Now Is Not The End Part 3
Scriptures: Genesis 39: 21-23; 40:1-23; 41:1-46
Introduction:
This is part three of my series “Now Is Not The End.” In my message two weeks ago, we followed Joseph to Egypt and his experiences in Potiphar’s house. When we completed the message, we found Joseph being placed into prison because he was accused by Potiphar’s wife of attempting to rape her. As we followed Joseph, we found that God was blessing him in everything that he did and He was blessing Potiphar’s house because of Joseph. Joseph steps were being directed by God and Joseph made the decision to honor God in everything that he did by consistently making decisions in each of his “now” experiences that demonstrated his love for God. We will take up where we left off two weeks ago. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 39.
I. Joseph Enters Prison
Last time we stopped with Joseph being placed in the prison that was reserved for the king’s prisoners. Let’s start reading at verse twenty-one. “But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the Lord was with him’ and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper.” Have you ever heard the statement “You can’t keep a good man down”? Well here is a prime example of a man who walked with God and through everything he went through, God blessed him. God gave him favor with the chief jailer and once again the chief jailer as did Potiphar before him, saw that God was with Joseph. Sometimes it is hard to see the blessings because of all the bad, but that was not necessarily the case with Joseph. He was imprisoned unjustly and yet he still walked with God. As I shared with you last week, the blessings continued to overshadow Joseph (they sought him out versus him seeking them.)
Now let me ask you a question that some of you may already be considering: “How do you prosper or be blessed while in prison?” I mean you are in prison; you’re still wearing prison clothes and eating prison food. You’re still behind bars with limited freedom. In this situation how do you prosper or be blessed? I can think of a few ways, but in Joseph’s case, whatever way it was, Joseph experienced it. He walked into that prison and quickly got the attention of the chief jailer. Maybe Potiphar told the chief jailer about what an asset Joseph was to his household. What we do know is that once again someone saw that the Lord was with Joseph.
Joseph was living his life in such a way that everyone knew that God was with him. What about us? Can that same statement be said about us? Can people look at our lives; the decisions we make; how we carry ourselves and see that the Lord is with us? Joseph was now in prison and his “now” experience had changed through no fault of his own. He was faced with making some new decisions in a very difficult situation. What did he do? Well he must have done something that led the chief jailer to know that God was with him. Maybe it was how he handled the assignments that the chief jailer gave him on a daily basis. Maybe it was the way the other prisoners responded to him as he interacted with them. We do not know exactly what he did do, but I can tell you what he did not do. Joseph did not enter the prison with a chip on his shoulder. He did not enter the prison complaining about Potiphar and his wife. Joseph did not enter the prison depressed, angry and blaming God for his current situation. By all impressions, he entered the prison knowing that once again how he carried himself would either help or hinder his current situation. In every situation Joseph could have treated it as his end, but that was not what he did. He made different decisions that affected every situation. Even though he did not have confirmation, he knew his “now” experiences were not the end. Before I continue on, I want to refer to something Paul wrote that could actually be based on Joseph’s story. I am not saying that it is, but just humor me for a moment and give this some consideration.
II. How To Do A Good Job
Before I share this Scripture with you, I just want to remind you of what you have heard thus far with Joseph. He was sold into slavery. He prospered in slavery. He was sent to prison. He prospered in prison. In each situation he prospered because of how he did his work and how he carried himself. In everything that he did, he did it in his service to God. Now turn with me to Colossians 3:22-24. At the time that this was written, as it was with Joseph, there were slaves present. Some individuals were slaves because they were sold into slavery while others were slaves by choice. If you’re wondering how someone could choose to be a slave, go study your Old Testament and it will become clear. Colossians 3:22-24 says the following: “Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”
Did you catch this? As I shared with you last week, many people today have a slave’s mentality when it comes to doing their work. Even though they are getting paid good money and have good benefits, they consider themselves slaves – having to work against their will. They enjoy the benefits, but they do not think they have a choice about working. When this mentality sits in, it changes how the job is done. When you’re doing a job just to do it, your heart is not in it and you could not care less that how you did the job represented you and who you are. Many times we do enough to get by and then complain when someone asks us to do what we are actually getting paid to do. We point fingers at everyone else who is not carrying their weight justifying why we are not carrying ours. This attitude is what Paul was addressing which directly reflects how Joseph did his job. Joseph did his job as unto the Lord, not to men and God took care of him every step of the way. He did his job from the heart and not just to please men. If we start doing our jobs as unto the Lord and not unto men, our attitudes will change towards the job and how we do the job will change. We will not mind going the extra mile because we know that this job is not our end and that God is ultimately the one who will reward what we do. I hope this makes sense for those of you who are frustrated on your jobs. Let’s get back to Joseph.
III. Joseph Interprets Dreams
After Joseph had been in prison for a while, the kings’ cupbearer and baker were imprisoned because they angered Pharaoh. Both of these positions were important to the king. The bakers were the ones who prepared the bread for the king and the chief baker would be the person in charge of all of the bakers. The cupbearer, or butler as the position would be defined today, was a trusted member of the kings’ court. Because of the constant fear of plots being devised to kill the king, the cupbearer was in charge of ensuring that the wine was safe to drink. Sometimes the cupbearer would be required to drink some of the wine before it was given to the king to ensure that it was poison free. To be in this position required the trust of the king. We are not told what these two individuals did to anger the king, but they were both placed in prison. Let’s pick the story up at verse three. “So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned. The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.” (Vss. 3-4)
There are a couple of things we need to note here. First these two high ranking members of the king’s court were placed in the same prison where Joseph was placed. Remember, the chief jailer had placed Joseph in charge of the daily operation – so Joseph was prospering while in prison. When these two officials entered the prison, the “captain of the bodyguard” put Joseph in charge of them. Did you pick up on that? The captain of the bodyguard, Potiphar, is the same individual who placed Joseph in the prison because his wife said Joseph tried to rape her. Even though he had placed Joseph in the prison, he still trusted Joseph enough that he made the decision over and above the chief jailer, to place the baker and cupbearer in Joseph’s care. As I stated last week, I believe that Potiphar did not truly believe that Joseph had attempted to rape his wife and only imprisoned him to save face. In placing these two men in Joseph’s care, maybe he wanted Joseph to know that he recognized his innocence or that he was forgiving Joseph. Whatever his reason, he placed these two individuals in Joseph’s care. The circle was starting to be completed.
After the chief cupbearer and baker had been in prison for a while, they both had dreams. Verses five through twenty three tells the story of their dreams. Throughout the ancient Near East it was believed that dreams had specific meaning and therefore both men were troubled by their dreams because they did not know what they meant. When Joseph saw how disturbed they were, he questioned them as to what was going on. They both told him they had dreams and did not know what they meant. Joseph, still faithfully walking with God, told them that all interpretations belonged to God. This recognition from Joseph gives us a little insight into Joseph’s frame of mind. At this point Joseph did not doubt that God would tell him what those dreams meant and I believe at this point in his life, even though he did not know how it would happen, he knew that the two dreams he had had as a teenager would come to past. He knew that one day he would see if family again. Why I say this, I will explain shortly.
When Joseph saw the two men troubled, he told them to tell him their dreams knowing that God would give him the interpretation. Each man told Joseph their dream and Joseph correctly interpreted their dreams for them. He told the cupbearer that he would be restored to his position while the baker would be executed. He asked the cupbearer to remember him when he was back in his position because he had been kidnapped from him home and he was also in prison unjustly. When the cupbearer was restored to his position, he forgot about Joseph. Joseph had taken care of the cupbearer while he was in prison and I am sure he held out hope that the cupbearer would respond with kindness and tell the king about his situation. Sometimes we rely on people to do things that God already has under control. We allow people to be our voice while at the same time being the voice of God for us. We depend on others when in fact our focus should be elsewhere. Joseph held out hope that the cupbearer would remember him and assist him in getting him out of the prison. He waited a few days, no word. After a week, still no word. Of course the cupbearer could be busy and it might take a while, so he continued to wait. One month turned into two, two to four, four to eight and so it went. After two years the cupbearer had a reason to remember Joseph.
Chapter forty-one begins with Pharaoh dream – two years after the cupbearer was restored to his position. Pharaoh had a dream which no one could interpret. Pharaoh called all of his magicians and wise men to him; yet they could not tell him what the dream meant. Finally, upon seeing how distressed Pharaoh was, the cupbearer told the king about Joseph. He told the king how Joseph had interpreted his dream and that of the baker and how both interpretations were accurate. Pharaoh immediately called for them to bring Joseph to him. They quickly brought him up from the prison; bathed him; shaved his head (Egyptians were normally smooth-shaven); and gave him clean clothes to put on. When he came before Pharaoh, he knew that this would be a critical moment in his life. This “now” moment would not be the end.
Pharaoh told Joseph his dreams. Joseph gave God credit and told Pharaoh that God had shown him in the dreams what He was getting ready to do. Now notice what Joseph says in verse thirty-two because I believe that Joseph applied it to his own dreams that he had as a teenager. Verse thirty-two says: “Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it about.” Joseph emphasized that because Pharaoh had the dream twice, it carried significance and he needed to pay attention to them. Joseph had his dream twice and I am sure that he knew the significance of them and that he would definitely see his family again.
Pharaoh’s dreams were about seven years of great abundance followed by seven years of famine. The famine would be so devastating that it would totally erase the seven years of plenty. Joseph suggested to Pharaoh that he appoint a man that was discerning and wise and place him over the land of Egypt. Then he proceeded to tell Pharaoh how to save during the seven years of abundance in order to ensure there would be food during the seven years of the famine. When Pharaoh heard the suggestion it pleased him. When Pharaoh asked if there was such a man in his kingdom, he returned to Joseph. Let’s read starting at verse thirty-nine. “So Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and according to your command all my people shall do homage; only in the throne I will be greater than you.’ Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘See, I have set you over all of the land of Egypt.” (Vss. 39-41)
After Pharaoh heard Joseph’s counsel, he appointed Joseph ruler over all of Egypt. There was no one in Egypt that was greater than Joseph except Pharaoh himself. Joseph was truly now “the man” and had absolute authority. If Joseph said “come” people came; if he said “go” people went. The captain of the bodyguard and the cupbearer were now under Joseph as it pertained to him having absolute authority in Egypt. As we read this story we must be amazed that someone not born in Egypt and was not an Egyptian would now be made the ruler over all of the land. Isn’t God good? Now that he had authority, he could have ordered Potiphar to be imprisoned for falsely imprisoning him. He could have had his wife imprisoned for falsely accusing him. He could have taken revenge on everyone that had done something to him but that was not the spirit that he had. From all appearance, when Joseph became ruler, he did not change his demeanor and he did not do anything different from how he had always carried himself. He continued to walk with God and I am sure he was beginning to understand how the dreams he had would eventually play out.
Joseph was thirty years old when he became ruler over Egypt. He had been away from his family for more than ten years. With everything he had gone through he was now in a position unlike any other. In his new position and having experienced new freedom, Joseph continued to make decisions according to his walk with God. Although he had risen to the top, he knew this was not the end because the dreams that he had had not been fulfilled. There was definitely more to come. It would be seven plus years before he would meet his brothers and God would fulfill the dreams that he had as a teenager. This we will discuss next week in the final message of this series.
Before I close though, I want to ask you to consider something. Often times when we are going through difficult “now” experiences we come across people who make those experiences even worse. When we come to the other side, we sometimes hold a grudge against those who hurt us when we were going through. Maybe they said something about our situation or were just mean to us. Whatever they did we do not forget it when we come through and sometimes we look for the opportunity to get “even” with them. This is not of God. Proverbs 24:17-18 says “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; or the Lord will see it and be displeased, and turn His anger away from him.” I share this with you so that you understand how we should respond when we have the upper hand or when someone that we do not care for fall upon hard times. God always want us to walk in our integrity and compassion – always!
The final thing I will leave with you this week from our story today is that God was able to elevate Joseph through every situation because Joseph was willing to walk in the steps that God had set before. If Joseph had made different decisions in his “now” experiences, things would have worked out differently for him. Had he been so upset and mad at Potiphar for placing him in prison that he refused to watch over the cupbearer and baker at Potiphar’s request, the story would have ended different. Had he been so angry at God that he refused to allow God to use him the story would have been different. Finally, if he had chosen to keep his mouth shut in the three instances where he interpreted the dreams, he and his family would have perished in the famine because there would not have been bread in Egypt. Through everything he experienced it was important that he walked with God because through that walk, God was able to bring him to a very different place from where he started. At this point it was starting to really dawn on Joseph that God was working out something with him being in Egypt.
Until next week, may God continue to bless and keep you.
