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00:00:01 [Applause] [Music] genesis 41 verses 8 to 57 from the niv in the morning his mind was troubled so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of egypt pharaoh told them his dreams but no one could interpret them for him then the chief cut bearer said to pharaoh today i am reminded of my shortcomings pharaoh was once angry with his servants and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the god each of us had a dream the same night and each dream had a meaning of its own now a young hebrew was there with us a
00:00:47 servant of the captain of the god we told him our dreams and he interpreted them for us giving each man the interpretation of his dream and things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us i was restored to my position and the other man was impaled so pharaoh sent for joseph and he was quickly brought from the dungeon when he had shaved and changed his clothes he came before pharaoh pharaoh said to joseph i had a dream and no one could interpret it but i heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it
00:01:24 i cannot do it joseph said to pharaoh but god will give pharaoh the answer he desires and pharaoh said to joseph in my dream i was standing on the bank of the nile when out of the river there came up seven cows fat and sleek and they grazed among the wreaths after them seven other cows came up scrawny and very ugly and lean i never seen such ugly cows in all the land of egypt the lean ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first and even after they ate them no one could tell they had done so
00:02:00 they looked just as ugly as before then i woke up in my dream i saw seven heads of grain full and good growing on a single stock after them seven other hate sprouted withered and thin and scorched by the east wind the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads i told this to the magicians but none of them could explain it to me then joseph said to pharaoh the dreams of pharaoh are one and the same god has revealed to pharaoh what he is about to do the seven good cows are seven years and
00:02:37 the seven good hates of grain are seven years it is one and the same dream the seven lean ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years and so are the seven worthless hates of grain scotched by the east wind they are seven years of famine it is as i said to pharaoh god has shown pharaoh what he is about to do seven years of great abundance are coming through the land of egypt but seven years of famine will follow them then all the abundance in egypt will be forgotten and the famine will ravage the land
00:03:11 the abundance in the land will not be remembered because the famine that follows it will be so severe the reason the dream was given to pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by god and god will do it soon and now let pharaoh look for a discerning and wise men and put him in charge of the land of egypt let pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of egypt during the seven years of abundance they should collect all the food of this good years that are coming
00:03:46 and store up the grain under the authority of pharaoh to be kept in the cities for food this food should be helped in reserve for the country to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon egypt so that the country may not be ruined by the famine the plan seemed good to pharaoh and all his officials so pharaohs asked them can we find anyone like this man one in whom is the spirit of god then pharaoh said to joseph since god has made all this known to you there is no one so discerning and wise
00:04:21 as you you shall be in charge of my palace and all my people are to submit to your orders only with respect to the throne will i be greater than you so pharaoh said to joseph i hereby put you in charge of the whole land of egypt then pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on joseph's finger he dressed him in ropes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck he had him right in a chariot as his second in command and people shouted before him make way thus he was put to him in charge of the
00:04:58 whole land of egypt then pharaoh said to joseph i am pharaoh but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all egypt pharaoh gave joseph the name stephan nyeth panaya and gave him ashnath daughter of potty bearer priest of on to be his wife and joseph went throughout the land of egypt joseph was 30 years when he entered the service of pharaoh king of egypt and joseph went out from pharaoh's presence and traveled throughout egypt during the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully
00:05:35 joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in egypt and stored it in the cities in each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it joseph stored up huge quantities of brain like the sand of the sea it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure before the years of famine came two sons were born to joseph by asanath daughter of potiphara's priest of on joseph named his first born manasseh and said it is because god has made me
00:06:08 forget all my trouble and all my father's household the second son he named ephraim and said it is because god has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering the seven years of abundance in egypt came to an end and the seven years of famine began just as joseph had said that was feminine in all the other lands but the whole land of egypt there was food when all egypt began to fill the famine the people cried to pharaoh for food then pharaoh told all the egyptians go to joseph and do what he tells you
00:06:44 when the famine had spread throughout over the country joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the egyptians for the famine was severe throughout egypt and all the world came to egypt to buy grain from joseph because famine was severe everywhere the word of god so 2020 right what a year it has been everyone was really excited about it making all kinds of plans and then everything went crazy life is full of highs and lows and 20 20 will be considered as one of those lows right pandemic political turmoil
00:07:28 financial trouble mental illness on the rise lives turned upside down even hannah yo the resilient hannah you said that she wanted to reset 2020. in times like this right we can't help but ask where is god what is he doing there's a there's a belief called deism that describes god as a distant creator these and pictures gone as a great clock maker who created the clock wound it up and let it go that he made the world with all the laws and simply let history and events run its due course it it pains god as a impersonal force
00:08:14 uh sitting back folding his arms watching the world burn and perhaps for many of us 2020 is making us feel like that about god but the text before us today simply does not paint god that way as joseph interprets pharaoh's dreams which indicates seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine joseph declares a god who is heavily involved in human history orchestrating people and nature as he works out his plans and purposes for the world we see here four times in in his interpretation right he says
00:08:54 that god is directly involved in the coming events god has revealed to pharaoh god shown pharaoh what he is about to do the matter has been firmly decided by god and god will do it soon to be clear god does not always cause great harvest of famine but in this instance he is the one doing it god is the one who gave the dreams to pharaoh the interpretation to joseph god is the one who brings the seven years of harvest and the seven years of famine and by the way right god is also the one who gives joseph the wisdom to deal with
00:09:28 the famine god is certainly not doing nothing he is doing many many things how does joseph know that how did joseph arrive at that conclusion joshua's life is certainly colored with highs and lows and in our text today right joseph is he's at his first peak and looking back he's seeing the hand of god upon every moment of his life and if we stand there with him at the mountain peak and look back on all the highs and lows that led him to this point i believe we will know it too through joseph's story
00:10:10 god is revealing to his people how he works out his plans and purposes in history i give you three simple outline god works through people god works in and through our pain and god works to keep his promises i believe these truths will help us trust and hope in god and persevere in the darkest times let's pray heavenly father reveal to us who you are holy spirit help us take these words and illuminate our hearts to see the glory of god let's see the glory of christ strengthen the feeble feet keep our hearts strong and hopeful in
00:11:01 you in jesus name i pray amen number one god works true people in the rise and fall of joseph we see that god uses the hearts and behaviors of men to carry out his plans god worked through the people joseph encountered everyone joseph encountered was bringing him one step closer to pharaoh and almost every person in joseph's life was wicked right god used joseph's brother who had murderous hatred for him and he they sold him into slavery god used slave traders to bring joseph to egypt and sell him to a slave owner
00:11:45 named potiphar god used a lustful and deceiving woman and threw joseph into prison god used a ungrateful and forgetful cup bearer to keep joseph in prison for two more years why because he is not yet needed it's only when the king needed a dream interpreter the car bearer remembers joseph verse 9-13 then the cup bearer said to pharaoh today i reminded of my shortcomings pharaoh was once again angry with his servants and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the god
00:12:30 each of us had a dream the same night and each dream had a meaning of his own now a young hebrew was there a servant of the captain of the god we told him our dream and he interpreted them for us giving each man the interpretation of his dreams and things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us i was restored to my position and the other man was impaled god used the cabera god is not limited by human allegiance he can use those who are for him and he can use those who are for themselves he doesn't just
00:13:08 just use good people with good deeds he used wicked people and their evil deeds apostle paul right when he was in prison he heard that there were some preachers who were preaching the gospel out of envy out of rivalry out of selfish ambition and this was his response philippians 1 18. but what does it matter the important thing that in every way whether from false mountains are true christ is preached and because of that i rejoice christ is preached and because of that i rejoice god is not limited by human
00:13:48 allegiance god can use wicked people to achieve his purposes as well we also see that god is sovereign over the nations pharaoh is a pagan king who calls himself a god in today's terms we will say egypt is a secular government yet god gave pharaoh the two dreams god withheld the interpretation from him his magicians and wise men it is pharaoh who appoints joseph as prime minister god is sovereign over the nations psalm 22 verse 28 for dominion belongs to the lord and he rules over the nations for the israelites their their history
00:14:36 will be intertwined with other nations on certain occasions in like in joseph's story god uses pagan nations to bless israel on other occasions god uses the nations to bring discipline and judgment upon israel uh for us uh whichever government we are under we need not fret because god is sovereign overall uh whatever comes out through this nation and its leaders we can trust that he has gone through god's scrutiny and therefore it ultimately serves his purposes for us here we will pray because first timothy asks
00:15:22 us to pray for kings and all who are in high positions that we may lead a peaceful life but we pray in faith and trust because god is sovereign over all nations god works through people we especially see this of course in the life of joseph god raised a favored son to become a wise leader who rescues the nations which brings us to our next point god works through pain in the rise and fall of joseph we see god placing various wicked people in his life to lead him into the courts of pharaoh although he
00:16:10 has finally led him to a good place we cannot simply dismiss the pain that joseph had experienced all these years we cannot just brush it aside and say it doesn't matter now everything is fine he experienced the horrors of begging for his life from the very people who were supposed to love and protect him he was dragged away from the comfort of home into forced labor he was accused he was wrongly convicted he was thrown into prison he experienced abandonment a tarnished reputation [Music] being forgotten these are not just
00:16:51 by-products of the journey you know just forget about it these are a real painful experiences and they are meaningful and purposeful as god works in and through them when we are first introduced to joseph right he was a favorite child boasting about his dreams of high position and great power before his jealous and angry brothers at the very least he was tagless he was clueless he was a young 17 year old who couldn't read a room so you wouldn't trust this person with authority and power he'll either abuse
00:17:34 his powers or he'll make a mess out of everything but thereafter he experienced things and we see in chapter 41 we see joseph a different man verse 14 to 16 so pharaoh sent for joseph and he was quickly brought from the dungeon when he had shaved and changed his clothes he came before pharaoh and pharaoh said to joseph i had a dream and no one can interpret it i have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it i cannot do it joseph replied to pharaoh but god would give pharaoh the answer he
00:18:14 desires so what do we see in joseph right now joseph was tactful the text highlighted that he shaved and changed his clothes right in those times there is a clear distinction between a hebrew and an egyptian namely a hebrew would have a beard an egyptian would shave so joseph knew how to appear before an egyptian king he learned the culture uh when pharaoh said i heard that you can interpret dreams right joseph's reply shows great character it showed that joseph had humility he says it's not i god will interpret it and it's not in me
00:18:57 are joseph's have had great boldness he he he was telling pharaoh pharaoh who is a self-proclaimed god that this is what god will do he could have been impaled he could have been thrown back into jail but joseph wasn't afraid to tell a phony god what the real god will do he wasn't afraid of telling the truth joseph not only had boldness and humility he had empathy the word used to describes god's answer to pharaoh right god would give pharaoh the answer he desires right it's actually uh the word shalom
00:19:43 peace in the in the past right joseph couldn't read the room he couldn't tell that the brothers were angry and and jealous of him so he shouldn't have mentioned the dreams right but now right he could tell that pharaoh was troubled and indeed pharaoh woke up trouble so joseph comforts pharaoh by saying god will give you peace by the way that's a pretty bold statement to make right joseph is assuring pharaoh that his troubles will go away and god will give joseph the interpretation and true that give pharaoh peace
00:20:24 this shows that joseph has great confidence in god romans 5 3 to 4. not only so but we also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance perseverance character and character hope joseph certainly had hope in god the sufferings joseph experienced produced that hope joseph also had competencies he wasn't just a godly nice guy right he actually knew his stuff after he interprets the dream for pharaoh he offers a solution and he was actually successful in executing the solution he was extremely successful
00:21:14 we seen verse 47. during the seven years of abundance the land produced plentiful joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in egypt and stored in the cities in each city he put the food grown in the field surrounding it joseph stole out huge quantities of grain like the sand of the sea it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure surely joseph had learned all these things through his years as a manager in 41st house and in the prison
00:21:49 in slavery in forced labor joseph developed his competencies he wasn't just a figurehead that is in a position of authority because he's the favorite son of the ceo he was actually competent and good at his job our friends our suffering isn't meaningless i don't believe god wants us to just brush aside our pain and say it'll be okay in the end and so whatever i'm going through now it doesn't matter because it'll be all right eventually i don't think god wants us to think of our pain that way because in and true pain god was molding
00:22:31 joseph into a great servant fit for his purposes and it will be the same with us james 1 2 4 consider pure joy my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that testing of your faith produces perseverance let perseverance finish his work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything a joseph certainly did not lack anything but he got their true pain uh recently we received an encouraging text message written by our brother jim lewin through whatsapp he was kind
00:23:17 enough to let me share it with you all i hope you will encourage everyone who's struggling right now this is jim's words in my journey of raising my autistic son i have gone through many continuous struggles that most people do not and perhaps will not experience some can have have they direct with friends i can't some can work in an office i can't some can choose a career i can't some can have choices to do what they like i can't some just left their problems behind i didn't most people see me suffer and probably
00:23:59 that's the most correct word to use but to me i don't feel it as suffering at all even though sometimes i'm stressed and exhausted and occasionally bursts out in anger and frustration and pain and tears to me i'm thankful today as what i've gone through as people see it as suffering is necessary and helpful to me to move on and to help my son i strongly believe that true love and continuous fighting against the obstacles what i pray to him all these years with the faith i hold on to despite all the failures and
00:24:41 disappointment would be answered one after the other without doubt it is the task given by him planned by him and guided by him i believe it can be possible through christ at any time at all time and this the end part he says to about all christians and if suffering can be the last part of this journey we face i trust that most believers have nothing to regret if we know very well that we have completed our god-given task in glorifying his name we are not suffering even if it may look like suffering by
00:25:20 others we acknowledge blessing goes to the rich and the poor so does glory come true joy and pain glory comes through joy and pain our suffering isn't meaningless and our suffering does not mean that god is absent we often equate suffering to god's absence when bad things happen it must be because god has left me and god has abandoned me and that is not necessarily true and certainly it is not true with joseph's case god was with joseph throughout the lord was with joseph in potiphar's house the law was with joseph in prison and
00:26:07 even pharaoh right when after one conversation with joseph pharaoh said can we find anyone like this man one in whom is the spirit of god god was with joseph even pagans can see that psalm 34 18 the lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit our suffering isn't meaningless god is with us and is working through the suffering to produce something beautiful we may not see the level of fruitfulness that joseph experienced we might not be able to understand why god brings about certain horrors and
00:26:59 pains in our life even through the day we die we may not understand but we can trust that god is working in and through our pain last point god works to keep his promises through joseph's life we can see that god is committed to keeping his word to his people we first look at god's promise to joseph through dreams right god informs joseph of his calling one day joseph will be in position of power and his brothers will bow down to him we can see that a partial fulfillment of that promise in this chapter
00:27:52 we see then pharaoh took his signal ring from his finger and put it on joseph's finger he dressed him in ropes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck he had he had him ride in a chariot as his second in command and people shouted before him make way thus he was put in charge of the whole land of egypt in other versions people who were going before the chariot were shouting bow down or kneel soon his brothers would be like the egyptians bowing the knee to joseph just as god had promised through all the struggles
00:28:33 all those years god was working to keep his promise to joseph in these verses right we also see a beautiful picture of restoration joseph was stripped of the robe that the father gave him as a sign of his father's favor and now he is dressed by pharaoh himself signet ring ropes of fine linen a gold chain and again we have to ask right why did god plan all these events to place joseph as pharaoh's right hand man why is god doing all these orchestrating all these events to get joseph to be in that position of high
00:29:21 power why well god was fulfilling yet another promise this event in chapter 41 right is crucial turning point for israel's history because god is moving jacob's family from canaan to egypt with joseph's position as prime minister jacob's family will be able to settle in egypt and blossom and grow into a multitude of people jacob's family would grow into a nation in egypt because of joseph but egypt isn't good news we see god's promise to abraham in genesis 15 then the lord said to him know for certain therefore for 400 years
00:30:14 your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there but i will punish the nation they serve as slaves and afterward they will come out with great possession joseph was a slave who was raised by god to become god's means of salvation to the world the people of israel will also be made slaves but then raised up by god to be god's means of blessing to the world israel would come out of egypt with great possession and become a great nation god's own
00:30:56 people but it will be through the route of pain and suffering and again we can ask this question why would god do that what is he doing god was fulfilling another promise we see in chapter 12 of genesis god's promise to abraham i will make you into a great nation i will bless you i will make your name great and you will be a blessing i will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you our curse and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you we see this promise partially fulfilled in joseph abraham's
00:31:42 descendant when nations came to joseph for food we see this promise completely fulfilled in jesus christ the the coming of jesus christ is the ultimate proof that god is heavily involved in human history the the coming of jesus christ is the ultimate proof that god is not sitting back folding his arms watching the world burn the the coming of jesus christ is the ultimate proof that in our pain and suffering god has not forgotten us jesus christ is the son of god coming into human history to participate in it
00:32:31 he is the high priest who is able to empathize with our weakness jesus christ is the son born to the virgin mary and they will call him emmanuel which means god with us jesus christ is the ultimate proof that god is not sitting back and folding his arms but rather he comes to us he is god with us in our pain and in our suffering like joseph jesus was the favored son of the father like joseph jesus went to his own but his own rejected him joseph was plucked away from home jesus the son of man had nowhere to lay
00:33:22 his head joseph was forced into slave labor jesus willingly took on the very nature of a servant through much pain and suffering god raised joseph up to be a great servant through joseph the world received food for their bodies and sustained physical life through much pain and suffering god raised jesus up on the cross as the great savior to draw all men unto himself through jesus the world is offered jesus broken body as bread of life for our souls to give us eternal life in in times of pain and suffering
00:34:21 we may not understand why things are happening we may not see god's hand at work but we can trust his heart god has shown us through the life of joseph in the coming of jesus christ that he is always at work fulfilling his purposes for his glory and for our good coming of jesus christ also serves as proof that great salvation comes through great pain and suffering it is not a surprise therefore that to bring good news to people around us and in to the ends of the earth to bring people the bread of
00:35:08 life the good news of jesus christ we would have to make great sacrifices with our time with our effort with our finances with our perseverance in the face of many troubles and many obstacles through it all we can trust him that he will be with us always we need not be troubled for he brings us peace and he is with us isaiah 26 3. you will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are stayed fast because they trust in you
