As the Lord may graciously help
us this evening, I draw your prayerful attention to Genesis
chapter 39, and taking for our text this evening the first part
of verse 2. Genesis 39, the first part of
verse 2, and the Lord was with Joseph. And the Lord was with
Joseph. That's Genesis 39 and the first
part of verse 2. This morning we spoke of the
life of Joseph as being a type and a figure of that which was
to come, one greater than Joseph, the one that was going to save
his people from their sins. And as Joseph was that natural
saviour to the whole region, was it not for the wisdom given
by God to Joseph that whole region would have died due to the famine,
the seven years of famine? They would not have survived
it. was not the wisdom and the storehouses filled with such
a provision all owing to the work of what Joseph was involved
with. And as we see this, we see something
of the pattern of how the Lord is providing a saviour, a prince
and a saviour, who will save his people from their sins. And the brothers of Joseph, we
noted, treated him so wrongly, they were so envious of him,
they sought to destroy him, they nearly killed him, but in the
end they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. in their minds as they
speak about him later, they really come to the conclusion that Joseph
has died. And one is not, they speak about
later on in the account, as if he's passed away. He was as good
as dead. And you see, the brethren did
not seem concerned about this. They got rid of this one who
had these dreams, these prophetic dreams that God would use him
to be such a blessing and be such a high position. And they
thought that by selling him into slavery, that they could ridicule
and bring to nothing all these dreams. And yet, you see, God
had a wonderful plan. God had a great salvation to
be worked out, and he was going to save Israel from destruction. His people, these covenant people,
these people for whom the Savior would come, their life was, little
did they know it, but their life would be extinguished, was it
not, for this provision that God had made in the person of
Joseph. Well, this is a picture, you
see, of what the Lord Jesus is to his people in a much greater
way. It's a type, but it's pointing
at the great anti-type, the Lord Jesus, who is the saviour of
his people. Well we got to this morning the
end of chapter 37 where Joseph was sold into Egypt, sold to
Potiphar, a captain of the guard and in the marginal reading for
that it's chief of the slaughter men or the executioners and that's
important as later on he comes into more difficulties and it
would seem that Potiphar could so easily have killed Joseph
for what happened in this chapter. Wrongly, of course, because it
was actually Joseph was totally innocent. But you see in here,
the Lord Jesus Christ was one who was holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate than sinners, and yet was falsely accused. And here
in this chapter 39 of Genesis, Joseph is totally falsely accused. And how The Lord was with him. And another text that I thought
also was very precious in what I want to speak about tonight
is the opening words of Isaiah 42. Behold, my servant, whom
I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighted. Joseph was
the Lord's servant, and God was upholding him in these difficult
circumstances and bringing him through and enabling him to be
kept from all the temptations that came in his pathway. The
temptation to charge God foolishly, the temptation to give in to
sin, the temptation to think that God was evil in some way
for the pathway that he was in. But no, he laid hold of God,
he trusted in God. And surely there's something
here for all of us. We all walk through difficulties
at times. We all have difficult things
happen in our pathways. How do we react to those? How
do we react? And our natural knee-jerk reaction,
it is wrong. It's to defend ourselves and
to stand up for our rights. But you see, Joseph was one that
committed himself to the Lord. Well, so this precious truth,
though Joseph was now, he'd come, he'd been sold to in Egypt as
a slave, a servant. And of course, that's one of
the things that the Lord Jesus did, you see, in Philippians
2, we read Verse 7 but made himself of no
reputation and took upon him the form of a servant so this
one who was The son of that the favorite son of his father Joseph
Living in Hebron before now becomes a servant and how the Lord Jesus
left his father's glory and came to be To be a servant king to
serve and to we've just sung in that him about how that the
Lord understands what his people go through. Well, Joseph was
going to go through some many sufferings. But you see, in all
the sufferings he was going to go through, he would then have
an empathy for those who suffered. He was not some person who never
knew suffering. He wasn't somebody who was always,
as it were, with his father and protected from all the difficulties.
No, he was exposed to those difficulties in showing what the Lord Jesus
would be to his people. He would pass through those sufferings
so that he could be a high priest that was touched with the feelings
of our infirmities. The Lord was with Joseph and
so Joseph was blessed in the house of Potiphar and how we
see here the fruitfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ and you
see when Jacob is dying and gives this prophecy which was partly
prophecy and partly what had already happened. Genesis 49
verse 22 Joseph is a fruitful bough even a fruitful bough by
a well whose branches run over the wall. There's a fruitfulness
about Joseph. The archers have surely grieved,
sorely grieved him and shot at him and hated him. But his bow
abode in strength. Behold, my servant, who I'm uphold
and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the
mighty God. you see God upholds his people
and God upheld Joseph and though these difficulties you might
say Joseph would have would be scarred for life by this. He
would go round miserable because of all the difficulties and all
the hardships that had come into his pathway. But Joseph didn't
live like that. And you see, God's people shouldn't
live like that. If we believe that everything
is in God's hand, we shouldn't go round with a chip on our shoulder,
thinking that everything's against us. No, we should be amongst
those who realise God has allowed it. Humble yourselves under the
mighty hand of God, that he may exhort you in due season. And
wasn't that worked out in the life of Joseph? Joseph was so
exhorted, and yet he was so despised. A picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And as Joseph went down and down and ended up in that prison,
not only sold as a servant, but now as a prisoner, it seemed
that he was shut out of all hope. to ever coming as it were to
a position of authority. But in one day God took him out
of that prison and made him second ruler of the kingdom. A picture
of what the Lord Jesus did when he rose as it were from the dead.
He came out of that grave and was risen up to be that Prince
and the Saviour that he had overcome all his enemies. The pathway of the Lord's people,
you see, and we're to follow this. It's the cross before the
crown. If we suffer with him, we shall
also reign with him. And this is not self-imposed
suffering as if we make ourselves do some difficult things just
to make ourselves suffer, but this is following the Lord in
what the Lord has told us to do, which will result in, at
times, suffering. Because you look at what Joseph
did, he was faithful in this chapter. And as you come to the
end of this chapter, it seems that all his faithfulness ended
him in more trouble, in more difficulty. But may you young
people realise that we shouldn't... Satan is constantly in for the
short-term gain. constantly in for the short-term
gain, and the whole world is short-term gain, just do this,
it will be happy in the immediate time, but long-term disaster. Joseph had respect unto God,
and that was such a blessing to him, the cross before the
crown. Well Joseph then was fruitful,
in this land of his affliction. He was fruitful. And indeed,
here, you see, he's still in the prison. And you could say, well, he wouldn't
work for anything. He wouldn't do anything because
he was falsely there. But he isn't. He's positive.
And may we be that. When difficult things come in
our lives, we don't have a right to be to act in a bad way. Yes, we do act badly sometimes,
I know, but we don't have a right to it. And we need to mourn over
it when we do act wrongly. You see, Joseph had difficulties,
he had things that seemed right against him, but God was with
him. And that made so much difference
and made you in your lives know the Lord with you in those difficulties
and then you see we can be fruitful in the land of our affliction
fruitful bear much fruit have union with Christ we can be fruit
bearing branches and we need to be fruit bearing branches
not people will say well if I had if you put me in this position
then I would be really useful I would be able to do lots of
good things no we've been put in the situation we currently
are to serve God in the location that we currently are in. And
that is how the Lord has placed Joseph, and Joseph was faithful
in that position that God had put him in. And God gave him
favour in the sight of Potiphar and and he then became the most
favoured person, the most important person in Potiphar's house because
Potiphar realised that God was with Joseph and everything he
did prospered and he was a blessing. But you see soon the problems
came. Soon the problems came which
were not Joseph's fault at all. And it came to pass after these
things that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and
said, lie with me. So the temptation, you see, and
the Lord Jesus was also tempted. After he was baptized, he was
led of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil 40
days. See, he was tempted. And here,
amazingly, Joseph was kept from falling. and of course the Lord
Jesus, the great antitype, was kept from falling and was able
to defy the devil with all his schemes to seek the crown before
the cross. It came to pass after these things
that the master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, lie
with me. But he refused and said unto
his master's wife, behold, my master knoweth not what is with
me in the house, and he hath committed all things into my
hand. There is none greater in this house than I. Neither hath
he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his
wife. It's really interesting what Joseph says then. How then
can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? This predates
the Ten Commandments. as in the sense that they hadn't
yet been given at Sinai, had they? It hadn't happened until
Exodus. But Joseph knew that that would
be a sin against God. The enduring nature of those
Ten Commandments, it was not the beginning of them on Mount
Sinai, it was a writing down and a clarifying of them, but
it wasn't the beginning of them. How can I do this great wickedness
and sin against God? And you see, Joseph puts the
sin ultimately against God. He doesn't, you see, and we live
in a society where we say, well provided two people are both
happy and they're both consensual and they're both old enough,
then that's fine. But you see, Joseph doesn't see
it that way because he says it's a sin against God. It's not just
whether somebody else is happy or not. How can I do this great
wickedness and sin against God? And we live in a society, of
course, where this sort of thing is it is much swept under the
carpet and much, much accepted as if it's acceptable. But this
is what the word of God says. How can I do this great wickedness
and sin against God? And you might think, well, he
stood firm. He's resisted. And you see, we need to resist
the devil. Perhaps you young people, there's
many temptations come in your pathway. May you be given grace
to resist the devil. Resist the temptation for the
short term gain. And you see, in the short term,
it would have been, life would have been easier for Joseph had
he have complied. Life would have been easier for
him in the short term. But he knew it was wrong. He
knew it was long term disaster. to go against God. But you see
the temptation kept coming back. You see the Lord Jesus we read
was tempted 40 days. not just once, 40 days. And here
Joseph gets the temptation, gets it again and again and it came
to pass as she spoke to Joseph day by day that he hearkened
not unto her to lie by her or to be with her. He resisted,
had to resist it day by day as she came again and again seeking
that he would do that which he knew was totally wrong. But you see, I think one thing
to really point out today which is there's two words which is
very confused in our society and that is love and lust. You see I think Potiphar's wife
had a lust for Joseph but she had no love to Joseph in the
sense you see if you if If you think of the love of God to his
people, it's a love that does those people good. It's a blessing
to be loved by God. But you see, the love that Potiphar's
wife seemed to have or showed towards Joseph was no benefit
to Joseph at all. And clearly when you see how
she reacted when things didn't go the way she wanted to, she
didn't love him at all. She was, she wanted to absolutely
ruin him. And if things had have turned
out differently, it could have easily been Joseph's death. He was, I read earlier, he was,
he was the chief of the slaughter men. That was who Potiphar was. He could have easily had Joseph
executed, I'm sure. But amazingly, in the hand of
God, he was kept from that. But you see here that God, you
see, is to be served. And we need to separate what
is true love and what is just lust. Because, you see, to love
somebody is to seek their good. and to seek that you may be a
blessing to that person, not just get from that person. That's
all Potiphar's wife wanted from Joseph. And so may there be this right
understanding to be loved of God. And you young people, to
love one another, those that you love, to go into marriage,
it is to seek that person's real good and to stand by that person,
not just to see how much you can get out of that person and
how they can fulfill your sense of fulfillment, but to be a blessing
to them and they to you. Joseph was kept day by day as
she kept on coming to him. But in the end, you see, she
grabbed hold of him and and demanded that he perform. Well, he ran
away, you see, and left his coat with her. But then you see what
she does. She totally twists it right round
the other way. She totally twists round what
had happened so that it was as if he was the aggressor against
her and seeking to force her. And so we see how Joseph was
so falsely accused. You see, that was true of the
Lord Jesus. And it's hard to be falsely accused, you know.
To be falsely accused is painful. When you know you're innocent
and yet you've been falsely accused and yet you've been, this has
come into your pathway. What are you to do? Well, Peter
has some very precious words that
Often when difficulties come into my path, I have to go back
to this in 1 Peter 2 and verse 18. 1 Peter 2 verse 18. Servants, be subject to your
masters with all fear, not only to the good and the gentle, but
also to the froward. And the froward means to the
perverse, to the twisted. For this is thankworthy, if a
man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For this is thankworthy, if a
man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongly.
For what glory is it if you be buffeted for your faults? So
if you've done something wrong and you get told off for it,
that's understandable. But if when you do well and suffer
for it, and you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. Now, I don't know how you see
it, but to me it just seems unacceptable, naturally speaking. It's unacceptable. And Peter who wrote this epistle,
I think it was unacceptable to him earlier in his life. When Jesus said, showed him how,
that he must suffer these things, he said, this shall not be unto
thee. There's not gonna be suffering
in your path, He said to the Messiah, but Peter was come to,
in his experience, to realise that this was the way. This was
the way. And suffer for it, ye take it
patiently. This is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called,
because Christ also suffered for us. And it doesn't then go
on to say, so we don't have to suffer. No, it says, leaving
us an example that ye should follow. his steps, who did no
sin, he never deserved to suffer, who did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. Interesting, you see, Christ,
when he was, when he, all this manner of false accusations were
made against him, he was silent. And interestingly, in the account
that we read in Genesis 39, we do not read of Joseph Answer him back. We do not read
of Joseph defending himself whether he did I don't know but it's
not recorded that he did And you see the Lord Jesus Who? When he was reviled reviled not
again when he suffered he threatened not but what did he do? committed himself to him that
judgeth and righteously. This is what he did. He believed
that God was in control. Yes, he's got this Potiphar's
wife telling all manner of evil about him, totally misrepresenting
what happened. And yet he believed that God
was able to bring it right. And in your pathway, I don't
know what you pass through at times, but the Lord's people
do pass through difficult situations. And people say all manner of
wrong things sometimes. You see, Psalm 37 says this,
verse 5, it says, commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also
in him and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth
thy righteousness as the light and thy judgment as the noonday.
You think of Joseph, he could say, However, can he ever clear
his name again? He's got this allegation against
him. There's nobody there to prove
that it was the opposite way round. You'd think this is going
to damage me for life, this allegation that's against him. What did
he do about it? But committed himself to him
that judgeth righteously. And then it goes on, who his
own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we
being dead to sins should live unto righteousness, by whose
stripes ye are healed, for ye were a sheep going astray. You
see, naturally without, unless we've come under the shepherdhood
of God, we're a sheep going astray. We have no shepherd, we have
nobody to care for us, for ye were a sheep going astray. But
now, the Lord's people, but now are returned unto the shepherd
and bishop of your souls. You have a shepherd. And if you
have a shepherd, that shepherd, the good shepherd, like David,
can deal with the lion and the bear. If you haven't got a shepherd,
you're on your own. You're on your own. I remember
a minister in America, he was they had to do service out there
for the national service. And he was with the army, and
when he came out of that, they said to him, one of the officers
who liked him and got on quite well with him, he said, I hope
you're going to get on all right outside in the big wide world.
You see, we've got Uncle Sam behind us. They call that the
army. We've got the government behind us. We've got that security
behind us. But you're on your own. But you
see, the Lord's people are not on their own. The Lord is my shepherd. And
you see, Joseph had a shepherd. And though Potiphar's wife could
say all the evil she wanted against him, she could not. She could not go beyond what
God was allowed. and God was going to deal with
everything. And it's interesting when Joseph
rises to power and authority in the court of Pharaoh, we never
ever read about any slur on Joseph as to do with this event with
Potiphar's wife. We never hear that there was
a slur on Joseph because of what happened. Because Psalm 37 says
this, and he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light,
and thy judgment as the noonday. God will do it, not you, Joseph.
You won't jump up and down and defend yourself. No, God will
do it. But you see, oh, it was a difficult
path, wasn't it? It was Joseph going to prison.
We don't know how long he was in prison. All we know is that
there was 13 years between Joseph being sold into Egypt and him
coming to the throne, or coming to that position of authority.
Because he was 17 when he came to Egypt, and he was 30 when
he stood before Pharaoh. There's 13 years, but how many
of those years he was with Potiphar, and how many years he was in
the prison, we don't know. Other than, we know that he was
two years in the prison after the dreams of the butler and
the baker. But just how long he was in the prison, we don't
know. But it was a difficult path for Joseph. But you see, God was with him. And that's the difference. And
if God is with us, who can be against us? Oh, you might say,
well, I've got all these great people with me. I've got the
American army behind me. No, if God is with us, we are
secure. And you see, there's a safety
here, but there's a trusting in God. He had to trust in God,
didn't he? Joseph had to trust in God. He
was falsely accused, and there was that Christ-likeness about
him that when he was reviled, he reviled not again, or it's
not recorded that he did. And you see, he was then put
in prison. Mercifully, his life was preserved,
because for that crime, he could have easily been killed. But
the Lord, and then in verse 21, the Lord was with Joseph. We
read it again. The Lord was with him. He had
another trouble. Now he was in prison and showed
him mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of
the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's
hand all the prisoners that were in the prison. And whatsoever
they did, he was the doer of it. You see, he wasn't miserable,
was he? He wasn't in the dungeon saying,
well, there's no point in me working. There's no point in
me being positive. There's no point in me being trusting in
the Lord. This is where it's got me. This
is the situation I'm in. No. You see, he laid hold upon
the fact that God is God, and God is faithful, and God will
bring his people out of all their troubles. Because God is God. Commit thy way unto the Lord,
trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. He shall bring
forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the
noonday. Yes, these people who have said
all manner of evil against him, God was able to deal with it.
And God did deal with it. But, oh, there was years of difficulty. Oh, there was years, there was
trial. The trial of your faith being much more precious than
gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire. Well, Joseph
then comes into the prison and he then acts honorably there
and he's given favor. And then he becomes into a position
of authority. even in serving the prisoners. And then, in the providence of
God, there was these two prisoners that joined him. Two prisoners. Both had dreams. And it's interesting,
you see, as he came to see them, and this is Genesis 40 verse
7, he came to see them in the morning And he asked Pharaoh's
officers that were with him in the ward of the Lord's house
saying, wherefore look he so sadly today? You might say, Joseph,
haven't you got enough sadness in your own life to worry about
whether other people are sad or not? He was concerned for
others. You see, you can be so consumed
with your own sadnesses that you have no time to be worried
about other people's sadnesses, but Joseph was not like this.
A type of Christ. Who worried about other people's
troubles when they were in the midst of trouble themselves?
It was the Lord Jesus on the cross. He spoke to John, the
beloved disciple, that he would take care of his mother in her
time of distress. He told John to take care of
his mother Mary in the midst of all his distress. We read
also in that John's gospel chapter 14, let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. He was concerned for others
in the midst of his own troubles. He had a heart for others. Joseph
had a heart for these two fellow prisoners. It's interesting,
you see, when the Lord Jesus was on that cross at Calvary,
there was two with him, wasn't there? The one on the left and
the one on the right. Two criminals. And just as there was this vast
difference between what happened to these two criminals in Joseph's
time, one was put back into his position as the butler, and one
of them was hanged. And how when we think of the
Lord Jesus, the vast difference between those two dying thieves,
the one received mercy and was with Jesus in paradise, the other
was lost eternally. And how there is this separation
between these things. Joseph was then in this prison. He interpreted these dreams for
these two prisoners. There's something ironic here,
isn't there? When the dying thief says to the Lord Jesus, remember
me when thou comest into thy kingdom, there was no reason
why Jesus should remember him, because he was just a sinner
all his life, and yet he did remember him. Remember me when
thou comest into thy kingdom. Joseph, who had done so many
favours for this butler and interpreted his dream, says in Genesis 40
verse 14, But think on me, remember me when it shall be well with
thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention
of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house. For indeed
I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and also
here I have done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon. But we read in the end of chapter
40 of Genesis, yet did the chief butler, did not the chief butler
remember Joseph, but forgot him. Oh, what a sorrow that was to
Joseph. A sorrow in his heart in all that he passed through.
You see, we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the
feelings of our infirmities. And as we pass through our sorrows,
we can think, well, Would God ever know what it's like to pass
through these sorrows? Well, the answer is, absolutely
He would. His way was much rougher and
darker than mine. You see, in Psalm 105, it gives
us this insight into the life of Joseph. Psalm 105, verse 17,
He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant,
whose feet they hurt with fetters. He was laid in iron Why? Because he was faithful, because
he'd done what was right, because he'd honoured God, because he
hadn't done what was evil until the time that the word came,
the word of the Lord tried him. You see, when we think of the
sufferings of Joseph, it was linked with his brethren's sin,
wasn't it? If these brethren hadn't have
done what they did in selling him as a slave, he wouldn't have
come into that suffering. The suffering was linked to his
sin. It is the sin of the brethren. But the Lord Jesus Christ, you
see, his sufferings are linked to his people's sin. He's in
their place. He's bearing the punishment for
them. he's a substitute. I realise in one sense Joseph
was but a type, it was not that it paid for their sin because
he was suffering. But when we look at who it was
pointing to, the Lord Jesus, he was, it was meritorious suffering. It was, it paid the price and
therefore the brethren would be set free. And indeed, when
we think of the Lord Jesus, he was silent when he was told all
these false allegations. But you see there is an aspect,
whereas the sufferings of Christ and the false allegations that
were given him, as standing in his peoples, as representing
his guilty people, he therefore was guilty of everything. that
the Church of God was guilty of. You think of all the wickedness
of all the Church of God, down through the ages, heaped on Christ. He hath made him to be sin for
us, who knew no sin. All heaped on Christ. And therefore,
in that sense, if he'd have said, well, I'm innocent of any sin,
you'd say, well, are you really bearing the sin of your people
then? Are you really? Has that sin really been imputed
on Christ? if Christ says he has no sin. Ah, in himself he had no sin,
but he hath laid upon him the sin of the church. And so as
the Lord Jesus, standing as his people's substitute, he bore
that sin, and he never replied to say that he was not guilty.
He did reply when people asked him who he was. He gave his identity,
but not to defend himself from all those allegations. Well,
as we look then in this precious account of Joseph, the Lord was
with Joseph. Behold my servant, whom I upheld. And the Lord Jesus was upheld
by God the Father to complete that work that he had sent him
to do. He'd sent him on a mission of
mercy. He'd sent him to save his people
from their sins. And the Lord Jesus had that sense
of being about the first recorded words of the Lord Jesus we have
in the Bible is this, wish ye not that I should be about my
master's business. Wish ye not. This is his purpose. He was here on a purpose. You
see, it was a good Samaritan as he journeyed. He wasn't aimlessly
going around. As he journeyed, He came to that
half-dead man. So we come in the account where
Joseph has given the correct interpretation of the dreams
of the butler and the baker. He's then another two years.
left in the prison two whole years. While his word came, the
word of the Lord tried him." Maybe you're there. See, we are patient. We are in
need of patience that after we have done the will of God, we
may receive the promises. We need patience. I'm not saying
that because I've got patience and you haven't. I'm saying it
to myself, too. We have need of patience. And
that's why the word of God is such a lamp to our feet, a light
to our path. We need it. I'm not preaching
at you. I'm preaching the things that I need in our daily lives
to walk godly, to actually be people who are conformed to the
image of Christ. Because this is what it is to
be conformed to God's image. It's a very different image than
the way the world would tell you to do. Fight back, defend
yourself, stand on your own rights. But it doesn't say that in Peter.
It says, commit yourself to him that judgeth righteously. Because
you've got a shepherd in heaven. You're not your own. You're not
fighting your own battles. You've got one that's actually
far greater than anything else who is defending his people. We need to walk it out, don't
we? We need to walk it out in our lives. We need to put it
into practice and realize when the enemy comes in like a flood
that the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.
Well, in Genesis 41, and it came to pass at the end of two full
years, two more years in that prison, And then Pharaoh has
this dream. And what a mercy it was, you
see, to Israel and to Pharaoh, that God gave warning of that
judgment. And you see, that's really the
preaching of the gospel is a warning of a judgment. There is a judgment
coming and God in the preaching of the gospel has given a warning,
not just a warning, also a way of escape. A way, this man is
your peace. There is a way to get through
this famine, to get through this certain death. And it's all going
to be centred in one person. And when all the troubles come
and all the famine gets sore, then there's going to be one
solution that Pharaoh comes up with and that's go to Joseph. The government's on his shoulders,
you see. That's what was prophesied in Isaiah. We read that often
in the Christmas time, when we go through those prophecies.
And the government shall be upon his shoulders, and he shall be
called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. Well, Pharaoh has these dreams,
and what a mercy that God gave these dreams of warning to Pharaoh. Otherwise, if this would have
come unawares, then they would have all died. And you see, the
Lord in giving his warnings to his people, he's faithful in
his warnings. And he gives them, you think
of Noah, yet 120 years, and there was going to be that flood. And
there was time to build an ark. There was time, there was a commandment
for Noah to build that ark, and so that there was a place of
refuge and safety. And when the ark was complete,
then there was that entry in the ark, and there was that safety
in a time when there was total devastation to everybody outside
the ark. Well, these two dreams of Pharaoh,
of these the cows that were ill-fleshed and the cows that were full,
and how Joseph then was called, you see, to come and interpret
these dreams. And the grace that was given
to Joseph when he was called to interpret these dreams. Genesis
41 and verse 16 and Joseph, well in verse 15 it says, Genesis
41 verse 15. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
I have dreamed a dream and there is none that can interpret it.
And I have heard say of thee that thou canst understand a
dream to interpret it. And how does Joseph answer that?
How do we answer it? When people give us a commendation
And Joseph answered Pharaoh and said, It is not in me. God shall give Pharaoh an answer
of peace. Oh, the humility of Joseph. Jesus
humbled himself, became of no reputation. He says, Jesus said,
I came not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent
me. It is not in me. God shall give
Pharaoh a dream. Well, Joseph interprets these
dreams, you see, to show that there would be seven years of
famine, and then seven years of, sorry, seven years of plenty
first, God's mercy. If it had been the other way
around, it would have been a disaster. Seven years of plenty, and then
seven years of famine. It wasn't just Egypt, it was
the surrounding districts as well. As soon as Joseph goes
and interprets those dreams, and tells Pharaoh what's gonna
happen, he immediately goes on to a strategy as to what to do
about it. And you see, that is the way,
when we see the danger that we're in, there needs to be a way of
refuge, a way of remedy. In Genesis 41, verse 33, it says,
now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man, discreet and wise,
and set him over the land of Egypt. and let Pharaoh do this,
and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the
fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years,
and let them gather all the food of those good years that come,
and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep
food in the cities. Joseph had a solution. And you
see, there is a way. There is a way back to God in
the preaching of the gospel. It is not just bad news, there
is solemn warning, but there is a way back. You see, and the
thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, in the eyes of all his
servants. And Pharaoh said unto his servants, can we find such
a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? You see,
they understood. They perceived that Joseph spoke
as one with authority. He didn't say, well, we might
do this, or we might possibly do that. He spoke with authority.
This is what you need to do. This is what you need to do.
And you see, when Jesus spoke that sermon on the mount, We
read at the end of that in Matthew's Gospel chapter 7. Verse 28 of
Matthew 7. And it came to pass when Jesus
had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his
doctrine. For he taught them as one having
authority and not as the scribes. Not as the scribes. See, they
had authority. It wasn't just quoting other
men. It was God had given him this.
And you see, the Lord Jesus is one who has authority. And as
Joseph was given the Spirit of God, and of course, they say,
can we find such a one as this is a man in whom the Spirit of
God is? And who had the Spirit of God
without measure? It was the Lord Jesus Christ,
wasn't it? How he had that Spirit of God.
And he came in the fullness of the Spirit. And what a blessing
he was. The Lord was with him. Behold,
my servant, whom I uphold. I was thinking of this account
this afternoon. You see, there's a lot of things
prophesied in Genesis that have come to pass, and we can see
that they've come to pass and fulfilled in the coming of Christ.
But really back in Genesis, it's still not all complete. This
picture of Joseph and his brethren, and becoming that one who was
the ruler, and all bowing the knee to him, and then gathering
everything to be with Pharaoh, that Pharaoh becomes, under Joseph,
that great one. You see, that has not yet happened.
It hasn't yet happened, has it? In Philippians, we read that. Philippians 2. 9. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name. As
we know in the account of Joseph when he was raised to that position
that there was this command that went before him, bow the knee,
that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in things in heaven
and things in the earth and things under the earth. and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. You see, the Father is going
to be glorified in what Christ has done. The Father is going
to be glorified. And in a sense, in what happened
with Pharaoh, you see, there was a glorification in that type
of Pharaoh in the sense that he became owner of everything.
All that in all was in, and this is, I believe, so whilst it is
a prophecy of something that has happened, it also looks beyond
what has happened to the fulfillment of when God has put all his enemies
under him. And so as we see this account,
and we see that many parts of this account of Joseph have been
fulfilled, yet there are some things still to be fulfilled.
And may that give us confidence, you see, in a faithfulness of
God. The God that said, and it stood
fast, the God that said, every knee shall bow, every tongue
shall confess, and it came to pass. And it will come to pass.
And as we see Christianity is pressured from so many angles
and so much opposition against him, yet ultimately God is on
the throne. God is ultimately in control. And ultimately he will gain the
victory. And though Joseph's in the prison
at times, though it seems that everything is lost, yet you see
those who put their trust in God. it's so different. In Isaiah
chapter 40, that lovely chapter, we see the truth of that. Isaiah 40 verse 29, he giveth
power to the faint and to them that have no might. he increaseth
strength. Even the youth shall faint and
be weary. The young men shall utterly fall,
but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. This
is the word of God. And Joseph put his trust in God,
and God stood by him, and God delivered him, and God brought
him out, and he will do that for his people. But they that
wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, They shall mount
up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary.
They shall walk and not faint. You see, the Lord Jesus had first
of all the Jews against him, delivering him up and condemning
him to death. And then he was transferred to
the Gentiles, to Pilate and Herod. to try and falsely accuse him
there. So he had both Jews and Gentiles
were involved in the condemnation of Christ at Calvary. And so
with Joseph, there was both his own brethren had delivered him
to death. And then there was the Gentiles,
the Potiphar and his wife. Then there was that condemnation
from them too. Jews and Gentiles both unite,
as it were, against Joseph. Joseph, you see, was brought
through. And as he was brought through,
it's picturing how finally the government is upon his shoulders. It is on his shoulders. He will,
every knee shall bow. That's everyone in this chapel
shall bow the knee to Christ, either in honour and love for
all that he's done. or in solemn awe, because He
is God, and we have been like those brethren which have spent
our lives mocking God. But every knee shall bow, every
tongue shall confess, and those brothers of Joseph never thought
it would happen. They never thought it would happen,
but it did. Well, may we be amongst those
who humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. and fall
before this one who is worthy to be praised. His kingdom is
an everlasting kingdom, while time sweeps earthly thrones away. May we have this enduring inheritance,
incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. May the
Lord add his blessing. Amen.