Why was Joseph considered great? Why does the spirit of God seem to hover over his life more than any other person in the book of Genesis?
Joseph wasn’t any superhero; he was just a mere man. He never walked on water, he didn’t possess a halo, he never performed a miracle, this guy seemed to be a magnet to trouble and trying times, and he never wrote any of the Holy Scriptures, yet he was considered a great man in the Old Testament.
WHY? And what does that have to do with us who are gathered here this morning?
Joseph was such a great man, I believe, because he possessed a strong faith in God!
And this strong faith gave him a wonderful attitude toward the difficulties that he faced in his life.
I believe that one can make the assumption that one who possesses a strong faith and a good attitude can see that troubles are really nothing but challenges and not reasons to give up and quit!
Joseph was a step ahead of most of us, he got this concept!
Not only was he a step ahead of us, he was a step ahead of his brother as well…look at Genes is chapter 44 and we see him testing his brothers again
Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house: "Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man’s silver in the mouth of his sack. 2 Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain." And he did as Joseph said.
3 As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys. 4 They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, "Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, ’Why have you repaid good with evil? 5 Isn’t this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done.’ "
6 When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them. 7 But they said to him, "Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that! 8 We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? 9 If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves."
10 "Very well, then," he said, "let it be as you say. Whoever is found to have it will become my slave; the rest of you will be free from blame."
11 Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. 12 Then the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13 At this, they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.
14 Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him.
Don’t you almost feel sorry for these guys? They knew that Benjamin hadn’t put the cup there, they simply lost it, did you catch verse 13, they are ripping their clothes, and now back to the prime minister s house they go...listen as Judah becomes the spokesman for the group…
16 "What can we say to my lord?" Judah replied. "What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants’ guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves—we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup."
Wow what a confession that Judah gives…just exactly what Joseph had been waiting to hear…YES it was happening, God is beginning to work in his brothers lives! Judah and his brothers are now realizing something that we need to understand is still true today and that is this my friend…God will not overlook an unrepented sin!
God doesn’t just sweep it under the rug and forget about it! In fact God doesn’t even have a rug! Now watch what happens next!
17 But Joseph said, "Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace."
Seems fair doesn’t it? After all why should everyone have to pay for one mans evil…Oh hang on…here comes what some bible scholars have labeled as the most unexcelled speeches in the old testament…
18 Then Judah went up to him and said: "Please, my lord, let your servant speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. 19 My lord asked his servants, ’Do you have a father or a brother?’ 20 And we answered, ’We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’
21 "Then you said to your servants, ’Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.’ 22 And we said to my lord, ’The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.’ 23 But you told your servants, ’Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’ 24 When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said.
25 "Then our father said, ’Go back and buy a little more food.’ 26 But we said, ’We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’
27 "Your servant my father said to us, ’You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28 One of them went away from me, and I said, "He has surely been torn to pieces." And I have not seen him since. 29 If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave [a] in misery.’
30 "So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life, 31 sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow. 32 Your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father. I said, ’If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!’
33 "Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. 34 How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father."
Do you actually realize who it is that is talking here? This is Judah…the same guy who twenty years earlier said “Here comes the dreamer, let’s kill him” But now some twenty years later we find him pleading on behalf of his little brother Benjamin. But wait there is more…now he is pleading for his dad too!
What a turnaround…repentance had come to the hearts of Joseph brothers and the result is almost unbelievable!
Say church that’s the way God is…HE can take the lowest, most fowl mouthed, drug addicted, and abusing man and make a saint out of him! Listen long before it was a popular topic for a TV show…God was in the business of doing makeovers!
Well when God changes a life it isn’t long until other things start happening as well…and the same goes for this story…get ready here comes one of the most remarkable moments in the old testament…chapter 45…
1 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, "Have everyone leave my presence!" So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.
3 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.
Whoa…first the food, then the money in the bags, then the banquet, then the cup in Benjamin’s bag...now this…can you imagine…
4 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!
He quickly sees their freaked out, utterly amazed reaction, and he says come real close and look at me brothers, I am for real…you haven’t lost your mind at all!
5 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. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 "So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.
Church , did you catch that…here is a man who has literally experienced hell on earth, I just wonder how we have reacted…but we have learned over the past few weeks that Joseph wasn’t about getting even, Joseph didn’t keep score…no instead he just blows us away by saying, hey Judah, hey guys listen you may think your actions did all this and I can see you are all getting caught up in your guilt but brothers listen…the reality is… it was not you who sent me here, but God
Here was a man who operated his life entirely with a divine perspective. Here was a man who lived Romans 8:28 years before it was even written
Here was a man who could see God in every situation…No it is not the popular way to live, its not even an easy way to live, but church listen if we are really Gods children, then we too must get to a walk in our lives where we can become totally dependant on God and realize that he has his best interest in mind when it comes to our lives!
It doesn’t have to make sense and chances are it wont make sense, but if we are walking hand in hand in with him!...Are you getting it this morning… can we live in those two little words…But God!
HE repeat’s this over in Genesis 50, buy saying you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good!
Wow, what a way to live!
Listen, I can see some of you this morning this isn’t necessarily setting to well, Listen to me please…
I don’t know the memories that may have just been stirred, the pain that you may still be living with because of someone’s wrongdoing. But I know it happened, I know it was really painful. Yes you were treated unfairly, yes, you were rejected, yes the person deliberately meant to hurt you!
Joseph recognized that there was nothing good about his brothers intentions…they meant to kill him , or at least to rid themselves of him, and he even tells them that, but don’t miss this nugget of truth and hope and healing this morning…
O that God would get us to the place in our walk with him that despite all the events, all the circumstance we could look our defender in the effacer and say, you meant it for bad to me…BUT GOD!!!!
God allowed it to happen, God sent me here because of what you did, God has made me stronger than I would have ever been had you not tried to do away with me...BUT GOD, But God But God!
Now we have got to wrap this up, let’s go quickly verse 9…
9 Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ’This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. 10 You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. 11 I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’
12 "You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. 13 Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly."
Say church, can I talk to you for just a moment…in the midst of all our growing, all Gods blessings may we never forget that Our attitude towards each other and what God is doing is so crucial!
It is easy to go thru all the motions, sing all the songs, carry our bible under our arms and look so sanctimonious, yet still be carrying a huge grudge against someone right here in the same service as you attend. And in our carnal hearts, despite how and what God is doing we are hell bent to getting even if it is the last thing we do on this earth!
Crowd listen, that is not Gods way…Learn from Joseph this morning, quit clinging on to your own agenda…trade in your bitterness for mercy and grace today! Watch what happens next…
14 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.
Talk about catching up for lost time! They could do it now because their hearts were right!
Pastor Dave is coming but I got to ask you this morning…Is your heart right?
• Are you moving away from people or are you moving to them?
• Are you in the business of healing relationships, or hurting them?
• Are you adding stress and pressure to others lives or are you relieving it?
• Are you adding joy to the people around you and to the work of the kingdom or are you squelching it?
Friend listen the only way out of the pit is his way! The only solution to bitterness is his grace.
I’m fearful this morning that for some of us, we are trying to push our own agenda so much that we have shoved Christ hands off of the control center of our lives! And before we know it our spiritual walk has gotten cold and stale, there’s barrenness where once joy grew!
THE smile has been replaced with a scowl! And the Christian walk has become more of a chore and a duty than a life of happiness and joy!
Are you tired of trying to fake it this morning, when you know that others are noticing but even more important than that …God has noticed, and he is whispering to you this morning, Son/Daughter come back to my grace today, come back to my joy…you don’t have to be miserable
Oh friend the only way this morning is to turn it over to God!
Can you say like Joseph this morning… you may have meant it for bad….but good!
Are you living where he wants you to live this morning…has there ever been a better day in your experience than you are having right now…if so why not come back to his grace...why not let go of the wheel and allow him to steer!
