Joseph's Challenges

The story of Joseph is not how great of a hero he is that saves his family. It is a story of having faith in God and his promises even in the hardest of circumstances.

We are not in control of our circumstances

Joseph has two dreams, both of which have his family bowing down to him.

What didn’t help was the bad report that he had of his brothers.

-There are two thoughts on Joseph. He was sort of a little brat, yet one God was going to bless Israel through much like his father. Or that he was just seeking to do what was honoring to God.

-I lean towards honoring God, his brothers were doing evil things, and he was faithful to his father in reporting to him.

Jacob favored Joseph, not learning from the mistake of favoring one wife over another. It would lead to the other brothers growing bitter toward the favored son.

-Joseph had a “coat of many colors”, or it could have just been a “long robe with sleeves”

-What this robe probably indicated was that Joseph would be the son who would receive the inheritance from his father.

-Especially since they were sons of Leah, who was Jacob’s first wife and they saw how Jacob loved Rachel more. This envy grows towards Joseph as well.

-Their hatred continued to grow and grow.

Then, Jacob sends Joseph to his brothers a second time. Do you think he want to go out knowing what happened last time? His father is probably sending him to see if they will make the same mistakes again. Have you ever not wanted to do the right thing because you knew what it would cost you?

His brothers call him “master of dreams”, which will end up becoming a true statement. Again, Joseph just states what has happened in his dreams.

Yet because of the resentment of his brothers, he is sold into Egypt.

But here is the question...why did the brothers had Joseph instead of their father? It was their father who showed the favoritism. It is the same in the story of Cain and Abel, God blesses Abel’s sacrifice and not Cain’s so Cain murders his brother.

Joseph is sold to Potiphar. Here he is a slave.

Then he is put even lower, he is made a prisoner!

-What is interesting is that the prison guard was most likely Potiphar!

The obedient will be persecuted by the disobedient

Why?

Because evil always wants to bring down the righteous. The wicked will play by broken rules.

-Some of you have played firehouse rules with Bruce...If one person is cheating and the other person is playing fairly who will most likely win the game?

Obedience doesn’t often lead to an immediate reward

Joseph was faithful to God by not falling into temptation, yet he is thrown in jail for it! Sometimes it can feel like doing the right thing makes matters worse for you. But we need to trust God’s plan

God is in control

Notice the similarities

Genesis 39:1–6 “Now Joseph had been taken to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guards, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful, Joseph found favor with his master and became his personal attendant. Potiphar also put him in charge of his household and placed all that he owned under his authority. From the time that he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house because of Joseph. The Lord’s blessing was on all that he owned, in his house and in his fields. He left all that he owned under Joseph’s authority; he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome.”

Genesis 39:19–23 “When his master heard the story his wife told him—“These are the things your slave did to me”—he was furious and had him thrown into prison, where the king’s prisoners were confined. So Joseph was there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him. He granted him favor with the prison warden. 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. 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.”

Genesis 40:6–8 “When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they looked distraught. So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?” “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.””

-Joseph knows God is in control

-His interpretation to these two show that God is with Him and that all that is happening in Joseph’s life is for God’s glory.

We also see something that continues to come up throughout the narrative of Joseph’s life...dreams. Why does Joseph have these dreams?

-When we have dreams no we just see them as the random funny stories that pop in our heads at night that often feel real. This, I believe, is the case most of the time. In fact I would not argue that any of you should try to interpret any of your dreams.

-But in the ancient world dreams had a divine origin, they were interpreted to find the deeper meaning behind them.

-They are a reminder who is really in control and of whose wisdom to follow. God gave Joseph wisdom through these dreams, and how to bring Egypt through famine, of how those he were in jail with should respond to the challenges coming ahead of them, of the posture his brothers should have towards him.

-Notice the brothers statement, “then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!” It is as if they are challenging God. They are attempting to reject God’s divine plan for them and for Joseph.

No scheme of man can stop God’s plan

Notice where Jacob ended though. He found himself with the opportunity to find favor with one of great power and authority in Egypt.

Joseph’s brothers became the agents of God’s plan.

Don’t trust appearances, trust God

Sometimes circumstances look terrible to us, but are exactly where God desires for us to be.

Sometimes circumstances look amazing, but it turns out to be fools gold.

Earlier I used the example of someone cheating at a game and winning. But the problem with “winning” is that we need to ask the question “what game are you playing?”

-If you KNOW that you have cheated, is there are much satisfaction in winning? Do you receive it with the same joy as someone who worked really hard for it

Bluey episode, getting ice cream while their dad plays ragdoll

There is far more satisfaction in life when we trust God. Because in a world where we think we can get everything we want, we end up not being as satisfied. In fact, we end up needing more and more to be satisfied. This is one of the reasons the world is wrong about “enjoying life to the fullest”, because it is under the assumption that if you live your life trying to do everything you want that you will look back and be satisfied.

-There are less young people than ever having kids because they think kids weigh them down, that kids prevent them from truly enjoying life. They want to spend money on the things they want to spend it on, not diapers! This doesn’t mean being single, or married without kids is a less valuable life than being married with kids. It is a question of what you fill your life with in your circumstances.

-Far more joy is found in serving God, in building community with others, in caring for others with what God blesses you with rather than spending it all on yourself. In fact, research has found this to be true!

No matter life’s circumstances, we are called to be faithful to God’s plan

When Joseph was a slave, he made Potiphar a wealthy man and was trusted by His master. Did he want to be a slave? No! Could he have acted miserable because that wasn’t what he wanted? Certainly! But we are called to be faithful to God even when our circumstances in life are not what we desire.

What we see is that every time that Joseph is given an opportunity, he seeks to honor God with it.

-This includes when we are dealt with temptation.

-We may be tempted in a job to participate in practices we know don’t honor God. Use curse words because other people do, to smoke or drink because others do it to.

-When we get promotions, when we receive wealth, it can be easy to be corrupted, it can be easy to think we can start to get away with things we know we shouldn’t.

Genesis 39:9 “No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do this immense evil, and how could I sin against God?””

-Joseph made “truth His ally”

-Even when it cost him personally, he trusted God.

God will give the faithful greater responsibility in His plan

Joseph was faithful to God while he was a slave to Potiphar, in fact God made him “prosper”. He found “favor” in Potipher’s eyes because of how he served him.

Sometimes when we don’t like a boss or a coach we think that gives us a right to slack off. Or we think because we aren’t getting to do what we want to do that we should give less effort.

-Luke 16:10 “Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much.”

Trust God, even in the midst of temptation and discouragement

With Joseph, what do you think would have happened when Potiphar found out he had slept with his wife? Probably gone to jail! Yet now, he would have turned away from his God.

Then, Joseph was in prison. It would have been easy too given up at this point. Twice, he had done what God asked him to do and twice he suffered for it. Yet he trusted God’s plan.

Jesus trusted the Father even to death on the cross

Joseph reminds us of Jesus.

He is the object of his father’s special love.

He had promises of divine exaltation.

He was mocked by his family.

He was sold for pieces of silver.

He was stripped of his robe.

He was delivered up to the Gentiles.

He was falsely accused.

He was faithful amid temptation.

He was thrown into prison.