Genesis 40-41 - 2009 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] father in heaven we are about to read some of the greatest literature in all of history one of the greatest stories of all time as we embark on Joseph and his stay in Egypt and what you did in his life and what you allowed in his life and how you molded and shaped that young man in times of adversity as well as times of prosperity Lord it's more than just good literature however it is an account an accurate account that is preserved by the Holy Spirit throughout the ages it gives us what happened from Heaven's vantage point what happened on earth but what spiritual lessons lay behind it and that is why we're here we believe what Paul said that all Scripture was given by inspiration of God and even those things in the Old Testament were written for our benefit for our learning for our admonition and so we come once again and we submit ourselves under these principles and this teaching I thank you for a hungry group of people and a lot of them who are hungry and I thank you Lord for this time my favorite way to displ a verse by verse through the book of the Bible give us ears to hear we ask in Jesus name Amen in 1939 the groundbreaking movie Wizard of Oz hit the screens you remember the film just about everybody knows it I started seeing it when I was just a wee chap and I remember the scene opening up with Dorothy Judy Garland playing Dorothy singing somewhere over the rainbow and the lyrics are classic somewhere over the rainbow way up high there's a land that I dreamed of once in a lullaby somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true but alas there is no Wizard of Oz there is no Emerald City like in the movie there is no tin man who needs a heart scarecrow who lacks a brain talking lion who's looking for courage it was a great movie but it was just a tale but now we turn to a Bible story that is not just a tale it's a true account it's an account of a man a young man who dreamed dreams his dreams really did come true we saw those dreams a while back when one night he dreamed that 11 sheaves of wheat representing his brothers all bowed down and did homage to his single sheaf of wheat the mistake he made is not getting the dream that was of God the mistake perhaps he made is in naivete he told his brothers about it the next day expecting them to be all excited well of course they wouldn't be he's already dad's favorite look at the coat he wears now this dream he had another dream he told his mom and dad and brothers and that was a dream that the Sun and the moon and the Eleven stars all bowed down to his star in the dream at this point dad got upset with his son what kind of a dream is that do you think that your mother and I also are gonna bow down well his dream really did come true but not in the way that he anticipated it for he was sold as a slave to Midianite traders going down to Egypt he went to pot afar's house but God was with him gave him great status so the PATA far because of his managerial skills put him in a high position it didn't take long until Potiphar's wife noticed the young man and casting longing eyes at him tried to get Joseph to commit sexual relations with her he denied she accused him of rape he was placed into prison that's where we find Joseph tonight in prison what an interesting life Joseph had it seems that Joseph would take two steps forward and three steps backward one day he's the favored son of his father the next day he sold as a slave into Egypt one day he's the head of Potiphar's house the next day he's placed into prison under false accusation two steps forward three steps backward all the while God is working something very deep in this young man's life and shaping him and the amazing thing is Joseph seems to be aware that God is doing something though he certainly doesn't know what but we never read of him complaining now while he was suffering he was isolated that is there were no believers around him none of his family none of his friends he had no copy of the scriptures there wasn't one he had pagans who were watching him and dr. FB Meyer once said perhaps one of the reasons God calls his child or children to suffer is because onlookers in viewing the life of a believer see the reality of his or her faith when they suffer and they're drawn to that kind of a steadfast endure of trials I'll tell you what it makes an impact when an unbeliever watch as a Christian suffer and give glory to God and say I see God's plan I may not see it clearly but I know it's there huge impact and that's the impact that he has made and will make but how many sudden reverse happened in his life just when he's working his way up in Potiphar's house now in prison just when he gets a dream from heaven sold as a slave when our lives have sudden reversals how do we handle them well when they're going good our lives we love that Oh Lord thank you I love you I knew you would come through because it's in your favor you see the blessing is coming and you feel it you see it it's awesome but what about a reversal a setback how do you treat God then what do you say to God then when the marriage seems like it's just being restored and then there's a setback a reversal so to speak just when you're conquering the addiction that rears its ugly head and you fall or fail when the cancer was in remission but now it's back when the child your child is starting to grow spiritually and you see signs of hope then they go off the deep end let's see how Joseph handles this by the way Before we jump into verse 1 there's a key verse of scripture that sort of gives away why and what accounts for Joseph's good behavior you'll notice in verse 21 of chapter 39 but the Lord was with Joseph he was in prison but the Lord was with Joseph you may want to underline that or at least remember that in verse 23 the keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph's Authority because the Lord was with him and whatever he did the Lord made a prosper now it came to pass after these things that the butler and the baker and the candlestick maker oh that's not there the butler and the Baker of the king of Egypt offended their Lord the king of Egypt and the Pharaoh was angry with his two officers the chief Butler and the chief Baker so he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard in the prison the place where Joseph was confined the word Baker we get what a baker is he bakes bread he makes food for the King for the Pharaoh but Butler isn't perhaps the best translation we think of a guy with a little bow tie and a tuxedo opening closing the door the NIV translates it cupbearer a better translation he was the ancient equivalent of Secret Service agent making sure that whatever went into the Kings presence was secure that his food or drink wasn't poisoned so he would taste it first Nehemiah had that position in the Persian court of Ahasuerus something happened in this court of Pharaoh we don't exactly know what it was something bothered him and so these guys are thrown in jail but not by accident by appointment because we see in verse four the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them and he served them joseph is now in charge at prison what a guy you know give this guy any mundane tasks and he'll say I'm up for it I'll be faithful at that he won't say well that's not my job description you're a slave then I'll be the best slave there is you're a prisoner I'll be the best prisoner you got so everywhere he goes whether a slave in Potiphar's house part of our says this guy's so trustworthy so faithful I've had my eye on him give him more until he's over his house now in prison same thing he's in charge and these guys come under his custody and he served them so they were in custody for a while then the butler and the Baker of the king of Egypt who were confined in the prison had a dream both of them each man's dream in one night and each man's dream with its own interpretation in ancient times especially the countries of Egypt and Babylon dreams were a huge deal they were a highly significant in their theology and cosmogony they believed that the gods the pantheon of gods communicated with people through dreams they had a dream in one night it wasn't the gods communicating it was God singular Josef's God communicating and Joseph came verse six to them in the morning and he looked at them and he saw that they were sad and so he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody of the Lord's house saying why do you look so sad today frankly I'm amazed the Joseph even noticed they were sad there's an interesting thing about your own personal suffering whenever you're suffering whatever the hardship might be it tends to be very self-focused it tends to make a persons consumed with it where you don't really care about much else or anyone else this is your deal man this is your personal suffering the fact that Joseph noticed it and then second the fact that he asked them about it he didn't say what's up with you he just noticed and politely said why is it that you are sad I think there's a principle to be learned here I think that one of the keys to enduring your own hardship is to push the pause button on your hardship and go find someone who has it worse than you have it and serve that person you are deliberately now taking the focus off of your own needs momentarily to minister to someone else's needs who is in far greater need than you are and it has amazing results of lifting you out and giving you a fresh perspective in suffering I had a friend years ago we went to the same church in California and this guy was going through a very difficult time in his life he was a Christian musician and he very artistic and he had ups and he has downs and he was going through a very down time a rough spot he was dealing with his own depression and he went to one of the assistant pastors at our church the assistant pastor said Eric this will cure you tomorrow I want to send you to one of the nursing homes that we work with and he gave a list of the names of the patients I want you to visit and then come back and tell me what the Lord said to you what he did with you Eric did it and came back a few days later and he said I'm not feeling like I felt I'm sort of cured i ministered to people who are dying i ministered to people who are in advanced stages of a certain disease and I looked at their problems and I considered my own problems and yeah I still have them but it's just like a perspective check a reality check that made such an impact on me that some years later when I was here and we just started pastoring I I tried this with a girl who was in a ward in a local hospital a metal ward she was on suicide watch she attempted suicide and I visited her and I listened to her and she was really down and I said now when you get out of here there's something I want you to do but I'm not gonna tell you what it is till you get out I want you to come and see me so what I did is I gave her a small task not much the only task was you have an appointment with me when you get out it's all she had to do but when you're depressed that's huge little task becomes huge tasks but that was the only task I gave her and then when she came in saw me I employed sort of the same thing I said there's some people I want you to visit she came to me and she said she smiled so your strategy worked she goes I know what you're doing she's been in these joints enough now I know what you're doing and it worked and she goes now I'm helping other people in their depression so here's Joseph he's in prison he's not supposed to be there falsely accused and he notices the sadness of prisoners and he stops and he asks them why they're sad and they said to him we have had a dream and there is no interpreter of it so Joseph said to them do not interpretations belong to God tell them to me please please help a light please to a fellow prisoner please how often does that happen then the chief Butler told his dream to Joseph and said to him behold in my dream a vine was before me now we would not have fault we would not find fault with Joseph if he were to say right about here stop right there don't tell me about your dream it was my dreams that got me into trouble to begin with I hate dreams I don't let subscribe to dreams rather this statement is an affirmation of faith as if to say tell me more because I do believe in dreams I've had my own dreams and though they haven't come true I believe God and I believe they will come true so tell them to me it's a very wrong affirmation of his faith that God has spoken to him and though he has not seen any sign of its fruition for years he still trusts in God so it says tell me guy starts to tell him about his dream and verse 10 in the vine there were three branches it was as though it butted it blossoms shot forth its clusters brought forth ripe grapes then Pharaohs Cup was in my hand and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup and place the cup in pharaoh's hand and joseph said to him this is the interpretation he knew it right away tree branches are three days now within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your place and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand according to the former manner when you were his Butler so the dream is a positive interpretation it's a good dream it's a dream of being restored back to the previous place your your head's gonna be lifted up that's a biblical idiom of restoration in favor you remember Psalm 3 the Lord is the lifter of my head when you're down and you're dejected like a little kid head down the Lord comes and lifts your head up and lets you see things correctly so you will find favor and you'll be restored back to your your former position but he says remember me when it's well with you and please show kindness to me make mention of me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house Joseph saw this not only as a chance to serve the prisoners but he saw this as the first ray of hope in getting out of prison this was his get-out-of-jail-free card quite literally he thought great I know this is gonna happen and when it happens if this guy puts in a good word for me to the Pharaoh I might get out so so remember me putting a good work for me when you're in the Pharaoh's house for indeed verse 15 I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews and I have also done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon and when the chief Baker saw that the interpretation was good he said to Joseph I also was in my dream and there were three white baskets on my head the Baker's been listening to the butler tell his dream he didn't speak up first he's just sort of waiting he's troubled by his dream but in hearing the dream and the interpretation he thinks great that was a positive outcome and no doubt he's thinking that Joseph's gonna say well you're gonna be sprung out of here and serving it up at the pharaoh's table in no time but his dream turns into a nightmare as he hears the interpretation verse 17 in the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head and Joseph answered and said this is the interpretation of it the three baskets are three days within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree and the birds will eat flesh from you see what I mean by nightmare the dream turned into the nightmare on Pyramid Street it's not what he expected to hear he thought it would be favorable like the first guys notice the difference in the dreams in the first dream he sees the Pharaohs Cup in his hands the Pharaohs drinking out of his Cup in the second dream though the bread basket is for Pharaoh birds are eating out of that basket now let me just throw this out at you so you can keep it in your mind in prophetic scripture in Scripture parabolic Scripture prophetic Scripture birds are often a symbol that portend evil not good I'll give you a few examples come to mind there are more in Matthew chapter 13 Jesus gave the parable of the sower and the seed and the seed fell upon rocky soil and the birds of the air came and snatched it up speaking of how Satan removes the word of truth from a person's heart as soon as they hear it also in Matthew 13 Jesus gave a parable of the mustard seed that it's the smallest seed in the herb garden but this huge tree grows from it and the birds of the air Lodge in its branches the follow up parable to that is the parable of the leaven and leaven is a symbol of evil and Bird's was also a symbol of the evil that would lodge within that organized community throughout church history within the church then there's Revelation chapter 18 mystery babylon babylon is fallen is fallen which has become the habitation of every foul bird and unclean bird so here's another example of how they don't portend good but evil so yep three more days your days are numbered your heads coming off and you're a dead dude and birds will eat your flesh off of you ouch now it came to pass on the third day which was Pharaoh's birthday that he made a feast for all of his servants and he lifted up the head of the chief Butler and of the chief Baker among his servants but in two quite different manners he restored the chief Butler to his leadership again and he placed the cup in pharaoh's hand but he hanged the chief Baker as Joseph had interpreted to them yet now watch this yet the chief Butler did not remember Joseph but forgot him hey remember me when you get out of here I shouldn't be here I didn't commit any crime tell Pharaoh I want to get out of here remember but he didn't remember him he forgot him there are certain experiences in your life that you cannot control they happen to you you wish they wouldn't happen to you but they happen to you jesus said the Sun and the rainfall and the just and the unjust you can't control all the things that happen to you in life however you can control your response to all the things that happen to you that's in your control how do you take it what is your response to it imagine what it was like for William Sangster a great preacher in England century ago when he went to doctors and the doctors told him that he had a progressive muscular atrophy disease that his muscles would waste away eventually he would lose his voice even he would be unable to swallow at the latter stages of the disease that's what he was told he went home and he wrote down four things he was committed to four little things that he wrote on his pad and he kept them to the day of his death number one he said I will never complain I'm not gonna say poor me woe is me I'm gonna trust him God I'll never complain number one number two I'm gonna make my home a bright place instead of a you know sad horrible because people eat that whoa kids grandkids you're not gonna want to visit me I'm gonna make the home a happy and bright place number three you said I'm gonna count my blessings I'm gonna think of all the things God has done for me through me in my life and forth and finally he said I'm gonna try to turn this horrible situation into something good he knew that he wouldn't always be able to speak and so he took to writing books articles pamphlets he got involved in the British home missionary group which which had home fellowships around England and started prayer fellowships around England that prayed for missions and got involved and to his dying day he kept those four commitments you can't control what happens to you you can control your response joseph was hoping that he would hear news any day disappointment look at verse 1 of chapter 41 then it came to pass at the end of two full years stop right there whoa two full years can you just picture Joseph he didn't know what was coming three days later after the interpretation was given he thought he would hear keys clinging down the hallway of the prison thickened great this is my Great Escape but those days passed and a week passed and another week passed in a month in six months and twelve months and twenty four long lonely uneventful months two full years pass nothing happened if I were to write a proverb a scripture at the beginning of chapter 41 I would write proverbs 21 verse 1 it's that proverb that says the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord and like the courses of water he pushes it wherever he wants it to go God is doing that here why did God wait two years I can't answer that if I were to give you some fancy theological answer it'd be so shallow I don't know why I think I'm safe however and saying God was still let's say putting some finishing touches on Joseph God was working some deep things a heart of trust if you remember when Joseph first started he was pretty brash naive pampered spoiled he didn't have to work he had the coat that says you're the supervisor you might be the youngest brother but you're in charge of your brothers go spy on them for me tell me if they're doing something bad that's the lifestyle he was used to pampered God is working something deep in his life the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream and behold he stood by a river now it's the dream that's gonna call for Joseph's unique skill set in interpreting the dreams here's a thought I want you to put in your mind and we'll kind of capitalize on it throughout this study and at the end in probably next week you have no idea what God is preparing for you right now that won't come to pass for maybe two years you have no clue oh this is horrible you don't know what God is preparing you for what work God is preparing you for you ever think that way do you ever think when you're deep and down in the muck Wow God's preparing me for something great that takes a little bit of foresight by faith to think that way but how about it how about that attitude aw Tozer was right I believe when he said I doubt that God has ever blessed anyone greatly before he has hurt them greatly what if Joseph would have just gone from this spoiled kid watching over his brothers favored boy with the coolest coat in town to second in command over the world what would his story be well you know I was always that special child and people saw it in me since I was a kid from my dad all the way up to Pharaoh now he has no room to boast it's all the Lord so after two full years Pharaoh had a dream suddenly there came out of the river seven cows that's the Nile River fine-looking and fat and they fed in the meadow and behold seven other cows came after them out of the river ugly and gaunt and stood by the other cows on the bank of the river the river in Pharaoh's dream is the only River in Egypt the Nile River the longest river in the world by the way 1640 miles long 47 miles long it begins in Equatorial Africa goes all the way to the Mediterranean and when it hits the Mediterranean it fans out into this massive Delta and because of that Nile Delta with all of the silt in all of the water it made Egypt the breadbasket of the world and they capitalized on what was called the flooding of the Nile every year in Egypt from time immemorial consistently regularly every year the Nile floods and they capitalized by diverting the water to different little rivulets through rivulets like there is in the valley here with the Rio Grande but on a more massive scale and cows in Egypt would feed in the river they would submerge themselves up to their necks to avoid the Flies and this searing heat that is in Egypt and feed on the reeds of the river and so it's not an uncommon sight now they're coming out and they're big fat cows that's a good sign but then there's these ugly ugly thin looking emaciated cows and the ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven fine-looking and fat cows so Pharaoh awoke boy that trouble them you know dreams are weird right you know there's things in your dreams when if you try to tell it you think oh my goodness this sounds really bad because things don't connect well they don't connect logically but it's a dream it's what your mind is producing what you're dealing with in this case what God is speaking to them about but it was the troublesome dream that woke them up if you ever had one of those dreams you wake up you go man I was a weird I'm gonna go back to sleep I hope I don't have that dream again and then you do and it's worse I used to have those kind all the time growing up well it gets worse he slept and dreamed his second time suddenly seven heads of grain came up on one stock plump and good and behold seven thin heads blighted by the east wind sprang up after them in the seventh in heads devoured the seven plump and full heads so Pharaoh awoke and indeed it was a dream can you see him sweating on his bed man that was weird just a little insight into the topography and geography of the land see it says blighted by the east wind there's a phenomenon in the Near East in the Middle East called the hum seen the hum seen is the east wind or the southeast wind about every spring this wind blows through and it heats up everything I have been in those humph sings where one day it's cool the next day it's blistering hot overnight it can wither crops overnight they say that the temperature can go 50 to 60 degrees higher than it was before during a home singing in a few hours in Egypt the temperatures in the spring will suddenly rise up to a hundred and five degrees during one of these blighting east winds and I remember working on a kibbutz and and and I would say what had what happened last night because you get up in the morning and there's this yellow smog over the earth and bugs everywhere everywhere in everything and they say oh that's the hum sing that's the Eastwind it's a regular occurrence during the springtime he sees that in his dream wakes up it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled and he sent any call for all the magician's of Egypt and all of its wise men and Pharaoh told them his dreams but there was no one who can interpret them for Pharaoh Ferro was troubled for a good reason his dreams focused on the two greatest assets of ancient Egypt cows and grain his entire economy supported by the Nile River hinged on those two things moreover the cow - an ancient Egyptian was the symbol of the goddess Isis the goddess of agriculture of fertility of the land and the cow symbolized all of the earth they believed in mother earth they believed that the earth symbolized by the goddess herself gave them all of these things and now the earth was blighted and that's what this dream is portending now we know something we know that God is orchestrating this this is all part of God's master plan give the Pharaoh a dream bug the Pharaoh with a dream that the Pharaoh wake up in cold sweats and call everybody saying man I had a bad night's sleep interpret this dream and then enter Joseph who will tell the dream it brings Joseph into the court of Pharaoh why is that good because he's going to bring his family down to Egypt the children of Israel are gonna grow in a land fulfilling Genesis chapter 15 for 400 years your your nation this nation will be down in Egypt and will populate and then after that time send them back to the land of Canaan giving the Canaanites a chance to repent like God had said in earlier in Genesis and then giving the children of Israel this land and having it subsidized by the Egyptian government now listen to what I just said God's gonna give them the land of Canaan he's gonna send them back to the land subsidized by the Egyptian government they're gonna spoil the Egyptians and take their loot with them when they go I love God's economy and I believe God is interested in economy you know that Paul always wanted to go to Rome right he wrote the Romans that I'm coming I'm coming by God's grace I'll be there well he didn't anticipate how the Lord would arrange for him to be in Rome how did he get there he was arrested he became a prisoner for two years standing trial before Festus Felix in Agrippa he finally says I'm done with this nonsense I appealed a Caesar and the procurator said you appeal to Caesar to Caesar you will go so now Paul is placed on a prison ship of Egyptian grain ship hired by the Roman government paid for by the Roman government Paul is placed in custody of the Roman government he gets an all-expense-paid trip to Rome paid for by the Roman government he doesn't have to raise missionary support it allows him to give his defence before the king King Caesar Nero strengthened the church in Rome write letters from the church in Rome strengthen the churches even to this day all a part of God's plan God has an interesting economy you'll notice in verse 8 that he was trouble but it says no one could interpret these dreams for Pharaoh now this is puzzling it's not puzzling that they couldn't interpret it because it was a dream from God but you would at least think they would make something up you know give it a try well yes actually what this means Pharaoh is it just just sort of like I got a guess because I don't want to die those who interpreted dreams in ancient times were of the priestly caste now it was believed in ancient Egyptian thinking that the gods gave people dreams but would not give them the interpretation they had to figure it out their recluse and so these dream seekers would read the hieroglyphics in tombs an ancient dream literature for keys on dream interpretation it was quite a science they couldn't figure it out it's a setup then the chief Butler spoke to Pharaoh saying I remember my faults this day like Oh yeah when Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard both me and the chief Baker we each had a dream in one night he and I each have a-- streamed according to the interpretation of his own dream there was a young hebrew man with us there a servant of the captain of the guard and we told him and he interpreted our dreams for us to each man he interpreted according to his own dream and it came to pass just as he interpreted for us so it happened he restored me to my office and he hanged him now Joseph meanwhile is back in jail dead no this is happening his whole world is about to change you know Joseph got up that morning maybe looked around walls of his cell and thought yep another day in the dungeon he had no clue what was coming now his story so far has been from riches to rags now it turns from rags to riches Pharaoh sent him called Joseph and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon and he shaved changed his clothes and came to Pharaoh now why did he do that you might say well he just was a you know upstanding man he's a man of personal hygiene he's a prisoner they don't afford him personal hygiene they did it because according to Egyptian custom men were completely shaven no beards no mustaches no goatees no soul patches no hair on the head completely shaved cueball Joseph never would have shaved as a Hebrew as Hebrew custom goes never would have shaved the corners of his beard or his beard it was a sign very unique to the Hebrews even according to the law that will be given later by Moses but he's in Egypt and he's a prisoner and when you're in Egypt you walk like an Egyptian you dressed like an Egyptian you kind of do that he appeared like an Egyptian clean-shaven cue ball and Pharaoh said to Joseph I've dreamed a dream or I've had a dream and there's no one who can interpret it but I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream to interpret it listen to his answer Joseph answered Pharaoh it is not in me God will give Pharaoh an answer a piece I'm always amazed at Joseph's answers I'm amazed that the first words out of his mouth aren't words of blame he didn't say first of all let me tell you I don't deserve to be here that Potiphar creep and his wife and then that Butler I'd have been here a lot earlier if that Butler would have remembered and the words to Pharaoh are honest but there's a hint of boldness he's standing before the ruler of the world at that time and he goes no really it's not me at all the Lord the Lord this is his gig somebody once said if you kneel before God you can stand before anybody I think those two years in prison solidified the rock-solid trust in God that is exhibited here he didn't care who Pharaoh is he cares who God is you didn't care what Pharaoh thinks about him he cares what God thinks about him it's the same kind of tenacity that John the Baptist had with Herod same kind of tenacity Paul the Apostle had with Felix Festus and Agrippa same kind of tenacity that Elisha the Prophet had with King Ahab and Queen Jezebel if you kneel before God you can stand before anyone what a great answer it's not in me God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace and Pharaoh said to Joseph behold in my dream I stood on the banks of a river and he tells the whole story that we just read pick it up now in verse 24 at the end so I told this to the magicians but there was no one who could explain it to me then Joseph said to Pharaoh the dreams of the Pharaoh are one God has shown Pharaoh what he's about to do Pharaoh got to dreams they meant the same thing Joseph got to dreams they meant the same thing he's on very familiar ground as he's speaking to the Pharaoh about this he said the seven good cows are seven years and the seven good heads are seven years the dreams are one the seventh in an ugly cows which came up after them are seven years and the Seven empty blighted by the east wind the heads of grain are seven years of famine this is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh God has shown Pharaoh what he's about to do indeed seven years of great Plenty will come throughout the land of Egypt but after them seven years of famine will arise and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt and all the famine will deplete the land so the plenty will not be known in the land because the famine following for it will be very severe and the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God and God will shortly bring it to pass now he's going to give him some helpful advice number one you need good management now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt let Pharaoh do this and let him appoint officers over the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years so it's time to start saving Ferro not spending saving you need to save because the future looks really bleak so you need to save 20 percent and store it up because when that when this country really goes through an economic downfall you will have been prepared for it good counsel good advice let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming in store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh and let them keep food in the cities then that food shall be a reserve for the land for seven years of famine which will be in the land of Egypt that the land may not perish during the famine so the advice was good in the eyes of the Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants Joseph is very forthright very honest gives the interpretation and then gives him advice and it's pretty wonderful advice the advice he's giving isn't well you know have you ever thought I do have some experience in Potiphar's house awesome he never sold himself a good servant a good employee is always thinking of what's best for his boss or the organization that's what's easiest for him moreover there's a great scriptural principle if you're faithful in something small that you'll also be faithful in something big and that will be given to you Luke chapter 16 that's the thought there the advice is good in the eyes of farrell and in the eyes of the servants and pharaoh said to his servants can we find such a one as this a man in whom is the Spirit of God and the Pharaoh said to Joseph in as much as God has shown you all this there's no one as discerning and as wise as you here's a pagan king who looks at this godly young man and sees something special in him and is willing at that point because of the situation in the setup of the dream the crisis he's facing maybe at this time he learns a little history on Joseph is willing to put Joseph in charge good strategy because if Joseph is wrong then he's going to be the first guy that's gonna get judged by the Pharaoh good plan you're the guy I employ this strategy I like it when somebody says I have an idea for our fellowship how about if we did this or that Minister I go great go do it start it start organizing and get people to pray about it and if it looks like it's coming together and it keeps the right values great then we'll just we'll announce it and we'll do it so Joseph came up with the interpretation by the Spirit of God so Joseph is put in charge over Egypt you know I read this and I think the idea of unbelievers looking at believers and saying there's something special in that guy in that girl something wonderful about that person I want to entrust more of my business to that person quite often however unfortunately it's the opposite I've had people say I really am NOT interested in hiring Christians they always want the bro deal hey bro can I have a special break cuz I'm your bro can I have a special deal because after all we're brothers and sisters in Christ so treat me specially in differently than anybody else and they say they take advantage of us they saw something special in Joseph and must have heard the reports so he's given this place now watch what he does this is incredible probably only have time to read a few more verses but verse 40 you shall be over my house and all my people shall be ruled according to your word only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you you are number 2 to me and Pharaoh said to Joseph see I have set you over this land of Egypt and Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand put it on Joseph's and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck and he had him ride in the second chariot she had and they cried out before him bow the knee so he set him over the land of Egypt Pharaoh also said to Joseph I am Pharaoh and without your consent no man may lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt it's as if for all intents and purposes Fairhope gave Joseph carp lunch yet financial control you're in charge of of Egypt geographic control you're in charge of Egypt financial control you're in charge of this plan the third thing he gave them was a upgraded wardrobe fine linen Egyptian linen with a little bling gold his own private limousine personalized chariot of course his license plate would have read number two Pharaoh's would have been number one but talk about an upgrade in life to go from prison to prime minister second in command the people have read this and said this is impossible and here's another reason why many of us intelligent people don't believe the Bible because you don't have this sudden elevation of somebody from such a low status I beg to differ with you there have been plenty of records in Egyptian papyri and in hieroglyphics found in tombs that give examples of people of low status positioned almost instantaneously to a high position one was a guy named suna Hey who was a runaway in exile for a number of years degraded from the court was brought back after exile returned to the throne brought back into the court and given a high position and then people will say well that may be but when that happened those were Egyptians they weren't of any other race but the Egyptian race certainly a Semite like Joseph wouldn't be elevated to this position in a place like Egypt again I beg to differ with you some years ago there were some letters found called the Amarna letters it was Correspondence written by Canaanite scribes about the relations between Canaan and Egypt as far back as the 14th century BC and one of the letters describes a Semite who is elevated to a high position in Egypt and called the greatest mouth close quote quote unquote the greatest mouth or spokesman in all the land of Egypt in all the world so given quite a high authority just under Pharaoh so both in the Bible and outside the Bible this practice is confirmed verse 45 Joseph gets married oh I didn't read verse 44 Pharaoh L said to Joseph I am oh I did read that verse 45 Pharaoh called Joseph's name here's his name zoth nath paella that's his new name can you say that 10 times I can't even I can't even say it once zaphenath-paneah I like Joseph better it is thought to mean Savior of the world interesting name Savior of the world that's one of the interpretations that are given in Egyptian and he gave him as a wife Austin off the daughter of Potiphar a priest of on so Joseph went over all the land of Egypt so he's married into a very high-ranking family of this priest the priest Devon was the priest who was in charge of all the other priests officiated at all the festivals and there's a temple the remains are in high hierapolis even to this day this priest officiated at that huge temple so joseph is married into this family now people have objected to this why would joseph do that he didn't have a choice this is conscripted by the king it's what he's gonna do you're in our territory you're gonna marry this girl she's your wife you're given this task it says Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went throughout the land of Egypt thirty years old once a prisoner thirty years old J Oswald Sanders said very few men can hold this full of a cup and do it well it's one thing to go through adversity it's quite another temptation to handle prosperity and not get taken in full of pride because of the sudden elevation I have watched people put in places of authority or status or sudden wealth they win the lottery it ruins them they can't handle it they can't hold the full cup steady enough it gets to them now the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly so they gathered all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt laid up the food in the cities laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them I'm reading fast because the times almost up Joseph gather very much grain in the sand of the sea until he stopped counting for it was immeasurable and did Joseph were born to sons before the years of famine came whom aseneth the daughter of Potiphar oh the priests of on-boarding him Joseph called the name of the firstborn forgetful Manasseh Manasseh for God has made me forget I love this all my toil and all my father's out here's a guy instead of holding on but I've been slighted and I've been forgotten and my brothers and they just like forget about it I'm gonna forget about it I'm gonna even name my son forget about it forgetful Manasseh or if you like amnesia I've forgotten the bad stuff and the name of the second he called Ephraim which is doubly fruitful or twice fruitful for God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction this is similar to Paul the Apostle forgetting those things which are behind I press forward to those things which are before me there comes a time when you just gotta let go of the past hurts get over it if you can't learn to get over it let get some help to get over but get over it and like Sangster count your blessings this has happened but I'm counting my blessings God made me fruitful I'm forgetting the past so two boys amnesia ambrosia in the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Egypt ended and the seven years of famine began to come as Joseph said the famine was in all the lands but in all the land of Egypt there was bread so when all the land of Egypt was famished the people cried to Pharaoh for bread and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians go to Joseph that's his job whatever do whatever he says to you whatever he says to you do it the famine was over all the face of the earth Joseph opened up all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians and the famine became severe in the land of Egypt stop for just a moment and consider what Joseph's first order as second-in-command might have been well now that I'm in this position as the prime minister the second in command over Egypt my first command is to bring Potiphar out and his wife who accuse me and that idiot butler who forgot me and I'm gonna hang them all this could have been payback time not a word no pettiness no bitterness he has let it go can I just say let God handle your Butler's your pot afar's people who forget you or people who lie about you or do just give it to the Lord you know that that that God is better at handling them than you are he's more effective there are times when I've been tempted to lash out and do something in vengeance but I realized that God is so much better vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord I will repay great it's your job go for it I'll just kick back and trust you and forget about the whole situation now I've been told this and I believe this if you want to defend yourself God will let you or you can just say Lourdes my defense move on forget about it move forward and he does that so all the countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain because the famine was severe in all the lands that's we close I want you to put this thought and walk away with it put it in your mind put it in your heart walk away with it Mull it over I don't know what you're going through tonight some of you I know because of the crowd the size are going through some very difficult waters you feel forgotten maybe Joseph even felt forgotten by God he could have been tempted at least in that regard who knows what God is right now preparing for you in the next couple months in the next few years and he's using this time to shape you we all know Romans 8:28 all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose we all know that one but I wonder how many of us remember Romans 8:29 that we are predestined by God to be conformed to the image of Christ the reason God allows all of those things is for that shaping that conforming now you know what as I read it there's a lot more stuff trials shaping that I'm going to go through because I'm not yet in the image of Christ there's a lot of molding and shaping yet to go but I'm also cognizant that it's all in preparation for something else I can live with that I'll go step further I can rejoice in that and you'll never rejoice until you start seeing God's hand and let God handle your pot of Farr's let God handle your Butler's and move on Heavenly Father as you have made us fruitful even in the land of our affliction I pray you would cause us to forget the evil that has been perpetrated even by some on the lives of your people it's amazing that you can use everything all things to work together for our good your glory and getting us conformed shaped into the image of Christ you used years of confinement in Joseph's life to whip him into shape and what wonderful shape he was in as we see him emerge bold filled with integrity totally trusting in your plan for him 'lord sometimes you tear down that you might build up again you uproot that you might plant and some of us are maybe in that first stage we haven't realized the second but Lord by faith we march forward forgetting those things which are behind and pressing forward to those things which are ahead in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 10,755

Rating: 4.8632479 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary, Albuquerque, Skip, Heitzig, Jesus, Genesis, Sermon

Id: 0pyDsaEP4Iw

Length: 64min 15sec (3855 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 19 2018