The Life of Joseph
Sermon Notes
Intro
Today we’re continuing our teaching series called The Story. We’re walking through the biblical narrative from the very beginning in Genesis 1, to the last amen in Revelation 22, and today’s text brings us to the story of Joseph. It’s a story about trusting God when life doesn’t go as you planned. Sometimes things happen that disrupt our plans in life, and it leaves us feeling confused and disappointed in life. It’s things like not getting into the college you want, losing your job unexpectedly, finding out you or somebody you love is diagnosed with a terminal illness. When things like this happen, when life doesn’t go as we planned, we’re left thinking “Where’s God? What’s he doing? Is he even doing anything at all?” We’ll cry out like King David in Psalm 13 “How long Lord?...How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day?...3 Consider me and answer Lord.”
If you’re a skeptic, the reason you don’t believe in God can most likely be traced back to a specific hardship, a specific event in your life, that caused you to ask “Why? Why did God let this happen? If he’s such a loving God, then why did he let this happen to me?” Skepticism often begins, when difficulty begins. It often begins, when life doesn’t go as we planned...The story of Joseph is about facing the harsh reality, that life doesn’t always go as we planned. It’s a story about how the silence of God, doesn’t always mean the absence of God. So let’s turn to Genesis 39 and get into it. You’ll find Genesis in the front of the bible, we’ll start in Genesis 39:2, but work our way to Genesis 50 gaining a synopsis of Joseph’s life. The title of today’s message is The Life of Joseph, and the big idea is life doesn’t always go as you planned, but God still has a plan for your life...Life doesn’t always go as you planned, but God still has a plan for your life.
Context:
Here’s your context...As Zack said last week Joseph comes from the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He had 11 brothers and 1 sister, and his father Jacob often favored him over the others. In ch’s 37-38 his father gives him a coat of many colors, which is a symbol of status that should’ve been given to the oldest brother, instead of Joseph who’s the youngest. Well Joseph starts having dreams about his brothers bowing to him one day, which obviously doesn’t sit well with his brothers. When a younger brother tells their older brother to bow to them, it usually ends in headlocks, noogies, and swirlies. In this case they did much worse, they threw him in a deep pit and sold him into slavery. They’re like “Let’s see your dreams come true now! Let’s see us bow to you now that you’re a slave.” Then they take his coat, rip it, scatter blood on it, and give it to their father Jacob who thinks Joseph was devoured by an animal. But Joseph is still alive, he’s eventually sold to Potiphar, the captain of the Egyptian army, and here’s what happens next.
The Word:
Genesis 39:2, “The Lord was with Joseph...” It says the Lord was with Joseph, which is confusing because it certainly doesn’t seem like it. I mean Joseph’s rejected by his own family, thrown into a pit, sold into slavery by his brothers, and so it doesn’t seem like the Lord’s with Joseph, it seems like the Lord’s against Joseph. Now let’s be honest with ourselves. When we experience hardship we usually aren’t thinking the Lord’s with me, we’re thinking the Lord’s against me. When we experience hardship, when life isn’t going as we planned, we tend to think woe is me instead of God is for me. But imagine how it’d affect your view of life, if you started thinking God is for me, instead of woe is me?...Imagine how it’d affect the way you wake up in the morning, if you started thinking the Lord’s with me as I face today, instead of he’s absent in my day?...Joseph believed the Lord was with him. He believed even though life wasn’t going as he planned, God still had a plan for his life. And believing this helped him face each day with optimism. It helped him to serve Potiphar faithfully, in ways that catches Potiphar’s attention.
Again vs. 2, “The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful, 4 Joseph found favor with his master and became his personal attendant. Potiphar also put him in charge of his household and placed all that he owned under his authority.” This is a major turning point in Joseph’s life, because he goes from being a slave, to being in charge of Potiphar’s entire household. But things would’ve been much different if he had a woe is me mentality, instead of a God is for me mentality. Things would’ve been much different if he had a pessimistic faith, a pessimistic belief in the Lord’s saying “God isn’t with me, he’s against me. In fact maybe there is no God because a loving God wouldn’t allow this to happen to me. So I’m done with my family, done serving Potiphar, done with God!” Potiphar doesn’t put Joseph in charge of his household because of a pessimistic attitude, the text says it’s because he notices his service and success with the Lord. So he puts Joseph in charge of his household, and Potiphar’s wife is attracted to him. She sees him as a lean, mean, handsome Hebrew machine. She tries sleeping with him, but Joseph resists telling her he doesn’t want to betray Potiphar’s trust or sin against God. So she takes his coat, hands it to Potiphar, and tells him Joseph tried sleeping with her. Potiphar’s furious, throws Joseph in prison, and vs. 21 says...
Vs. 21, “But the Lord was with Joseph...” There’s that phrase again. Joseph’s facing hardship again, but again the Lord’s with Joseph, as he’s facing that hardship.
Again vs. 21, “But the Lord was with Joseph, and extended kindness to him. He granted him favor with the prison warden. 22 The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph’s authority, and he was responsible for everything that was done there. 23 The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him, and the Lord made everything that he did successful.” It’s another turning point in Joseph’s life. He goes from being thrown in prison, to having authority over every prisoner. He’s facing hardship in life, but the Lord hasn’t left his life. The Lord’s hasn’t left his side. The Lord’s been right there with him, helping him to get through the hardships of life. He couldn’t see it as things were unfolding, as he was facing these hardships, but God still had a plan for his life. We can see God’s plan even more in ch 40 when Pharaoh throws a Butler and a Baker in prison. Both have dreams, and God gives Joseph the gift of interpreting their dreams. He tells the Butler he’ll be released in 3 days, he tells the Baker he’ll be executed within a week, and both dreams come true. Then 2 yrs later Pharaoh has a dream nobody can interpret, the Butler tells Pharaoh about Joseph interpreting dreams, and Pharaoh tells Joseph his dream. He tells Joseph he’s dreaming of 7 skinny cows, eating 7 fat cows, and Joseph’s like “It’s a Chik-fil-a sign! You need to eat more chicken!” Actually Joseph’s response is a strong display of faith. Listen to how he responds...
Chapter 41:16, “‘I am not able to interpret it,’ Joseph answered Pharaoh. ‘It is God who will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” That’s a strong display of faith on Joseph’s part, because historically Egyptian Pharaohs believed they were gods. So what Joseph’s saying is there’s only one true God who can interpret dreams, and it isn’t Joseph or Pharaoh. He’s displaying the kind of faith you’d expect from somebody who truly believes God’s with them in the hardships of life. But Pharoah’s desperate to know what the 7 cows means, and also the part where he dreams about 7 heads of grain withering. So Joseph seeks the Lord and tells Pharoah the dream is God’s warning that there’s 7 yrs of feasting coming, followed by 7 yrs of famine, and they’re to use the 7 yrs of feasting to prepare for the 7 yrs of famine. Pharaoh believes the dream and says this...
Vs. 39, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you are. 40 You will be over my house, and all my people will obey your commands., Only I, as king, will be greater than you.” It’s another rags to riches story! Pharaoh promotes Joseph to oversee the entire kingdom even over Potiphar. He’s in charge of everybody in Egypt except Pharaoh, and what we’re learning is God’s constantly with Joseph in all his hardships. God’s with him just as much in the pit and the prison, as he is in the palace. He’s now in charge of all of Egypt, and it’s a good thing Pharoah trusted him because the famine eventually comes, and things get really bad in that region. People are literally starving, and the only place to get food is in Egypt since they followed the Lord’s instructions. The famine causes Joseph’s brothers to travel to Egypt for food, they become terrified when they realize Joseph is in charge, and they end up bowing to Joseph like in his dreams. But listen to how Joseph responds.
Chapter 45:5-8, “Don’t be grieved or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life...8 Therefore it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God.” Notice Jacob doesn’t give their actions sovereign control over his life. Too often we let our hardships control us, define us, decide a hopeless future for us. But the story of Joseph is showing your hardships don’t have to control your life! Your hardships don’t have to define your life! Your hardships don’t have to decide a hopeless future for your life! Why? Because the Lord’s sovereign over your hardships! The Lord’s sovereign, not your hardships! So don’t let your hardships control you, define you, be a doomsday prophet for you! Instead trust the Lord’s sovereign hand, has a plan, that’s greater than your hardships! Trust that even when life doesn’t go as you planned, God still has a plan for your life!...Joseph doesn’t let what his brothers did have sovereign control over his life, instead he trusts the Lord’s plan was to use this hardship to help save others from this famine. So Joseph reunites with his brothers, they eventually bring their faither Jacob to see him, and it’s one big family reunion. Several years later Jacob dies, the brothers are worried Joseph will finally seek revenge, but instead Joseph says this in ch 50...
Chapter 50:19-21, “But Joseph said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?’ 20 You planned evil against me, but God planned it for good to bring about the present result, the survival of many people. 21 Therefore don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.’ And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.” Joseph says 2 things here that are incredibly helpful for our lives today, and I’ll turn them both into 2 application points. The 1st thing he says is “Am I in the place of God,” and so our 1st application point is...
#1 Avoid sitting on God’s throne = We need to avoid sitting on God’s throne. When Joseph says am I in the place of God, he’s avoiding sitting on God’s throne and retaliating with the wrath they deserve for their sins. This is helpful because when somebody wrongs us we’re in danger of doing evil too. We’re in danger of retaliating in evil ways, with evil words, and evil actions. Our skewed, sinful, self-centeredness can lead to retaliating in ways that are too excessive, and hold grudges that are too extensive. If we’re wounded by our spouse, children, parents, other people, we often retaliate in excessive ways that are harsh, or in extensive ways holding it over their heads for too long. When this happens we’ve now become participants in evil, which doesn’t relieve our hardships, it adds to our hardships. Sin will always create more hardships on you and those around you. Joseph avoids retaliating with evil, by not sitting on God’s throne.
Now this doesn’t mean we should ignore or downplay the evil that’s done to us. Joseph doesn’t ignore their sin, instead he weeps over it, he calls it evil, and he avoids retaliating with more evil. Healing doesn’t come from ignoring the evil that’s done to you, it comes by facing it, calling it evil, and not retaliating with more evil. It comes by turning to God for healing. The longer you hold onto evil things that are done to you, the longer those evil things will have a hold onto you. It’ll put you at risk of being an angry, bitter, hard person who misplaces your anger onto others. It’ll put you at risk of being a self-absorbed, self-pitied, self-centered person hardly caring for other people’s wounds, because you’re too focused on your own wounds. The reason Joseph avoids being like this, the reason he’s able to move forward with his life, is because he doesn’t let what they did have control over his life. He doesn’t let the evil they did, he doesn’t let his hardships have sovereign control over his life. Instead he turns to God for healing and avoids retaliating, he avoids sitting on God’s throne...But I’m thankful he doesn’t stop there, because what he says is true, yet difficult to do. It’s very difficult facing our wounds and not retaliating against those who created those wounds. This is where the 2nd thing he says can help.
Again vs 20 states, “You planned evil against me, but God planned it for good...” He says you planned evil against me, but God planned it “for good.” So our 2nd application is...
#2 Replace your Valley view, with a Mountain view = Replace your valley view of life, with a mountain view of life...When Joseph says “You planned evil against me, but God planned it for good,” that’s a mountain view of life. Here’s what I mean by that. I’m borrowing this from Tim Keller. Let’s say you’re hiking the Grand Canyon, and you get lost. If you stay in the valley of the canyons, it’ll cause you to wander deeper into the valley and you’ll remain lost. So instead of staying in the valley, you need to get above the valley. You need to get on top of the canyons to have a mountain view of the land, so you can see where to go. It’s about perspective. If you view things from the valley you’ll remain lost, if you view things from above the valley you’ll be fine...So how’s your view?...How’s your view of life?...Are you viewing life from the valley, or viewing life from the mountain tops?...When Joseph tells his brothers “You planned evil against me, but God planned it for good,” it’s a mountain view not a valley view of life. It’s one of the main things that helps him avoid sitting on God’s throne! It’s that he’s looking forward to a greater future while standing in the pains of the valley. It’s that he’s trusting God has greater plans for the valleys of his life. If you don’t believe that, if you don’t believe God has greater plans for the valleys of your life, you’ll have a much harder time healing. You’ll have a much harder time avoiding sitting on God’s throne, and you’ll most likely create your own throne of retaliation or self-absorption. What all of us need is a mountain view of life where we say “Life’s certainly full of hardships, but in the end it’ll turn out good, because God is good.”
The story of Joseph, the story of the bible is a mountain view that’s incredibly realistic about life. It teaches that evil’s real, hardships are real, but God always has a plan to turn our evil hardships into something that’s for our good and his glory. Joseph says “What you did hurt me, angered me, is a sinful evil done against me! But what you planned for evil, God planned for good! What you tried to do to sink me, couldn’t sink me! You couldn’t sink me, because God is with me!” Joseph’s story is saying over and over again that “You can’t sink me, because God is with me!” City Awakening if you don’t have a relationship with God, you’ll remain lost in the valley and your life will sink. But if you have a relationship with God, then remember the mountain view, remember nothing can ever sink you, because God is with you. You may feel like you’re sinking, you may feel like you’re drowning, but eventually like a buoy God’s grace will bounce you up above the waters again. Nothing can ever sink you, when God is with you.
The Big Idea:
The big idea of the message is that life doesn’t always go as you planned, but God still has a plan for your life...Life doesn’t always go as you planned, but God still has a plan for your life...This doesn’t mean God will do things according to your plans, your timeline, or even within your lifetime. Sometimes we get to see the good of God’s plans unfolding within our lifetime, but sometimes we won’t see it until after this lifetime when we enter into eternity. Either way the story of Joseph is meant to give us a mountain view of life, so our hope will be restored knowing life doesn’t end in the valley for those who put their faith in God. There’s hope for the valleys of your life, and nothing proves that more than the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
City Awakening the story of Joseph is meant to point us to the eternal hope of Jesus, who didn’t come to preventour wounds, he came to heal our wounds! He didn’t come to save us from the absence of wounds, he came to save us through his wounds! Jesus could’ve sat on his heavenly throne to pour out his wrath for our sins, but instead he came off his heavenly throne to take the wrath we deserved for our sins! And then he rose again turning the evil of the cross into something good for salvation and eternal life in heaven. He took what was evil, turned it into something good, and he’ll do the same for anyone who trusts in him and his plans. Just like he turned the cross into something good, he’ll turn your life into something good. So put your faith, your hope, your trust in him and his plans, even when life doesn’t go as you planned. Remember this when you wake up tomorrow morning...Remember to say “Jesus is with me as I face today,” then go seek him as you face the valleys of your day