Years ago there was a TV show called The Honeymooners. Art Carney played one of the characters on the show, Ed Norton - a kind of happy go lucky, but fairly slow thinking worker in the sewer systems of the city. Ed Norton once summed up his philosophy of life with these words:
When the tides of life turn against you
And the current upsets your boat
Don’t waste those tears on what might have been
Just lie on your back and float.
• Joseph was a man who repeatedly who saw the tides of life turn against him. His boat was upset more than once. His difficulties would have crippled the faith of a lesser man. BUT, he didn’t sink and he didn’t even float. He overcame AND he rose above the waves of adversity. He overcame these difficulties because of his “philosophy of life” - a philosophy of life was nobler and wiser than that of Ed Norton.
• There is more space devoted to Joseph in the book of Genesis than Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob
• God does not speak against him at any point – even though he was imperfect (great encouragement in our Quest for God; we do not have to be perfect, just pursuing Him)
Acts 7.9-16
I. Joseph Found Favor
A. With Jacob – Genesis 37.3
Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors [or long coat].
1. Death of Rachel; Death of Isaac (Genesis 35)
2. Comforted himself with Joseph
B. With God –
1. Ability to Interpret Dreams –
a. Attributes ability to God (40.8; 41.16, 25, 32)
b. Remember where we get abilities
2. Providential Protection
C. With Egyptians
1. Potiphar (39.1-6)
a. Young – 17
b. Good Character/work ethic
c. God’s Favor Brings Potiphar Benefit – Genesis 39.5
5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field.
2. Prison Warden (39.21-23)
a. In Charge of Prisoners
b. Trustee
3. Pharaoh (41.38-46)
a. At age 30 Treated as a Prince in Egypt
b. Second in command over the land
A dog chased a duck into a pond. The duck led the dog around the pond, tiring him out. When the dog lunged at the duck, the duck dove under the water. The dog looked around for the duck but could not find him. Then he realized how far from shore he was and swam back, exhausted. On common ground, the dog is stronger than the duck, but not in his territory. Joseph could not play Satan’s game in Satan’s territory. He had to rely on God’s strength to get him through his journey.
II. Joseph Endured Fighting
A. Joseph Started Off with (Over) Confidence
It’s kind of like one cartoon I read that showed a smiling man walking out of the bathroom with toilet paper stuck to the heal of his shoe - and the caption read: “Confidence is what you have before you understand the situation.”
B. He Had Some Serious Struggles
1. His Brothers
2. Mr. & Mrs. Potiphar/His Own Temptation (39.6b-8a)
Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 7 And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused
• The Hebrew people represented a DIFFERENT morality
• Until the Hebrews people tended to be Amoral
During World War II, Jewish inmates of the Yanov labor camp in occupied Poland defied their Nazi guards, secretly conducting religious services inside their darkened barracks. To observe their ritual, the Jews had cut religious scrolls into sections, bound the parchment pieces around their bodies, and walked them through Yanov’s front gate. They hid the fragments wherever they could— beneath the floorboards of their barracks, inside hollow bedposts, even in a camp cemetery.
After the camp’s liberation in 1945, one survivor collected the scattered pieces. He assembled them into a single ragged scroll, the Yanov Torah. Three decades later, the Torah—its parchment warped and water-stained, its patchwork sheets held together by fraying threads—found its way to Los Angeles and into the hands of a leader of the city’s Reform Jewish community, Rabbi Erwin Herman, who devoted the final years of his life to telling its remarkable story.
Think of the dedication to the word of God that these people had! Imagine risking your life to Keep a copy of the Bible – even if it was in fragments and hidden all manner of places. How much more should we hide the word of God in our hearts!!!!
Joseph most likely had oral teachings about God which he clung to. He kept these teachings alive – even in his captivity!
III. Joseph was Given Foresight
A. The Dreams
1. Right about His Family bowing before him
2. Right about Baker and Butler
3. Right about 7 years of plenty and 7 years of famine
B. His Wisdom –
1. In the Years of Plenty – stockpiling
2. In the Famine (gathering riches for Egypt)
3. In Dealing with his brothers
a. Saves his family and the lineage of Yeshua (Jesus)
[Satan has always tried to destroy the people of God
b. Honors God – Genesis 50.20
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
[God’s ways are not always comfortable but they always ensure his success:
A woman who was employed as a dental receptionist told this story:
I was on duty when an extremely nervous patient came for root canal surgery. He was brought into the examining room and made comfortable in the reclining dental chair. The dentist then injected a numbing agent around the patient’s tooth, and left the room for a few minutes while the medication took hold.
When the dentist returned, the patient was standing next to a tray of dental equipment.
"What are you doing by the instruments?" asked the surprised dentist.
Focused on his task, the patient replied, "I’m taking out the ones I don’t like."
We do not get to pick and choose the circumstances of our lives.
4. Wisdom Demonstrated by Joseph (and others) is from God – Proverbs 2.6
For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
An elderly husband and wife noticed they were beginning to forget little things around the house. They were afraid that this could be dangerous so they decided to go see a doctor to get some help.
Their doctor told them that many people their age find it useful to write themselves little notes as reminders. This seemed like an excellent idea.
When they got home, the wife said, "Honey, will you please go to the kitchen and get me a dish of ice cream? Why don’t you write that down so you won’t forget?"
"Nonsense," said the husband, "I can remember a dish of ice cream!"
"I’d also like some strawberries on it. You better write that down, because I know you’ll forget."
"Don’t be silly," replied the husband. "A dish of ice cream and some strawberries; I can remember that!"
"OK, dear, but I’d like you to put some whipped cream on top. Now you’d really better write it down now. You’ll forget," said the wife.
"No problem, ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream."
With that, the husband shut the kitchen door behind him. The wife could hear him getting out pots and pans and making lots of noise. He emerged from the kitchen about 15 minutes later.
Walking over to his wife, he presented her with a plate of bacon and eggs. The wife took one look at the plate, glanced up at her husband with this look of disgust in her eyes and said, "Where’s the toast?"
APPLY: Yogi Bera, the famous catcher for the New York Yankees once said: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re likely to end up someplace else.”
Joseph was a man who knew where he was going.
He may not have known HOW he would get there, but he knew WHERE he was headed. At the age of 17, God had given him a vision. He had a vision that he would be man of great importance.
“Man’s Quest for God” depends on faith, not knowledge.
