Title: Joseph Finding Hope when we don’t know what is going on.
Theme: To show that many times our relationship with God is about a process and if we don’t give up on the process God will show us great and mighty things ahead
Text: Genesis 37 – 41
NOTE: I used a message by Andy Stanley "Joseph and the Process" for much of the notes. I also added my notes.
Introduction
Opening Scripture
When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him." So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, "Before your father died he commanded, saying, 'Thus you shall say to Joseph: "I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you." ' Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father." And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, "Behold, we are your servants." Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
(Gen 50:15-21)
This is one of the most incredible stories of forgives. Joseph (who had all the power) was willing to forgive his brothers. This to me took a lot. This whole story gives a glimpse into Joseph’s family. If you look closely, you’ll see the ugliness of
Selfishness
Petty Jealousy
Envy
Hatred
Favoritism
Competition
The book of genesis has 50 chapters, 14 of them are dedicated to Joseph
Joseph’s Family- NOTES
1. He didn’t choose his parents.
Nor how his life would be impacted by them.
His family wasn’t his greatest asset.
Overcoming his family members and their history was his first major hurdle.
In order to survive / succeed, in order to make it, Joseph determined not to allow his family to define his character.
2. His father (Jacob -which means deceiver.) was a schemer.
Jacob learned to maneuver and manipulate people
Jacob probably learned how to con and scheme from Rebekah his mother
She too was deceitful also her father Joseph's granddad Laban was a schemer himself,
He deceived Joseph's father into marrying Leah Rebekah's sister first Although he didn’t love her.
This was a household with a sordid past.
Lying - deception - manipulation were a tradition in his family
There was much distrust and jealousy.
He could have easily kept the family tradition
He could have easily followed the family path,
But he chose another course.
He abandoned his family’s way and sought God's way.
And God guided his steps,
As Joseph God will guide you if you will surrender in obedience to Him.
3. He lost his mother early in life.
Rachel, Joseph's mother died during the birth of his brother Benjamin.
For the rest of his childhood, he was raised by a stepmother and his father.
He was left to cope in life without the com¬forting, nurturing touch of a mother
The nurturing touch of a mother is an important part of human life.
Maybe your life has been marked by hurts and you can’t seem to recover.
If so, you can relate to Joseph.
Rachel was Jacob’s choice wife
Jacob’s favoritism of Rebekah carried though to Joseph
Her death changed the dynamics of their home
When you lose a mother regardless of age
The loss is profound even grown men cry at the lose of a mother
We are still learning the effects on children who face life without either of both natural parents
Now Joseph would raised by Leah,
At best stepmother, child relationships require work
Leah’s children resented their father’s attachment to Joseph
This resentment paved the way for bitterness
Joseph suffered The hatred of his siblings,
The betrayal of his family,
Family can be brutal. The problem with having an aught with a family member is they are still there. Other people just move on but family is still there. And you live in it.
The rejection of his peers And yet he never lost hope
Some people never recover from just one bad experience,
But Joseph lived through 13 years of one negative circumstance after another,
Yet he never gave up on God's plan.
Joseph Had a Dream
Genesis 37 gives us a little more insight into Joseph’s life. Yes, his father had given him a special coat. Some translate it as a coat of “many colors”. It distinguished him as the special child of Jacob. But this was not what tipped the brothers over the edge. Joseph had dreams.
Genesis 37:5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more.
Genesis 37:9 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, "Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me."
This was never about the family serving Joseph but Joseph through God’s help being the hero of the family. But the boys didn’t like it.
Joseph’s Pit
Genesis 37: (23) So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. (24) Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
This is all over jealously.
Jealousy is, I think, the worst of all faults because it makes a victim of both parties.
Gene Tierney
(28) Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
To Potiphar’s House
2. Do you know what Joseph did during this ordeal? He was doing what anyone in his bare feet would do who was confident that God was with him.
Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. (Gen 39:1-4)
He worked as unto the Lord. Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the LORD, not for human masters,
Potiphar’s wife finds Joseph attractive. She tries to tempt him into sleeping with her. God puts him in a battle that he cannot win. Is it possible that God would put you into this position.
Genesis 39:8-9 But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. 9 "There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"
So Joseph kept his integrity. He left the place with his character, avoiding the advances of his bosses’ wife. What did it get him? A hero’s welcome, a promotion, a bonus, no . . .
Genesis 39:20 Then Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison.
Joseph’s Prison
5. When you do the right thing, and it goes unrewarded, don’t you start
to wonder? Life doesn’t feel like a story—just a bad dream.
But while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. (Genesis 39:21)
6. If the Lord is with you, you don’t even know the prison warden. If you
are on a first-name basis with the warden, God has left you a long
time ago.
Just because you don’t see it happen doesn’t mean it is not happening does not mean it is not happening.
What did Joseph do?? What would somebody do in my circumstances do if they knew that they were absolutely sure that God was with them.
Most of you know the next part of the story. Joseph meets Pharaoh’s butler and baker. For some reason they had fallen out of favor with Pharaoh. They are in prison have dreams and Joseph interprets them. The butler is restored (with the request of Joseph to remember him) and the baker is given capital punishment.
Two years later we wind up in Genesis 41.
Joseph’s Palace
Genesis 41:8-13 Now it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh. (9) Then the chief butler spoke to Pharaoh, saying: "I remember my faults this day. (10) "When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker, (11) "we each had a dream in one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream. (12) "Now there was a young Hebrew man with us there, a servant of the captain of the guard. And we told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us; to each man he interpreted according to his own dream. (13) "And it came to pass, just as he interpreted for us, so it happened. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him."
Genesis 41:14-16 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; and he shaved, changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh. (15) And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream, to interpret it." (16) So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, "It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace."
Two years went by and although the cup bearer forget them God did not forget him.
The Dream – cows and grain
Gen 41:41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt."
Stay the course and wait on God.
When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him." So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, "Before your father died he commanded, saying, 'Thus you shall say to Joseph: "I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you." ' Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father." And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, "Behold, we are your servants." Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
(Gen 50:15-21)
Kept a right attitude
Made the best of where he was at – he was not working for man he was working for God
Have every reason to quit, and excuse but did not
He went to the process and after close to 20 years he arrived in the palace
Conclusion
A. Christians
1. Do you know what God wants to do through you in this act? Not exactly.
2. Do you know how many people God wants to use you to influence? No.
3. Do you know what hangs in the balance of your willingness to surrender
your leadership gift to Him? No.
B. With all that as a backdrop, think of the significance of these words spoken by
Jesus. Not to any one class of people—fishermen, tax collectors, carpenters,
priests, men, and women.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
C. The story is not yet complete.
1. Each of us has been invited to participate, with this promise: “I am with
you . . . I am in you.”
2. Now—live, love, and lead as anyone who is you would if you were
absolutely confident that God is with you . . . when you are in the cistern,
dungeon, or palace—because He is.
3. He may be SILENT; He is not ABSENT.
4. There is a battle to fight. There is a beauty to rescue. There is an
adventure to live.
5. It is lived out, carried out, one day at a time by simply doing what anyone
who is you would do if he or she were confident that God is with them.
Conclusion:
1. If you want to get to the end and look back and celebrate a life lived in such a way
that God was able to leverage it for his purposes . . . you respond as one who is
confident . . .
2. Here’s the promise from the lips of a king who had experienced highs like we will
never experience and lows I pray we all avoid.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
(After all, I am king. After all, I slew a giant. After all, I am a man of wealth.)
For thou art with me . . . again . . . for thou art with me . . . for thou art with me.
What would somebody in your circumstances do if he were confident that there is a
grander story—that you have been invited to play a part in—and that God is with you?
