseph from the pit, the pit of prison.

But look at the change in Joseph.

Genesis 40:8 CSB

8 “We had dreams,” they said to him, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

Before Joseph used his dreams as a way to lord himself over his brothers. Now he takes no credit for the ability to discern dreams. There is no evidence of pride in him. He gives all credit to God.

So let me ask you this question.

Did the circumstances that God allowed in Joseph’s life hurt him or help him?

Do you see God’s judgement or do you see God’s fatherly love in this story.

How about in your circumstances? Do you see God’s judgement or love? Are you being crushed by an enemy or are you being shaped by a loving father? How do you see God in your circumstances?

“It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply." God actually rises up storms of conflict in relationships at times in order to accomplish that deeper work in our character. We cannot love our enemies in our own strength. This is graduate-level grace. Are you willing to enter this school? Are you willing to take the test? If you pass, you can expect to be elevated to a new level in the Kingdom. For He brings us through these tests as preparation for greater use in the Kingdom. You must pass the test first.”

― A.W. Tozer

You see there are two plans at work in this account.

There is God molding Joseph and God saving a people. These two plans will eventually collide and Joseph will see the big picture but in this situation he is just like you or I. We can’t see passed today. Neither could Joseph. Yet God was at work to save both Joseph, His family, and the wold around them.

But before God uses us greatly he will strip us of our pride. So then the question becomes do you desire God to use you? If Yes, are you willing to be wounded for his sake?

You see. God sanctifies us through our trials and pain.

III. God sanctifies us through our trials and pain.

Are there trials in your life right now, that if you are honest you are angry about? Things that have happened outside of your control. Do you carry spiritual or even physical wounds that just won’t seem to heal.

And listen some of the wounds that you get you will carry with you the rest of your life.

I can think of two wounds that I have.

I used to pride myself in being able to preach without notes. Due to our car accident, I can’t do it anymore. I can no longer rely on natural ability. Due to this injury, I sometimes struggle to even be able to recall your names. This has humbled me.

If we are being honest, Hope and I both have many emotional scars from church ministry over the years.

I had a wonderful doctor in Roanoke that would get on his knees in the exam room and pray for me. After confiding in him all that had transpired while living there, he told me that I may never be the same again. Long term stress is often very damaging. Since them my threshold for stress often seems diminished.

So why would God do that to a couple in ministry? Why would God diminish my ability? because before these things, If I am honest, I wasn’t really a man of prayer.

I strived for rugged independence. I valued ability and strength. Even my hobbies revolved around self-reliance in the outdoors.

God allowed me to be wounded, so that he can use me. He has allowed us to be wounded, so that we have become more dependent on Him for strength. Instead of self-reliant I have been forced to become more God reliant.

Is he cruel? No he is loving. You see church family to live by my own strength and abilities is assured failure.

To live by our own strength is assured failure.

My strength, your strength will fail. But His strength is perfect. His strength and power never fail. When God teaches us to depend on himself, it is for our benefit because we are depending on the sure thing, God himself.

This is what Paul meant when he said

2 Corinthians 12:7 CSB

7 especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself.

2 Corinthians 12:8 CSB

8 Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me.

2 Corinthians 12:9 CSB

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.

God even allowed Paul to be diminished in some way, so that he would depend on the sure thing.

Let’s continue reading:

Genesis 41:1–46 CSB

1 At the end of two years Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing beside the Nile, 2 when seven healthy-looking, well-fed cows came up from the Nile and began to graze among the reeds. 3 After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside those cows along the bank of the Nile. 4 The sickly, thin cows ate the healthy, well-fed cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. 5 He fell asleep and dreamed a second time: Seven heads of grain, plump and good, came up on one stalk. 6 After them, seven heads of grain, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up. 7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven plump, full ones. Then Pharaoh woke up, and it was only a dream. 8 When morning came, he was troubled, so he summoned all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him. 9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I remember my faults. 10 Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and he put me and the chief baker in the custody of the captain of the guards. 11 He and I had dreams on the same night; each dream had its own meaning. 12 Now a young Hebrew, a slave of the captain of the guards, was with us there. We told him our dreams, he interpreted our dreams for us, and each had its own interpretation. 13 It turned out just the way he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged.” 14 Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the dungeon. He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to Pharaoh. 15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said about you that you can hear a dream and interpret it.” 16 “I am not able to,” Joseph answered Pharaoh. “It is God who will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” 17 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, 18 when seven well-fed, healthy-looking cows came up from the Nile and grazed among the reeds. 19 After them, seven other cows—weak, very sickly, and thin—came up. I’ve never seen such sickly ones as these in all the land of Egypt. 20 Then the thin, sickly cows ate the first seven well-fed cows. 21 When they had devoured them, you could not tell that they had devoured them; their appearance was as bad as it had been before. Then I woke up. 22 In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain, full and good, coming up on one stalk. 23 After them, seven heads of grain—withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind—sprouted up. 24 The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven good ones. I told this to the magicians, but no one can tell me what it means.” 25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years. The dreams mean the same thing. 27 The seven thin, sickly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind are seven years of famine. 28 “It is just as I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt. 30 After them, seven years of famine will take place, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will devastate the land. 31 The abundance in the land will not be remembered because of the famine that follows it, for the famine will be very severe. 32 Since the dream was given twice to Pharaoh, it means that the matter has been determined by God, and he will carry it out soon. 33 “So now, let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh do this: Let him appoint overseers over the land and take a fifth of the harvest of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. 35 Let them gather all the excess food during these good years that are coming. Under Pharaoh’s authority, store the grain in the cities, so they may preserve it as food. 36 The food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine that will take place in the land of Egypt. Then the country will not be wiped out by the famine.” 37 The proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants, 38 and he said to them, “Can we find anyone like this, a man who has God’s spirit in him?” 39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you are. 40 You will be over my house, and all my people will obey your commands. Only I, as king, will be greater than you.” 41 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “See, I am placing you over all the land of Egypt.” 42 Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, clothed him with fine linen garments, and placed a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had Joseph ride in his second chariot, and servants called out before him, “Make way!” So he placed him over all the land of Egypt. 44 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh and no one will be able to raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt without your permission.” 45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah and gave him a wife, Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest at On. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt. 46 Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout the land of Egypt.

So not only does God give Joseph the ability to interpret dreams he gives him a solution for the coming famine.

Which by the way, I sometimes get asked if God still speaks through dreams. I would say this, God can do what he wants. I believe the primary way God communicates is through The Word, prayer, and the Holy Spirit.

However, If a dream is from God, the message will always be made clear.

If it is not clear, it is not from God. If the purpose of a dream is to communicate. Then it must actually communicate a message the dreamer or interpreter would understand or the dream would not serve its intent. The message won’t be ambiguous and you won’t have to guess it’s meaning.

Also, if there are those that claim to be able to interpret dreams and they are wrong in their interpretation they are not from God. Even if they get it right some of the time they are not from God.

Deuteronomy 18:19–22 CSB

19 I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to my words that he speaks in my name. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a message in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods—that prophet must die.’ 21 You may say to yourself, ‘How can we recognize a message the Lord has not spoken?’ 22 When a prophet speaks in the Lord’s name, and the message does not come true or is not fulfilled, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

Jeremiah 23:25–27 CSB

25 “I have heard what the prophets who prophesy a lie in my name have said: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ 26 How long will this continue in the minds of the prophets prophesying lies, prophets of the deceit of their own minds? 27 Through their dreams that they tell one another, they plan to cause my people to forget my name as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship.

Just as Joseph had spoken, the famine comes and Joseph’s plan is put into practice.

But as mentioned before there is a bigger picture being portrayed.

So Far we see a man rejected by his own. Sold for silver. Due to know fault of his own is arrested and made to suffer. In this he becomes the suffering servant with a plan to save the world.

In the life of Abraham, we made the observation of What God does in the past he will often do again in the future but in a different way.

One day, some 2000 years later there would come a better Joseph. A perfect man, yet fully God. He would be despised by his own people. He would not be the Messiah that everyone was expecting. He would be a suffering servant, Sold for 30 pieces of silver, wrongly accused, yet willing to die to save the world.

But Jesus is the better Joseph. Unlike Joseph Jesus lived a perfect sinless life to become the perfect sacrifice for us. Unlike Joseph Jesus would die but he wouldn’t stay dead. In his Resurrection he would defeat death and offer Eternal life.

God used Joseph to save his family and the world around them from starving but Jesus came to save the world from sin and death by becoming sin and death for us , enduring and satisfying the holy wrath of God paying the fine for us, so that we could be legally set free from the demands of the law. If we would simply repent and believe the gospel.