The Joseph Bag
Genesis 37-41
Today I would like to tell you a story about a man named Joseph. By a show of hands how many of you have heard of Joseph? Joseph’s story is found in the book of Genesis. Joseph’s life teaches us many things. One important thing about Joseph is that even though hard times came into his life God was always with him and gave him the strength he needed to make it through each situation. Now let us listen to his story.
Joseph was born the eleventh of twelve sons to his father Jacob. He was the favored son of the favored and beloved wife Rachel. Joseph was a son of his father’s old age. His very name leads to the belief
That he was a child of blessing, “may he (the Lord) add.” (Gen. 30:24). Scripture tells that they mention Joseph twice when his father is on his way to meet his uncle Esau after having fled from his
Grandfather and great-uncle Laban. (Gen. 33:2,7). We again pick up
the story of Joseph when he is seventeen. He is out watching his
father’s sheep, with his brothers. Upon his return he gives his father an unfavorable report about the conduct of his brothers (Gen. 37:2). Jacob gave Joseph, a brightly colored coat. This present told everyone that Joseph was very special and greatly loved by his father (Gen. 37:3). This caused Joseph’s brothers to become jealous and to hate him. On top of that Joseph had a dream that he would be the one to be in charge and that his family would bow down to him (Gen. 3 7:8-9). As you can imagine, Joseph’s brothers became very angry when they heard this story. When they got together to talk about what Joseph, had said they became angrier and began to find ways to get rid of their brother. They thought that if they got rid of him that their father would have to turn to them and that he would share his love with them. One day while his brothers were out taking care of the animals his father asked him to go out and check on them and take them some food (Gen. 37:12-13).
Joseph put together the food and other things he thought his brothers might need and went off to look for them. As he was coming across the field, his brothers saw him and became upset. They began to quickly put a plan together to get rid of him. They threw him into a well that was really deep, then a group of people came by and they thought that they might as well make some money off him so they sold him into slavery. His brothers took his finely colored coat and dipped it in goats’ blood and took it back to their father. When Jacob saw it, he began to cry because he thought Joseph his favored son was dead (Gen. 37: 19-34).
In Genesis 39 we see that Joseph is about to change his families way of doing things. Deception will not be Joseph’s legacy. The first six verses of Genesis 39 tell us how Joseph came to Potipher’s house and how the “Lord was with Joseph and he prospered” V. 2. Potipher was a very important man in Egypt. He owned a big house and lots of servants. It wasn’t long before Potipher put Joseph in charge of everything. He had the run of Potipher’s house except with his wife. Joseph was a very handsome young man and Potipher’s wife wanted him to sleep with her. Joseph refused because he knew it was wrong and told her so. “With me in charge, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God” (vs. 8-10). She kept trying and he kept avoiding her. She finally became fed up with Joseph’s behavior so she set him up. He would be with her or she would make it look like he attacked her. Joseph wouldn’t give into Potipher’s wife and sin so she had him sent to prison. Joseph could have told the truth and defended himself against the allegations of his master’s wife but he didn’t. We can only guess that Joseph loved his master so much that he did not want to bring him any dishonor by revealing the true actions of his wife. He instead chose to remain silent and accept his punishment. It isn’t clear how long Joseph was in prison but it was at least two years. Two years is a long time but even in prison Joseph kept trusting God and again Joseph was placed in charge of the other prisoners helping the warden. He had the freedom to move about the prison. The Lord was the key to Joseph’s success. It didn’t matter what happened to Joseph God was there (Wiersbe Exp.).
While Joseph was in prison, he met two men who were part of Pharoah’s court. They were his cupbearer and baker. The cupbearer would get him his drinks and taste them to see if they were poisoned and the baker would bake his bread. They had done something wrong and were thrown into prison. They both had dreams and asked Joseph to tell them what they meant. He did and they came true. The cupbearer returned to his place and the baker was executed as they had dreamed (Gen. 40). Then the Pharoah began to have troubling dreams. He dreamed that good ears of corn were being eaten bad ugly corn. Also, healthy cows were being eaten by unhealthy cows. Nobody could tell Pharoah what his troubling dreams meant. Then the guy who had been in prison with Joseph who gave the Pharoah his drinks told him how Joseph had told him about his dream when he had been in prison. God gave Joseph the answers to Pharoah’s dreams. For seven years things would go great guns then for the next seven years things would be very nasty. They wouldn’t have any food and the crops would all go bad. God also gave Joseph a plan on how to make it through the tough times ahead. Pharoah then put Joseph as his second in command. Joseph went from being a slave to being one step away from the throne. Once again everyone would have to do whatever he said. The only difference was it was not a household staff. It was an entire country. Every step along the way in good times and bad, Joseph never lost his trust in God. Joseph’s dream came true. His family bowed down to him. When his brothers finally found out that Joseph was the one in charge they became afraid because they thought Joseph would get even with them for selling him into slavery. Joseph told them “What they had meant for evil, God meant for good.”
Just like Joseph some of you have led a life that many would consider
too filled with troubling situations. You aren’t being sold into slavery or being thrown into prison. But it seems that at every turn things are bad. Joseph didn’t remain in his troubles because he put his trust in the Lord and because he did this God used, the example of his life to bring him to a position that not only honored God but also helped his people because he was put in charge of the country and saved them from starving to death.
Now I’m not telling you that God will place you in a position of power and authority because you honor Him. What I am telling you is this. That when we trust God to help us in all that we do no matter what happens to us. During the good times and bad. God has promised us that He would never leave us. Some of you may ask why? Because He loves us just as much as He loved Joseph.
I’d like to give you the same opportunity Joseph had to trust God. We all have times when we feel alone. When we feel like we’ve been abandoned and everything around us is crashing in on top of us. Joseph’s story that we heard today had many of those things happen to Joseph but the difference for Joseph was that he put his trust in God. He knew that God was in control in every situation. He trusted God to watch over him.
Would you like to be able to trust God in the same way Joseph did? If you would, I want to invite you to come here and stand here with me. As you come, we are going to sing the chorus “Jesus loves Me” and if you want to know more about how you can trust God come and stand here with me and one of the Cadets will come and share with you how you can know and trust God personally. (Sing the chorus - Jesus Loves Me).
We will pray as a group and then break up into groups depending on how many respond. Each assigned to a leader.
