Introduction: Joseph’s story is a story that has everything in it, including political intrigue, sibling rivalry, love and hate, jealousy and compassion, lust and ambition, heroism and pity. Of course, Joseph is the Hero, but as we will see God is the main character as well as the director. One of the things that is clearly evident in this story is that God was constantly at work in Joseph’s life as well as the world around him. Even though there are many different twists and turns to this story, it’s very easy to see how God worked everything out according to His timetable and according to His will. That fact alone should help us to realize that even though our lives are sometimes turned upside down and filled with all kinds of different challenges God really does love and care about us, and wants what is best for us.
Let’s pick up the story when Joseph was 17 years old. There wasn’t any doubt about it Joseph was the apple of his father’s eye. His father, Jacob, knew how it felt to be overlooked. His own father, Isaac, had preferred his brother Esau over him. Yet, Jacob was making the same mistake, he was also playing favorites. Without a doubt Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son, and everybody knew it.
We get a glimpse of what kind of young man Joseph was in verse 2. It seems that Joseph was tending his father’s sheep along with his brothers. But something happened. Maybe his brother’s were picking on him, or perhaps they were shirking their responsibilities and making him do all the work. We aren’t told exactly what the circumstances were all we know is that when Joseph got back home he gave his father a bad report about his brothers.
Do you get the picture? Joseph was a spoiled brat, and a tattle tale. He just couldn’t wait to get home and tell Jacob what his brothers had done.
Jacob had given Joseph a very expensive, ‘coat of many colors.’ Maybe it was a birthday present, or maybe Joseph had specifically asked his father for the robe, knowing that his father would give him anything that he wanted.
If this story had taken place today, Joseph would probably have gotten a brand new corvette, loaded to the tilt, with all of the latest gadgets.
But let’s get back to the story. When his brother’s saw Joseph wearing the beautiful robe that their father had given him, and realized that Jacob loved him more than any of them, the Bible says, they hated him, and couldn’t speak a kind word to him. They couldn’t stand to be around him, much less talk to him, or listen to him talk about his crazy dreams. In reality they simply refused to give Joseph the time of day.
Of course the fact that Joseph had always been a dreamer didn’t help matters any. One day Joseph said, "Listen to my latest dream. We were gathering wheat in the field when suddenly my bundle stood up and all of your bundles of wheat formed a circle around mine and bowed down to it." His brothers didn’t have to be rocket scientists to get the point. "What!" they shouted, "You mean to tell us that you are going to rule over us." This just made them hate him all the more.
I’m not sure why but for some reason Joseph just didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. You would think after hearing how they responded to the first dream he would have kept the other dream to himself, but He didn’t. He said, "I saw the sun, the moon, and eleven stars prostrate before me." That was even too much for his father Jacob to take. He said, "You mean to tell us, that your mother and I, and your brothers are going to bow down before you?" Remember that, because it will be very important later in the story.
Verse 11, says that they were Jealous of Joseph, and I think most of us here can understand why. After all, he was Jacob’s favorite son. None of them would ever be able to say or do anything good enough to make them equal to Joseph in their father’s eyes.
One day Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers, who were grazing their flocks near the city of Shechem. But when Joseph arrived at Shechem, he found out that his brothers had moved the flocks to an area around Dothan. So he made his way to Dothan. He was still a good distance away from them, but according to the scripture His brothers they had no trouble recognizing that it was him. Perhaps he had a distinctive walk that gave him away. But a more likely explanation is that they recognized him because of the coat of many colors that he was wearing.
They said, "Oh, great here comes the dreamer! Lets’ kill him and throw him into one of these pits and tell dad that a wild animal attacked him and killed him."
So when Joseph got close enough they jumped him, tore off his coat of many colors and threw him into a deep pit. The Bible tells us that while they were discussing how best to go about killing him and disposing of his body one of his brothers, Judah, came up with a better idea. Essentially, he said, "other than having him out of our hair for good, how are we going to benefit from killing Jospeh? Wouldn’t it make more sense to sell him into slavery?" That sounded like a good plan to the rest of his bothers, so they sold him for 20 shekels of silver, to a group of Midianites, who were on their way to Egypt. His brothers meant it for Evil, but God used it for Good.
They took Joseph’s robe and dipped it in goat’s blood. When they showed the robe to their father Jacob, he immediately concluded, that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. He tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for Joseph for several days. Even though the rest of his family was there to comfort him, Jacob refused to be comforted. He told all of them that he would spend the rest of his life mourning the death of Joseph.
When the Midianites arrived in Egypt they sold Joseph to one of Pharaoh’s officials, a man named Potiphar. The Bible tells us that "The Lord was with Joseph,” and despite the fact that he was a servant living in a foreign land, Joseph continued to prosper.
Did you catch that? The Lord was with Joseph. God had not abandoned him, He had not forgotten him or turned His back on him. Instead, He was actively involved in Joseph’s life. Potiphar was a wise man, and quickly realized that the Lord was with Joseph and was blessing everything that he did. So Potiphar, made Joseph his personal attendant and put him in charge of his entire household. From that point on, God blessed Potiphar’s household because of Joseph.
Everything seemed to be going great for Joseph, but then the bottom dropped out from underneath him again. You see, Joseph was a very handsome young man. After a while, Potiphar’s wife was attracted to Joseph, and tried her best to seduce him. This went on for quite a while, but each time, Joseph managed to stay away from her.
Unfortunately for Joseph, one day he found himself in the house all alone with his master’s wife. She grabbed him and tried to embrace him, but he was quick enough to get away from her, leaving her holding his coat in her hands. She was furious, and promised to make Joseph pay for refusing her advances.
When Potiphar came home, she told him, that Joseph had tried to rape her, but when she screamed, he ran out of the house, leaving his coat behind. Naturally, Potiphar was angry, and immediately had Joseph thrown into prison.
Potiphar’s wife, meant it for evil, but God used it for good.
To His credit, Joseph made the best of a bad situation. The Bible tells us once again, that God was with Joseph, and as a result, the warden of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners. Seemingly everything that Joseph attempted to do succeeded.
Potipher threw Joseph into Prison to punish him, But God used that bad situation to help mold and develop Joseph’s character for the next assignment God had in mind for Him.
Some time later, two of the King’s servants, a cup bearer and a baker were also thrown into prison. One morning Joseph came in, and noticed that something was troubling them. When he asked them what was wrong, they explained that they had each had a dream during the night, and that they were troubled, because they didn’t understand what the dreams meant. Joseph listened and interpreted each of the dreams for the two men, and three days later, Joseph’s interpretations came true. The cupbearer was restored to his original position, but the baker was executed.
About two years later, Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, had two dreams that he didn’t understand, and not knowing what the dreams meant was really bothering him. The first was about 7 fat cows and 7 skinny cows. The second was about 7 healthy heads of grain, and 7 heads of grain that had been scorched by the sun. He was so troubled that he called in all the magicians and wise men in Egypt and asked them to interpret the dreams for him. But none of them were able to interpret the king’s dreams. Suddenly, the cup-bearer remembered Joseph. He told the king about the time while he was in prison, that a young Hebrew named Joseph had successfully interpreted his dream. So Pharaoh immediately sent for Joseph.
After Joseph had been given the opportunity to shave and change his clothes, he was brought before Pharaoh. The Scripture records Pharaoh’s words to Joseph, He said, "I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it." Genesis 41:15
Now I want you to notice, how Joseph responded to Pharaoh’s comment. He said, "I cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires." Genesis 41:16. Earlier in life, when he was still a cocky teenager, Joseph probably would have answered the king’s question differently. But God had used some very difficult circumstances in his life to not only humble him, but make him into a very wise man.
So, Pharaoh told Joseph about the two dreams that had been bothering him. God revealed the proper interpretation of the two dreams to Joseph. The Scripture records Joseph’s reply this way: "Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do."
Now that is interesting to me. Why would God reveal what he is getting ready to do to Pharaoh? Well, the answer is, God always reveals what He is going to do before He actually does it. In this case, He revealed it to a pagan king. God then used Joseph to explain the two dreams to Pharaoh, knowing that Pharaoh would in turn give Joseph an important position in his government.
Joseph continued his interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams by saying, "The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. The seven lean, ugly cows that came afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine." Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, but seven years of famine will follow them." Joseph then looked at Pharaoh and said, “so if I were you I would get prepared.”
But he didn’t stop there. Joseph then proceeded to tell Pharaoh exactly what needed to be done to insure that Egypt would be able to survive the devastating famine. Pharaoh was so impressed by Joseph’s wisdom, that he gave him a government job. But it wasn’t just any job.
Pharaoh said: Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you." Genesis 41:39-40
So Pharaoh put Joseph, (A Hebrew) in charge of everything that went on in Egypt. He also presented Joseph with an Egyptian Princess to be his wife. She bore him two sons, Manasseh, and Ephraim. Joseph was 30 years old when he began working for Pharaoh, King of Egypt.
Approximately 13 years had passed since his brothers had sold him into slavery. Since that time, God had blessed everything that Joseph had done.
Just as God had revealed to Joseph, Egypt enjoyed Seven years of bountiful harvests, which were followed by Seven years of extreme Famine. The famine was so severe and widespread that it also affected the surrounding nations, including the Land of Canaan, where Joseph’s family lived.
In fact, it was so bad that his father Jacob, told his brothers, to go down to Egypt and buy some grain, so that they would be able to survive the famine. So with the exception of his younger brother Benjamin, all of Joseph’s brothers made the journey down to Egypt to purchase some grain for the family. When they arrived in Egypt they bowed down and presented themselves to the man who was overseeing the distribution of the grain. Of Course it was Joseph but they didn’t recognize him, however, Joseph did recognize them.
Joseph must have remembered the dream he had told his brothers about some 20 years earlier, about how their stalks of wheat had bowed down to his. We aren’t told how Joseph reacted to that memory, but we know what he didn’t do. He didn’t jump up and say, "I told you so." God had been good to Joseph, and had helped him overcome the anger, resentment and bitterness he had felt toward his brothers. He sold them the grain they came after, but didn’t reveal his true identity to them at that time.
The second trip they made to Egypt to buy grain they brought their youngest brother Benjamin with them, because Joseph had warned them not to come back to Egypt without Him. You see he had accused them of being spies, and so in an attempt to convince him that they weren’t they had told him about Benjamin. So he told them not to come back unless they brought Benjamin with them.
They again appeared before Joseph, and he once again provided them with the grain they needed. However Joseph told one of his men to hide a silver cup in Benjamin’s saddle bag. Then after his brothers had left, Joseph sent some men after them and accused them of stealing the cup. When his men found the cup, they brought his brothers back before Joseph. After pretending that He was going to have Benjamin thrown into prison, and seeing how his brother’s reacted to that, Joseph couldn’t take it any longer. He sent all of the Egyptians out of the room, and he was left alone with his brothers. He then told them that He was their brother Joseph, whom they had sold into slavery.
Can you imagine the fear and anxiety that his brother’s must have felt at that moment? They must have wondered what Joseph was going to do to get back at them for selling him into slavery? But over the years, God gave Joseph the strength to put the past behind him, and forgive his brothers. He told them to go back and to bring his father Jacob, back to Egypt with them. He wanted them to come live in the land of Egypt until the famine was over.
His response to their fear was remarkable. His vision and understanding of the providence of God was amazing. He said, "Do not worry about the fact that you sold me into slavery. God sent me here to save the lives of many. What’s more, he sent me here to save your lives. So it was not you who sent me here. God did! And he made me a ruler over all of Egypt. So, don’t give it another thought, go get my Father, Jacob, and bring him, along with the rest of your families back with you.
They did just that, and they lived happily in the land of Egypt. But then their father Jacob died. And his brothers were once again fearful of what would happen to them. They came before Joseph trembling with fear, said, "Please forgive us the evil that we did to you." When Joseph heard them he wept and said; "Do not be afraid. For am I in God’s place? You meant evil against me but God meant it for Good." You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. That statement is an affirmation of Joseph’s faith and the power and purpose of Almighty God.
What about you? Do you believe God can take evil and turn it into good? Is your faith strong enough to believe that God can make something good come out of the bad circumstances in your life? Is your faith strong enough to believe that God can turn the evil that has been done to you, into something good?
It takes A Strong Faith to believe that no problem or situation is so bad that our God cannot somehow use that for His purposes and His glory. The Apostle Paul experienced this in his own life, which was why He was able to say with confidence, "And We know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28
Conclusion: When the Roman Soldiers and the Jewish Religious leaders crucified Jesus Christ, They meant it for Evil, But God meant it for Good. God allowed His only begotten son, to be crucified on the cross, so that our sins would be atoned for, and so we could receive the gift of Eternal life. Prayer
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