Living By Faith—Dying With Hope
Text: Genesis, Chapter 39 through conclusion of Book
Introduction.
Have you ever known someone whose life became terribly complex? Incredibly painful? Apparently hopeless?
Did you ever look at someone else’s situation and wonder how they managed to hold on during a time of incredible stress and uncertainty? Now these problems may have resulted from the death of a loved one—the breakup of a marriage—a bout with mental illness—the failure of a business, or even a terrible injustice. I mean their life is a mess! And you might think, “I couldn’t live through those circumstances!”
Do you believe in the providence of God? Does it amaze you to see God working through human lives to make bad things good? To snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? To bring a person from a terrible situation into a holy end? We can sum up these situations with the term “Divine Providence”.
To understand God’s providence, there is no better study than the life of Joseph, which is found in the Book of Genesis. We’ve seen how this 17-year old was snatched from his father’s house, terrorized by his brothers, sold into slavery, carried off to Egypt, accused of attempted rape, and sentenced to prison!
Thirteen years after his horrible ordeal began, Joseph will dramatically and abruptly be elevated to the position of Grand Vizier of Egypt. Second in power only to the pharaoh, Joseph effectively ran Egypt’s internal affairs for at least the next 14 years. Joseph was God’s instrument to save not only Egypt’s economy and people, but also the Covenant Community, which God had begun with Abraham.
You know, it’s easy for us to read the story of Joseph in Genesis, Chapters 37-50 and not feel panic. We read about his brothers’ plot against him and Potiphar’s wife falsely accusing him, and we feel no panic. That’s because we know how it turns out in the end. However, Joseph didn’t know all these things would be overruled in order that God’s purpose be served.
However, Joseph didn’t know the end of the story from the very beginning. Only God knew, and the virtue of Joseph through all these terrible events was that he trusted God! Joseph lived his life by Faith and, in the end, he was able to die in Hope!
How did these events transpire from the depths of an Egyptian prison?
If you’ll remember, there was a great attitude Joseph displayed toward life. Even if he could not be a son in Jacob’s house, he would be a trustworthy slave in Potiphar’s house. When he could no longer be a slave in the important man’s house, he would be a model prisoner in Pharaoh’s jail.
Joseph just seemed to accept each confusing turn in his life’s path without complaining, and his goal was simple—it was to obey the Lord and be faithful in every situation! Joseph’s life exemplifies what Jesus spoke of in Luke 16:10.
Luke 16:10
---10---“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.”
The life experiences of Joseph makes what the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:28 very meaningful.
Romans 8:28
---28---“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
I’d like to look at that scripture—but first, let’s see the facts of how Joseph went from prison to palace.
From Prison to Palace.
Genesis 39:20-23
---20---“So Joseph’s master took him and put him in jail, the place where the King’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail,
---21---But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the Chief Jailer.
---22---And the Chief Jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it.
---23---The Chief Jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper.”
Genesis 40:1-5
---1---“Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the King of Egypt offended their lord, the King of Egypt.
---2---And Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.
---3---So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned.
---4---And the captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them; and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.
---5---“Then the cupbearer and the baker for the King of Egypt, who were confined in jail, they both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation.”
Now, Joseph was certainly familiar with dreams—he’d had a couple of them himself! He noticed they were sad, and he asked them what was wrong. They told Joseph that they’d each had a dream and there was no one to interpret them. So Joseph said—
---8---“Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”
The cupbearer said, “A vine in front of me had three branches, it budded, blossomed, and made grapes. I squeezed them and put them in Pharaoh’s cup and put it in his hand.”
Joseph told the cupbearer what it meant as he said, “…within three more days, the Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office.” Then, in verse 14, he asks something of the cupbearer.
Genesis 40:14
---14---“Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house.”
Then the chief baker told Joseph his dream, because he saw that the other guy got a good interpretation. He told Joseph that is his dream, he had three baskets of bread on his head and the birds ate it. Joseph told the baker the truth as he always did; and, that truth was that Pharaoh would have him hanged in three days and the birds would eat him.
So—Joseph gave good news and bad news….
Well, it all happened as Joseph had said. The cupbearer—like a lot of people we all know—was restored to his position, but he forgot all about Joseph!
However—more dreams followed; but, these dreams were the “big boy’s” dreams. Yes—this dream was dreamed by the Pharaoh of Egypt! The first dream came two years after the others.
Pharaoh’s dream was about 7 fat cows coming out of the Nile. Then 7 skinny cows came out of the Nile and ate the fat ones. Pharaoh had a second dream, this one about grain, and the 7 skinny ears of corn ate the 7 fat ears.
These dreams bothered old Pharaoh, so he called all his smart people together and asked them for an interpretation of his dreams. However, they all said, “We don’t know!”
Then the cupbearer—you remember him—the one with the convenient memory—thought about Joseph and his ability to interpret dreams. He told Pharaoh about the Hebrew youth in prison; to which, Pharaoh said, “I want to see this boy!”
Joseph gave God the credit for interpreting the dreams and in Genesis 41:16, we read what Joseph said.
Genesis 41:16
---16---“It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
Joseph told Pharaoh the dreams were all about a famine of 7 years that is coming after 7 years of abundance. So, Joseph advises Pharaoh to put someone in charge of the stores of grain during the time of abundance so that the people can eat during the 7 years of famine.
Pharaoh accepts Joseph’s interpretation of his dreams and advice. He tells Joseph, “You are my man and you will run everything in this country and be second only to me.”
That’s the story of Joseph—from prison to palace!
The turning point of Joseph’s life had come about. At the young age of 30, having spent the previous 13-years in slavery and prison, Joseph was elevated by a sovereign God to the position for which he had been groomed through adversity.
This was the one time in Joseph’s life that his personal circumstances did not end in tragedy. His time had come, and it had come about through much suffering and on God’s timetable!
Pharaoh gave Joseph
· the second most powerful position in the country—
· a royal Egyptian name—
· a public parade—
· the signet ring of authority—
· and also a wife and two sons.
Joseph now has the power of God has granted him to achieve his purpose.
Now, no one can read this story without being struck by the power of God to achieve his sovereign purpose in the life of an individual.
Romans 8:28
---28---“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
This is a verse about the “Divine Providence” of God. It does not say that everything that happens in human experience is good. We know better than that, don’t we! The Biblical claim is that God uses all things—the bad as well as the good—to carry out His purposes.
The question is this: Could this providence of God work in our lives—yours and mine—in 2003?
Could this Divine Providence work in the lives of everyone, and will it be there for every person?
Here’s the answer: Yes, it could be there, but it might not be there for everyone! You see, the promise we find in Romans 8:28 is reserved for a special group of people—“…those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
This is a covenant promise to Christians!
Don’t ask me to explain how painful events in your life or mine lead to a higher end, because I can’t. Joseph didn’t understand everything happening in his life. Living by Faith does not mean we have all the answers in times of crisis. However, it does mean we obey God when we don’t know the answers. Our faith believes that all tings work together.
To illustrate this point, let’s use the example of an airplane—a 727 or a 747—and the knowledge that it is subject to the law of gravity. We can take each part of that plane—the engines, the seats, the wings, and every other individual part—to 35,000 feet and drop them. They will fall straight down to the earth. Not one part, individually, will fly. But put them all together with a competent pilot and they’ll fly you anywhere in the world.
Think about it!
God brings all things together to achieve His purpose in our lives. We live it by Faith—He controls it—and we soar like eagles.
Isaiah 40:29-31
---29---“He gives strength to the weary and tired, and to him who lacks might, He increases power.
---30---Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly,
---31---Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles…”
The Last Big Test: Forgiveness.
Now, I believe Joseph has his last big test—can he forgive, even when he has a chance to get even? All of us can relate to that because at some time in all our lives, we have been either on the giving or the receiving end of forgiveness.
Practically everyone can appreciate and enjoy stories in which the tables are turned on power, arrogance, or evil. We feel a sense of satisfaction when we see people who have abused others get what they deserve!
The late Norman Cousins tells the following story of a helpless night he spent at the Los Angeles Airport. He needed to make a phone call to his office, so he puts a quarter in the pay phone and gets no dial tone. All he gets is a recording that says, “Please deposit a quarter to make a call.”
Well, this is frustrating, so he deposited another quarter and calls the operator. By the way, this was in the days when you could actually talk to a real person, not a recording.
He explained to the operator what had happened and asked her to give him his money back or a dial tone to call his office. The operator replied, “Certainly, sir. We will return your money if you send us your name and address.”
Cousins said he thought, “How ridiculous! I’m supposed to take my time and my money to send you my name and address to get my 25¢ back. And why add to the expense to them to process, pay, and mail my money back to me?”
After all, all they had to do at that time was click and give the back the quarter or give him a dial tone so he could call his office and everyone would be happy.
Cousins said, “I got frustrated and hit the “return money lever” and quarters started pouring out of the telephone and filled the floor of the booth!” He said, “I told the operator what was happening and she said, ‘Please put the money back into the box.’
Cousins replied, “I would be happy to send the money back to you in the mail. Just send me an envelope with your name and address!”
This is what we call “poetic justice”. But, surely, there is a limit to our desire to see people get what they deserve. We have to draw the line somewhere between justice and plain, old mean-spirited revenge!
How does an individual resist the temptation to get even when the tables are turned? Well, we need to look at the account of Joseph’s reunion with his brothers after more than 20 years of separation—a separation brought about by their sin against him! The reunion between Joseph and his brothers is a beautiful story of forgiveness!
The Sweet Reunion.
The famine came just as Joseph said it would, and it reached all the way to Canaan—where Jacob and his other sons lived. They had no food, so Jacob had to send his other sons to Egypt to buy grain for food. Jacob refused to send his youngest son —born of Rachel, the woman he loved—to Egypt.
The other sons traveled to Egypt where, presumably, Joseph was supervising the distribution of grain. Now, they don’t recognize their younger brother—but Joseph recognizes them! He sees the brothers who, 20 years earlier, had listened to him plead for his life and refused to listen.
What is going through Joseph’s mind at this time? I don’t think “poetic justice” is sufficient in the case of Joseph’s brothers. Now Joseph has the power—and Joseph has the authority to do anything—anything— he chooses to these brothers who betrayed him.
He could throw them into a pit for 7 days.
He could listen to them beg him for their lives.
And then, he could have them hung and allow the birds to eat
their bodies. He had the POWER!
But Joseph doesn’t seek revenge. Rather, he seeks to test them by accusing them of being spies. In Genesis 41:14-15, we’re told this—
---14---“And Joseph said to them, ‘It is as I said to you; you are spies.
---15---By this you shall be tested…”
Joseph asks them questions that lead them into telling him what he wants most to know—Is his father still alive? What has happened to his youngest brother, Benjamin? Yet he never asks them these questions outright. He does not give away his identity.
When reading this, the question came to me about that test. Why did he want to test them? Was it, perhaps, to see if they had changed? Or, was it to see if they were still as worthless as they had been 20 years ago when they sought to destroy him?
The question also came to me was this: If they proved to still be sorry human beings—if they had not changed—would Joseph still have forgiven them? Was Joseph’s forgiveness based on their change? I don’t know.
If we bring this same situation into the New Covenant, the question is this: Does God forgive us if we don’t change?
The Bible tells us God’s forgiveness for us comes only when we are repentant and are born again of Him. And that means we want to change the way we have been in the past—we want to be a new person, a restored person.
Joseph’s older brother, Reuben, quickly sizes up what has brought all these events upon them.
Genesis 42:22
---22---“And Reuben answered them, saying, ‘Did I not tell you, ‘Do not sin against the boy!’, and you would not listen? Now comes the reckoning for his blood.”
Now, Reuben made this statement before any of them understood that they were dealing with “the boy”—that “the boy” was now the second in command of all Egypt, and this was who they were dealing with!
You can read about all the other tests Joseph put the brothers through to see if they had changed—that’s in chapters 42- 44. When you read of the heartfelt pleas of Judah for the life of Benjamin, the youngest son, you will realize that, indeed, Joseph’s brothers have changed.
In the end, Joseph forgives his brothers and tells them it was the providence of God which has brought him to Egypt.
Genesis 45:3-5
---3---“Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph!’…
---4---Then Joseph said to his brothers”, ‘Please come closer to me’…
---5---‘And now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.’
Forgiveness is an act of will. It is not a natural response on our part—but it is a learned response that comes about in the lives of Christians. Paul tells us in Ephesians—
Ephesians 4:30
---30---“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger…. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as, in Christ, God forgave us.”
Then, in Matthew 6:15….
---15---“But, if you do not forgive many, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”
If we stop here and study what we’ve learned from Joseph’s life—if anyone had what we might consider “a good reason” not to forgive—well, it might be old Joseph. But, do you know what? Joseph forgave his brothers anyway. It was the desire of God that he do so. In that way, God’s purpose for all of Israel would be served.
When we feel bad about one of our brother’s actions and we deal with this idea of forgiveness and restoration—and this will come up eventually—what will we do? I can give you all the reasons we can come up with to not forgive our brother: He got what he deserves…He ain’t got enough yet… I can give you all the excuses we can come up with to not be able to forgive. Then I have to go again to the scripture of Mark 6:15 and read it again.
It will read the same way it did before I made all those excuses—gave all those reasons. It will say, “But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”
This scripture is not going to change—regardless of the reasons and excuses I come up with.
If a brother sins, then repents, and then changes his actions—if he asks me to forgive him and I refuse, then who is guilty? I’m guilty because I refused to follow what was commanded of me in Matthew 6:15.
Joseph brought his father and all of his brothers to live in the best lands of Egypt, and he took care of them. They thrived as a nation in the land of Egypt. That makes me want to question those who seek forgiveness, yet never really believe it has been granted.
After Jacob died, the brothers thought, Now Joseph will kill us. Father is not here to see. So the brothers send someone to ask Joseph if he intends to kill them (Genesis 40:16-17).
Now, this broke Joseph’s heart—to think they were afraid that he never forgave them (Genesis 50:17).
If forgiveness is granted and you receive it, then you should truly believe it and live by it.
According to Genesis 50:22, Joseph remained in Egypt for the remainder of his adult life. He lived to be 110 years old. Although he had lived 93 of those years in Egypt, his heart remained fixed on the Covenant Promises of God that linked the Israelites to Canaan.
Joseph said, “Some day God will carry you out of this land and back to the land God has given us; and when that happens after I die, my hope is that you take me back.”
Approximately 200 years later, God would act through Moses to lead the Israelites to their homeland. The Hebrew writer in the Great Chapter of Faith—Chapter 11—spoke of Joseph’s death.
Hebrews 11:22
---22---“By Faith Joseph when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones.”
Joseph would complete this task!
Joseph spent most of his life in Egypt—by the providence of God—but, in the end, he wanted to go home…home to the place God had provided for His people. Joseph never forgot who he was and where he belonged. Joseph lived by Faith and he died with Hope.
Do we want to go to the place God provides? If we do, we must live by Faith.
Invitation.
