Joseph

Genesis • Sermon • Submitted a year ago

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Background

If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John Colunga and I have the privilige of serving as lead pastor here at New Day Pasadena

I also have the privilige of bringing this weeks sermon

So if you have your Bibles, plese turn to Genesis 41:37-57

We are continuing a new sermon series called “Genesis” and we will be going through six key accounts in the book of Genesis

Genesis is the first book of the Bible and is the first book of the Pentateuch

(Greek word is - pentateuchos, “five volume [book]”),

These 5 books are often referred to as “the law”

Includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy

The majority of scholars agree that they were written by Moses

Genesis is a narritive, and more than that it is the foundation to which the rest of scripture rests

And up till now we have talked about God creating the world and man

That God himself is good, his intent is good, his will is good, his design is good,

So when he created the world, the world was good

He created man his image and in his likeness

And it was his will that man and woman’s will be aligned with his

So he gave them a command to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

We talked about Adam and Eve disobeying God and they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

And when they ate of it they were no longer unashamed but rather now carried shame

And it was at this point that God promised a Savior, one who would crush Satans haead though his heel would be bruised by death

two weeks ago we talked about Noah and how God saved him and his family when God flooded the world

God doesnt learn and he doesnt change

God will punish or or bless according to the current circumstance

So God does change the future of human history by flooding the earth

At the end, God made a covenant to never flood the earth again and gave a rainbow as the sign of it

We talked about God’s covenant with Abraham

Abraham had to faith and obedience to leave his country

As Abraham left, he was to be a blessing to all who he came around

God would make him a great nation

God would bless Abraham

God would make his name great

Through Abrahams came Jesus

Jesus is the Newer and better covenant

His covenant is not dependant on mans actions, rather on his own work on the cross

Thus, God has always been faithful to keep his covenants

We need to just have faith and obedience to him

Last week we talked about Jacob and how he prepared his entire camp for worship

That God kept his promise and continued the Abrahamic Covenant throuh Jacob

And God changed Jacobs name to Isreal

And even after obedience and a blessing

Jacob still went through hardship

Today, we will talk about Joseph -

Scripture tells us in Gesesis 37 that Jacob loved Joseph more than any other of his sons

And this love that was aparent bt his actions (making a coat of many colors) had his brothers jealous

In fact they weren’t just jealous, they hated him

And then Joseph has dreams that his brothers bundle of wheat bowed down to his bundle, and this happened after his bundle arose and was over theirs

So now, they hate him even more because the implication of this is that Joseph would reign and rule over them

And another dream came to Joseph where the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to him

So now, not only are the brothers going to bow down to him but his mom and dad as well

So Joseph is rebuked by his father and his brothers jealousy grew

Then the brothers conspired to kill him but Reuben convinced them to just throw him in an ampty well

And then it was Judah’s idea to sell Joseph

Judah is the oldest son

And so they sell Joseph to Potiphar and bring back his robe with blood of an animal on it to their father Jacob

In chapter 38 we find what seems to be a narrative of Judah and his offspring

We will come back to this later

Genesis 39 - Joseph is sold to Potiphar and God was with Joseph and blessed him

Joseph’s works hard and is trusted to be the overseer of everything Potiphar had

Then, Potiphar’s wife tries to get Joseph to sleep with her and Joseph says no

Potiphar’s wife had grabbed Josephs cloak and has he fled he left it behind

Potiphar’s wife uses cloak to say that he tried to advance on her

She makes note that Joeph, a Hebrew, was trying to disgrace her

And so Potiphar throws Joseph in prison, where God was still with Jospeh

And so in prison God blessed Joseph as Joseph was trusted to run the prison

Then Joseph interprets two dreams, two prisoners, the baker and cup bearer displaced Pharaoh and were in prison

One of these dreams were favorable as the cupbearer would return to work for Pharaoh but the baker would be put to death

Within three days, as predicted, these things came to pass

And then Pharaoh started having two dreams and the cupbearer told Pharaoh about Joseph

So Joseph comes before Pharaoh and interprets his dream

Joseph tells Pharaoh that his dreams mean the same thing

There will be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine

And without asking, Joseph gives a recommendation of what the Pharaoh should do

This is how we know that Joseph wasn’t seeking power

Joseph tells Pharaoh what he should do, appoint a man to oversee the years of plenty and store one fifth of the grain

And keep the food as a reserve for the seven years of harvest

Joseph gives a blueprint of what needs to happen - and then we get to todays text

If you are able, I ask that you please stand and follow along as I read God’s Word - Genesis 41:37-57

37 This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. 38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. 40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. 43 And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. 44 Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” 45 And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-paneah. And he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. 46 Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. 47 During the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly, 48 and he gathered up all the food of these seven years, which occurred in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the fields around it. 49 And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured. 50 Before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore them to him. 51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.” 52 The name of the second he called Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” 53 The seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end, 54 and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. 55 When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” 56 So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57 Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ge 41:37–57.

This is the word of the Lord, you may now be seated

If I were to ask you, “Who are you?” what would you say?

If I were to ask, “what are you about?” what would you say?

Both of these center around the word identity - What is your identity?

Specifically I want to ask, What is the foundation of your identity?

Because you can talk about identity in a lot of different ways

The Big 8 Social identites are:

Gender Identity

Race Identity

Ethnic Identity

Sexual Orientation Identity

Religion or Spiritual Identity

Nationality Identity

Socioeconomic Status Identity

Others include:

Ability or Disibility

Profession

Relationship

Family

Values and Beliefs

Hobbies

We use these things to help define us and find our identity

Wikipedia - Identity formation, also called identity development or identity construction, is a complex process in which humans develop a clear and unique view of themselves and of their identity.

And I acknowledge it can be complex when you do not have a foundation

You can get so lost in trying to figure out who you are or who you are suppossed to be when you are focusing on identity formation

And I believe this is a reason why we have so many people today stuggling with an identity crisis

Who am I?

What is my purpose?

Why am I here?

What am I suppossed to feel?

How do I know that I am loved?

Where do I find love? Find acceptance? Find success?

What defines me as a person?

Who do I want to become?

Am I suppossed to find my identity in myself?

In what I like. In what I want to do. In my goals.

How does my experiences play into my identity?

How do my friends experience define my identity?

There are so many questions we can ask ourself about identity

Bust most of your identity will stem from what your anchor is or what your foundation is

Family

Work

Today I want to submit to you that the foundation of who you are needs to be rooted in Jesus Christ

Joseph, the son of Jacob knew that the foundation of his identity was in God and his life showed it

Trying to change identity

Before we move any forward we must submit that up to this point, Joseph hasn’t cursed God or turned from Him

Joseph has been faithful to God

We have come to a place in todays reading where Joseph is promoted to be number two in all the land of Egypt

Joseph is the one Pharaoh chooses because there is evidence of wisdom and discernment in him that is from God

And make no mistake - Pharaoh is not acknowledging God as the one true God,

Pharaoh believes that he himself is a god - but he blelieves that he works and rules in conjunction with other gods

And Pharaoh believes that as a god, he can choose who is favored and not favored

He decides when to carry out justice or give mercy

He decides when to put someone in a place of authority

And he acknowledges that the God of Joesph has chosen to bestow his Spirit in to Joseph just as Pharaoh decides to choose from among his own people who he favors

And Pharaoh, in his own mind, to work in conjunction to this other God, makes Joseph second and gives him all of the honors that a second in command would have

But Pharaoh cant have a Hebrew man with a Hebrew name in authority in Egypt

So Pharaoh changes his name from Joseph to Zaphenath-panea

If you remember when Babylon took over Israel and Daniel’s name was changed

This is done to try to erase the identity of the persons origin country so that they would embrace the identity of the new country

In both cases both Daniel and Joseph accepted these name changes but did not turn away from God

So Pharaoh changes Josephs name, gives him the best Egyptian clothes, Egyptian jewelry, Egyptian chariot with escort,

He parades him around so that everyone would know that this man in over them

And then Pharaoh gives him an Egyptian wife, a daughter of an Egyptian priest

Why? So that they would have Egyptian babies

Pharaoh is doing everything he can to change Joseph’s identity in every area of his life

Joseph goes along with all of this - but I submit to you that the foundation of his identity never changed

Joseph’s identity in God produced hard work and blessings for others -

Many times we hear or get the idea that the further up you go in a company the less you have to work

Less work and more paperwork

You can start slacking off a bit because now you are in a position of authority

Some may do this and it is not the right thing to do

We certainly do not see Joseph doing this

In every position Joseph had, either under Potipher, under the prison guard, or under Pharaoh - Joseph worked hard

And even after joseph is promoted, he continued to work hard

Jospeh is the slave but God blessed Potipher’s house - Genesis 39:3-5 “His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field.”

Jospeh is the prisoner but the prison ran successfully - Genesis 39:21-23 “But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.”

And now as second in command God blessed Egypt - 47 During the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly, 48 and he gathered up all the food of these seven years, which occurred in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the fields around it. 49 And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.

Joseph’s identity in God produced a faith that persevered when tested

There is a saying that says “Life’s not fair”

And by human standards, by human logic, its not fair that Egyptians and Egypt benefits while Joseph suffers!

That unbelievers benefit from his affliction - from his injustice - and from his enslavement

By human logic and standards it is hard to understand that God loves and favors Joseph and yet allows him to be a slave

However, Joseph understood that God had a plan and that he was to be faithful

There is no doubt that Joseph’s upbringing played into his faithfulness

Joseph was a circumsized child of the covenant and there is no doubt that his father Jacob raised him and taught him of it

There is no doubt that Jacob told Joseph of his failings - how he and his mother did not trust God but tried to take matters into their own hands and decieved Esau

And Joseph, being taught and raised to have faith and trust in God, has continued even when life seemed unfair

Joseph’s identity in God produced forgiveness and recognition of God’s blessings

And you might say that Joseph is now second in command and isnt suffering but that’s not necessarily the case

because Joseph knows that Egypt isn’t his true home

He misses his dad, his family - being separated from them has caused him great misery

It could cause great anger, vengance, resentment, bitterness

But his foundation rooted in God, And so Joseph sees how God has used him and blessed him and so he forgives

He names his son Manasseh - A Hebrew name “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.”

You see, Pharaoh can change Joseph’s name but Joseph gets to name his sons and so he clings to his foundation

Joseph clings to the covenant of God and stays true to him and names his son as a son of the covenant

A covenant from the one true God to his people

And so he gets a second son and he gives him the Hebrew name Ephraim “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

Angain, in Egypt, Joseph was afflicted but has since blessed him

Joseph’s identity in God produced a providence that can only be given by God

God was true to the dream given to Pharaoh

7 years of plenty came but then came 7 years of famine

And Pharaoh sent evryone to Joseph

And Joseph portioned so that all could eat through the famine

THe text said all the world

Not just Egyptians, but all who needed food could come to Egypt and they gave

If you read ahead, you know that this brought Josephs brothers to Egypt for food

They did not recognize Joseph and so he put them through a series of tests

He tests them to see if the youngest brother Benjamin was still alive

They come back with Benjamin and Joseph tests them again

He deliberately has his cup put in Benjamins sack

Before they left, he tore their sacks and there was his cup that came out of Benjamins sack

So Joseph says hes going to keep Benjamin there

And then who steps up? The oldest, Judah

The one whose idea it was to sell Joseph

He comes forward and pleads with Joseph to take him instead

That his father would literally die if Benjamin did not return

And Judah promised to bring Benjamin home

And Judah says this, Genesis 44:32-33 “For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.’ Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers.”

It is at this point in Genesis 45 that Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and shares that it is by God’s providence that he was sold

Genesis 45:7 “And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.”

If we look at the geneology of Jesus, we do not see Joseph’s name in the lineage

Rather, we find his brother Judah

This is why Judah’s account with Tamar is placed where it is - because it is through Judahs line that Jesus would one day come

And everything that Joseph endured was so that Judah and the remnant could be saved

Judah, willing to give his life to reconcile Benjamin to his Father is foreshadowing what Jesus would one day do

Except Jesus actually gave his life

He gave his life for you and for me

He gave his life so that we would be reconciled to God the Father

And we, are to put our faith and trust in him and make him the foundation of our identity

Jesus doesn’t promise us a life of ease, but he does promise us a life of fulfillment

When we have our identity founded in Jesus, It produces hard work and a life of service

Jesus came to serve, not to be served

That is exactly what we are called to in the Christian faith

Mark 10:44-45 “and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””

We are to work hard and to serve

That others will be blessed by us and through us

That we do not rely on material things but know that we are working towards heavenly treasures

When we have our identity founded in Jesus, It produces a faith that perseveres when tested

Brothers and Sisters, your faith will be tested

You no longer can claim ignorance, I am telling you that one day, if it hasn’t happened already, your faith will be tested

Ephesians 6:16 “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;”

There is a reason why faith is the shield - because when the attacks come, when the doubts come, when the victim mentality creeps in and Satan is tempting you with lies - your faith will protect you and keep wou rooted in God’s truths

There is also a reason why it says in all circumstances - Our faith should be part of every aspect of our life

Our shield must be strong and ready at all times

1 John 5:4 “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

As believers we have hope that no matter the circumstance, Jesus didn’t come to give us a physical victory or a temporary victory that gives an easy life

Rather, Jesus gives us an everlasting victory that extends past this world - past our human form

When we have our identity founded in Jesus, it brings forgiveness and a recognition of God’s blessings

Colossians 3:13 “bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

When we remember that God forgives us because of Jesus’ work on the cross, we are able to forgive and to take off the burdens of hate, vengance, bitterness, and we walk in freedom in the identity of Jesus

This freedom allows us to focus on all the good that God has bestowed on us

When we have our identity founded in Jesus, it allows us to trust God’s providence

Genesis 50:20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

When we live life trusting that God is with us, that no matter what we go through, Jesus will be faithful to us, then we can live knowing that he will work all things out

That God has a plan for you that has a greater meaning and purpose than anything you could ever think or imagine

When you trust him with that, then you can live a life that produces an abundance of peace and joy

It produces 1 Corinthians 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

That is the purpose, meaning, and identity of a believer - That we are children of the Most High God and seek to glorify him in all that we do

Announcements

Connect Card - Please fill out, we want to connect with you

Not too late to sign up for Community Group and Connect Class - Please fill out Sign Up Sheet out in the foyer and Pastor John will follow up with you

We will also have a block party today March 12th @ 4pm - There will be games, snacks, prizes, and more

Canvas the Neighborhood - Creating flyers to invite others to church (Focusing on Deepwater and Dallas (between Burke and Strawberry)

Easter Sunday - April 9th - 2 services 9 and 11am, easter egg hunt after both services

New Day Reading Plan - Mon-Fri - Mark 13-Luke 1.

Please stand and recieve the benediction before we leave -

Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”