Joseph
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Redeeming Son
Redeeming Son
If you been a Christian for any amount of Time you know that sometimes things don’t work out the way you want them to, but often they work out better b/c of God’s hand in and on your life.
I’m not sure how many of you know the story of how God called me to pastor you here, but it’s a story that didn’t start off the way I wanted it, but it’s been great and Glorious.
Before serving you here, we were serving at a church in Georgia.
I was called to serve at the church part-time as an associate pastor with a focus on children and youth.
It was a great time.
We had a lot of fun and I had time to finish up my seminary classes while serving in a church.
At this point I knew that God had called me into ministry, but I didn’t know fully what that Looked like.
One of my duties was to organize and direct VBS.
Well, VBS came and it was a fantastic time.
We had more kids visiting than ever before.
All the volunteers were on point and doing what they needed to do to make it run smooth.
I was excited and floored by how well everything was going.
Then the pastor pulls me into his office.
He proceeds to tell me that he is leaving to serve at another church.
He had been there for 7 years and wasn’t searching for a new position.
But the church that was calling him to serve was where he served as a youth pastor many years before.
They were pursuing him to come and serve them.
So he then asked me what was I going to do?
Was I content staying as the associate pastor or did I want to become the lead pastor?
At that point, I didn’t know what I wanted.
I was content. I enjoyed my position.
I enjoyed teaching the kids.
I enjoyed training the youth.
I enjoyed where I was serving.
Well, I went home and told Corrie what was going on.
We started to pray and talk about what the future in Georgia would look like.
I decided that it would be good for us to stay and pursue the Lead Pastor position.
After all, I knew the congregation.
Most of them liked me.
They had heard me preach and hadn’t kicked me out yet.
So I told the pastor that I wanted to stay.
I know that not all of you come from a baptist background, but we do things a little differently when it comes to having a pastor come to serve the church.
I’m not going to go into too much detail, but we do need to know what happened.
Most baptist churches when a pastor leaves elect a team of church members to serve on a “pastor search committee.”
This search committee then fields resumes from all the interested applicants and interviews them.
When they come to an agreement on the right candidate they then invite the man in to preach and the church votes to either have him come or not.
The preacher would have to receive at least 75% of the vote to be approved.
Many of the congregation members were confused and concerned why we were going through this process.
They just assumed that I would take over after the old pastor left.
But we assured them that this was the right road to take.
The committee was chosen and they started to comb through resumes, including mine.
It was eventually decided that I wouldn’t be considered for the position.
They wanted to bring someone else in.
But this caused a rift in the church body.
Those who wanted me to be the pastor started getting mad at those on the search team.
There was hostility and frustration from the two different sides.
The search team narrowed it down to a guy they were going to have come out and preach.
Somehow he caught wind of the turmoil and pulled out fearing that he wouldn’t get the 75% required to be invited to stay.
The search team then disbanded and another search team was voted on.
At that point in time, I decided that I wasn’t going to be involved anymore.
I withdrew my candidacy and went on my merry way.
I was angry. I was a little bitter, but I knew that things would get better.
I started to look at other places to serve for about 10 months or so.
Eventually, God called us here.
So here we are.
And it’s been awesome.
It’s not what WE intended, but God had better plans.
This is what we are going to look at this morning in the story of Joseph.
Joseph’s situation was a lot messier than mine, but his faithfulness is what kept him.
If you’re not aware, Joseph is the Son of Jacob who is one of the sons of Isaac who was Abraham’s son.
So Joseph is 3rd Generation in the story of Abraham.
If you think your family is dysfunctional wait til you hear what’s happening here.
Jacob, Joseph’s dad had 12 kids total with 4 women.
He was married to both Leah and Rachel, but he loved Rachel more than Leah.
Each of the ladies had servants that Jacob also had kids with.
Rachel was barren and unable to have kids until God opened her womb, much like with Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
Leah, Jacob’s first wife, had 6 kids by Jacob.
Her Servant, Zilpah, had 2.
Rachel, Jacob’s other wife, had 2 Kids.
As did her servant, Bilhah.
For the breakdown of who belongs to whom let’s read
23 The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant: Dan and Naphtali.
26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
This is important b/c Jacob loved and cared more about Rachel than he did his other wives.
Extending also to Rachel’s children.
He loved and cared for them more than his other kids.
This is not a biblical justification for having a favorite child, b/c the favor shown to Joseph is going to lead to the point of contention.
The story of Joseph covers the last 13 chapters of Genesis, so we aren’t going to read it all today, so much of it will be a summary on my part.
I do encourage you to go back and read it to grasp more of what is going on.
As we walk through this story, I want you to notice that out of all the characters in Genesis, Joseph is shown as more desirable than the others.
He has no major flaws or sin issues.
He is a model to be looked up to and he shows a beautiful picture of the messiah to come.
He isn’t without flaws, they just aren’t as grandiose as some of the other characters in Genesis.
Let’s start with his introduction
1 Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan.
2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors.
4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.
5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more.
6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed:
7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.”
8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?”
11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
The Dreamer
We are introduced to Joseph at 17 years old.
He is out with his brothers as they are tending sheep.
When they are out tending sheep there is no supervision from their father.
While they are out there they aren’t doing what is expected of them.
So Joseph goes and tells his father that the Job isn’t getting done the way that it needs to be.
We also discover here that Jacob loved Joseph more than any of the others and to demonstrate that love he gives him an extravagant robe.
Here in our text it is translated many colors.
Others translate it as with sleeves.
The point here is that the Coat distinguishes and separates Joseph out as the favorite child.
Because of the favoritism that Joseph recieved from his Father, his brothers can’t stand him.
They hated him.
But on top of all that Joseph shares with them two dreams that he has.
In both of these dreams, he is shown to be ruler over the family.
He is shown much more favor than even his father and mother.
This upsets and angers his brothers even more.
So they devise a plan.
They are going to rid themselves of their brother.
All the brothers, except Joseph, are out taking care of Jacob’s sheep.
Jacob sends Joseph out to check on the brothers.
We already know that Joseph doesn’t hide the bad behaviors of his brothers from Jacob, so he agrees to go.
They see Joseph approaching and they “conspire against him to kill him” 37:18
However, his oldest brother, Reuben, argues against killing him and instead says throw him in a pit and let’s figure out what to do with him.
They strip Joseph of his robe and throw him into the pit.
Some travelers come by and they decided to sell Joseph to these travelers as a servant.
This is the idea of Judah. He wants to make some money off of their brother.
He is sold for 20 shekels of silver.
Joseph is no longer their problem.
But they have to tell Jacob that something happened.
So they take Joseph’s robe.
They dip it in blood from a goat and bring to Jacob.
It appears as if Joseph has been killed by a wild animal.
Jacob morns the loss of his beloved son.
Meanwhile, Joseph is taken down to Egypt.
He is sold to a man named Potiphar.
Potiphar is the captain of Pharaoh’s guard.
Joseph was living the good life in Potiphar’s house.
1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.
2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.
3 His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.
4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.
5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field.
6 So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.
God’s Favor
Joseph was favored in Egypt.
Everything that his hands touched turned to gold.
He was doing what he had to do as a man made in the image of God.
He was subduing the land.
He was having dominion over his environment.
And God was blessing him.
That even in unexpected and not ideal circumstances he didn’t let that keep him down.
And despite Joseph’s circumstances he was Faithful to God and God blessed him.
The Lord was with Joseph.
And his faithfulness was a witness to his employer and to those around him.
Things were looking up for Joseph.
He had authority, autonomy, and the Lord’s favor.
But it wasn’t long before things get messy again.
The last nugget we are left with in v. 6 is that “Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.”
And this line sets up what is going to happen next.
Joseph’s boss, Potiphar, had a wife that was attracted to Joseph.
7 And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.”
8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge.
9 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”
10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.
11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house,
12 she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house.
Temptation
Potiphar’s wife was throwing herself at Joseph.
She wanted to lie with him.
But he resisted the temptation.
Every time she approached him he refused her advances.
Joseph knew that it was a sin against both Potiphar and God if he would give into the temptation to sleep with this woman.
And I want you to notice this wasn’t a one time proposition.
The text tells us that day after day she approached him.
Day after day she would beg him to lie with her.
Day after day going into work Joseph knew what awaited him.
It would have been easier to give into the temptation.
It would have been easier to sin against God and Potiphar.
But Joseph was a man of integrity and honor.
He wasn’t going to offend God or Potiphar for his own pleasure.
Or b/c it was easier.
How often do we give into our own temptations b/c resisting them is too difficult.
It’s easier to lust.
To gossip.
To be prideful.
But do you recognize when you sin, you don’t just harm yourself.
But your sin has effects on others.
And your sin is not only against someone else, but ultimately it’s against God.
Sin is never the answer.
Giving into temptation is never the right thing to do.
It isolates you.
Sin isolates you from others.
It isolates you from God.
It hardens your heart and allows you to justify your actions.
And if you can justify sinful actions once, it will be easier to justify them again.
When faced with temptation we shouldn’t give in, rather we should flee from it.
This is what Joseph did.
He fled temptation when it tried to snag a hold on him.
When temptation grabbed tight, Joseph ran fast.
So fast, in fact, that he lost his clothes.
For the second time in his life, he was stripped of his glory b/c of someone else’s wicked intentions.
And if we stopped right here, things would look great.
What a happy ending to the story.
But things got worse for Joseph.
No one was home the last time that Potiphar’s wife approached Joseph.
She ends up accusing and framing him for trying to solicit her.
Even though Joseph did what was right in the sight of God and man, he was still cast into prison b/c of this woman’s sin and lies.
But lets read what happened
20 And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison.
21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
22 And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.
23 The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.
Prisoner
Even in prison God had favor on Joseph.
Joseph did what was expected of him.
He lived a Godly life for all to see
He continued to press on.
Never forsaking his life, his God, or his duties.
He was faithful regardless of his circumstances.
While Joseph was in prison, two of Pharaohs trusted men were thrown in there b/c they committed an offense against the ruler.
They were the cupbearer and the baker.
They were officers in the Pharaoh’s court and offended him so they were tossed into prison with Joseph.
They both woke up one day and looked distressed.
Joseph asked them what was wrong and each one told him that they had a dream but didn’t understand what it meant.
We remember from the beginning of the story that Joseph was good at understanding and interpreting dreams.
So he offered to tell them what they meant.
You can read about the dreams on your own in Genesis 40:9-23
Essentially the dreams boiled down to the cupbearer being forgiven and restored to his position and the baker being hanged.
Before the cupbearer was restored, Joseph asked Genesis 40:14 “14 Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house.”
But unfortunately for 2 years the cupbearer forgot about Joseph.
So for 2 years Joseph still served faithfully where he was.
He was still favored by God.
He was still in the will of God.
And things were about to change, but they were still the same for 2 years.
Two years go bye and Pharaoh had a couple of dreams.
You can read about them in Gen 41:1-8.
He tried to get his magicians to interpret them.
But they couldn’t.
Then the cupbearer remembered Joseph.
But the interpretation is what’s important.
There were about to be 7 years of great harvests followed by 7 years of famine.
The famine is going to extend to the outer reaches of the land so Pharaoh and his kingdom need to stock up in order to make sure that there is enough to last the 7 years of famine.
38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?”
39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are.
40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.”
41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”
42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck.
43 And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt.
44 Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”
Ruler
Joseph’s faithfulness and fortitude along with God’s providence leads him to the point where he is second in command in one of the “superpowers” of his time.
He has gone from favored son, to favored ruler.
Because of Joseph’s leadership and God’s Favor he is able to stockpile enough grain and crops not just for Egypt but for most of the known world.
Gen 41:56-57 “56 So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57 Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.”
This included his family in Canaan.
They had to travel to Egypt to get enough food to survive.
When they arrived in Egypt they didn’t recognize their brother in all his Glory.
They didn’t know that the man they had tried to rid themselves of was the man that had saved them.
But Joseph had some tests for his brothers.
He wanted to see if they had recognized the wrong they had done.
Eventually, his younger brother, Benjamin, was arrested for theft.
But his older brother Judah, offered to take his brother’s place and this was when Joseph revealed who he was.
And this is where we get that famous line.
20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Savior
Because of their actions against their brother, Joseph was able to provided salvation for all the people of the earth.
God took what looked like tragedy and turned it into salvation.
I don’t know if I have to draw all the connections to Jesus from this story, but I will draw some of them.
No doubt as we went through this you were making connections.
First we see that the Father Sent his beloved Son to check on his brothers.
John 3:16 “16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
1 Jn 4:9 “9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”
But he was rejected by those he was sent to love and save.
Jn 1:10-11 “10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”
Jesus gave up his glory in order to put on flesh.
He gave up his station to reach his people.
Joseph was stripped of his glory. Both the coat of many colors and the clothing taken from Potiphar’s wife were taken from him.
But Jesus willingly gave up his glory to come to us.
The King became a servant to demonstrate the love of the Father to the World.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Savior
He was tempted in the desert.
For forty days and forty nights he fasted.
No food. No water.
Then the devil came and tempted him with the gifts of the world if he would only reject God and give up his integrity.
His own people rejected and despised him so much that they plotted his death.
They chose to have him crucified.
They gave him over to the gentiles to murder b/c they couldn’t do it themselves.
But what they meant for evil God turned for Good.
In fact, Jesus was God’s plan from the very beginning.
He isn’t a plan b.
God always desired to save his people and knew that the only way it could happen was through the sacrifice of Christ.
Unlike Joseph, Jesus was not an unwilling participant in the events of his life.
He knew exactly what was going to happen.
When it would happen and how it would happen.
But he endured it any way.
Joseph trusted that God was in control.
Jesus knew that God was in control.
Because he was the beloved Son.
Fully God and Fully Man.
He willingly endured the pain of the cross.
Lay down his life.
But he didn’t stay dead.
He was glorified after his sacrifice.
Joseph endured the pit of the prison and was glorified as ruler in Egypt.
Jesus endured the pit of death and was glorified as the eternal Son of God.
Joseph saved both Gentile and Jew from famine b/c of God’s favor and plan.
Jesus saves both Gentile and Jew b/c of his sacrifice if they call on his name and live out a life dedicated to him.
Jesus extends forgiveness to all who would recognize their sinfulness and repent of their rebellion.
1 Jn 1:9 “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
There are more parallels to draw between Joseph and Jesus, but we are running low on time.
Here’s what I want you to see.
Jesus came to save your soul.
He came to provide for you new life.
He came to forgive your sins and make you new.
He came to bring you into the light and make you new.
Have you turned toward him and embraced his love, grace, and mercy?
Have you turned from your sin and followed after Him?
If you have, have you shared that light with someone else?
Right now is the time to make a decision.
Will you follow after Jesus or will you continue to embrace the darkness?
Let’s Pray.
Lord’s Supper
26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”
27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you,
28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
And you know what they did after the LS?
They sang together.
That’s what we are going to do.