Joseph
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I have really enjoyed this series, learning in more depth about the lives or more so about the character of different people in the Bible.
Last week Pastor Isaac talked about the lives of both Saul and David, the difference in their actions when they did wrong. Though Sauls sins seemed lesser than David’s - David gives us a clear look at true heartfelt repentance when he made mistakes.
Today we are going to look at the life of Joseph - not Mary’s Joseph the mother of Jesus but Joseph the son of Jacob - the one with the fancy coat. We are going to begin in Genesis 34 in just a moment.
Charlene - car story - her car was hit but she did not get angry or even frustrated with me. She handled it with grace and mercy. I know that it was genuine because her daughter Elinor who is young and honest - said to me with exuberance “Don’t you worry Pastor Maren - my mom is a very forgiving person!” You see Elinor had seen her mom walk in forgiveness so many times that she knew without a shadow of doubt how her mom would respond.
INTRODUCE JOSEPH
I know most of you know the “story” of Joseph. It is a big story. It begins with his birth in Genesis chapter 30 and ends with his death in Genesis chapter 50. Taking up more than a third of the book of Genesis.
There are books, movies and huge theatrical productions dedicated to Joseph and his amazing technicolor dream coat! Joseph, the boy that was favored over his brothers by his father, his life was both tragic and triumphant!
Most of us can not fathom the tragedies of Joseph’s life or the favor he found with God to become a leader and save an entire nation. But if we look closely at his character - understanding comes.
Don’t worry we aren’t going to look at all 20 chapters of Joseph’s life in detail! You can all breath a little easier!
Here is the history of Joseph in a nutshell. He is the son of Jacob who is the son of Isaac, who is the son of Abraham. If you know their stories you know he comes from a family of big faith! His father Jacob loved his mother Rachel more than his other wife but was tricked into taking them both. His mother could not have children so Jacob had 9 children - 8 sons and one daughter with his other wife and with the wives personal servant before God blessed Rachel later in years with Joseph and then his only other full brother Benjamin - Because Joseph was the love of his life’s first son he was highly favored by Jacob. Joseph was a “good boy” compared to his older brothers. Which certainly added to the favor his father showed.
What you need to know about his siblings - is that they were not necessarily great guys who exibited wisdom and self control.
Dinah’s rape
He raped her - the only sister amongst 9 brothers at this time. THe story goes on and the guy who raped Dinah says he loves her and pleads to marry her so Jacob arranged the marriage in a very amicable way --- however her siblings were different....
2 oldest brothers go and murder and the men in the town then all the other brothers steal everything including the women and children
Joseph at this time was still very young according to scholars he would have been well under the age of 7. He would not have been a part of what happened but he would have known what his older brothers did. We can see from this they had a vengeful streak, you might say their moral compass was a little off.
Thankfully and More importantly Joseph would have seen the example his father set by his response to the rape and to what the brothers did. He knew they would have to leave the land and was furious with his brothers...
In Genesis 35:2-3
So Jacob told everyone in his household, “Get rid of all your pagan idols, purify yourselves, and put on clean clothing. We are now going to Bethel, where I will build an altar to the God who answered my prayers when I was in distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.”
I am certain that Joseph stored in his heart the things he saw his beloved father do - Jacob had a heart to make things right, to get rid of the garbage in his family’s lives and to build an altar for the Lord where they could worship God. He saw his father acknowledge that God was with him through everything and that he chose to honor God.
Fast forward to chapter 37 - the family had now been moved to Canaan - after Jacobs wife Racheal and His father Isaac passed away.
(The Main events)
This is where Joseph’s story gets interesting and we get a look at what he was like as a teenager.
This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing.
Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe. But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.
So Joseph worked for his half brothers but reported to his father the bad things they were doing! He was a bit of a Goody two shoes and was rewarded for it.
I am feeling like at this time Joseph might have a bit of a swelled head, being dad’s favorite, getting a special coat, getting his brothers in trouble - i am picturing him as 17 year old who kinda thinks he knows everything.
Well if he didn’t already think that he probably does after God gives Joseph two dreams - it is the beginning of developing a prophetic gift in Joseph that would be very significant again later in his life.
Joseph being a favored, rather naive young man - goes and tells his brothers about his dreams. The dreams essentially meant that they would bow down to him one day!
As you can well imagine that was not well received but it did not seem at the time that Joseph cared if his brothers hate him or that his dream would hurt them. He probably thought it was pretty cool and rubbed it in their faces a bit - typical teenage sibling rivalry I suspect.
Now the brothers were fuming mad, they wanted to kill him
and threw him in a pit - 2 of the brothers convinced the others not to kill him. So they pulled him out and sold him as a slave to a caravan of Ishmaelites who were traders for 20 pieces of silver! They told their father that he died and let him believe a wild animal ate him. Jacob was devastated.
Lets pick up at
Genesis 37:36
Meanwhile, the Midianite traders arrived in Egypt, where they sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard.
Here we have Joseph, a God fearing Israelite now a slave in Egypt - a culture that did not believe in the one true God but worshipped many made up Gods ( a pagan culture). He’s been sold and betrayed by his brothers - 17 years old, he is a slave to a high up official -
I would have been a mess, a terrified shaking in my boots 17 year old mess! I can’t imagine the gamut of feelings he would have been going through and how I would have reacted in his place.
As we read on in Genesis 39:2-3 we are not given a picture of despair, actually quite the opposite...
The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did.
These little verse tells me a lot. Joseph did not start out by acting out - causing trouble, trying to escape or becoming a rebellious lazy slave.
He made a choice to honour his master and serve - not just to serve but to serve with excellence. It says God was with Him - God was with him because he acted in God’s will.
Peter Tsukahira an international speaker once said “ In order to be within God’s favor, we must conform to His purposes for our lives”.
Joseph’s faith was so strong in him. I am sure he had heard the stories about his ancestors, their great walks of faith and their obedience - it was deep inside him, his faith was a part of his heritage. Later we even hear him say to his brothers that “God willed this”. No matter how bad the situation seemed he trusted God and made a decision to live with purpose and integrity.
As a result Verse 3 said that Potiphar noticed! He saw the way Joseph conducted himself despite his situation and he knew that God was with him— watching this young man in action told Potiphar that the God Joseph served was real! In response Potiphor puts Joseph in charge of all his household affairs and the LORD blesses Potiphars household for Joseph’s sake!
Here we go from the lowest of lows to a major high - Joseph climbed the ladder. He used the gifts God gave him here, gifts of administration and leadership and because he was walking in a right way - honoring God and his job the blessings of God overflowed into Potiphars household!
So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a thing—except what kind of food to eat!
Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, and Potiphar’s wife soon began to look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded.
But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.”
She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. One day, however, no one else was around when he went in to do his work. She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with me!” Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house.
The story continues as Potiphars wife cries wolf. She tells the servants and her husband that Joseph tried to rape her!
Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife’s story about how Joseph had treated her. So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained.
CRASH - talk about going from high to low! Worse than a slave living in the masters house - Joseph is now a prisoner. The bible says that Joseph was noticed soon after arriving and that soon after that Potiphars wife noticed him. Scholars believe that this happened within one to two years of his arriving. Placing him at around 18-19 years of age when he was thrown in prison!
I can tell you from a relatives experience that being a foreigner, thrown in prison for a sex crime - already means you have 2 strikes against you. Here was Joseph - a foreigner, a slave being accused of a sex crime, and strike #3 - it was against his very powerful masters wife. I can not imagine that he was treated well when he landed in prison. It is pretty safe to assume that the conditions were not good, he was punished, maybe beaten, flogged - definitely mocked. This could have crushed a strong, seasoned man let alone a young man. I don’t know if there are any young men here who would volunteer for that?
It seemed he was truly at the bottom of a pit and utterly alone - or was he?
But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 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.
I picture Joseph laying on a stone floor having not eaten for days, having been beaten and left to suffer, slowly picking him self up - standing on unsteady feet looking up to the heavens. His body straightening, his chin lifting higher, his pain draining from his face, being replaced with clarity - his expression changing to one of compassion as God restored his soul. His eyes coming to life as strength entered his body. I see Joseph turning and seeing the man on the floor in the corner cowering, a shadow of a half starved figure he takes the small dish of water and begins to clean the mans wounds.
You see Joseph did not throw his arms in the air in his darkest hour. He did not give in to despair. He knew His God and once again he made a choice as a young man to walk in Gods ways and in His will. He knew that nothing - absolutely no circumstance gets past God - if he was here in prison that meant God had a plan to use it and that meant his best option was to live here in prison in God’s will to the best of his ability! It was a chance to learn and grow.
Once again those around him noticed and the Warden put him in charge. “The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed.”
We are going to fast forward about 8-10years.
Joseph is in charge of the prison when Pharoah - that is the King of Egypt -throws his cup bearer and chief baker in prison for offending Pharoah. They were in prison for “quite some time” when they got assigned under Josephs care - the two of them had dreams one night and shared their dreams with Joseph. In a nut shell his gift about prophetic dreams grew, he told them it was God’s business and he was able to interpret their dreams - basically he told the cup bearer it was good news and that within three days he would be out and serving Pharoah again - then he went on to ask him to remember to mention him to Pharoah so that he might get out of prison. Then he told the baker that his dream meant Pharoah would put him to death in three days!
Long story short - both dreams came true. Unfortunately his friend the cup bearer forgot to mention him to Pharoah for two years.
So Joseph used his gifts in prison for a very long time. Growing in strength, wisdom, having been humbled, he learned to serve and lead in peoples darkest hours, in the worst of living circumstances!
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Finally 2 years after he interpreted their dreams(10-12 years since he was imprisoned) Pharoah has a dream of his own and no one can interpret it - none of the magicians, sorcerers or wise men had a clue - it was then the cup bearer remembers Joseph - and tells Pharoah about the young Hebrew man.
We pick up the story at
Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. After he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.”
“It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”
Joseph does two special things here - he shows wisdom in honoring Pharoah by cleaning himself up - I have read that before and thought what an odd detail to put in here but there is always a reason for the details that are included in God’s word - so i looked again. It seems to me they have noted Josephs maturity and wisdom in this simple act of appearing before Pharaoh with dignity and approaching in and honorable way. Prepared himself for what was coming
Second - Joseph was careful to honor God and immediately point Pharoah towards the giver of all gifts - God. The courage and integrity that would take to tell the King who worships other god’s that His God was real and would help him was huge!
So the story goes on and Joseph interprets Pharoah’s two dreams to mean there will be a seven year period of great prosperity throughout Egypt followed by seven years of extreme famine that will destroy the land.
Then Joseph chooses his words very wisely...
As for having two similar dreams, it means that these events have been decreed by God, and he will soon make them happen.
“Therefore, Pharaoh should find an intelligent and wise man and put him in charge of the entire land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh should appoint supervisors over the land and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops during the seven good years. Have them gather all the food produced in the good years that are just ahead and bring it to Pharaoh’s storehouses. Store it away, and guard it so there will be food in the cities. That way there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come to the land of Egypt. Otherwise this famine will destroy the land.”
He hands Pharoah the solution to saving the Egyptians on a silver platter! Pharoah sees Joseph for who he really is - listen to his response.
So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are. You will be in charge of my court, and all my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on my throne, will have a rank higher than yours.”
Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.”
vs 46 tells us that he was now 30 years old as he began serving in Pharoah the king of Egypt.
Have you ever felt like you have lived an entire life worth of craziness and wondered what it was all leading to?
I am sure that was Joseph in this moment - again moving from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs but never ever wavering in his commitment to live in the center of Gods’ will no matter how it looked. All those years, learning to serve and manage first for an Egyptian official in a powerful setting and then in the humility of a prisoner caring for people in the lowest places.
He was now prepared to manage Egypt and save them from famine - he probably thought this was what it was all about - God had prepared him for this moment in time - God’s plan was to use Joseph to save Egypt.
Little did he know that saving Egypt was just the avenue God would use to bring Joseph to the biggest challenge of his life and in that moment - who he would be, how he would choose to act when faced with the most gut wrenching decision ever would be a moment in time recorded for all the world to see.
As God would have it - the great famine would lead Joseph’s brothers right to him, where they would bow before him and plead for help just as God showed him in his dream. And in that moment Joseph would be faced with the biggest decision of his life. He would be faced with great grief, the years he lost with his baby brother and his father and then the challenge to forgive...
I encourage you to read through how their arrival unfolded, the gut wrenching moments of Joseph before he told the brothers who he was, the struggle of choosing to stay in God’s will... but lets close today with
Joseph could stand it no longer. There were many people in the room, and he said to his attendants, “Out, all of you!” So he was alone with his brothers when he told them who he was. Then he broke down and wept. He wept so loudly the Egyptians could hear him, and word of it quickly carried to Pharaoh’s palace.
“I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. “Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.
Weeping with joy, he embraced Benjamin, and Benjamin did the same. Then Joseph kissed each of his brothers and wept over them, and after that they began talking freely with him.
Worship TEAM
Who we are at the core of our being in the smaller moments, the ups and the downs will be the way we respond to life’s greatest hurts and challenges. It will dictate who we are when we walk through sickness, loss, grief and betrayal. Every moment, month, year that we walk close to God through these things will prepare us for moments that we could not bear the weight of, if God was not with us.
Joseph said yes to everyone of God’s plan, he blessed the Lord - pointed to him at every turn and walked with integrity and righteousness. He was not perfect but He focused on the one who was.
3 Things I know - as sure as I know God is real
God is continually preparing you
Living in God’s will, close to Him, in a Godly fashion is the key to God being with you and empowering you
The world around you will SEE that God is with you, they will see His glory through your life.
Lets pray
Yes I will - song
