GOD WAS WITH JOSEPH

Genesis 37-50

Key Verse 45:5

“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.”

God’s final fruit in Genesis is Joseph.  Joseph lived in a sinful world among wicked people and suffered a lot.  But God was with Joseph and he became a blessing even to these people.  Joseph more than anyone in the Bible resembles the image of Jesus whose innocent suffering was used to save many people.  Let’s see how God helped him.

Part 1. Joseph at his Father’s house

Joseph was the seventeen-year-old son of Jacob and Rachel.  Joseph grew up the eleventh of Jacob’s twelve sons by four different wives.  How many sons?  How many wives?  Yes, it was quite a circus.  One day, Joseph saw his brothers doing something wrong and brought a bad report to his father about them.  This wasn’t a bad thing to do but it fueled his brother resentment towards him.  You see, from the time of Joseph’s birth, he had always been his father’s favorite because he was born to him in his old age.  When Joseph was a baby, Jacob spent hours playing peek-a-boo and singing lullaby’s to him in his crib instead of going out to play basketball or soccer with the rest of his sons.  Then, as Joseph grew older, his father bought him all the hippest toys and gadgets like Playstation III and a brand new bicycle.  And of course he never got hand-me-downs. Now, Jacob gave Joseph a richly ornamented robe.  This made his brothers so jealous. 

One day, Joseph had something he was just bursting to tell someone.  When he saw his brothers, he ran up to them, and said (panting) “Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”  Joseph’s brothers were infuriated!  They said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us?  Will you actually rule us?”  They wanted to strangle him.  Later, he said to his brothers and then his father as well, “Listen, I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”  Jacob rebuked him, though he considered their validity.  Joseph’s dreams were no ordinary dreams: they reveal God’s special plan for Joseph’s life.  In the absence of the written Bible, these dreams were God’s personal revelation to him.

Sometime later, Jacob sent Joseph on an errand to check up on his brothers who were grazing their father’s flock near Shechem.  But when his brothers saw him approaching in the distance, seventeen years of resentment and bitterness finally reached their climax.  So they plotted his murder.  “Here comes that dreamer!” they said.  “Let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say a ferocious animal devoured him.  Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”  But Reuben saved his life by giving an alternate suggestion that they merely capture him and throw him into a cistern.  Joseph came toward them with a big smile on his face.    But as soon as he reached them, suddenly many hands grabbed him from behind and violently wrenched his arms back, nearly dislocating his shoulders.  “Wait! Stop!! What are you doing!!!  What are you doing!!!!”  They struck him, kicked him, and stripped off his richly ornamented robe.  Then they crammed him into a cistern, and proceeded to have lunch while the sounds of Joseph’s sobbing leaked out from the cistern nearby.  Later, when Judah saw an Ishmaelite caravan come into sight, he suggested, “Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.”  So they sold him for 20 shekels of silver.  Then, as a cover-up they dipped his robe in goat’s blood and took it back to their father, giving the impression that he had suffered a fatal animal attack.  When Jacob saw it, a look of shear horror came across his face. “My son has been torn to pieces by a ferocious animal!”  And he refused to be comforted.

 

Genesis chapter 38 is about Judah and Tamar.  Judah was the ringleader in selling his brother, Joseph, as a slave.  He never thought about how his father would feel at the loss of his beloved son.  But when he saw how much his father was hurt he suffered from guilt and condemnation.  Verse 1 tells us that Judah left.  The likely reason seems to be that he couldn’t bear his guilty conscience in seeing his father’s sorrow any more.  But leaving was not a small matter.  In doing this, he gave up his position as a member of God’s covenant family.  Judah married a Canaanite woman and had three sons.  Tamar was Judah’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Judah’s first and then second son, but each of these sons died before she bore any children for them.  However, she set a good example for Judah of how valuable it is to be part of God’s covenat family.  In her determination and faith, she ended up even getting pregnant through Judah in order to be part of this family.  When Judah realized her noble act and faith, he confessed, “She is more righteous than I.”  Judah had given up his identity because of a guilty conscience.  But she, despite having many obstacles, had treated being part of God’s covenant family as the utmost important thing of life.  God honored Tamar’s act of faith and included her in the genealogy of Jesus.  And it seems that it was through this event that Judah repented and decided to return home.

Part II.  Joseph’s suffering

Meanwhile, Joseph was taken down to Egypt where he was sold like a piece of meat as a slave to one of Pharaoh’s officials, named Potiphar.  Every night, he lay awake thinking about his father.  Then, the questions came shooting at him: ‘Why is this happening?”  “Is this really happening?”  “Why God…why is this happening to me?”

But look at verse 2 of chapter 39.  Let’s read this verse together (39:2)

“The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.”

“The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered.”  This short phrase shows us that God was still at work in Joseph’s life, and Joseph trusted God to do his work.  Joseph didn’t understand what was going on exactly, but he believed in God’s good purpose upon his life.  Had Joseph not trusted God, sorrow would have overwhelmed him and he may have contemplated suicide.  But since he trusted God, he not only was able to overcome the sorrow but he even prospered through God who was with him.  And he didn’t just prosper in a small way.  Verse 3 says, “…the LORD gave him success in everything he did.”  When Joseph cooked something it always turned out right.  When Joseph worked in the field, it yielded at least double what was normal.  When he paid the bills – zero finance charges and no bounced checks!  It seemed that Joseph was good at everything!  So his master Potiphar put him in charge of his household and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.

 

Then, a time of testing came.  Joseph, who was a well-built and handsome young man, was noticed by his master’s wife.  She tried to seduce him, inviting him to come to bed with her.  As a young man, full of youthful passion, this temptation wasn’t easy to resist.  There was also the temptation to accept her offer with the hope that she would help him be set free from Egypt.  But what was Joseph’s response to her temptation?  “He refused. "With me in charge," he told her, "my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 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?"

But Potiphar’s wife didn’t give up easily.  Day after day, she pursued him.  One day Joseph went into the house to simply attend to his duties, but none of the household servants were inside.  She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!”  But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

Joseph sets a great example for us to not treat sin lightly but stand against it.  He not only made a verbal stand, but he refused to even be with her so that he might not subject himself to temptation. Then, when he was exposed to temptation, Joseph ran away from her, leaving his cloak in her hand.  Could you do this? But what was the result of his hard struggle?

Potiphar’s wife lied to the household servants and then her husband as well by saying that Joseph came to rape her.  Potiphar believed her and threw Joseph into prison. Joseph struggled so hard to keep his integrity before God but the result was great injustice.  It seems that this would have been the last straw for Joseph.  But Joseph still believed in God’s sovereignty and work in his life.  And indeed, even in prison God had blessed training up his sleeve to give to Joseph.  The Lord was with him and showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.  The warden put him in charge of everybody and everything that was done in prison.

 

During this time two of Pharaoh’s servants angered him and were thrown into prison with Joseph.  One was his cup-bearer and the other his baker.  I think the cup-bearer had spilled Pharaoh’s drink one too many times.  And Pharaoh was angry with the baker perhaps because he brought him cold blueberry muffins and one morning he burnt his toast.  One day, Joseph noticed that they were unusually depressed.  So he asked them, “Why are your faces so sad today?”  They revealed to him that they had both had dreams but were frustrated that there was no one to interpret them.  Joseph said, “Do not interpretations belong to God?  Tell me your dreams.”  So they told him, and he interpreted. The interpretation revealed that the cup-bearer would be released from prison and the baker would be hanged.  Joseph had asked the cup-bearer to remember him and mention his name favorably to Pharaoh so that he might be released too.  However, when the cupbearer was released, he celebrated his own freedom very excitedly but completely forgot about Joseph for two whole years.  How sad.  At the end of two years, finally something happened!  Pharaoh had two dreams.  In one dream Pharaoh was standing by the Nile when seven fat cows came up out of the river.  Then, seven ugly and gaunt cows came up and ate the fat cows.  In his second dream seven full and good heads of grain were swallowed up by seven scorched heads of grain.  What strange dreams!  Cows never eat other cows, and though they were heads of grain, still grain doesn’t normally have a mouth.  Since these dreams were so unusual Pharaoh wanted them interpreted.  But he could find nobody to interpret.  When the cupbearer heard of this his memory was refreshed.  “Joseph!  He can interpret dreams!” So he told Pharaoh and Pharaoh agreed to give Joseph a shot.  When Joseph was confronted he confessed, “I cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”  Pharaoh proceeded to tell him, and God helped Joseph understand.  Joseph explained that the two dreams were one in the same.  He said, “Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, but seven years of famine will follow them.  Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land.”  But Joseph didn’t just stop at interpreting, but with compassion for the people, he became a voluntary consultant and gave a solution to the problem.  He strongly advised Pharaoh to look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt.  And the plan included storing up all the food during the good years to be kept on reserve and used for the upcoming years of famine.  In corporate America, a board of directors could take months to decide on an action plan and direction for the company.  And they get paid a hefty wage to do it.  But Joseph, all on the spot, and free of charge, laid out a well-organized systematic blueprint of how to make things work for an entire nation.  Here we can begin to see the fruit of the training Joseph went through.

In his father’s house his cocky attitude and special treatment infuriated his brothers.  But through his life as a servant and as a prisoner he became very humble and gentle and others loved to listen to him.  Also, through being put in charge of many tasks in Potiphar’s house and in prison, he was well-trained as an excellent strategist and manager, able to set the whole direction of a nation on the right path.  So, who do you think got the job according to the job description Joseph laid out?  Right! Joseph himself!  “Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders.  Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”  Essentially, he became the CEO while Pharaoh kept an honorary position of power as the king of Egypt.  How did he carry out his new position?  Unlike so many leaders of this world he was both powerful and humble.  In one day his position changed from a slave to the second-in-command of the superpower nation Egypt.  Typically whenever anyone gets power, their heads blow up like a large balloon out of pride and they often abuse it.  It was the perfect time to take revenge on people who had wronged him, like Potiphar’s wife.  But instead Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout Egypt going to work.  He didn’t kick back in his new executive’s chair and sip lemonade or Iced Mocha.  No.  Joseph launched the plan, delegating many duties, and supervised with great care from start to finish.  And, lo and behold, the plan worked!  In fact, it worked so well, that people in the entire world who were suffering from the famine could come to Egypt and find relief.

Part III.  Joseph’s love

Finally this world-wide famine hit Joseph’s father and 11 brothers too back in Canaan.  When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”  So off they went, but Benjamin the youngest stayed behind.

When they arrived Joseph’s brothers bowed down to him, since Joseph was the one in charge of this huge economic plan.  When Joseph saw them, inside he shouted, “It…it…it’s my brothers!”  But outwardly he remained silent.  They in turn though didn’t recognize him probably because of all the make-up that Pharaoh made him wear.  “Then he remembered his dreams about them…”  It was all coming together now.  Now he could understand the meaning of the two dreams that God gave him as a child.  He could understand why he had to suffer so much, and he could understand even more about why he came to have such a high position in Egypt.  First of all, this was probably the only way that his brothers would ever bow down to him.  But what is really amazing is his conduct at this time.  If there was ever a best time to retaliate on his brothers this was certainly it.  He could have boasted, he could have gloated over them, or at least gotten a good laugh.  But Joseph looked for God’s deeper will upon the situation.  Surely God hadn’t raised him up to this high position just so Joseph could have a quick thrill of pride.  As he sought God’s will, he saw that he must now live as a leader for his brothers.  Most importantly he should lead them to repentance over what they had done in selling him as a slave.  Upon realizing this he went to work, keeping his identity hidden and speaking harshly to them.  “Where do you come from?” he growled.  “You are spies!” he shouted.  They sought to defend themselves, but Joseph wouldn’t relent.  “You are spies!”  As he pushed them harder and harder they revealed so many facts about their family history.  Joseph put them in custody for three days.  Then he demanded that one of them stay as a ransom while the rest could go back to their father.  But he gave this command.  In order to receive Simeon back, they must return with Benjamin.  With all of this harsh treatment and false accusations, they were reminded clearly of the injustice they had caused Joseph.  “They said to one another, "Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that's why this distress has come upon us."  Joseph felt so bad for the guilt they were suffering from that he had to turn away from them and weep in private.  Then he had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes, and sent the rest back to their father.

We see a clear example here of love for another.  Joseph’s love was not based on his feelings and emotions.  Rather, his love had a clear purpose to lead them to repentance and thus a restored relationship with God.  To aid in doing this, he actually had to deny himself and control his emotions and feelings a lot.  True love should be based on truth.  It should not just make the person feel good but actually better their life, especially their spiritual life with God.  And yes, oftentimes this means helping a person know their sins and repent.  We live in the age and nation of “every man for himself” where nobody wants to be bothered, nor step on anyone else’s toes.  We worry that if we so much as mention the sin of another we will be rejected and left embarrassed.  But a person of true love must be willing to make himself vulnerable, to put himself at risk, and possibly be rejected.  A person of true love cannot watch a person walk down the road of eternal death and yet keep his mouth shut, saying nothing to try to help out.

Eventually they came back to Egypt with Benjamin.  Their father Jacob was really reluctant to let his youngest son Benjamin go as Joseph had requested.  But since Judah guaranteed his safety he finally agreed.

When they arrived they met together around the dinner table that afternoon.  Joseph again had a difficult time controlling his emotions, especially when he saw Benjamin.  But he was determined to bring them to repentance.  So, out of love, he persevered, not only controlling himself, but daring to put them through another difficulty.  Just prior to them all leaving to return home, Joseph had the steward in his house place Joseph’s silver cup in Benjamin’s sack, setting him up to look like a thief.  Then, on their way home, Joseph sent his steward to put them on trial.  The brothers were confident that none of them would have committed such a crime.  Yet, when they searched, there it was in Benjamin’s sack.  Their mouths dropped five feet in shock.  So they had to return to Joseph and after a quick hearing Joseph decided to let the rest go free and keep only Benjamin.  Keep who?  Yes, Benjamin!  By doing this, Joseph set up almost the same situation as when they had sold him as a slave.  If they envied their father’s love for Benjamin it was the perfect opportunity to get rid of him.  But Judah spoke up.  

"30 …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."

Judah was fully convicted of his sin of leading his brothers to sell Joseph away.  Now he became the leader of repentance.  He held to the promise he made to his father, even agreeing to serve the time for the crime in Benjamin’s place, so that Benjamin could return.  At this Joseph exclaimed, “Have everyone leave my presence!”  Then he made his presence known, weeping so loudly that many Egyptians heard him anyways.  It seems this weeping came from being moved by Judah’s sincere repentance and the repentance he sensed in others as well.  He had confidence that they had finally repented.  So he said to them, “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.”  Joseph helped them overcome their condemnation by explaining how God had graciously worked.  He asked them not to feel distressed or angry with themselves any longer, but accept God’s tremendous grace of working through the events, making good even out of the bad they had done.  He explained how ultimately, many lives including their own were saved through these events.  Let’s read verse 5 one more time since it’s our key verse.  [Genesis 45:5]

“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.”

Notice that Joseph actually says “God send me ahead of you.”  God helped Joseph to see everything from God’s point of view.  Through the years of training Joseph learned who God is – that God is sovereign and works in all things for the purpose of saving lives.  When we believe in God’s grace and his powerful work, we can see that we should no longer be distressed or angry with ourselves or others.  If God can work good out the selling of a brother to slavery, if God can make good out of people crucifying Jesus to the cross, then God can make good out of anything in order to save lives.  God does want us to repent, but he also wants us to overcome our condemnation and fatalistic thinking by believing in His good sovereign work despite all things, even our wickedness.

After speaking with them briefly, Joseph had his brothers go back to Canaan and bring their father to live with them in Egypt in order to be fully protected from the remaining five years of famine.  After God appeared to Jacob and confirmed that it was God’s plan that he and his family go down to Egypt, they went and lived as shepherds in Goshen and increased in number according to God’s promise.  After Jacob’s death his brothers still suffered from fear and condemnation, but Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid.  Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Gen. 50:19-20)  Again, Joseph taught about the sovereign God who works out everything to save lives.

In conclusion, we see that the God of Joseph had a sovereign will to save lives.  In order to save lives God sent Joseph ahead of his brothers.  He used even their jealous anger to fulfill this purpose of saving lives.

One Word: God was with Joseph, and saved many lives.

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