God's Wisdom In A Nutshell

Hello,

Today I’d like to talk to you about the tragic yet amazing story of Joseph from the book of Genesis. It is a story of the long-suffering of Joseph, and everyone can learn something from this amazing story.

long-suf·fer·ing: (from the online dictionary)
ˈhaving or showing patience in spite of troubles, especially those caused by other people.

Joseph was the favorite of the twelve sons of Jacob and so he gave Joseph a special gift – a beautiful robe referred to as the coat of many colors. This made his brothers very jealous. Soon after Joseph received the coat, he had a dream that surprised him.  He decided to share the dream with his father and brothers.

“We were out in the field tying up bundles of grain. My bundle stood up and then your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before it!” (Genesis 37:7 NLT)

Josephs brothers hated him all the more for his dream and what it had revealed –  that oneday they would be bowing before their brother.  They were so enraged that they decided  to Joseph but instead, they sold him into slavery in Egypt.  An officer of Pharaoh (the king of Egypt)  named Potiphar purchased Joseph.

Potiphar noticed that the Lord was with Joseph because everything ran smoothly ever since he came to the palace, so Joseph was put in charge of Potiphar’s entire household.

Genesis 39:6-15New Living Translation (NLT)

6 So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a thing—except what kind of food to eat!

Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, 7 and Potiphar’s wife soon began to look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded.

8 But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. 9 No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.”

10 She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. 11 One day, however, no one else was around when he went in to do his work. 12 She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with me!” Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house.

13 When she saw that she was holding his cloak and he had fled, 14 she called out to her servants. Soon all the men came running. “Look!” she said. “My husband has brought this Hebrew slave here to make fools of us! He came into my room to rape me, but I screamed. 15 When he heard me scream, he ran outside and got away, but he left his cloak behind with me.”

Potiphar’s wife lied about Joseph and he was thrown into prison by being falsely accused of rape.  In prison the Lord was with him and he became a favorite of the chief jailer.

In jail, Joseph interpreted dreams that revealed that there will be seven abundant years of crops and then seven years of famine. He sent a message to let king Pharaoh know to collect one-fifth of the crops to store during the seven good years so that when the famine came, the Egyptians would have enough. Those in charge took the suggestion of Joseph because they felt that the Lord was with him.  Joseph was then put in charge of the project.

During the famine years, Joseph’s brothers heard that Egypt had food so they journeyed from Canaan to Egypt only to find their brother was in charge of all of the food in Egypt! They bowed before him and were stunned.

“But don’t be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it.  He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives…God sent me here to preserve you so that you (Israelites) will become a great nation.” (Genesis 45:5-7 NLT)

The Hebrews proceeded to live in Egypt for 400 years and grew to 2 million strong.  This size scared the Egyptians so they enslaved the Israelites.  God was not happy with this and came to rescue His people and lead them out of Egypt to the land he promised their descendants…the promised land of Canaan.

The longsuffering of Joseph can teach us many lessons. Listed below are the points I’d like you to take away from this amazing Bible story:

1.  What was meant for our harm, God can use to our advantage.
2. God will never leave or abandon those who follow Him, even though there may be years of thwarted dreams along the way. God will remain with those who make Him Lord of their lives. He will ease our pain and give us the peace of Christ that transcends all understanding.
3. There is an end to suffering. God will step in to rescue His people.

God’s Promise:
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result. (Genesis 50:20 NASB)

Music For Your Soul:

“He Didn’t Lift Us To Let Us Down” by The Imperials