Slave To Deputy Pharaoh

01/14/2019 Slave To Deputy Pharaoh

Series: The Story Of The Bible 

https://vimeo.com/309209404

What Does The Bible Say?

Genesis 37 - 50

So Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived as a foreigner. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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. 5 One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever.

8 His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them. (Genesis 37:1–6, 8 NLT)

Big Picture: God used poor fathering and sibling rivalry to help move His nation to safety.

When Joseph was taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased by Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. Potiphar was captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. 2 The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. (Genesis 39:1–2 NLT)

Have you ever suffered bad consequences for doing the right thing?

19 Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife’s story about how Joseph had treated her. 20 So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained. 21 But the LORD was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the LORD made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. 22 Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. 23 The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The LORD was with him and caused everything he did to succeed. (Genesis 39:19–23 NLT)

So many times we miss what God is doing because we focus on our own pain. 

39 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. 40 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.”  46 He was thirty years old when he began serving in the court of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And when Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence, he inspected the entire land of Egypt. (Genesis 41:39–40, 46 NLT)

God might be using your current bad situation to prepare you for your next mission in life.

How Can You Obey:

3 “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. 4 “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. 5 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. 6 This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. 8 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. (Genesis 45:3-8 NLT)

Are you a good forgiver?

You become a good forgiver when you align your life to what God is doing.

You become a good forgiver when you have watched someone model forgiveness for you. 

The Clue Of God’s Salvation: Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, forgave them, and then saved them.

Question 1 of 5

In the darkest times of Joseph's life we read that “the Lord was with Joseph.” How have you experienced God being with you in the hard times of life?

Question 2 of 5

Tell about a time you waited for months or years on an answer from the Lord. How did you make it through this long season of waiting?

Question 3 of 5

Tell about a time when something hard and painful was happening in your life, but later you saw God accomplish something wonderful through that painful time.

Question 4 of 5

Joseph could have retaliated and gotten revenge on his brothers for all the wrong they had done to him. Instead, he provided for them and extended forgiveness. What makes it hard to forgive people who've intentionally wronged us? What can we do to forgive, even when it is difficult?

Question 5 of 5 

Joseph was sent to prison after he rejected Potiphar’s wife; how do you respond when you do the right thing and yet you feel like you’re being punished?