The Story - Part 3
September 26, 2010
Ad lib about my plans
how they change over time . . .
When we’re studying through The Story, we need to understand that there are two stories simultaneously taking place. There is the upper story and the lower story. The lower story is the details of our lives. The things we busy ourselves with. And we will see the same thing in the Bible. When you read the Bible, we see lower story issues, the day to day living, overcoming obstacles, sickness, death, marriage, birth. It’s all there. Just like the characters of the Bible we’re consumed with lower story living.
But as you read the Bible, in every story there’s another story taking place, the upper story. It’s easy to miss it when we get caught up in the details. You get the sense God is up to something. The upper story is God’s big plan to reveal Himself to us and to help us know His plan. My hope is that over the next 28 weeks of The Story, we will catch a glimpse of the upper story, of what God is up to and where God is at in the midst of our daily lives.
We couldn’t find a better case study than to look at the story we find in Chapter 3 of The Story. We are granted, and I’m serious about this, we’re blessed by God to get an inside glimpse of what God is doing, (the upper story) while Joseph and his family are living out their daily lives in the lower story.
You may recall in chapter 2, God unfolds His plan as He is going to use this old man and old and childless woman to build a brand new nation. Through this nation God will reveal Himself and His plan to get us back. We saw in chapter 1 how sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, and now we’re suffering the consequences of sin. Sin separates us from a holy God and this needs to be addressed and dealt with, but we can’t do it on our own, so God steps in and through this nation God will reveal His plan.
Now let’s dive into the story of Joseph. He’s the main character, who is 17 years old and has 10 older brothers. This means he was the low kid on the totem pole. Add to this the fact that his brothers don’t like him. They don’t like him for 2 reasons, firstly, they believe their father, Jacob, loves him more than the rest of them. They believe this because Jacob gave Joseph gifts, but not to his other sons. And remember in that day, it was the oldest son who received the double inheritance and the extra blessings of the father. Jacob is the one who gave Joseph that famous coat of many colors. Of course, you know how it is, when you buy for one child, you need to buy for all of them. Or maybe that rule wasn’t invented when Jacob was raising his sons.
The 2nd reason his brothers didn’t like Joseph, was because he was a dreamer. Not that dreaming is necessarily bad, but you see Joseph reported to his brothers and father what his dreams were about. In his dreams, his older brothers were going to bow down to him. For you younger siblings, make a note to yourself, if you have these dreams, maybe it’s best to keep them to yourself. Or you might end up taking Joseph’s path. I’m not sure what Joseph was thinking, or maybe he wasn’t, but his brothers didn’t embrace his dreams the way he thought they should.
One day Jacob asked Joseph to go out into the field to tell his brothers to return home. So, Joseph goes out to get his brothers, and from a distance they see him and say to one another, “here comes that no good dreamer of a brother, let’s kill him.” They throw him into a pit, then decide to sell Joseph into slavery, to a group of Ishmaelites who are traveling through the land. You may remember from last week that the Ishmaelites come from the affair Abraham had with Hagar. And the fact there would always be conflict between the Jewish nation and the Ishmaelites.
In order to convince their father that something terrible has happened to Joseph, that he was killed by a ferocious animal, they dipped his coat of many colors into the blood of a goat whom they killed. They brought the coat back to their father, Jacob, mourned and wept over the apparent death of his son. And folks, this is only the first chapter of today’s lesson!! How about this for sibling rivalry.
And this is the dysfunctional family God is building His nation upon. This should give us some comfort that maybe God can use our crazy family’s as well.
The Ishmaelites then sell Joseph to Potiphar, an Egyptian captain of the guard. He is a high ranking Egyptian. So, Joseph goes off with Potiphar to Egypt.
Now if you would open up your copies of The Story to the inside cover, you can put a J for Joseph in the land of Canaan or Jerusalem, then put a line from the J to Egypt, because the rest of the story of Joseph is going to take place in Egypt.
Now what we see is this tragic thing has happened to Joseph, a surprising turn of events takes place on page 24 or Genesis 39:2 - The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered. So, even though God allowed Joseph’s brothers to sell him into slavery and he was away from his homeland, God is still with Joseph. In fact, God never left Joseph. This is an important clue which we will see throughout The Story, the fact that even though bad things seem to happen, God is still very involved in the story, our story. With God’s help Joseph quickly rises and is put in charge of Potiphar’s household. So, even though he’s apart from his family, Joseph is doing well.
But, as the story goes, and ours as well. There’s another twist to the story of Joseph’s life. In Genesis 39:6, we learn that Joseph is no different than me, “he’s well built and handsome.” Because of his good looks, Potiphar’s wife takes notice of him. And she makes repeated advances on Joseph. Joseph does the right thing and denies her advances. But she’s angry that Joseph would say no, so she sets Joseph up and lies. She rips her clothes and said Joseph attacked her and she told Potiphar and he became angry and put Joseph into prison.
His story is like a see-saw - he’s up, he’s down, he’s up again, he’s down, now . . . he’s about to be up again. If you look at page 25 or Genesis 39:20-21
His life comes back up again as we read,
20 Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.
Again we see that God has allowed this unjust attack on Joseph’s character and Joseph is back in prison. Joseph finds favor with the Lord and Joseph, being a prisoner, is actually put in charge of the prison. One of the things God did for Joseph while he was in prison, was to give him the ability to interpret dreams. We learn he is in prison for 2 years, when he gets a call from Pharaoh, who is the king, the president, the leader of Egypt.
Pharaoh is asking him to come and interpret a dream he is having over and over again, but can’t find out what it means.
Gen 41:14-16, we read . . . .14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh.
15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "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."
16 "I cannot do it," Joseph replied to Pharaoh, "but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires."
Underline what Joseph said, “I cannot do it, but God will give the answer to Pharaoh.” This gift of interpreting dreams comes from God.
Basically the dream means there will be 7 years of a bumper crop, followed by 7 years of a famine. This is great information for anyone, especially for the Pharaoh or president to have.
In 41:46, we read that pharaoh believes so much in Joseph, that he puts him in charge of everything. He’s 2nd in command in all of Egypt. We read that Joseph is now 30 years old. Joseph’s interpretation comes true. There are 7 years of fantastic harvests, followed by 7 years of no harvests. Because Joseph knew about this, he made provisions for the people and stored up a great deal of food to be used during the famine so that the people wouldn’t go hungry and he helped the pharaoh look good.
All the other nations are being affected by this famine. Egypt is thriving. But Joseph’s family is struggling. They’re slowly starving, so his father, Jacob, sends his older brothers to Egypt to see if they can receive food.
So the older brothers come to Egypt to barter for food. They have no idea who they’re going to run into. When his brothers finally arrive, they’ve enjoyed the 7 years of plenty, but understand his family in Canaan didn’t know there would be 7 years of famine. When his brothers arrive in Egypt, Joseph is now 39 years old. They have no idea that their brother survived. 22 years have passed since they sold him into slavery. Now Joseph has more power than you can imagine.
When Joseph’s brothers arrive, what do they do, they bow down to him. Did you catch that? What was in his dream? They would bow down to him. They didn’t recognize him because they didn’t look for him, and Egyptian men wore a lot of make up, and after 22 years, I’m sure he looked different.
They don’t recognize Joseph, but he recognizes them. Now Joseph gets to do what his brothers did to him. This is going to get good. When Joseph meets his brothers, and after several encounters and making it a little hard on them, and at the same time going into the back room and shedding tears, Joseph finally reveals himself to his brothers and forgives them.
How could he do that? After all that has taken place. After being forced away from his family, being a slave, being put in prison, removed from his father, not knowing if he was still alive . . . how could he forgive them, just like that?
22 years, 22 years of the best years of his life, he forgives them. How did he do it? You’re going to love this . . . Joseph understood the upper story. Joseph captured what God was up to. He got the bigger plan what God was up to.
Listen to what Joseph tells his brothers . . .
3 Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still living?" But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.
6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 "So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.
In the upper story it was God who had this planned all along. We hear this again later when Joseph makes that famous statement, “what you intended for evil, God intended for good.”
What they did in the lower story, was wrong, and they paid consequences for this. They suffer for years to come, because they couldn’t forgive themselves. They are never really relived of guilt. They didn’t believe Joseph could forgive them. And they lived with that their entire lives.
What Joseph is saying to them, what you did in the lower story, what you intended for evil, God intended for good. You know what this means? God is going to use every single one of us to accomplish His upper story. He can use our disobedience and evil and we will miss the blessing, or He can use our lives directed toward him and we get the blessing. And Joseph did that. You see, God is revealing Himself and His plan to get us back. He’s revealing His plan through the development of this nation. Ultimately, you know what’s going to happen . . . He’s going to reveal His plan in the most intense way in many years to come, by becoming one of the them in flesh and bones. But in order for this to happen, the nation of Israel must survive.
And if there wasn’t a plan they would have died from this famine. But God went ahead of them and gave them provision so he put Joseph there in the right place at the right time. And somewhere in the journey Joseph got over all the stuff the brothers did to him and captured God’s plan for his life.
So Joseph provides enough food for Jacob, and for the rest of his brothers and their families and for the entire nation of Egypt. The Pharaoh told Joseph to move his family to the fertile land of Goshen, so they could be near one another. So, Israel survives the great famine.
This call in Joseph’s life which began when he was just 17 and lasted through what should have been the best and most productive 22 years of his life, a hard but now purposeful life, to carry out the bigger plan of God, the upper story.
And we learn, full devotion to God involved giving our lives fully over to the service of God. And some of you may think, Joseph should have been angry with God. We think if God is God, then why couldn’t God have just made happen whatever He wanted to happen. Or maybe he could have sent Joseph in a nice way to Egypt and made life easy for him, since he was going to be God’s servant?
That would be nice, wouldn’t it? That’s how we would like things to be in our lives as well. Yet, if you’ve lived more than a few years, you know that’s not how God works. God always prepares the person for the challenges ahead. He uses trial and testing to equip us to trust Him. God wants us to trust in Him, so that when He gives us a position of power, or of favor, we don’t go around thinking we did it all by our strength, we realize the blessings which have come into our lives through God.
Maybe God is seeking to accomplish something bigger, through my life. And you know what folks, maybe what God wants to do more with your life. The Story tells us Joseph went on to live to be 110 years old. Yes, he had 22 years of a difficult season of his life. Yet, he had an additional 71 years of life with his family. 71 years with his family and a position of power and influence.
On page 34 of The Story, Genesis 50:22-23, we come to the conclusion of Joseph’s life, and we hear this about the end of Joseph’s life . . . 22 Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father's family. He lived 110 years 23 and saw the third generation of Ephraim's children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph's knees.
Joseph had the privilege of holding his grandchildren on his knees. This was part of the blessing for Joseph. He got to see and experience this joy. Joseph saw the upper story and it made his life in the lower story richer.
Joseph could look at life and realize that what he had to endure in this lower story survivable, because whatever junk happens to me here, is not how it is going to end, because God has a bigger plan.
I believe some of you desperately needed to hear this message today. Because your life isn’t turning out like you’ve pictured it to play out. And you need some clarity. There’s a NT passage that really captures the story of Joseph. And maybe the story of your life fits into this passage. It’s a promise we find in Romans 8:28, where Paul tells us . . . 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.
This passage of scripture tells us we can be living life out in the lower story and life can be really difficult for us, but in the end, God is going to work it out for the good. Now this is not a true principle or promise for every single person. There are conditions. First of all, the person must be a Christ-follower. The person must have asked Jesus into their life, to forgive them for their sinfulness and to confess their belief and faith in Jesus as the true and only son of God.
You can’t just be a Christian, but this promise applies to those who are loving God with their lives and whose life is being used to fulfill God’s purposes. When you read the scriptures and you identity what God is up to in the upper story and you wake up everyday saying ‘God I’ve got a lot to do today in the lower story, but ultimately I want my life to be about fulfilling your desires for me in the upper story. I want my life to count in that way.
This should lead us to one of a couple of responses . . .
1. If you are not a Christ follower, it should make you want to be a Christ follower. To know that whatever you’re dealing with today or whatever you deal with tomorrow, God is going to work it out if you come to Him. Even before I finish this message, you should be wanting to get out of your seat and come forward to ask how that works out, to proclaim Jesus. You should want this promise of God. Because this principle doesn’t apply to you, if you’re holding out on God.
2. For those of you who are Christ followers, for those of you wake up every morning and even though you’re not always sure where God is leading you, you still wake up and say “God, I want my life to be focused on what you are doing, as opposed to my wanting you to serve me and my whims and desires. I want my life in this lower story to be about what you are about. It should cause you to say God is a good God and everything is going to work out for me.
Or maybe some of you are in that season of life, like Joseph was, maybe it’s a 22 year season, or it’s been 50 years, or 1 month, or even just a few days, and you’re right in the middle of it, and you think your life is over. But I am here to tell you on the basis of the promises of God, that if your life is aligned with His purposes, then let me tell you something, and listen closely, because this is not how your story is going to end.
God promises that He is going to work out everything for the good. And you need to lean into God’s word today in a major way before you walk out of here. Full devotion to God means we have to surrender our will and accept God’s will for our lives. He wants to use our lives, just like He used Joseph’s life.
God wants to use us, but He needs to hear us say that even though we don’t always get what that means, he wants us to day, that whatever it means God, I throw my hat in the ring, and I’m all in. I’m ready to move with you, Lord. I’m ready to join in your upper story plans.
I no more have the ability to be a good minister to you, than Joseph had to interpret the dream of Pharaoh. Whatever you get out of this church or the Word of God through me, I’m telling you in all humility that it’s coming to you not because of me, it’s because of God.
So, as your minister, who has gotten here through an incredible journey which only God can take credit for, I ask you this question, based on what you’ve heard today, “are you in?” I ask you today as your minister, who has no business being up here, God wants to use your life, like He did Joseph’s, “are you in?”
