HE TEXT OF LIBERATION
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. 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! 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..."
FROM THE PIT: THE JOURNEY OF DESCENT
Brothers, sisters, let us remember where Joseph came from.
He didn't start in a palace. He started in a pit - thrown there by his own brothers, stripped of his coat of many colors, left for dead. Then sold into slavery for twenty pieces of silver. Betrayed. Falsely accused. Imprisoned. Forgotten.
But let me tell you Joseph's WHOLE story, because you need to see the journey:
THE DREAMER
Joseph was seventeen years old, tending the flocks with his brothers. His father Jacob loved him more than all his other sons - made him that coat of many colors. And Joseph had dreams. Dreams where his brothers' sheaves bowed down to his sheaf. Dreams where the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed down to him.
His brothers hated him for those dreams. Hated him for that coat. Hated him for being favored.
THE PIT
So they plotted to kill him. They saw him coming from afar and said, "Here comes that dreamer! Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns."
They stripped him of that beautiful coat - tore it right off his back. They threw him in a pit - a dry cistern with no water. And while he was crying out from the bottom of that pit, they sat down to eat their meal.
Can you imagine? Your own brothers eating lunch while you're screaming for your life in a pit!
SOLD INTO SLAVERY
Then they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming, and Judah said, "What profit is there if we kill our brother? Let's sell him to the Ishmaelites." So they sold their own brother - their own flesh and blood - for twenty pieces of silver.
Joseph went from the pit to the slave market. From favored son to human property. From dreams of glory to chains of bondage.
POTIPHAR'S HOUSE
But watch this - even in slavery, the Lord was with Joseph! He was sold to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard. And because God was with him, everything he touched prospered. Potiphar saw it and made Joseph overseer of his entire household.
From the pit to Potiphar's right-hand man! It looked like things were turning around!
THE FALSE ACCUSATION
But then Potiphar's wife set her eyes on Joseph. Day after day she tried to seduce him. And when Joseph refused - when he ran from her advances - she grabbed his garment and screamed, "Rape!"
Another garment taken from Joseph. Another false accusation. Another descent.
Potiphar threw Joseph in prison - the king's prison where political prisoners were kept. From Potiphar's palace to Pharaoh's prison.
THE PRISON YEARS
But even in prison, God was with Joseph! The warden put him in charge of all the prisoners. And when Pharaoh's cupbearer and baker were thrown in prison, Joseph interpreted their dreams.
To the cupbearer he said, "In three days you'll be restored to your position." To the baker he said, "In three days you'll be executed." And it happened exactly as Joseph said.
Joseph asked the cupbearer, "Remember me when it goes well with you. Mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison."
But the cupbearer forgot him.
Two more years Joseph languished in that prison. Two more years of waiting. Two more years of wondering if God had forgotten the dreams.
THE PALACE - PHARAOH'S DREAM
But then - oh, but then! - Pharaoh had a dream that none of his wise men could interpret. Seven fat cows devoured by seven lean cows. Seven good heads of grain swallowed by seven thin heads of grain.
And suddenly - SUDDENLY - the cupbearer remembered Joseph!
They rushed Joseph out of the dungeon, cleaned him up, shaved him, brought him before Pharaoh. And Joseph said, "I cannot interpret dreams, but God can."
God gave Joseph the interpretation: Seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. And Joseph didn't just interpret - he gave Pharaoh a plan: "Appoint someone wise to store up grain during the good years to prepare for the famine."
Pharaoh looked at Joseph and said, "Since God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only regarding the throne will I be greater than you."
From PRISONER to PRIME MINISTER in ONE DAY!
Pharaoh put his signet ring on Joseph's finger, dressed him in fine linen, put a gold chain around his neck, and made him ride in the second chariot. Joseph was thirty years old - thirteen years after being thrown in the pit - and now he was second only to Pharaoh in all of Egypt!
THE FAMINE - HIS BROTHERS COME
Seven years of plenty came and went. Joseph stored up grain like the sand of the sea. Then came the seven years of famine - just as God had revealed. The famine spread to every land, including Canaan where Joseph's father and brothers lived.
Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt and sent his ten sons - Joseph's brothers - to buy food. Benjamin, the youngest, stayed home.
The brothers came and bowed down before Joseph with their faces to the ground - just like the dream! They didn't recognize him. He was dressed like an Egyptian, spoke through an interpreter, had been gone for over twenty years.
But Joseph recognized them.
THE TEST
Joseph tested them. He accused them of being spies. He kept Simeon in prison and sent them back to get Benjamin. He wanted to see if they had changed - if they would abandon Benjamin like they had abandoned him.
They came back with Benjamin. Joseph threw a feast for them. He gave Benjamin five times more food than the others. Then he had his silver cup hidden in Benjamin's sack and accused him of theft.
This was the moment of truth: Would they abandon Benjamin to save themselves?
But Judah - the same Judah who had suggested selling Joseph - stepped forward and offered himself as a slave in Benjamin's place. "How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me?" he pleaded.
They had changed. They had learned. They would not abandon their brother.
THE REVELATION - GENESIS 45
And that's when Joseph couldn't control himself any longer. He sent all the Egyptians out of the room and wept so loudly that all of Pharaoh's household heard him.
And he said those powerful words:
"I am Joseph! Is my father still living?"
The pit represents every place where our people have been cast down:
• The belly of slave ships crossing the Middle Passage
• The auction blocks where families were torn apart
• The cotton fields under the burning sun
• The back of the bus and the "colored only" signs
• The prison cells that still hold our sons and daughters
• The systems that said "you are less than," "you don't belong," "you have no future"
Like Joseph, our people spent years in the pit. Years when it seemed God had forgotten. Years when the dreams seemed dead. Years when survival was the only victory.
But hear this: The pit is never the end of the story!
TO THE PALACE: THE GOD WHO ELEVATES
Look at verse 8: "So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God."
Joseph didn't just survive - he thrived. From prisoner to prime minister. From the pit to second-in-command of the most powerful nation on earth. God took what was meant for evil and transformed it into a platform for liberation.
This is the pattern of our history:
• From the brutality of slavery to the beauty of freedom songs
• From illiteracy enforced by law to becoming doctors, lawyers, educators, preachers
• From the back of the bus to the Supreme Court
• From sharecroppers' shacks to the Oval Office
• From being told we were three-fifths human to proclaiming, "I am somebody!"
God specializes in elevation. God takes pit-dwellers and makes them palace-dwellers.
Not because the pit wasn't real. Not because the pain didn't matter. But because our God is a God of resurrection power who brings life out of death, hope out of despair, and purpose out of suffering.
THE WORD FOR TODAY
To those in the pit right now: God hasn't forgotten you. Your current position is not your final destination. The pit is preparation for the palace. Keep dreaming. Keep believing. Keep surviving. Your elevation is coming.
To those who've made it to the palace: Remember the pit. Use your position to preserve life. Don't hoard the blessing - be a conduit of liberation. Like Joseph, you've been elevated not just for yourself, but to save lives.
To the church: We must be about the business of liberation - spiritual, social, economic, political. We must speak truth to power. We must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, and work for justice. This is our Joseph moment.
CONCLUSION: WHAT THEY MEANT FOR EVIL
Genesis 50:20 gives us Joseph's final word: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
The slave trade was meant for evil, but God...
Jim Crow was meant for evil, but God...
Systemic oppression was meant for evil, but God...
The pit was meant for evil, but God...
God has a way of taking our mess and making it our message.
Taking our test and making it our testimony.
Taking the pit and making it a platform.
Taking our pain and making it our purpose.
We are Joseph's children. We know what it means to be thrown in pits. But we also know what it means to rise with resilience, to lead with love, to choose forgiveness over bitterness, and to use our positions to preserve life.
From the pit to the palace - this is our story.
From suffering to salvation - this is our song.
From oppression to liberation - this is our calling..
