The story acts like a mini-novel tucked away at the end of Genesis. With every turn of the page, you find yourself saying, “You’re not going to believe what happens next!” Joseph’s life is a roller coaster ride with incredible highs and depressing lows. Last week we saw the first “big dip” and this week – sold into slavery and falsely accused Today, we observe the second “big dip” in the life of Joseph, forgotten in prison. This is the 3rd week for our series, The Gospel According to Joseph, and it’s the third straight Sunday for rain – maybe I should have preached on Noah instead ?.
Here’s the Back-story to today. Joseph’s story rises from a family that is dysfunctional where women are in competition, a father favors one of children over the others, and the sibling rivalry is so great, the older brothers literally sell their younger brother into slavery. Joseph, the 11th of 12 sons to his father, Jacob, awakes to find himself a slave in Egypt. The Lord has him rise in the ranks to essentially run the house of a prominent Egyptian, only to be falsely accused by a woman.
Now if you’re not careful, you’re likely to miss the big point of Joseph’s life. The big point of Joseph’s life is that he is God’s agent… …his family is God’s change agent to redeem the world. Starting with Joseph’s great-grandfather, Abraham… … to his grandfather, Isaac, and his father, Jacob. The grace of God runs like a river through this one family’s life. All through Genesis, there’s this river flowing straight through the book to highlight this one family. Joseph’s story is like a river, flowing into the grand design of God’s big purpose in working with His people. Don’t lose sight of that river down through time. We’ll see this reappear later… But hold it in your mind’s eye as we God making sense of chaos of your lives and the world itself.
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Joseph’s story is really this: God moving this one man to just the right place at just the right time. Now, so much good that comes from Joseph’s life comes from pain he suffers. “Pastor, could you say that again?” Yes, I could. So much good that comes from Joseph’s life comes from pain he suffers. And Joseph’s life teaches us this: Your suffering has a deeper purpose than you can presently see.
Today, he finds himself in prison and it’s where we pick up his story: Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt. 2 And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody.
5 And one night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. 6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. 7 So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” 8 They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”
9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph … 12 Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. 13 In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer. 14 Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. 15 For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”
16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream … 18 And Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. 19 In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you.”
20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. 21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. 22 But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. (Genesis 40:1-23)
“After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile…” (Genesis 41:1)
8 So in the morning [Pharaoh’s] spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my offenses today. 10 When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, 11 we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation. 12 A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. 13 And as he interpreted to us, so it came about. I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.” (Genesis 41:8-13)
The story of Joseph is a roller coaster ride of a life and few of us can successfully predict the twists and turns Joseph’s life takes.
The Story
Joseph has been on the way down since we meet him. He’s wondering if God has forgotten him. His brothers conspire to waste 11 years of Joseph’s life – let me show you how. He was placed in a pit by his 11 brothers near his home and then sold as a slave. In a foreign land, he is sent to prison because of the betrayal of his master’s wife. 11 years have now passed since Joseph was sold into slavery as our story opens. …11 long years. And it will be two more years before Joseph is remembered and rescued.
Think of that for a moment … that’s the equivalent of a child entering kindergarten all the way through her celebration of high school graduation – 11 years plus 2 more for a total of 13 long, long years. No doubt, Joseph’s mind often returned back to his home and his family often. Had his father forgotten him? Did his brothers regret what they had done? Would they even try to find him in this foreign land? Just 17 when he was sold into slavery, Joseph has spent his 20s in a pit, in slavery, and in prison. Have you ever wondered why the righteous suffers and the wicked prosper? So did Joseph only from the bottom of a prison.
Dreams
For many of us, our dreams consist of nothing more than strange and fitful nights of sleep where we appear in front of others in our underwear ?. Do you remember your dreams? Do you remember if you dreamed last night? Medical researchers currently believe you spend 1.5 hours each night dreaming for an average of 1,000 dreams in one year of your life. Yet, dreams play a big part in Joseph’s story. Outside of the Bible, there’s been a great deal of speculation on the meaning of dreams throughout history. Many societies have felt that God speaks through dreams from Egyptians to the Greeks and Romans. And then there’s the American Dream, describing our nation as a land of unparalleled opportunity. For those willing to work hard and take advantages of the opportunities presented to them, they can expect none other than the American Dream – a prosperous way of life. The American Dream is usually the “rags to riches” story that Joseph’s life embodies. That he descends so low and rises so high is one of the main attractions to his story. Yet, there is so much more to Joseph’s story that going from rags to riches. To confuse Joseph’s story with the American Dream, doesn’t do the Bible justice.
Dreams have even played a part in the building of our nation. It’s widely recognized that Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech turned the civil rights movement. It was one man’s dream that pushed along the narrative of our nation. One man’s dream corrected a nation’s wrongs. Who knew a dream could be so powerful? Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech at the March on Washington was not the first time the civil rights leader had described his dream of multiracial brotherhood. King delivered versions of his “I Have a Dream” speech several times in the months leading up to the March on Washington. After leading a march of more than 100,000 people through the streets of Detroit in June 1963, King delivered a speech to a crowd in the city’s Cobo Arena that was only slightly different from his remarks in Washington two months later. King didn’t plan on using the “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington that day. “Nearby, off to one side, Mahalia Jackson shouted: “Tell them about the dream, Martin!” King looked out over the crowd. As he later explained in an interview, “all of a sudden this thing came to me that I have used — I’d used many times before, that thing about ‘I have a dream’ — and I just felt that I wanted to use it here.” He said, “I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.” And he was off, delivering some of the most beloved lines in American history, a speech that he never intended to give and that some of the other civil rights leaders believed no one but the marchers would ever remember.”
It’s Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams changed the world’s history. Now, only two men in all of the Old Testament are given the ability to interpret dreams – Joseph and Daniel. And both of these men lived as faithful followers of God in the midst of pagan idol-worshippers who thought God spoke through dreams rather than His Word. God sent these two men as missionaries to the pagan nations to teach God’s ways and God’s Word. Now watch how dreams work in Joseph’s story.
Joseph’s Dreams
There are a total of six dreams in Joseph’s story and they come in sets of two dreams at time. The first set of dreams belonged to the 17 year old Joseph and they served to anger his brothers – Genesis 37. The second set of dreams belongs to two high level prisoners – we might call them white-collar criminals in our days - Genesis 40. And there’s a third set of dreams belongs to none other than Pharaoh himself - Genesis 41. A total of 6 dreams in 3 sets where 2 dreams happen each time. Pharaoh has a dream where 7 attractive, well-feed cows and feed along the Nile. No sooner than Pharaoh dreams of the 7 plump cows, then 7 skinny, ugly cows eat the 7 attractive cows.
Joseph tells Pharaoh the meaning of the dream in Genesis 41:28: “It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, 30 but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, 31 and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. 32 And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. (Genesis 41:25-32)
3 TakeAways
1. The Power of Resilience
It’s easy to see Joseph’s life isn’t dreamy. Resilience is the ability to become strong and healthy after something bad happens. It’s the capacity to withstand traumatic and stressful experiences. There are 3 components to Joseph’s resiliency you need to see.
1.1 Pain Isn’t Always God’s Punishment
Joseph suffered but wasn’t a result of his actions. Joseph’s life is a difficult life but it is also blessed. You place Joseph under the microscope and you’ll have to really zoom in before you find any real character flaws. If you approach the Bible with the idea, “I’ll obey God and choose what is right and God will reward me.” And the reverse, “If you choose what is wrong, then God will punish you.” You’re on a fast track to disappointment with God. Joseph’s life explodes the myth that God immediately punishes and rewards us for our right and wrong choices. Don’t be confused by immediate results. God’s grace and God’s punishment aren’t measured on a stopwatch. They are slow in coming but they are sure in coming. The first component Joseph knew and you need to learn is: pain isn’t always God’s punishment.
1.2 Learning is a Choice
Do you have a friend’s whose pain is always worse than anything anyone else has experienced? Learning isn’t Automatic. Joseph chooses to learn from his pain. Look at what God did with Joseph. When we first met Joseph, the teenager, he was an insensitive and innocently arrogant youth. The bitterness of Joseph’s experience, has seasoned him with sweetness so that his swollen ego is now deflated. Spoiled by his father, Joseph didn’t have the good sense to put away his special coat when his a teenager. A favored child from birth – we’d call him “born with a silver spoon in his mouth…” He was too naïve to keep quiet about his dreams. It’s obvious he’s softened. Suffering does that to a person.
By the time, the cupbearer remembers Joseph’s ability to understand dreams, he’s spent nearly half his life as a slave in foreign country. Joseph chooses to learn from his pain: “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5)
Here’s a perfect example of how God achieves brokenness in a person’s life. How did God do it? Joseph was betrayed by Potiphar’s wife. That was evil. God didn’t create that; but he used it. He was betrayed by his brothers. Again, God didn’t create that evil; but God uses it. God used those things to move Joseph from foolishness into wisdom…
… from cowardice into courage…
… from blindness to who he was into self-discovery…
…and from selfishness into compassion and generosity.
You didn’t choose the hurt of your divorce, but you experience God’s grace because of it. Look at Joseph’s life, and you’re faced with this truth: Your suffering has a deeper purpose than you can presently see. C. S. Lewis calls pain, “God’s megaphone.” “God whispers to us in our pleasure, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains.”
Joseph has changed, he’s softened. Your suffering has a deeper purpose than you can presently see. Yet, you don’t automatically grow when pain is in your life. Growing in seasons of adversity is a choice. Let me show you the 3rd component to Joseph’s resiliency.
1.3 Caring Fast-tracks Learning
If anyone had a reason to have a sad face, it was Joseph. Abandoned by his brothers, falsely accused by his master, he finds himself in a foreign jail. Yet, he is ministering to others. So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” (Genesis 40:7) When you are confronted with the monotony of your grief and depression, care for others. You have choice when you hurting. You can curl up in a fetal position, telling everyone your pain is more than their pain, and never get past your pain. Remember, resiliency is the ability to become strong and healthy after something bad happens.
3 Components to Resiliency
Pain Isn’t Always God’s Punishment
Learning is a Choice
Caring Fast-tracks Learning
2. Confidence in God
It was Joseph’s dreams that got him in this mess and it will be his God-given ability to interpret dreams that lifts him from this mess.
Let me show you how.
2.1. Joseph is Still Dreaming
No sooner had he heard about the two white-collared criminals’ dreams, then he says, “Tell them to me. God has the ability to interpret dreams.” I love the fact that Joseph never wavered on his dreams. They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.” (Genesis 40:8) He never wavered on God’s plan for him. He had been sold into slavery and betrayed by a woman. Now he’s in prison, but he hears these men’s dreams.
I imagine Joseph could have saying something like “Don't bother with dreams. Last time I had a dream and told someone about it, I ended up in here.” All through his life, Joseph has a conviction he’d heard from God and he wasn’t moved. God communicated to in a dream to 17-year-old teenager … “I have you. Trust me. I have a plan for your life.” God then moved Joseph into place and He reassured Joseph by speaking to him when he was asleep.
2.2 Subtle Temptation
Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” (Genesis 41:16) “It is not in me,” is one single word from Joseph’s mouth.
Pharaoh was thought to be divine in Egypt. In Egyptian religion the living king of Egypt was the god Horus or the “son of Re.” Can you imagine how you might slightly change your words to make sure you sprang from prison? How strong a temptation that would be! Yet, Joseph says “Interpret your dream? Absolutely. I can do that for you. I’ve been doing that that kind of thing for years since I was teenager. ‘God’ with a big ‘G” will do that for you?” Pharaoh says, “You mean little ‘g’ god, right?” “No, I mean THE God,” Joseph replies. Joseph tells Pharaoh, “God has given me the ability to interpret your dreams.” Be like Joseph, he remained confident in God – even on his deathbed: “By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.” (Hebrews 11:22)
2.3 God is Egypt’s Rudder
One more thing on Joseph’s statement to Pharaoh… Joseph insists the future in Egypt does not depend upon Pharaoh. He does not get to decide. In fact, Pharaoh is irrelevant and marginal to the future of the kingdom.
Look… Pharaoh’s officials couldn’t figure out his dream (Genesis 40:8). Pharaoh’s magicians couldn’t figure out the dream (Genesis 41:8, 24). And neither could Pharaoh, supposedly “god himself,” interpret his dreams. Like Caesar Augusts after him, God moves the emperors of the world around at His pleasure.
Be like Joseph, believe in the promises of God.
3. Another Joseph Dreams
Joseph’s story is like a river, flowing into the grand design of God’s big purpose in working with His people And God is guiding the river as it courses its way around the rocks and trees in Joseph’s life. Our eyes carefully trace the river from Joseph’s day throughout the pages of the Old Testament. At times, the river seems to evaporate, invisible to human eyes. Yet, we’re careful and patient, we see the river of God’s promise reemerge in Jesus’ day. Joseph’s dreams remind me another Joseph that dreamed a long time ago. Remember this isn’t just any family – it’s God’s chosen family. Of all the people and all of the families in the world, God choose this family to work through to eventually bring His Son, Jesus, into the world. It’s there the river takes on new life in another Joseph. The river picks up speed in the days of Jesus as it courses through the father of Jesus. And like the first Joseph, this Joseph dreams as well. It was through a dream that Joseph that an angel convinces Joseph Mary is telling the truth about the virgin birth (Matthew 1:19-21).
“Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt…” (Matthew 2:13-14)
Lord’s Supper
