IT’S TIME TO TURN THE PAGE
Gen. 41:14-52
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: PLAYING CARDS ON A TRAIN
1. Three men got onto a train going to Moscow. One was a Russian orthodox priest, one a protestant preacher, and the other was a Rabbi.
2. These 3 were alone in one compartment and because they were bored, one pulled out a pack of cards and they began playing.
3. After a few minutes, they heard the loud voice of a policeman in the next compartment shouting, "You're playing cards. You know it's forbidden to play cards here. You must pay me a fine right now."
4. They realized the policeman would come into their coach in seconds, so they quickly pushed all the cards onto the floor by their feet. When the policeman came in, the three men looked very calm, serene, and virtuous.
5. The policeman, seeing the cards, said, "I'm surprised to find you three religious men playing cards. You know this is illegal and it's setting a bad example to all here."
6. On hearing this, the priest said, “But sir, we’re not playing cards. We wouldn't do such a thing."
7. "So give me your word of honor that you weren't playing cards," says the policeman. "I promise by the Church in Moscow,” said the priest. “Ok.”
8. The policeman then looked at the Rabbi and said, "And you? You promise me too!” The Rabbi replied, “I promise by the land of Palestine!” “Ok.”
9. The policeman looked at the protestant preacher and said with a wicked grin, "So it must have been YOU playing cards!”
10. "Me? Playing cards?" said the preacher. "With whom would I be playing cards?"
B. CONCEPT OF “TURN THE PAGE”: Definitions:
1. To stop thinking about or dealing with something. (When a patient dies, a doctor just has to turn the page and concentrate on the next patient.) [Free Dictionary] [NEW THOUGHT]
2. To begin to behave in a more positive way after a period of difficulties. [Ibid] [NEW ATTITUDE]
3. To move on to new involvements or activities; to make a fresh start. [definitions.net] [NEW ACTIVITIES]
4. To bring a difficult period to a close and to begin a completely new period, with new vision, hopes, and dreams. [NEW VISION]
C. TEXT
Gen. 41:14 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.”….33 “And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt….34to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.” 37 The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. 38 So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?”
41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, “Make way!” 51 Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh [forget] and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” 52 The second son he named Ephraim [fruitful] and said, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”
D. THESIS & TITLE
1. Tonight we’re going to look at the CONTRASTS of Joseph’s life, the PROVIDENCE of God in his life, and the REALIGNMENT of his life after the change -- as evidenced by the names of his sons.
2. The title of tonight’s message is “It’s Time to ‘Turn the Page’.”
I. CONTRAST OF 2 PERIODS OF HIS LIFE
A. REVERSAL OF SADNESS
1. Think what it must have been like for Joseph after 13 years of tragedy and betrayal – to be catapulted from a prison cell to the 2nd highest position in the kingdom!
2. One day he was scrubbing floors in the dungeon and the next day he was Prime Minister of Egypt! What a shocking alteration! The mighty Potiphar was now his servant!
3. One period of life he was in deep darkness with no escape. The next period he was in the brilliant light of success riding at the highest places available to humans! I’m sure there were many days he had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming it.
4. To accomplish this transition, he had to adjust his thinking & attitudes – to put the past behind him, and begin to think and do new things. He had new responsibilities.
5. Why did he? Because he had proven faithful and resolute during the darkest hours.
6. It’s the darkest hours that try our souls and test the metal we’re made of.
B. CASE FOR NEVER CONSIDERING SUICIDE
1. A number of times I’ve had to confront people who were considering Suicide. Probably most of us have considered it at one time or another. It can be an appealing way to escape our troubles. Probably it had crossed Joseph’s mind frequently.
2. The mistake of suicide is to assume things will always stay as bad as they are now. We can’t see the future. We can’t see that some future time may be the happiest time of our lives! How foolish to annihilate the future based on the present.
3. Then there’s the cost of suicide to family members. Not only do they experience all the trauma associated with death, they have the added trauma of self-inflicted murder.
4. Also, Suicide often runs in families. Once one family member commits suicide, others decide to follow their example. Oftentimes a ‘spirit’ of suicide/ depression can settle on a family. And just because a grand-daughter’s boyfriend breaks up with her makes her so sad she decides to commit suicide. What a waste of a life!
5. Someone has said, “Suicide is a permanent answer to a temporary problem!” Life & death are in the hands of God, not in our hands. We can’t see how things may be reversed & how happy we may be just a few years down the road!
II. THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD
A. “THE LORD WAS WITH JOSEPH”
1. We would all have to agree that God was with Joseph after he interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and became one of the most powerful men on earth. But was God with him when he was betrayed and abandoned?
2. Like, was God with him when he was…
a. In the Pit? Yes, God was with him!
b. On Slave block in Egypt? Yes – sold to a good master.
c. In Potiphar’s house? Potiphar “saw the Lord was with him” (39:3)[ Humorous addition “and he was a prosperous man,” Vs. 2]
d. When tempted? Yes – or else he would have fallen.
e. In Prison? 39:21 “But the Lord was with Joseph”. God sent the cupbearer of the King to meet him.
3. So if God was ‘with’ or ‘favoring’ Joseph in the bad times, is God with us in our bad times? Yes! We too must keep the faith, because we don’t know the joys God has planned for us just around the corner!
B. EACH TERRIBLE EVENT BROUGHT HIM CLOSER TO THE THRONE OF EGYPT!
1. Q. Was it accidental, that, as his brothers were deciding how to kill him, that an Ishmaelite Caravan happened to come by that spot? No! That Caravan was God’s chariot sent to carry Joseph to Egypt. It went south and not north; closer to the throne of Egypt!
2. He was bought by Potiphar, probably in a border city – Tjaru, Avaris, Bubastis, Athribis, Heliopolis or Memphis. From there he was taken 100’s of miles south to the Royal Capital City, Lahun. Closer to the throne!
3. Betrayed, he was put in Pharaoh’s political prison, which was located under Pharaoh’s palace! Closer to the throne!
4. Lastly, He met Pharaoh’s cupbearer, who constantly had access to the throne. A direct link between Pharaoh and Joseph!
C. PROPHECY OF THE COAT OF MANY COLORS
1. What if the colors of Joseph’s “coat of many colors,” woven by his father, corresponded to the events that happened in each segment of his life?
2. His life/coat may have started with happy colors – like green & blue, then shifted to dark colors – red, purple, brown and finally black.
3. At last the bright colors arrived -- orange, yellow, and finally the pink of a perfect old age finished out the coat!
4. What if it had been God weaving those specific colors into that coat & his father didn’t even realize the origin or purpose of his prophetic weaving?
5. GOD IS IN CHARGE OF OUR LIVES! “My life is but a weaving between my Lord and me. I cannot choose the colors He works with steadily. Oft times he weaves in sorrow and I in foolish pride, forget He sees the upper and I the underside. Not till the loom is silent and the shuttle ceases to fly shall God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.”
6. JOSEPH’S RECOGNITION: “5 And now, do not be…angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 7 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.” Gen. 45:5,7-8. Gen. 50:20; “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
III. MENTAL REALIGNMENT: SON’S NAMES
The 1st boy’s name reflects on the past. The 2nd boy’s name reflects on the future. Together they provide a template of 2 steps of how each of us should face the New Year.
A. FIRST, MANASSEH: “FORGET”
1. Q. “What were things that Joseph had to forget from his former life?
a. Death of his Mother f. Loneliness
b. Hate of Brothers g. Abandonment
c. Separation from Father h. Despair
d. Fears i. Depression
e. Doubts: times he thought God had failed him.
2. Until Joseph put those things behind him, he couldn’t move forward. They would hinder him – weights.
3. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders [KJV – ‘weights’] and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” Heb. 12:1-2.
4. The same thing is true of you and me. What are some unpleasant things in your life up to now? Those things belong to 2016 but NOT in 2017!
5. Here during the last service of 2016 it’s time to come to the altar and leave your problems there, and begin a new life!
B. SECOND, EPHRAIM: “FRUITFUL”
1. Joseph turned the page of his book to a new chapter called “fruitfulness.” Joseph determined from this point on that he was going to do everything possible to be fruitful for the kingdom of God.
2. He saw that he had a…
a. New Life d. New Responsibilities
b. New Wife e. New Happiness
c. New Family f. New Success.
3. Everything about him should be focused on his new life and dominated by positive expectations.
4. He went from forgetting the ugly past to planning how to be fruitful today!
5. He had the farmers plant abundant crops, built canals to carry water to expand farm lands. He assembled large numbers of common laborers to assist with the farms and transport.
6. He hired and trained inspectors to gather the 20% of the harvests each year. He built a flotilla of ships to carry the grain to his store cities he built.
7. He had guards assigned, pest control agents to keep rats out of the grain, dams & levies to keep the seasonal floods from ruining the grain, a central government office to handle all requests for grain, etc., etc.
8. And Joseph was successful. Because he put his past behind him and concentrated on his present.
9. If we would be successful with God, we must get past our ugly pasts and be fruitful with those around us at the moment.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: Learning to Fly
1. One of the most inspiring sights in nature is the eagle in flight. With an endless expanse the eagle soars majestically and gracefully across the sky. Free, powerful, complete.
2. Because of this, the eagle has become a symbol for how we’d like to be: We all want to soar like an eagle in life.
3. But I wonder if you know how it is an eagle learns to soar? I am told that there is a particular species of eagle which builds its nest high up on the face of a cliff overlooking the sea.
4. In this nest the eagle chick is hatched and spends its first days watching its mother come and go, collecting food and bringing it back.
5. One day mum decides it’s time her chicks learned to fly. You know how she does it? She forces her way right into the nest and then pushes her chicks out.
6. The chick starts plummeting down the cliff-face, terrified, shocked, heartbeat racing, aware that death is just seconds away. And then something amazing happens. The chick instinctively stretches the wings it never knew it had, the plummet becomes a fall, then a gentle rise. Soon the chick is soaring like its mother.
7. It’s in that split second of terrifying danger that the chick comes face to face with itself, and face to face with wider reality.
8. In that terrifying moment the chick discovers what it is. And without that terrifying moment it will never learn to soar. [Scott Higgins]
B. THE CALL
1. Similarly, God allows us to fall at times in order to come to depend on Him.
2. Our falling doesn’t mean God’s abandoned us; it may mean God’s promoting us!
3. Let’s take our pasts to the Lord and trust Him for a great and glorious future!
4. Prayer.
