Genesis 39-40

Joseph: Suffering in Slavery and Prison

Big Idea: Suffering in Trials

Doctrine: Suffering (in trials that linger)

Attribute: omnipresent

Aim:

OUTLINE

Introduction:

I. God’s presence in suffering.- Genesis 39

Key Truth:

Application:

II. God’s perseverance in suffering. Genesis 40

Key Truth:

Conclusion:

After several years of off and on pain I found myself lying in a hospital bed, with a doctor standing over me saying the words: forever. We can’t fix it, she said, only manage it, but you will have it...forever, and there is nothing you can do about it.

My 20 year old self, who was pretty confident I was invincible, went from thinking this was a short lived thing that could be solved by a quick doctor visit to recognizing that nothing about this was going to be temporary. And in that moment. My life was forever changed.

DOCTRINE TALK?

My kid’s fall and get hurt frequently. In an effort to not overreact and make things worse, I will often quickly say “it’s ok..it’s fine…you’re good..just shake it off”

Recently I said that to one of my daughters and she looked at me, with tears in her eyes and said “mom, it is most definitely not ok.”

How many times have you said something stupid to someone who is suffering b/c you simply don’t know what to say? I know I have....

Or maybe you have been the one receiving the stupid comment from someone wanting to care for you but what came out of their mouths felt like anything but caring.

Anyone who has suffered can tell you. It hurts.

In our story this week we see Joseph endure suffering that just never seems to end. I’m sure if I tried to give him my motherly pep talk of “it’s ok..it’s fine…you’re good..just shake it off”

Sometimes in suffering what we need most is not the right words to fix our problems or make the pain go away, it is to simply someone to just “be” with us…to sit with us in our suffering, to remind us that we are not alone.

God knew that, and in our scripture this week, God shows up and through Joseph’s suffering…he is there with him, every step of the way. God doesn’t rush in to try to fix Joseph’s suffering and take away all his pain…he uses it. For Joseph’s good and also for his glory.

Announcements:

Introduction:

How long…I asked…her response: Forever. I remember the words very clearly. She went on.... We can’t fix it, she said, only manage it, but you will have it...forever, and there is nothing you can do about it.

My 20 year old self, who was pretty confident I was invincible, went from thinking this was a short lived inconvenience that could be easily resolved if I followed all the correct steps to recognizing that nothing about this was going to be temporary.

And in that moment. My life was forever changed. In that moment…suffering became a part of my story.

Last week we began studying the life of Joseph. We read about the moment that his life was forever changed- the moment that suffering walked into his life. Last week, in Gen. 37, we saw a young man:

stripped of his robe

thrown into a cistern

sold into slavery by his brothers

....and separated from his family

most of us would at this point say:

“Joseph has been through so much—>when is he going to catch a break”

but…Joseph’s suffering is just beginning.

We are going to look at Joseph’s suffering in 2 sections today:

I. God’s presence in suffering. Genesis 39

II. God’s plan in suffering- Genesis 40

As we move through Joseph’s suffering I want us to keep something in mind: God is always working for OUR good and His Glory- even when we don’t see it.

Growing up in church I frequently remember the pastor saying: “God is good” and then we would all respond “All the time” …All the time, God is good.”

I remember showing up at church during a particularly difficult season of suffering several years ago and we started to sing about the goodness of God. I remember staring at the words as the tears flowed- unable to even say it. Nothing about God FELT good that day- but in my heart- I knew it was true. Why? because over and over and over I had been reminded of the goodness of God.

It’s easy to sing about God’s goodness when everything is going great. ..

But what about those moments when God doesn’t feel good to us. When we are in the middle of suffering and saying that God is good all the time stings.

As we go through this scripture today I am going to remind you that God is good- but please know something- I know that knowing and believing that God is good doesn’t necessarily take away the pain we feel in the midst of suffering.…and that sometimes saying and believing that God is good in your suffering is extremely difficult.

But- it’s true- and sometimes we say and sing God’s truths and promises over and over to ourselves not because we believe them, but until we do. So today, over and over, I am going to remind you that God is good. God is present. and God is working.

Get out your Bible’s and turn to Genesis 39

I. God’s presence in suffering.- Genesis 39

In Gen. 37:36, we learned that Joseph was sold to Potiphar in Egypt and chp. 39 picks up Joseph’s story right where we had left off.

The rest of our time in Genesis will be spent in Egypt:

If you have been with us since the beginning of our study, you know that to date: God’s people don’t have the best track record in Egypt.

In chp. 12- Abraham runs to Egypt during a famine without asking God and then lies to Pharoah about his wife Sarah being his sister.

From that trip, Abraham gains an Egyptian servant Hagar whom he sleeps with in order to try to help God out and have offspring. This resulted in family quarreling and discord within Abraham’s family.

We know that the Egyptians were extremely superstitious and recognized at least 2,000 gods and goddesses.

They had many Egyptian priests, magicians, and wise men who studied the heavens and earth

->in fact we can thank our 365 day calendar to them

In addition, they would have had many semitic slaves like Joseph

The Egyptians had a very large government with officials at various levels

Potiphar:

Captain of the Guard

High ranking official for Pharoah

In charge of the prison for royal prisoners

So unlike Abraham who ran to Egypt in fear-> away from God, here is Joseph, being forcibly taken to Egypt against his will.

Why would God send someone from the family he had chosen to establish his people to Egypt? A place that worships many god’s and goddesses and is filled with wise men and magicians? Hadn’t God consistently warned his people not to mingle with sin and people who worship pagan gods.

In fact, he called Abraham to leave his idol worshipping family to go out into the wilderness? Was this really God’s plan? vs 2 answers that question for us...

Gen. 39:2: “The Lord was with Joseph” —>Yes. God orchestrated Joseph’s trip to Egypt..and God is going to work his plan through Joseph’s suffering....walking alongside him every step of the way.

1st of 4x’s in this chapter. Will see it again in v. 3, 21, and 23.

Don’t you love this- right at the beginning we are not only reminded that God is working but that he is with Joseph.

Sometimes our sin carries into situations where we need to flee, and sometimes, God places us in the pit to grow us.

Gen 39:2-6

Here we see Joseph prosper in everything he does

Potiphar takes notice of Joseph’s success and places him in charge of everything in his household so that he too can prosper from Joseph

Earlier in Gen. 30, we know that Laban was also blessed b/c of Joseph’s Father Jacob.

This was part of the promise God had given Abraham in Genesis 12- that they would be a blessing to others.

Joseph’s conduct was noticeable to the Egyptians: to get to the position of overseer of Potiphar’s household he had to be a man of:

integrity

a hard worker

honest and faithful.

God isn’t waisting Joseph’s suffering here. He is building his character through it

—> teaching him to submit to authority and obey

—> something he may not have learned had he stayed at home with his father Jacob where he was doted on and treated as the favorite son.

Just when it seems like things might be looking up for Joseph—>in 39:6-21 he is now faced with more suffering...

Genesis 39:7-18

Potiphar’s wife took notice of Joseph

The Bible tells us he was attractive- traits he undoubtedly got from his mother, Rachel, who we know was also very beautiful

She begins to tempt him, vs 10 tells us that she asked him over and over again to come to bed with her.

Joseph refuses, not just once, but over and over again.

Temptation is a form of suffering. We know that Jesus was also tempted in the desert by Satan. and Hebrews 2:18 says: “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

As believers, when we are tempted to sin- it is a form of suffering.

No doubt, that Potiphar’s wife asking Joseph over and over to sin would have been difficult.

I wonder- did Joseph feel weary- wondering if it would be easier to just give her what she wanted? With God’s strength, he continuously resisted her advances.

One day, she grabs his cloak and once again offers him an invitation to come to bed with her....and Joseph flees, leaving his cloak behind.

For the 2nd time- Joseph loses a garment.

Fed up with Joseph, Potiphar’s wife screams and shows off his cloak to the other servants- fabricating a story that Joseph came to sleep with her but ran when he heard her scream.

When Potiphar comes home- she once again tells her made up story and we are told that Potiphar burned with anger.

Now, in the Egyptian culture the punishment for a slave assaulting a masters wife would have been immediate death.

Joseph should have been put to death, but instead, he is placed in jail.

It appears that Potiphar didn’t actually believe his wife- however, her accusation was serious and to keep his own standing within the community he would have had to do something- so he disgraced Joseph and threw him in jail.

And again, with the loss of his garment, Joseph becomes the victim of injustice, resulting in continued and prolonged suffering.

In that moment, Potiphar’s wife used her position over Joseph for evil…

In our culture, we see people using positions of power for evil on a daily basis.

Politicians Lying and manipulating to get people to like them and gain votes; inappropriately using funds for personal use

In America, our country has a strong history of racism. Racism is still very much alive in our country and because of it minorities in in this country have and continue to suffer.

Within our churches we have seen prominent leaders use their position for sexual advantages and using their status to silence victims

In the name of women empowerment we see babies being murdered on a daily basis.

I could go on with examples all day—injustice is all around us- people in power abusing their position.

As we look at this story- we are given no details into what is going on in Joseph’s head.

At this point- his life just kind of blows up in his face.

This is almost like a replay of the events leading up to Gen. 39.. It may be different characters, different scenarios, but it’s all the same injustice. it’s all the same sin. it’s all the same heartbreak. It’s all the same suffering!

I wonder what was going on in Joseph’s mind? Not only would he have been wrestling with the injustice he felt from Potiphar, that would have been bad enough— but I have to wonder if he was wrestling with the injustice he felt from God. Where was God in the midst of Joseph’s suffering.

Gen 39:23- Remember the repeated phrase in this chapter. in vs. 23- we see it again “The Lord was with Him”

LORD

in addition, we also see the uppercase use of LORD used 7x in chapter 39

When we see LORD in our Bibles in all uppercase, we know that the Hebrew word being translated is: Yahweh

It could have said “God was with Joseph,” which would have been equally true, however, the author here uses the name Yahweh instead

This is the name God gives himself

It is profoundly holy but unmistakably personal

It is distinct b/c in the book of Exodus when Moses asks God his name God responds with Yahweh, which translates to: “I am who I am”

in other words-> Yaweh will always be who He is…nothing more, nothing less.

So our covenant keeping, Faithful, and PERSONAL God who was with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob is now very much with Joseph as he walks through suffering.

As Moses writes this chapter, he isn’t focusing on the events surrounding Joseph’s suffering and he isn’t focusing on the injustice done to Joseph-> instead we see him repeating:

Yahweh was with Joseph

The focus of this chapter is not suffering. The focus is our faithful omnipresent, personal God who is with Joseph every step of the way.

And that same, personal God is walking right there with you through your suffering.

Key Truth: In the midst of suffering God’s presence is certain.

Application: Do you see God in your suffering? Or are you so focused on the circumstances— that you miss him?

How often in our suffering do you start to doubt God’s goodness. You doubt that he is with you and for you?

This is a lie the enemy wants you to believe.

We see Joseph here, making the best of his circumstances. Continuing to work hard and be a man of integrity, despite unjust treatment.

II. God’s perseverance in suffering. Genesis 40

Gen. 40:1-8:

Chapter 40 starts out with the words “Some time later...”

Did anyone else read those words and feel a sting.

How long is some time?

Here we see Joseph…waiting..waiting on God to fulfill his promises to him.

Waiting in the midst of suffering is difficult.

Our culture hates waiting. Everything in our culture is built around quick results and quick answers.

But in scripture we know God is working in the waiting- refining us, building our character and teaching us to trust in Him.

This is exactly what God is doing in Joseph as we waits. He is building his character and is refining Joseph in a way that can only be accomplished through longsuffering.

Psalm 130:5 says: I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope.

there is something about the idea of my whole being waiting that I resonate with. It takes EVERYTHING inside of me to wait…

So what do we do in the waiting....we cling to God’s word....cling to his promises.

So, here is Joseph- waiting- and in the waiting, the cupbearer and baker manage to make Pharoah really angry.

The use of the phrase: “the king of Egypt” in vs 1 implies the seriousness of their offense

The cupbearer and baker would have had unique access to Pharoah.

Jobs: provide Pharoah with food and drink and protect him from being poisoned.

The cupbearer specifically would taste the wine before Pharoah consumed it- if it were poisoned, the cupbearer would be the one to die, not Pharoah

Whatever they did —> it resulted in them being put into the prison— the same prison where Joseph was being held.

Now, we know from our previous chapter that Joseph was in charge of the prisoners- his job was to care for them..so the cupbearer and baker are put under his care.

One night, both of the men have a puzzling dream.

Now, Egypt was full of wise men and magicians who would interpret dreams- dreams were viewed as a medium for divine revelation.

Had they not been in prison, the cupbearer and baker would have gone to a wise man to have their dream interpreted.

Instead, they are visibly distraught because they have no way of interpreting their dreams

40:6-7: We have Joseph- attentive to their feelings, recognizing that something was wrong.

In the midst of his suffering, Joseph reaches out in concern for others...

Sometimes in our moments of suffering we can become so self-absorbed that we forget about others.

2 Corinthians 2:3-4 says Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

Who in your life needs comfort from you today? (PAUSE)

Now, Dreams were not new to Joseph, in fact, they are a key theme woven throughout his life. His story, back in Gen. 37- begins with a dream and dreams will come back next week in chapter 41.

In chp. 37- at the beginning of Joseph’s story- he dreams that one day his Father and brothers would bow down before him.

The dream in chp. 37 was God’s way of revealing himself to Joseph- it was God’s specific words to him. You may be wondering whether or not Joseph remembered his dream? I think we find our answer in vs 8 when Joseph says:

“Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.

If Joseph didn’t believe that one day his own dream would also come true- he would not have given credit to God as being the one who interprets dreams and he certainly would not have offered to interpret the cupbearer and bakers dreams.

See, Joseph believed God’s previous word to him, through his dream, and he acted on his belief in faith.

He believed and trusted that God’s purposes would prevail even in the midst of his suffering.

So, in 40:9-13 the cupbearer describes his dream to Joseph and Joseph responds with good news. Telling him that he would be restored to his original position in Pharaohs palace!

Joseph then makes an important request to the cupbearer in vs 14-15: When all goes well with you, Remember me.

It is now the chief bakers turn..after hearing such a great response to the cupbearers dream he is no doubt hoping for more of the same for him. Unfortunately, Joseph does not have a favorable response for the baker.

Let’s read his interpretation in 40:19( READ)

And in 40:20-22 we see that Joseph’s interpretation of the dreams came true, just as he said.

How encouraging this must have been for Joseph! Joseph had a dream of his own he was holding onto- a speck of hope that one day his suffering would end.

God spoke to Joseph through a dream…God continues to speak to his people today. One way that he speaks to us today, which Joseph would not have had at the time, is through His word.

The Bible is living and active…the Bible is filled with God’s promises. Just like Joseph was clinging to the promises in his dream, we can cling to God’s promises to us found in his word- his special revelation to us.

When we believe that God is working out his plan through our suffering. When we believe that he is working for our GOOD and His glory- we don’t drown in the suffering.

In 23, we see that the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph…he forgot him.

so there Joseph sat....in his pain....in his suffering…with no apparent end or way out.

Maybe you, like Joseph, are you in the midst of suffering right now-suffering that doesn’t seem to have an end in sight- suffering that seems like it might just last forever.

For many of us- our natural tendency in suffering is to fix it- what do I need to do to make it go away as soon as possible?

Maybe you tend to numb out- distracting yourself with everything and anything to make you forget the immense hurt and pain that you feel.

Normally- this is the point where I would tell you that one day all suffering will end and there is hope in Jesus. Bamb- end lecture... Both of those things are true....

But, if you find yourself in the midst of suffering whether it is right now or in the future...I want to invite you to do something- something completely countercultural..take a step back, from all the fixing and all the numbing out and sit…sit with God in your suffering. Tell him of your hurt and pain. If you need to let the deep sobs from within come- let them come..

As I think back to my journey with suffering- I can tell you that my story with Jesus isn’t about him taking me out of the pit and restoring me, but it’s about him sitting in the pit with me.

When we stop trying to get out of the pit and recognize that he is right there with us then the God of all comfort- our omnipresent Yahweh- can comfort us in our suffering.

He wants to love you and comfort you but if you are too busy trying to make it all go away and too busy numbing out- you will miss him- miss his presence- miss his comfort- miss his unconditional love for you...

This letting go and letting God requires us to trust in his plan and rest in his promises, regardless of whether we know the end of the story.

Key Truth: In the midst of suffering God’s plans can be trusted.

Do you trust that God’s plan is better than your plan?

Do you trust God when you don’t have all the answers?

So many times in our suffering we get stuck in the why? Why me? Why is this happening…We want to know the purpose and the plan and we want to know it now.

Many times, when we don’t get those answers, we start questioning God’s goodness to us and start defining goodness in our own terms...we lose confidence in him when our circumstances don’t FEEL good and when the outcome looks hopeless.

Guess what- we don’t have to figure out the why- figuring out the why is exhausting and usually in the midst of our suffering we are just trying to muster up the energy to take our next step. Instead of answers- God gives us himself- trust him- He has already figured it out- we don’t have to...

What why’s do you need to trust God with today?

Conclusion:

For most if not all of you, at some point suffering walked into your life and maybe- you are currently wondering when you are going to catch a break, wondering if your suffering is going to be forever. Praying and wishing that it would end as soon as possible.

We are currently in the midst of Holy Week....

On Good Friday- Christ suffered and died on the cross....and we know that on Sunday, death would be defeated and Christ would be raised from the dead and reign forever...

But our scripture this week doesn’t take place on Sunday, it takes place on Saturday. On Saturday, Jesus was dead, it seemed as those evil had won. The disciples were confused, in hiding…had despair set in?

See, WE know that Sunday is coming…but they didn’t…if you have read this story before or looked ahead you know that Joseph gets out of jail and goes on to save the day…but he didn’t know that. All he had were the promises of God to cling too. He didn’t have the big picture or all the why’s to his suffering answered.

But he wasn’t alone.

When all you have are the promises of God to cling to- how much more real and genuine do they become to us.

Horatio G. Spafford was a man who experienced deep suffering. He had a wife and 5 children. In one years time, his youngest son died of pneumonia and their business was burned in the Great Chicago Fire.

2 years later, his wife and 4 daughters were crossing the Atlantic on its way to Europe - Horatio needed to take a later ship and was planning to meet them in a few days. The ship carrying his wife and 4 daughters collided with another ship and the ship sunk into the ocean. His wife was found floating on a piece of wreckage and was saved- but his 4 daughters perished with the ship.

As he was headed to meet his grieving wife, a sailor pointed out that they were passing over the place where his daughters were lost. And while on that journey he wrote these words:

When peace like a river attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll,

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul.

Let’s pray.

All

The apostle Paul in the NT was no stranger to prolonged suffering. in Romans 15:3 he says:

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”

Hope.....

Hope does not mean that we ignore the reality of our situation.

Our hope isn’t tied to our expectations finally being met in our way and in our timing.

Our hope isn’t tied to whether or not a circumstance or another person changes.

Our hope is tied to the unchanging promise of God. We hope for the good we know God will ultimately bring, whether the good turns out to match our desires or not.

Hope means that we acknowledge the reality of our circumstances but in the same breath recognize that God is sovereign over it.

In addition to using her position of power, she uses demeaning language towards Joseph in vs’s 14 and 17- referring to him as “that Hebrew.”

This is not some descriptive term she is using to help the other servants and Potiphar know who she is talking about- she is taking away his name and saying- you know- those Hebrews- all of them- collectively- they are ALL trouble makers.

What we see happening here is racism.