It is Not in Me
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
How do you go about convincing the most powerful man in the world that they are powerless and need to ask for help? This is exactly the situation that God put Joseph in when he stood before Pharaoh to tell him that the vision he had recieved was a God he did not worship telling him he needed to listen to this young Hebrew slave if he was to save his country. The world is patently proud of being free from God and his purposes and will, and God’s work is to bend their knee to him. This results in God’s glory and their own blessing. In our text, we see how God used his representative to Egypt, Joseph, to bring down the pride of Pharaoh and point him to trust in him as the One True God, the mighty One. First, our text begins with two years of waiting.
Two Years of Waiting
Two Years of Waiting
Waiting is one of the hardest duties implied in faith. Faith is confidence in what we cannot yet see or fully experience, and that implies waiting. Waiting for sanctification, waiting for glory, waiting through seasons of sorrow and hardship, waiting for the fulfillment of all of God’s promises. After the birth of Jesus we are told of a man in Luke 2:25 who was righteous, devout, and waiting for the consolation of Israel. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he saw the Christ, and that was a promise he had to wait to see fulfilled. In the entire OT the people of God were always waiting for the coming of Christ. Listen to how Peter describes how the prophets looked forward to the coming of Christ,
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
Imagine the disappointment that Joseph must have experienced. He has asked the cup bearer to remember him. Each day he must have waited, thinking “maybe today will be the day.” Maybe today would be the day a prison guard would come and tell him that he is free to go, but as weeks turned into months, and months into years, this hope would have slowly dwindled until he had given up any hope that his encounter with the cup bearer would lead to his release.
Was God still with Joseph? His success in the prison and his correct interpretation of the dreams demonstrated clearly that God is indeed with him. And yet, imagine the questions that Joseph asked himself as he waited. If God is with me, why isn’t he helping me? If God is pleased with me, why am I still wrongfully convicted? If God means to glorify himself to the pagan Egyptians through me, how is he going to do that while I remain in prison? These aren’t questions that Joseph ever necessarily got the answer to. Even now, we cannot know for sure God’s reasoning behind keeping Joseph is prison for two more years, but what we can be sure is that this period of waiting was all in the plan of purpose of God. Waiting, even when we are suffering, has benefits that we are not able to see when we are waiting.
It causes us to trust God rather than ourselves.
It teaches us humility and patience.
It makes us empathetic towards those who are suffering.
So as Joseph waited, it was not a sign of God’s abandonment. It was God’s wisdom which is far beyond our own and Joseph’s willingness to submit to the mysterious and ultimate will of God.
Pharaoh's Dreams and Joseph remembered
Pharaoh's Dreams and Joseph remembered
Eventually, God’s wider purposes become known. For the third time, dreams make an appearance. At this point, it is no question to us, the readers, who is behind these dreams. Just as God gave a revelation to the two prisoners, now he is giving a revelation to Pharaoh, one that requires an interpreter sent from God to give it to him. Our text actually begins here with Pharoah dreaming two dreams. The content of the dreams is repeated later in the text, giving us a hint that these dreams are the most important in the whole story. While the four dreams before this had to do with individuals, these dreams tell the future of the entire known world. The survival of thousands is at stake. The dreamer is not the second youngest son of a desert nomad, it’s not even two of the highest servants in Pharaoh’s court, it’s Pharaoh himself who represents and rules the mightiest Kingdom in the world. Most importantly, the fate of God’s chosen people are at stake. We’ve seen famine in the book of Genesis before, and in those situations Egypt has been the place where Canaanites and others from smaller nations could go for safety and to buy food. now a famine is about to come that even Egypt won’t be able to survive it. A famine may last for a year, but seven years is enough to completely devastate the ancient eastern world. So it is no surprise that these dreams are repeated to us, because of all that is at stake with them being interpreted rightly.
There is a striking irony as Pharaoh finds his dreams unable to be interpreted. Remember that in the book of Genesis the country of Egypt represents the pride of human power. They are the country that Abraham wrongly went to for support rather than to God. And yet, in all of Egypts great power there is none who could interpret the dream. The powers of man have failed as they face a puzzle from the divine, and they have no power to discern it’s meaning without divine help.
Naturally, when all the magicians of Egypt and all the wise men are unable to interpret the dreams for him, Pharaoh confines his troubles to his cupbearer, who we saw last week would have been his most trusted servant who knew Pharaoh and his secrets better than almost anyone, even his own family. The cupbearer only then remembers his time in prison because of the parallels between the two dreams he and the baker dreamed and the dreams of Pharaoh.
Pharaoh’s Word is all it takes to change Joseph’s life around, but the consequence of failure could easily be a death sentence for an imprisoned Hebrew slave. God must show himself and in doing so he will prove again that he has not abandoned him.
Pharaoh’s words to Joseph show that, even though Joseph had told the cupbearer that God alone can interpret dreams, the cupbearer had left this part of the tale out. Despite God’s work in that instance, the Egyptians continue to try to interpret things from the perspective of human ability rather than Divine help. So the cupbearer gives all of the credit to Joseph. While the cupbearer remembers the incident, it seems that he has forgotten the God by whose power the interpretations were made possible. Joseph is quick to correct this misunderstanding in verse 16,
Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
That being the case, it is clear that Joseph saw his role to Pharaoh as bringing him knowledge of the glory of God. This is not only a correction, it is a challenge to the Egyptian’s set value on human ability. He is not about to let himself take the credit, as this would be to take glory away from God. Before he shows divine power to Pharaoh, it is most important that Pharaoh knows where that power came from.
When we live out our lives as supernaturally changed beings, it is important that we communicate that it is not us, but God’s power within us. Otherwise, we are taking God’s glory for ourselves and actually promoting the false obsession the world has with human power and ability.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
The world is unwilling to remember the works of God because of their sinful human heart. When they do remember the works, they will subconsciously reinterpret them to be the works of men rather than the works of God. We must work tirelessly to give glory to God, and not to man.
Joseph shows Pharaoh the power of God
Joseph shows Pharaoh the power of God
What follows is Joseph showing Pharaoh the power of God both through the dream and through what God is about to do. Again, everything that Joseph says is under the claim that God is the one who interprets dreams, not man. Joseph wants to make it very clear that he has no ability in himself to interpret dreams, and Pharaoh already knows that he and his magicians have no power to do so. This leaves Pharaoh completely reliant on Joseph’s God, not just to intepret his dream, but also to save his people.
As we look at the interpretation of the dream, Joseph points out that both dreams have the same meaning. The doubling of the dreams, a doubling we’ve seen throughout the story of Joseph, means that the thing is set in the mind of God. This isn’t a warning or a threat, it is simply a fact. It’s going to happen, and the two dreams act as two witnesses to this fact. You may notice the centrality of the Nile in the first dream. Seven healthy cows come out of it and then seven sickly cows. The Nile, representing the source of life for the people of Egypt, would produce plenty for seven years before being barren and dry for seven years. The second time we hear the account of this dream we get another detail, that after the sick cows eat the healthy cows they remain as sick as before. This hints that the plenty of the seven years would not be enough to carry them through the sick years unless food was purposely set aside and stored up. The two dreams also show a diversity of this plague, showing it will affect all food sources not just livestock. The east is where the desert was and a blistering wind from the east was dry and sometimes carried hungry locusts. When I lived in Australia we used to get an east wind during the dry part of the year that would make everything really dry and bring these flies that would just take over everything. This would have been similar, except worse because your crops were on the line.
Pharaoh’s pride in the strength of Egypt is betrayed in verse 19 where Pharaoh says that these sick cows were such that he had never seen in all the land of Egypt. In his mind, their great Kingdom is so rich in resources that such a sickly cow could not exist in it. And yet this cow represents the way cows will begin to look in Egypt when God brings famine to her.
The inclusion of both a blessing and a curse parallels the two dreams of Pharaoh’s servants. In that case, one dream had a positive meaning and one had a negative one. In this case, both dreams have both. The content of these dreams is straight forward, and maybe seems almost obvious to us. It’s not the most complicated dream with the most far-fetched interpretation, to the point that it almost seems like God had blinded the minds of Pharaoh and his magicians. God conceals as well as reveals, and he concealed the meaning of this dream. This enabled Joseph is minister is the way God had equipped him to and show Pharaoh his power over all things.
The part of this text that should stick out to us the most clearly is Joseph’s words in verse 16,
Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
All ministry belongs to God, it is all his work and anyone who would be any kind of help in the service of the Kingdom of God must have the willingness to say, “It is not in me.”
It’s not in me to know God.
Everything that happens in this story is because of Joseph’s relationship with God. If God was not with him, he would still be a lowly slave in the house of Potiphar or an average prisoner, or perhaps even dead. The most foundational part of all that we do for the Kingdom of God is that God is with us. But knowing God is not something we are directly in control of. A King has all the ability and right in the world to call one servant to himself and leave another alone, to bestow one with gifts while leaving the other destitute, to adopt one as a son and have the other justly executed. The King has no obligation to his servants, and so it is not in the servants hands to demand or force the presence and blessing of the King. A servant never summons a King, a King may summon a servant if he chooses. How much more with the King of glory? So it is not in Joseph to know God, as if he could summon or manipulate God into his life, it is God who chooses to be with his people and bless them according to his good will.
You did not choose God, he chose you, he chose us for the purposes he has for us, to bring the blessings of a new world to those lost in the old world. Never let someone praise your dedication to the faith or your closeness with God unless the credit is given to God, who chooses the lowest and poorest sinners for his great ends.
It’s not in me to know God’s revelation.
Just as it is not for a servant to demand the presence of a King, so it is not right for a servant to demand the thoughts, plans, and intentions of his King. A King may keep his secrets, but a servant is made to divulge all that he knows according to his King’s will. So it is not in us to demand the revelation of God, it is given by his grace at his discretion. How foolish it is for the atheist to shake his fist and say, “if God is really out there, why doesn’t he reveal himself to me?” I doubt a letter with the same message sent to the Queen would give me better results. In these dreams, God has graciously revealed his will and even then he is not obligated to offer and interpretation, and no accurate interpretation is possible if it is not from God. You knowledge of Scripture and of the Gospel is not due to your laboured theological study, it’s not because you are intelligent or reasonable, it’s because God has revealed himself to you. The humble response is to offer up that revelation as freely as it has been given, to stand boldly on God’s Word without pointing ourselves out as the ones with and inherent ability to interpret it. God reveals himself in everything, but the ability to interpret is given only to those in whom he has placed genuine faith. Study God’s word, not as an intellect hungry to expand his own knowledge, but as one thirsty for the fountains of living water graciously and freely provided for you in the revelation of God.
It’s not in me to speak God’s revelation.
Speaking God’s Word is not done by our own authority. Someone who has not been authorized to speak for the King will be imprisoned for false representation. Not just anyone can speak the Word of God. It must be one sent by God, commissioned by him. Someone in whom the Spirit of God dwells and who has the evidence that they can speak for God. God has equipped his people to represent his character and deliver his word to the World. Because the Word of God does not come from us and our own authority, God’s people are only speaking the revelation of God by his authority. This authority carries with it responsibilities.
Responsibility to speak God’s Word reflecting God’s character.
Responsibility to speak God’s Word accurately.
Responsibility to speak God’s Word in the Name of Christ
That is, not to speak it in our own authority, also not to speak our own opinion as if it is the Word of God. We are not the authors of what we speak in the name of the Lord, we are simply the messengers.
It’s not in me to affect the world with God’s revelation.
Even if we are able to deliver the message of God’s revelation to the world, we are not able to affect it into people’s hearts. It seems unlikely that Pharaoh would be willing to not only hear out the interpretation of a Hebrew slave imprisoned for sexual assault, but also to believe him and immediately put him in charge of the Kingdom with his own signet ring. The explanation we are to naturally glean from the text is that, not only had God revealed to Joseph the truth of what was to come, but he has also opened Pharaoh’s heart to accept it. Later in Israel’s history, God would harden Pharaoh’s heart in order to display his glory in judgement over him in the book of Exodus.
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;
he turns it wherever he will.
God equips his people, not only to deliver his revelation, but he also works in the heart of the listeners so that they will receive it. Just as God worked in the heart of the Ninevites that Jonah preached to, and in the hearts of the Jews and proselytes on the day of Pentecost, so also he worked in Pharaoh’s heart so that he would listen to Joseph and save Egypt and Israel. This is never an excuse to not be winsome when we bring God’s Word. Just as Joseph shaved and made himself presentable before he say Pharaoh, we should remove anything that may cause the world to not take us seriously or even to cause unnecessary offense. But at the end of the day, we must humbly submit our best efforts to the Lord who opens hearts.
From this humble position, Joseph boldly proclaims what he knows to be God’s Word. No false humility causes him doubt over his interpretation, because it is from the LORD. Not only does Joseph interpret God’s Word, he also applies it. Someone who is cut to the heart by the Word of God is led to ask, like those on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, “Brothers, what must we do?” Joseph instructs Pharaoh boldly to put the entire Kingdom into the hand of a wise overseer. What do we preach except that people put their trust in a wise Saviour who will prolong our days of blessing and provide in our time of lack.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The end of all this displays the glory of God in his power over dreams, their interpretations, and their fulfilment. This contradicts the way the world thinks and the emphasis that they put on their own ability. Remember Satan’s lie “you can be as gods” or essentially, you can replace God and be everything God is. You can have the power and the glory. You can make yourself better. You can save yourself. God challenges this fantasy with things that are completely out of their control. Pharaoh had no control over the coming years of famine, he didn’t even have power over the interpretation of the warnings in his dreams. In order to avoid the immediate destruction of the country, Pharaoh must listen to Joseph and do exactly what God’s representative says. Pharaoh is not in charge anymore, God is.
This is exactly what the world must see if they are ever to come humbly to the cross of Christ. Before they will ever come to Christ in faith, they must be driven to realize they are not gods, they are not powerful, and they are completely reliant on God’s goodness and providence. Death is part of the curse because it shows us how out-of-control they are, unable to affect the fact that they will end. They must reject their imagined ability to help themselves, throw aside their own ideas, plans, and values, and submit humbly before God with the urgent and heartfelt cry, “God be merciful to me.”
How will they be brought there? Obviously, only the Holy Spirit can bring someone to such a place. But how does the Spirit bring someone to see the futility of human power and the glory of God? He uses us. And if we are to be used efectively in this way to show them the low road that leads to the high throne of grace, we must live a life that says, along with the Apostle Paul in Galatians 2:20, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” and with Joseph, “It is not in me.”