August 10, 2007

• Discovering God’s Character – Part 20
  
  
  
  Joseph in Egypt

  As we start Genesis 39, we find Joseph has been taken down to Egypt and
  was bought by Potiphar, the captain of the bodyguard from the
  Ishmaelites to whom his brothers had sold him.

  The Lord was with Joseph so much so that Potiphar’s house was blessed
  by the Lord on account of Joseph. Potiphar ended up trusting everything
  to Joseph to manage except what sort of food he would eat. So this went
  on for a while and so did the Lord’s blessing.

  Now it turns out that sometimes good things turn into those that don’t
  seem so good.  Joseph was a handsome man and he had caught the eye of
  Potiphar’s wife.  And the situation that develops looks like Potiphar’s
  wife is guilty of sexual harassment. Even with all this going on a
  daily basis, Joseph did not give in.  She finally cornered him and she
  pulled off his garment and attempted to force him to have relations
  with her but he just ran off without his garment. Since she didn’t get
  what she wanted she screamed in order to frame Joseph and accuse him of
  what he didn’t do.

  If there were ever a case of injustice, this is a good example of it.
  This woman was intent on getting rid of Joseph. Why did she even bother
  to scream except she was going to get caught at her own game or it was
  simply hate of being rejected?  Anyway, she told her husband her
  version of the story and he became angry.  So Potiphar takes Joseph to
  jail and placed him in there where all the king’s prisoners were kept.
  If we were to read ahead, the jail itself is in Potiphar’s house
  (Genesis 40:3).

  Even though Joseph was now in jail, the Lord blessed Joseph and was
  kind to him and gave him favor in the eyes of the chief jailer, who
  gave him responsibility over all the jail and all its prisoners.  He
  trusted Joseph so much that he didn’t supervise anything under Joseph’s
  care because the Lord was with him and caused whatever he did to
  prosper.

  Now in Genesis 40, it turned out that Pharaoh, the king of Egypt,
  became angry with his cupbearer and baker. So he had Potiphar, the
  captain of the bodyguard, put them in jail in the same place where
  Joseph was imprisoned and put him in charge of them.  The cupbearer and
  baker were held there for quite some time and Joseph took care of them.

  Now both the cupbearer and baker had a dream in the same night and both
  woke up dejected and Joseph noticed this and asked them about it.  They
  were sad because there was no one to interpret their dreams for them. 
  Joseph tells them to tell him the dreams. The interpretation of the
  cupbearer’s dream meant that in three days, he would be restored to his
  office and his former duties. Joseph asks the cupbearer to remember to
  mention him to Pharaoh to get him out of jail.  Now when the baker
  shared his dream, it wasn't going go as well for him. Although he was
  hoping for an equally favorable interpretation, his dream meant that in
  three days, he would be hanged.

  The third day happened to be Pharaoh’s birthday and he had a feast. He
  restored the cupbearer to his former position and hanged the baker just
  as Joseph had said. Unfortunately, the cupbearer forgot about Joseph.

  Now as we move to Genesis 41, we find it took two full years before
  Joseph would find release from the prison. It came about when Pharaoh
  had a dream about the seven fat cows and seven starving cows that ate
  the fat ones. Pharaoh awakes from the dream and then falls back asleep again. This
  time he dreams seven plump heads of grain being eaten by seven thin and
  scorched heads of grain. Pharaoh awakes again and now he’s troubled. So
  he finds out that all his magicians and wise men cannot interpret these
  dreams for him.

  It is at this point the cupbearer remembers Joseph and mentions to
  Pharaoh what had happened to him and the baker. Now Pharaoh wants to
  see Joseph at once. So they get Joseph all cleaned and dressed up and
  take him to Pharaoh. Pharaoh says that he’s heard about Joseph’s
  reputation for dream interpretation. Yet Joseph claims nothing for
  himself and says dream interpretations belong to God. So Pharaoh tells
  him about the dreams.

  Joseph tells Pharaoh that the dreams are really one and the same dream.
  He says that God is telling Pharaoh about what He is about to do. There
  is going to be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine
  so severe that the seven years of plenty won’t be remembered. In
  addition, because it was repeated it meant that God had determined it
  and would not delay in making it come to pass.  He tells Pharoah to
  find a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. This
  man would appoint overseers in charge of the land and take 20% of all
  the produce of the land in the seven years of plenty and store it up
  for the coming seven years of famine. Pharaoh was impressed with the
  interpretation and liked the idea and so did his servants.

  So when Joseph is 30 years old, Pharaoh, while retaining his position
  and throne, appoints him over all the land of Egypt. Pharoah gives
  Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah and gave him Asenath, the daughter of
  Potiphera, priest of On, as his wife. Joseph did exactly what he told
  Pharaoh should be done and has all the abundance of the first seven
  years stored up.  At some point, the quantity of the harvest was so
  vast they stopped keeping track of it. In the sixth year of the seven
  years of plenty, Asenath bore him two sons, first Manasseh and second
  Ephraim.

  When the seven years of plenty came to an end, the seven years of
  famine came just as Joseph had said. There was famine everywhere
  including Egypt yet they had bread because of what Joseph was able to
  do. At the proper time, Joseph then opens up the storehouses to begin
  the distribution during the seven years of famine. As one might have
  guessed, other people besides the Egyptians came to buy grain from them.

  So to put this into perspective, Joseph has been in Egypt for at least
  20 years. At 17, his brothers sold him off to the Ishmaelites. At 30,
  he was second in Egypt, only under Pharaoh in authority (Genesis
  41:46). By the time the famine started, he was 37.  We’ve seen a young
  man who has weathered adversity well and honored God with his actions
  even refusing to have relations with Potiphar’s wife. He would save the
  lives of many people through his work including his own family.

  While we don’t see the personal appearance of God here, it is obvious
  that He is working behind the scenes. While we see Joseph as the
  obvious person involved in doing this work, none of it would have been
  started or accomplished except by His hand helping him do it. From
  this, it is clear that God intends for us to be a part of accomplishing
  what He wants done.  From the story, we again see God’s goodness even
  toward a nation that worshipped other gods.  We see that God was not
  only interested in saving a nation and region of people, he was also
  interested in bearing witness of Himself through Joseph in the house of
  Potiphar. God was kind to Joseph through the trying experiences that he
  had to pass through before being exalted to the position of leadership
  that came upon him. God had enabled Joseph to understand dreams and
  dreams were written all through the account concerning Joseph up to
  this point.  The Lord had given the man who He was going to give
  leadership the information he needed to be able to lead. He did not let
  Joseph figure out what needed to be done.

  One thing that should be obvious at this point in our studies is that
  often there are long periods of time between points when God is
  powerfully using a particular person in His work. The cupbearer forgets
  about Joseph until two years later when Pharoah has these remarkable
  dreams about the coming famine. Two years can seem like an eternity
  when one is in the middle of circumstances like that.

  For those who have heard this account before, the biggest test of
  Joseph will be when his brothers arrive, not only for himself but for
  them as well.

  Now as we step back and look at the things that are happening here in
  this story, how has God worked in your life? Have you experienced
  adversity that would seem to destroy any hope of things ever turning
  out for good?  Have you ever been frustrated by things that seem to “go
  wrong” at the worst times? Have you ever done good and the result was
  that you were forgotten?  Have you ever experienced God revealing
  something to you in advance that prepared you to minister to others
  effectively?  God helped Joseph through all these things and He will
  help you as well as you do the things He has intended for you to
  accomplish for Him.
  
  
  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
  which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.  Ephesians
  2:10

  Do you think that He would have waited until this time, made you just
  as you are, caused you to experience what you have, delivered you from
  sin, and then would not prepare and enable you to do everything He
  intended you to do just the way He wanted it done? Now that’s pretty
  awesome, when one considers this. Why would He even choose to work
  through us? The fantastic truth is that… He does.   Mr.Vee

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