My text tonight is Genesis 39,
verses 1 through 23. You'll find the title of my message
in the opening verse. Joseph was brought down to Egypt. How far different this is from
that which God had revealed to him. Joseph, you recall, was
given a dream by which God spoke to him. And he was made to see
that all his brethren would bow down before him, all his brethren
would come to him and be supplied for all their needs by his hand
according to his will. His father loved Joseph above
all his brothers. His father honored Joseph, made
him that coat of many colors and put it on him. And Joseph's
brothers beheld these things with horrible envy. They had
plotted to kill him, and at last were persuaded, rather than killing
him, to sell him into slavery. And now we come to this passage
where Joseph is brought down to Egypt. He was brought down
to Egypt for a specific purpose because God's purpose was to
bring Israel into Egypt during a time of famine and judgment
and to preserve them alive and there to work out redemption
for them in a picture and type by which he would show forth
his glory and praise. The Lord said to Pharaoh, I've
raised you up for this purpose, that I might show my power in
you, that all the world might know who I am, what I've done
for my people. And so Joseph is brought down
to Egypt to save his people. So too the Son of God, our Lord
Jesus Christ, was brought down to this earth as a man to save
his people. And this picture is that which
is drawn for us here in Genesis chapter 39. Now without question
there are other valuable moral and spiritual lessons to be learned
from the things that transpired here while Joseph is in Potiphar's
house and then in prison later in Egypt. But the primary purpose
of this story, the primary purpose of God the Holy Spirit in giving
us this story concerning Joseph is not just to give us moral
instruction or to give us lessons about various things we ought
to do. The Holy Spirit's principle purpose is to reveal to us the
glory and grace of God in Jesus Christ, who is typified in Joseph,
Jesus Christ, our great Redeemer. Now, realizing that fact, I want
us to just go through these 23 verses, and let me call your
attention to the obvious. And sometimes the obvious things
are the best things found in Scripture. First, I want you
to look at verse 1. He, who was the beloved son of
his father's house, was brought down in humiliation to Egypt
as a lowly servant. Joseph was brought down to Egypt,
and to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard,
an Egyptian, brought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites, which
had brought him down thither. Joseph was sold into slavery. And the Potiphar, the Egyptian,
brought him from the hands of these Ishmaelites who had brought
him to Egypt. But this story is not about Joseph
at all. Behold, a greater than Joseph
is here. Jehovah's servant, the Lord Jesus
Christ, is the one who is portrayed here. Hold your hands here in
Genesis 39. Let me show you several texts
of scripture showing how the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed Jehovah's
servant. He is that one who is typified
in all the laws and in all the prophets concerning the servant
of the Lord. Turn first to Isaiah 42. Isaiah
chapter 42. The Lord God says, Behold my
servant, distinguishing Christ above all else as his servant,
distinguishing Christ above all others as his servant, my servant
distinctly, whom I uphold. The Lord God upheld him in all
his work as his servant. Mine elect, that one who was
first chosen, in whom all the elect are then chosen, In whom
my soul delighteth, my chief one, my first one, I have put
my spirit upon him, He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. You can read it justice, or you
can read it righteousness, or you can read it judgment. It
all amounts to the same thing. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
one who is Jehovah's servant appointed of God to establish
righteousness, to satisfy justice, and to put an end to judgment
for his people among the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets. He'll not be
frustrated. He'll not be helpless, but rather
a bruised reed shall he not break, and a smoking flax shall he not
quench. He shall bring forth judgment
to truth. He will bring righteousness and
truth to meet together in him. He shall not fail. Now remember,
he's Jehovah's servant. He comes here to do Jehovah's
bidding. He comes to do Jehovah's will. And the Lord God says he
shall not fail. That means Jesus Christ as Jehovah's
servant shall fulfill everything he came here to accomplish. He
shall not fail nor be discouraged till he has set judgment in the
earth, and the Isles, the Gentiles, his people scattered throughout
the world shall wait for his law. Now we have a picture of
this. Turn back to Exodus 21. We're going to come back to Isaiah
in a moment, but turn to Exodus 21. The laws given in Israel,
some of those laws were specifically designed and intended for messianic
purposes and that alone. And we saw one of those this
morning with regard to the elder brother and his younger brothers
raising up a seed to him. Here in Exodus 21 we have the
law of God given concerning servitude. Now, there have been those, regrettably,
throughout history in our southern culture here in the United States
who have pointed to this and attempted to justify slavery.
Nothing could be more horribly abusive in the interpretation
of Scripture. Here in Exodus 21, we have a
law given concerning a servant. But this law was given pointing
to Jesus Christ, Jehovah's servant. Look what the Scripture says.
And if the servant shall say plainly, I love my master, my
wife, and my children. A man has a servant in his house,
the year of freedom has come for him, and the servant is given
this option. The master says, all right, you
can leave. But while he was in his master's house, he had a
wife, and he had children, and his wife and children belonged
to his master. And the servant says, no, no, no, I'm not going
to leave you, because I love my master, and I love my wife,
and I love my children. I will not go out free. You see
that? Then his master shall bring him
unto the judges, he shall bring him to the door, or to the doorpost,
and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and
he shall serve him forever. This man is a bond slave, but
a voluntary bond slave. Well, what was this given for?
Why was the law given? Turn back to Isaiah chapter 50.
Isaiah chapter 50. It was a messianic type, a messianic
picture. It was given to point to Christ
as Jehovah's servant. And we're plainly told this here
in Isaiah 50 and verse 5. The Lord God, our Savior says
as He speaks, has opened my ear. And I was not rebellious. He
said, I love my master. I love my father. I love my wife. I love my children. I won't go
free. I put myself now in bondage to my Father willingly and deliberately
as the surety of my people as Jehovah's servant. I was not
rebellious, neither turned away back. Therefore, he says, I gave
my back to the smiters, my cheeks to them that plucked off their
hair. I hid not my face from shame and spilling, for the Lord
God will help me. Therefore shall I not be confounded. Remember the prophecy in Isaiah
42? He'll not be discouraged. He'll not lift up his voice in
the streets. I'll not be confounded. I'll
not be ashamed. Therefore have I set my face
like a flint. I know I shall not be ashamed.
I shall not fail. Now then, turn to Hebrews chapter
10. And let me show you what this
servant came to do. This 10th chapter of Hebrews is the interpretation
given by inspiration of Psalm 40. Here in Hebrews 10, verse
5. Wherefore, when he comes into
the world, he says, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not.
That is, he's saying blood of bulls and of goats and calves
and heifers can never take away sin. The sacrifices of Jewish
sacrifices or Jewish altars, the sacrifices of animals could
never purge the conscience of sin and could never purge the
law of our sins either. It could never satisfy the law
and justice of God. So it says sacrifice and offerings
thou wouldest not. But a body hast thou prepared
me. Here is God Almighty coming forth into the world and as he
comes he says, Lo, I come. A body hast thou prepared me. Then he says, In burnt offerings
and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure, no satisfaction.
Verse 7. Then said I, Lo, I come. In the volume of the book. in
the volume of the book of Holy Scripture, in the volume of the
book of God's eternal decrees. It is written of me, I come to
do thy will, O God. Above, when it said, sacrifice
and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not, neither hast pleasure therein, which are offered by the law.
Then he said, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He takes away
the first. He takes away the old covenant.
He takes away the old sacrifices. He takes away the old ceremonies.
He takes away the old rites. And he establishes the second.
By the which will. Okay. By what will? By the will
of God which he came to do. By the will of God he came to
perform. By the which will we, that is
God's elect, are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ one time. And every priest stands daily,
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins. But this man, this servant, this
man who is himself God, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God from henceforth
expected till his enemies be made his footstool. Look at it
now. For by one offering, He's done what he came to do. He hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. Alright, one more
text in this regard, Philippians 2. Philippians chapter 2. The Apostle Paul is urging us
in this chapter to walk together in humility, each esteeming other
better than themselves, to love one another and serve one another
for the glory of God. And this is how he does it. He
inspires us into service for one another, into service for
the glory of God by the servant, Jesus Christ our Lord. He says
in verse five, let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, Now remember, this
one who is Jehovah's servant is God. He's in the form of God. Therefore, he thought it not
robbery to be equal with God. It wasn't something he had to
seek after to be equal with God. But made himself of no reputation,
he emptied himself, and took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. All right now, back in our text,
in Genesis 39. He who is his father's beloved
son becomes a servant in Egypt. Secondly, we're told in verse
2, the Lord was with Joseph. Do you see that? The Lord was
with Joseph. Again, I say, behold, a greater
than Joseph is here. Our Lord Jesus Christ is that
man who is himself God Almighty. Emmanuel, God incarnate, one
with the Father, full of grace and truth. Again, I ask you to
look in the New Testament at the Gospel of John, chapter 1. The Lord was with him. Here in John chapter 1, the Apostle
John uses these words to describe our Savior. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God. Face to face with God. One with God. And the Word was
God. The same was in the beginning
with God. He's always been with Him. Face
to face with Him. One with Him. All things were
made by him, and without him was not anything made that was
made. Verse 10. He was in the world. He who made
the world came here into the world. And the world was made
by him, and the world knew him not. He came to his own, his
own place, his own things, and his own people. And his own received
him not. Verse 14. The Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us. That word is an interesting word.
It means he pitched his tent, stayed here for a while. The
Word was made flesh and tabernacled among us. He didn't come here
to stay here. He came here on an errand. He
came here to perform a specific work. And we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Now look at verse 16. And of
His fullness, Him who is the Word. Him of whom it is written,
He is with God and the Lord is with Him. Of His fullness have
all we received. You and I, we have received out
of His bountiful fullness grace on top of grace on top of grace
on top of grace. That's what he's saying. We've
received grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses,
but grace, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Alright, now
then, turn back to verse 3 of Genesis 39. Look at this third
thing. The Lord made all that he did
to prosper in his hands. You know the references? In Psalm
1, the psalmist speaks of one who is truly a blessed man, a
blessed man. Now we read that psalm, and certainly
there is application in that psalm to you and I. We who are
God's people are such as in the tenor of our lives, walk not
in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners,
nor sit in the seat of the scornful. Our delight is in the law of
the Lord, and we meditate in His law. But there is only one
man of whom those words are absolutely true, and that man is Jesus Christ
our Lord, the God-man. He is that man who is truly blessed
in all things. That man who walked not in the
counsel of the ungodly ever. That man who stood not in the
way of sinners, not even once. That man who sat not in the seat
of the scornful. That man whose delight was in
the law of the Lord continually. What does the Lord tell us about
this blessed man? He shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water, and that bringeth forth his fruit in his
season, his leaf also shall not wither. And whatsoever he doeth,
it shall prosper. The pleasure of the Lord prospers
in his hands. Now listen to me. The Lord Jesus
Christ is that man in whose hands and by whose hands everything
that he does prospers for what he does is the pleasure of the
Lord. He is that one who rules all
things and holds all things in his hands and by his work and
by his hand and by his will the purpose of God, the pleasure
of God is accomplished and all that he does prospers. Now look
at verse 4 in Genesis 39. This man, Joseph, in Potiphar's
house, he's a servant down in Egypt in the house of this Egyptian.
And the Egyptian looks at him and sees that everything he does
prospers. He's a blessed man. This man,
this highly favored servant, is one whom Potiphar looks and
he puts everything that he has in the hands of that one man.
Everything. Look at verse 4. And Joseph found
grace in his sight, and he served him, and made him overseer of
his house, and all that he had was put into his hands. The Lord
Jesus Christ is that servant whom the Father has trusted with
everything. Into his hands, the hands of
this man who is God, our mediator, our surety, our representative,
the Lord God has put everything. Everything. He trusted him. Before
the world began, The Lord God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit in covenant grace agreed upon the covenant of grace for
our redemption. And the Lord Jesus Christ pledged
himself as our surety to fulfill all righteousness as our representative,
to satisfy the justice of God as our substitute. And the Father
says to the Son, I'll trust you with everything, with everything.
And he did. He put all his glory in the hands
of his Son. He put all His will in the hands
of His Son. He put all His people in the
hands of His Son. He put all the world in the hands
of His Son. And when it gets done, the Lord
Jesus will come at last and present His kingdom to the Father that
God may be all and in all. Alright, now look at verse 5.
The Lord blessed the Egyptians' house for Joseph's sake. Oh, now there's a lesson here
we need to learn. Egypt, insofar as God Almighty
is concerned, insofar as heaven is concerned, Egypt was totally
insignificant. totally insignificant. Pharaoh
meant nothing. The Egyptians meant nothing.
Egypt was insignificant except that Egypt was the place where
God would preserve his people for a period of 400 years. Egypt
was the place where God would work out the whole scheme of
redemption and grace. Egypt was the place. It was the
stage upon which God would perform in picture and type the redemption
and salvation of his people by the Passover lamb. That was the
only reason Egypt existed. The only reason Pharaoh existed
was for Joseph's sake. for the sake of Joseph and his
people. Now, hear the Scriptures and
understand this, and it will bless your soul. It will bless
your soul. It will help you. This world,
this world, all its nations, all its kings, all its history,
all its people, is totally insignificant. before God Almighty, totally
insignificant, except as it is the place where God will reveal
His glory, work out and accomplish the redemption and salvation
of His people for the glory of His name. Now that on sail your boat through
some troubled waters. The Lord God says to Israel,
He says, I gave Egypt for you. I gave Ethiopia for you. I gave
Saba for you. I gave men for you and people
for your life. I'll be with you. I'll not leave
you. I'll not forsake you. Oh, Don Fortner, hear God speak
and believe Him. This world is insignificant to
my Father, except as it's the place where I live. The nations are as a drop in
the bucket for him. He says they're like grasshoppers
before him. The small dust of the balance
before him. They're nothing! Nothing. Nothing. And it ought not be a thing to
me either. Just nothing. Crucified to the world. Crucified
to it. It's here only to serve the interest
of God's people for the glory of God Almighty and the redemption
of His people for the glory and praise of His name. Now let's
see if this is not what Scripture says. Turn to Isaiah 65. Isaiah
65. Men misjudge God's actions or
His lack of action. They think because God doesn't
execute judgment and justice immediately as He did to the
sons of Judah, because God doesn't display His wrath immediately,
He won't display His wrath. They presume that because God
allows men to go on breathing on the earth, then God must indeed
at last be gracious to them. Let me tell you something. God
grants mercy to anyone outside hell. But God's grace is in Christ. And it's found only in Christ,
and it's for his people in Christ. Somebody said, well, God loves
everybody in a sense. Try telling folks in hell he
does. That's ridiculous. That's ridiculous. God's love
is for His people. And distinctly for His people.
And only for His people. Now look here. So how do you
explain the fact that God continues to feed the wicked and close
the wicked and prospers the wicked in this world? Because He loves
His people. That's why. Because He loves
them. In Isaiah 65 and verse 8, the Lord said, As a new wine
is found in the cluster, and one says, destroy it not, for
a blessing is in it. God looks out at the world and
we This is like a dried up grapevine. Just cut it down. It's useless.
But God spots a blessing in it. No, no, don't cut it down yet.
A blessing is in it. I'm not just making this up.
Look at it. So will I do. How come? What does it say, Bobby? For my servant's sake. For my Joseph and his people.
that I may not destroy them all, and I will bring forth a seed
out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountain,
and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell
there. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering
to us. His long-suffering, and the long-suffering
of our God is salvation. His long-suffering to us were
not willing that any of us who are His chosen should perish,
but that all should come to repentance and knowledge of the truth. Alright,
now then, look back in our text in Genesis 39. When tempted to sin, Joseph proved
himself a faithful man. true to his master, true to his
God in all things. Look at verse 6. His master left
all that he had in Joseph's hand, and he knew not what he had,
save the bread which he ate. His master turned everything
over to Joseph and forgot about it. And Joseph was a good man. Good man. Good. Proved himself so. Well favored. And it came to pass after these
things that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and
she said, Lie with me. But he refused, and said unto
his master's wife, Behold, my master wanteth not what is with
me in the house, and he hath committed all that he has into
my hand. There is none greater in this
house than I, neither has he kept back anything from me except
you, because you're his wife. How then can I do this great
wickedness and sin against God? Oh no, oh no. Something more
important here than my pleasure, something more important here
than what you or I might want, the glory of God's at stake.
How can I do this thing of sin against God? 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. And it came to pass about
this time that Joseph went into the house to do his business
and there was none of the men of the house there within. And
she caught him by the garment saying, lie with me. And he left
his garment in her hand and fled and got him out. Again, behold
a greater than Joseph is here. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the man,
was tempted in all points like we are. Read the fourth chapter
of Matthew and understand that the temptations of our Lord were
real. Were real. I don't have any idea
how to explain that. I can't explain it. But he was
tempted, Merle. tempted more sorely than you
or I have ever imagined being tempted to evil. Tempted. Tempted. The lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eye, the pride of life, tempted. In all points
wherein a man is weak and vulnerable, he was tempted, and yet he sinned
not. He who is God, our Savior, lived
here exemplarily as our representative, but He lived here more than just
as an example. He lived here as our substitute.
And being that one who is our substitute, He fulfilled all
righteousness. He had no sin. He knew no sin. He did no sin. But rather in
all things honored God. More than that, we honor God
in Him. That's right. When he fulfilled
God's will, we did, James. When he obeyed God, we did. When
he walked with God, we did. When he lived in righteousness,
we did. When he overcame Satan, we did. When he endured temptation,
we did. Fulfilling all righteousness
in him. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who was made to be sin for us,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him, worked out for
us a perfect righteousness, which we could never have except by
His obedience, even in the teeth of temptation. Now then, look
back in our text again, verse 16. Joseph was falsely accused of
crimes he never committed. She laid up his garment by her
until his Lord came home. And she spoke to him according
to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant which you have brought
unto us came in unto me to mock me. And it came to pass I lifted
up my voice and cried, and he left his garment with me and
fled out. The Jews were told when our Lord
Jesus was brought before his mock tribunal, sought witnesses
against him. And they couldn't find any. They
couldn't find anyone who could say anything against him. They
couldn't find anyone who could lay any crime against him. No
crime at all. Not even a slight misdemeanor,
much less something worthy of death. And finally they hired
two false witnesses who came into false pretense and for a
bribe testified against the master and said, now we've got grounds
to kill him. Well, when Pilate saw that, Pilate understood that
the Jews for envy had delivered Jesus to him. They understood
what the Jews for envy cried, crucify him, crucify him. And
Potiphar seems to have understood the same thing. You see, Potiphar,
back in those days it wasn't like our society. If this man
had indeed even attempted to rape his wife, Potiphar could
have had him put to death like that. And everybody would have
said that's what he ought to do. But it appears that things
were in a shambles in Potiphar's house and he knew what kind of
woman he was married to. And so he just takes Joseph and puts
him in prison. He understood that Joseph was falsely accused.
And yet to save face, as Pilate, in order to please the people,
delivered Jesus over to their will. So Potiphar delivered Joseph
to the prison. Now look at verse 19. And understand
that Joseph like our Savior was numbered with the transgressors. Let's just read verse 20. Joseph's
master took him and put him into prison, a place where the king's
prisoners were bound, and he was there in prison. Our Lord Jesus Christ was numbered
with the transgressors. He made his grave with the wicked
in his death. But his humiliation, like Joseph's,
was the path to his exaltation and glory. His humiliation, his
being brought down to prison, was the means by which God would
raise him up and provide deliverance for his people. And so it is
with us. Our Lord Jesus Christ being numbered
with the transgressors and put to death as our substitute as
a wicked man dying between two thieves is himself by his death,
by his humiliation, by his degradation, by being brought down to the
grave is now raised up to glory and sits on the right hand of
the majesty on high and rules everything to give eternal life
to his people. Turn to Psalm 105. Psalm 105. Here the psalmist is giving this
song of praise to God for His wondrous works. And he's talking
about what God did for Israel. But if you read only what God
did for Israel here, you've missed the message. He's talking about
what God did for His true Israel. He's not just talking about Joseph.
He's talking about that one whom Joseph typified, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at verse 17. He sent a man
before them. Let me read it like this. Even
Christ, who was sold for a servant, whose
feet they hurt with fetters, he was laid in iron. Until the
time that his word came, the Lord tried him. The word of the
Lord tried him. Now look at verse 20. The king
sent and loosed him, even the ruler of the people, and let
him go free. He made him Lord of his house and ruler of his
substance. Look in John 17. Let's see the
fulfillment. Our Lord Jesus Christ, our great
Joseph, has finished his work. He's fulfilled all righteousness.
And now he's about to give himself in death at Calvary, finishing
the work of redemption. He says in verse 4, I have glorified
you on the earth. I have finished the work which
you gave me to do, and now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own
self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was,
and he has. To this end Christ both died
and rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead
and the living. We read in Hebrews chapter 1 that this one who is
the brightness of the father's glory, the express image of his
person, who upholds all things by the word of his power, when
he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right
hand of the majesty on high, and the father has committed
all things into the hands of his son. Thou has given him power
over all flesh. How come? How come? He rules
everything and everybody. How come? He has absolute dominion
over heaven, earth and hell. How come? The Lord Jesus Christ,
our great Joseph, is exalted and the Father has put everything
in his hands that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given him. And he does. Thank God. He rules and he saves according
to the will of God as Jehovah's servant, our great Joseph. Amen. All right, Lindsay, you listen
to him, if you will.