Joseph Sold
Notes
Transcript
This week you have guessed it
We are talking about Joseph one of the 12 sons of Jacob
So if last week was about how God is faithful throughout the generations of Israel’s 12 tribes and how God is faithful to fulfill the promise of one seated on the throne to David
We also see the faithfulness of God in Joseph’s life
Church as we dive into the story of Joseph this morning
We are reminded that God is faithful in his life
We are reminded from last week that God is faithful to his promises
That when we read it in scripture we can know it will happen because God is faithful to fulfill his promises
Church we can trust God
I know that sounds weird to say out loud in a church
Like you and I should already know that
But church it serves as a reminder for us that as we go through life and come to different situations that we can trust God to have a plan
And church Gods plan is better than what we could come up
22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb. 23 So she conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24 She named him Joseph, saying, “May the Lord give me another son.”
Joseph is born
He is the 11 son of Jacob
This is after years and years of trying to conceive and have a baby
Joseph is born
Remember church that Jacob loved Rachel, he married Leah first but he loved Rachel and this is his first born son with the love of his life
You can already see it coming right
Jacob has a special place in his heart for Joseph
He is essentially a first born even thought he is the 11th son of Jacob
And it shows right in how Jacob treats him
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic.
Joseph was the favored child in a long list of children
Joseph would tell his father Jacob exactly what was going on while his brothers would work
He was being honest but from his brothers point of view he was being a goody goody to shoe
So we know he is favored and given things the others are not given
Then Joseph has these dreams
5 Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have had; 7 for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 Then his brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 9 Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, “Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
Notice how it starts off that after he had these dreams he tells his brothers
And scripture said they hated him even more
So don’t think they hated him only for the dreams Jacob’s treatment of him did not help his brothers liking him
So he tells them the dreams
They are the same dream just told multiple times
He is saying at some point they will bow down to him
You might understand that if you were the first born but not if you were number 11
They were jealous of him because he was favored
And yet that did not deter Joseph from telling them about the dream
So now that we have some back story we can already start to see God laying out his plan for the salvation of a nation and eventually of the world to come through what God has told him in these dreams
Then they sell Joseph
18 When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer! 20 “Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him.’ Then let us see what will become of his dreams!” 21 But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands and said, “Let us not take his life.” 22 Reuben further said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him to his father. 23 So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him; 24 and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it. 25 Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 “Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.
I know we read this last week to see how the brothers were
That they were such great people but like us they were sinners in need of a savior
They look for a way to get ride of their issue
That if we just get ride of him his dreams will go with him
If you are Jospeh I can’t help but think panic is starting to set in
I mean you have just been uprooted from your home land and your family
From your loving father and sold into slavery
You are taken into a new place
I can’t help but think panic and complaining starting to settle in
And yet through this we see faithful Joseph
We also see God have a plan in the midst of the chaos
Church as we are about to see
Even when it doesn’t feel like there is a plan or that God is in control we can trust that God has a plan
In the midst of chaos in our lives
Our first response to that should be to run to Jesus
Open our Bibles
Get on our Knees
Close our mouths and open our ears
We are going to read and see how God had a plan through all the chaos that was Joseph’s life
1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. 3 Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge. 5 It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the Lord’s blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.
Joseph is sold into slavery
Joseph is sold to Potiphar a man who was the captain of the bodyguard of Pharaoh
This was a powerful man who owed and had stuff
And yet in vs 2 it says that the Lord was with Jospeh
Even in the midst of this new place and all the stuff
In the midst of that weather he felt the presence of the lord or not
The truth of the matter is that The Lord was with Joseph
To the point where Potiphar became he more successful because of Joseph
It is like anything he touched turned to gold
Church if we walk with Jesus and we are seeking the Lord
There will come times when we are in chaos
There will be times when we don’t understand what is going on
And yet if we are walking with Jesus the Lord will be with us as His Children
Now please here me this is not a if you walk with Jesus then you will become rich or anything
This is a God will be with you in the midst of storms in life in the midst of chaos in life in the midst of no clue what is going on
Even when it doesn’t feel like God is there church the truth is that God is with you
Because God is a good and faithful God
Because He loves us
11 Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside. 12 She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside. 13 When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed. 15 “When he heard that I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.” 16 So she left his garment beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she spoke to him with these words, “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me; 18 and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.” 19 Now when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your slave did to me,” his anger burned. 20 So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail.
In the midst of being a slave in a foreign land
God had a plan laid out for Joseph and his family and ultimately the salvation of the entire world
Now things were going well for Joseph
He was put in charge of his owners house
And daily his master wife would say come and lay with me
Joseph refused because he knew it was wrong
So one night she tries to corner him and he takes off
She has his shirt and cries rape
In the midst of being a slave and now having someone lie about you to the point you are in prison
In the midst of that God still has a plan
I do believe this account is in the Bible for us to see and read and remind ourselves that God still has a plan
I get it
In the midst of the storm of life it is difficult to see and understand that
But church that is why we read and re read and re re read
That is why we study and preach about the accounts in scripture so that when we end up in chaos like Jospeh we can remind ourselves because we have read about it and we have studied it in Scripture
So Joseph is sold in prison
Can it get any worse you might be thinking
But
21 But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
Church God has a plan
You might be in a rough job or have a horrible situation
rather than flee from the difficult
Press into the difficult and see what God is up to in your life
In the midst of being a slave in a foreign land, and being lied about and thrown into jail
But the Lord was with Joseph
Church God has promised to never leave us or forsake us
God has promise good for those who are called and walk according to His purpose
It might not be what you want but it is what God wants
And what God wants is better than what you can do
Eventually He is freed
14 Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh. 15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it; and I have heard it said about you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16 Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
He is freed because he correctly interpreted some dreams
That person forgets about Jospeh and goes about living his life after he is freed
Then remembers Joseph when Pharaoh has a dream
Pharaoh calls him and bring him to interpet the dream
Are you starting to see this morning through the highlights we have read how God has a plan
And yes I get it
It is easy to sit back and see if from a distance especially
But we do that so that when we encounter chaos or we start to feel like God is not with us
We quickly remind ourselves of the truth from Scripture
Then we see this sort of come to a completion sort of
38 Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?” 39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you are. 40 “You shall be over my house, and according to your command all my people shall do homage; only in the throne I will be greater than you.” 41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put the gold necklace around his neck. 43 He had him ride in his second chariot; and they proclaimed before him, “Bow the knee!” And he set him over all the land of Egypt. 44 Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”
God had a plan for him and ultimately for his chosen people
Even when it didn’t seem like
His plan to save His chosen people was to have someone on the inside if you will
Someone in the upper management of Egypt
He sets Joseph to ruler over Egypt second only to Pharaoh
So that God can bring the rest of the family down
God has a plan church
Even in the midst of reading it it might not look like or seem like it
So God brings the brothers back to buy food
6 Now Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. 7 When Joseph saw his brothers he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and spoke to them harshly. And he said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” 8 But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him.
His brother show back up and he knows
He sort of watches them from a distance
Sort of gun shy around them to see how they are
He starts taking to them in fact Joseph gives them their food and their monies back
After a second trip down they get more food and eventually Joseph reveals himself to them
And church
In the midst of chaos years of time, slavery, false accusations, forgotten about
Joseph remain steadfast
God remained faithful to fulfill His plan He had set out to fulfill
God stayed with Joseph
And Joseph explains all this to his brothers
5 “Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 “For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Joseph tells his brother
He explains to them how this all came about
He explains to them not to be upset with themselves
That in fact they didn’t do it but that it was God who worked through them to bring about the salvation of His chosen people
God had a plan for Joseph for the Family of Israel
For the nation of Israel
For the people of the world
As you read through the highlights we can see how God was with Joseph even when it didn’t seem like
Praise the Lord for the promises of Scripture that we can trust during the moments of chaos
We can trust that God has a plan for us even when it doesn’t feel like
And please hear me it might not happen in consecutive chapters like in Joseph
It might take time and more time
It might take more and more chaos
And yet church I am reminded that God never leaves us nor forsakes us
That God works out for the good those who are called according to Gods purpose
That God works out the good for those who are obedient to run after God and who are obedient to what He has called them to do
Praise the Lord for the promises we read in scripture
We can stand on those promises during the chaos and unknown moments or even years in life
So church as we come to a close this morning
The band will come up
Maybe you are here this morning and do not know Jesus personally
I would invite you the front to speak with someone about how you can know Jesus personally this morning
How you can trust those promises of scripture
Or maybe you just need to spend time in prayer at the altar
Would you be obedient to respond to what God has called you to do
the alter is open
Video from Randi about snow falling off roof
