Exactly As God Planned
Genesis 39:1-23
February 22, 2015
As you know we are studying through the book of Genesis.
We’ve called it “The Gospel According to Moses”
Moses has carried us through Sin, Judgment, Salvation, Sanctification,
And now we are in the middle of PROVIDENCE.
• Adam taught us sin
• Noah taught us judgment
• Abraham taught us salvation
• Isaac taught us sanctification
• And now Joseph is teaching us providence
And honestly, if you read this story accurately,
It is one of the most mind-blowing stories in all of Scripture.
God is in the process of orchestrating events in such a way
That He might save Judah and the Messianic line
Through whom Jesus Christ would be born.
The means through which God is doing that is through the life of Joseph.
God is taking sinful men, with sinful plans, and sinful actions,
And yet somehow perfectly molding the situation
Into exactly what He desires to occur.
It is really quite remarkable.
We are seeing providence worked out in its finest form.
And that certainly continues this morning.
Now, before we start working through the text this morning,
I do want to provide you with a bit of a DISCLAIMER.
If you are looking for “feel good”, you are not likely to get it here.
Grasping the providence of God is likely to force you to die to self
In perhaps even a greater way than you ever have before.
Jesus was clear:
Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”
Following Christ…
Being used of God…
Will require you to fully die to self.
• Will require you to see God’s will as more important than your plans.
• Will require you to see God’s glory as the end goal
• Will require you to quit seeing God as a means for your own personal gain.
I want to be clear from the outset.
Following God is a costly endeavor.
Luke 14:25-35 “Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? “Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ “Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? “Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. “Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? “It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Jesus was clear.
• There is no room for a disciple that is only partially committed.
• The endeavor to follow Christ is an “All or None” decision.
• You can’t be half-hearted (that is weedy soil)
• You can’t be faint-hearted (that is rocky soil)
• You can’t be a fence rider (He is not with Me is against Me)
Submitting your life to Christ and God’s use is costly.
(And you are going to have to come to grips with that
Before you are ready to follow this story regarding Joseph)
Fully grasping the story of Joseph
Requires fully embracing death to self.
NOW, YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW THAT IT WILL BE WORTH IT.
Jesus also said:
Matthew 19:27-29 “Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”
• Following Christ will be worth it.
• Living your life for the glory of God will be worth it.
• Submitting your life to God’s providential plan will be worth it.
Just know that GOD DOESN’T SETTLE HIS ACCOUNTS IN THE HERE AND NOW. HE SETTLES HIS ACCOUNTS IN ETERNITY.
I want to remind you of that reality
And now I want to take you to the life of Joseph.
We are already a little ways into the story.
In chapter 37 we saw the contrast.
• We saw good Joseph and his wicked brothers.
• And we saw the unthinkable, Joseph was sold by his brothers to some
Ishmaelite traders and the brothers got of scot free.
The reason is because God is about to use Joseph to save Judah.
A famine is coming and God’s people would not survive.
God’s answer is to send Joseph to be a deliverer for Judah.
But then we read chapter 38 and saw what kind of a fellow Judah was.
In our estimation Judah was hardly worth saving.
A lying, wicked, murdering, greedy, disrespectful, adulterer.
Judah had rejected everything God had for him.
• He disregarded the Promised Land
• He defiled the Chosen Seed
• He despised the Sacred Covenant
And yet, despite his extreme lack of worth,
God was still bent on sending Joseph to save Judah.
It was a testimony to the unfathomable and amazing grace of God
That sacrificed His perfect Son to save wretches even today.
But none the less, you know WHERE WE ARE in the story.
Judah is living in sin, raising wicked boys, visiting a prostitute, etc.
Meanwhile Joseph has been sold into slavery and has arrived in Egypt.
So let’s rejoin the Joseph narrative
And see what God (in His awesome providence) is up to.
Genesis 39 is not difficult to understand, God’s fingerprints are all over it.
Moses is using it to help you and I understand how God works.
4 points.
#1 JOSEPH WAS A MAN OF EVIDENT FAVOR
Genesis 39:1-6a
It’s really not hard to grasp the point of these 6 verses.
(2) “The Lord was with Joseph”
(3) “the Lord was with him”
That is the first and foremost thing that Moses wants you to understand.
Yes, it appears that Joseph has been given an extremely raw deal,
But he is not in this thing alone.
God has not forsaken Joseph.
Joseph was right where God wanted him,
And God was right there with him.
You could say that “They were on mission together”
God was with him, and that is the MAIN POINT.
Everything else you read trickles down from that.
God was with him
(2) “so he became a successful man”
(3) “and…caused all that he did to prosper”
And the end result of God’s obvious favor on Joseph was that
Potiphar also noticed it, and therefore elevated Joseph to the highest possible position he had.
(6) “So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.”
Now, at this point I want to ask you to be careful.
This again is another area where people seem to travel beyond the point that Moses is making. These 6 verses are commonly misunderstood.
In the Joseph story people are so desperate to find the silver lining
That they will literally take any positive statement and dwell on it.
And the story goes something like this:
“Joseph was sold by his brothers, but God was with him and as a result Joseph was a prosperous man.”
The application then goes something like this:
“When bad things happen to you, just trust God and He will make you prosperous too.”
BE CAREFUL.
And understand what I am about to tell you:
PROSPERITY WAS NOT GOD’S REWARD TO JOSEPH. PROSPERITY WAS THE MEANS GOD USED
TO GET JOSEPH WHERE HE WANTED HIM.
It wasn’t as though Joseph was so obedient that God rewarded him by making him prosperous. That is not what happened.
Rather, God was using Joseph for a specific purpose,
And to be able to put Joseph where He wanted him,
Then prosperity was the best course of action.
But rest assured, if sickness or poverty or failure had been the best course then God would have just as quickly brought those things into Joseph’s life. (after all, we’ve seen God use slavery)
Prosperity is not God’s reward to Joseph,
It was the means God used to get Joseph where He wanted him.
Where did God want Joseph?
(ultimately in Pharaoh’s court)
• But first, he had to meet Pharaoh’s cup-bearer in prison
• Before that, he had to be thrown in prison
• Before that, he had to meet the woman who would cause his imprisonment
• Before that, he had to be trusted enough to have access to that woman.
Joseph was made prosperous, not as a reward,
But so that Potiphar might trust him, leave him with his lying wife,
And allow the plan of God to continue to work out.
I want you to understand that because so many today
Want to make prosperity out as a deserved reward for the faithful.
“If you just live for God, He’ll make you prosperous too”
Well what about the apostles?
2 Corinthians 4:7-12 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you.”
1 Corinthians 4:9-13 “For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.”
What about Paul specifically?
1 Corinthians 2:3 “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,”
2 Corinthians 10:10 “For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible.”
Don’t view prosperity as a sign of God’s favor.
And don’t view hardship as a sign of God’s disdain.
God will use either to fulfill His purpose in your life.
The truest blessing of the section is that God did not leave Joseph.
And in your life do not make prosperity your ambition,
Make obedience your ambition.
2 Corinthians 5:9 “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.”
Joseph was a man of evident favor, but that favor is seen in the fact
That God was using him, not in the fact that he was prosperous.
You must grasp this so that you do not become discouraged
When your life becomes harder than you think it should.
The promise of God IS NOT that He will make you prosperous in all things.
The promise of God IS that when you submit your life to Him,
He will never leave you nor forsake you. That is God’s favor!
Joseph was a man of evident favor
#2 JOSEPH WAS A MAN OF EXCELLENT PIETY
Genesis 39:6b-10
There again we find another attribute in Joseph that God was using.
“Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.”
And people instantly say, “I wish I was handsome in form and appearance.”
But listen, God didn’t make Joseph handsome
As a reward for being obedient.
God make Joseph handsome so he’d be attractive to this carnal woman who would eventually get him sent to prison.
Joseph’s good looks served a purpose in God’s providential plan.
And you probably recognize that
They didn’t end up serving a pleasant purpose.
But Joseph was handsome and this woman wanted him.
The beauty of these four verses is that
Joseph’s extreme piety was put on display.
And I know, at this point that “low hanging fruit” is to
Preach a message on sexual purity and how to overcome temptation.
That is not Moses’ point.
Moses is merely preparing you for what is about to happen next.
Moses wants to show you that Joseph’s predicament is NOT punishment,
IT IS PROVIDENCE.
For some reason we seem to want to attribute suffering to sinfulness.
• We get sick and we ask, “What did I do?”
• Someone else gets sick and we ask, “What did they do?”
And we want to attribute our misfortune to a bad decisions.
Why?
So that we can avoid it the next time and thus avoid the suffering.
That’s what Job’s friends wanted.
They wanted to know what Job did wrong so they could make sure they didn’t do it and suffer like Job did.
Eliphaz said:
Job 4:7-8 “Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed? “According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity And those who sow trouble harvest it.”
Bildad said:
Job 8:3-6 “Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert what is right? “If your sons sinned against Him, Then He delivered them into the power of their transgression. “If you would seek God And implore the compassion of the Almighty, If you are pure and upright, Surely now He would rouse Himself for you And restore your righteous estate.”
Zophar said:
Job 11:13-20 “If you would direct your heart right And spread out your hand to Him, If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, And do not let wickedness dwell in your tents; “Then, indeed, you could lift up your face without moral defect, And you would be steadfast and not fear. “For you would forget your trouble, As waters that have passed by, you would remember it. “Your life would be brighter than noonday; Darkness would be like the morning. “Then you would trust, because there is hope; And you would look around and rest securely. “You would lie down and none would disturb you, And many would entreat your favor. “But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And there will be no escape for them; And their hope is to breathe their last.”
• They all desperately wanted to find Job’s sin.
• They wanted to attribute Job’s suffering to some wicked thing he had done.
• They even accused him of some things.
But they were missing the point.
The book opens with the unmistakable point
That Job was NOT suffering because he was sinful.
Job 1:6-8 “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”
Job’s suffering was NOT because of his sin.
God (in his sovereign and providential control)
Was using suffering and was using Job for His purposes.
AND MOSES WANTS YOU TO SEE THE SAME ABOUT JOSEPH.
What is happening to him is NOT because of his sin.
Joseph was living right.
• Joseph refused to disrespect this woman
• Joseph refused to disrespect Potiphar
• And Joseph refused to disrespect God.
(9) “How could I then do this great evil and sin against God?”
The greatest means of resisting temptation is the fear of the Lord,
And Joseph certainly had it.
Joseph was a man of excellent piety.
Keep that in mind as you begin to examine providence in your own life.
The presence of suffering DOES NOT indicate the rejection of God.
Suffering can certainly be a result of sinful choices,
But it is NOT AS THOUGH God doles out suffering on those He is angry with and prosperity on those He is pleased with.
That is the prosperity gospel, and it is a lie.
God promises suffering for all people,
And there are numerous accounts where God brought it on the righteous
Specifically because they were righteous.
I HOPE THAT GIVES SOME COMFORT TO SOME WHO HAVE SUFFERED
Just know that so far Joseph has been sold and deported and he has more hardship ahead of him, but know that it is NOT because he is sinful.
Joseph was a man of evident favor Joseph was a man of excellent piety
#3 JOSEPH WAS A MAN OF EXREME ADVERSITY
Genesis 39:11-20
Well, there it is.
Yet another case of EXTREME INJUSTICE
Joseph just jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.
My grandpa used to sing me a song about a rabbit with no tail, and after each verse it would say, “Same song, second verse, could get better, but it’s gonna get worse.”
That was Joseph’s song.
All he is doing is trying to please God.
And man how that seems to blow up in his face.
This woman actually catches him, tries to take his clothes off him,
He flees (as he should) and she turns it against him.
She tells a flat out lie to her husband, and she pins part of the blame on her husband “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to make sport of me;”
Since the she is blaming Potiphar,
He has no choice but to save face and get rid of Joseph.
Now again, please notice the providence.
(20) “So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail.”
• Potiphar could have had Joseph killed, but he didn’t.
• Secondly, he just happened to throw him in “the place where the
king’s prisoners were confined.”
God was at work.
And you must see that, because if you don’t
There is nothing in this chapter for you.
From a human perspective, once again, this is all WRONG
Hollywood has conditioned us to wait for the happy ending.
• Potiphar’s wife was supposed to have been spotted by one of the lowly cleaning ladies.
• Potiphar was supposed to have been informed that his wife was an adulteress.
• Joseph was supposed to be delivered just before being thrown in prison.
A Hallmark movie would even have Joseph being set free, returned to Egypt, where he would meet the love of his life and live happily ever after.
This movie about Joseph would make a horrible Hallmark movie.
In our minds this is not supposed to happen.
BUT LISTEN…
• In God’s mind this is EXACTLY what is supposed to happen.
• This is going exactly according to God’s plan.
• This is God’s purpose.
Let me read you an often quoted verse again:
Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Now we love to focus on the “good” that is mentioned there.
The problem is that we commonly like to fill in the blank
For what the “good” should be.
But please notice the last two words of that verse.
“His purpose” (not your purpose)
God is working all things out for good,
But not necessarily your immediate and temporal good.
God’s overall plan is good, and He is using you to fulfill it.
• God is in the process of redeeming the world – that is good
• God is in the process of saving sinners – that is good
• God is in the process of glorifying His name – that is good
And He promises to use “all things”
To bring about THAT “good” for “His purpose”
Joseph’s predicament seems all wrong, but from God’s perspective,
Things couldn’t be working out better.
Now that reality forces you and me to get very real for a moment.
HAVE I FULLY SURRENDERED MY LIFE TO THE USE OF THE MASTER?
• Am I submissive to the purposes of God?
• Does God really have the right to use me for His ends?
I’ll never forget an incident that occurred early on in my ministry (before Spur) in which a person made some horrific false accusations about me and subsequently spread them all over the community.
I was angry at God for letting it happen.
God’s response: “Oh, so you didn’t surrender your reputation when you agreed to follow Me?”
Do you realize that this is where Joseph is?
• His reputation is shot.
• He is now in prison as a perverted slave.
It wreaks of injustice, and yet it is all according to God’s plan.
God is using Joseph to fulfill a great plan for the salvation of the world.
And I have to ask, would I be willing to be used like that?
Would I, like Paul say:
Acts 21:13 “Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
I told you looking into God’s providential work might be difficult.
But we are forced to see how committed our heart is to him.
It can at times appear that God doesn’t care
And that He is overlooking the injustice of His people.
TURN TO: PSALMS 44
To them it appeared that God’s people were sold cheaply
And that there was no profit in their sale.
That certainly can appear to be the case with our brothers in Christ
Who are being killed in the Middle East by Muslims.
But God IS working
All the injustice is perfectly according to God’s providential plan
And that is what I want you to see next.
Joseph was a man of evident favor Joseph was a man of excellent piety
Joseph was a man of extreme adversity
#4 JOSEPH WAS A MAN OF EXACT PURPOSE
Genesis 39:21-23
Again, I am almost amused at those who want a happy ending so badly
That they actually try to find one here.
Joseph receives “favor in the sight of the chief jailer”
And people want to cry “VICTORY!”
Folks, Joseph is in jail, away from his father, away from his homeland, with a shattered reputation.
This is NOT a good scenario.
Yes, but Joseph is in charge and he is still prospering.
But my question would be, who is benefitting from Joseph’s abilities?
• Potiphar did
• Now the Jailer is
• Soon Pharaoh will
If you want to see something to love here,
Then love Joseph’s humility and God’s faithfulness.
God is still with Joseph
Joseph has not grown bitter against God
And God is working out His exact purpose.
Joseph is in prison, about to encounter the next key player in the saga.
Providence is at work.
God is using Joseph for a greater purpose.
Voddie Baucham wrote:
“Joseph’s journey from Potiphar to prison is a reminder that God does not balance the scales in the here and now. He certainly doesn’t always tilt them in our individual favor. He does, however, work all things according to the counsel of his perfect, immutable will, and he uses frowning providences to accomplish his redeeming work. Therein lies our hope. Thus, we can say with Job, “Though he slay me, I will hope in him.” (Job 13:15)” (Baucham, Voddie; Joseph And The Gospel Of Many Colors; [Crossway Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois, 2013] pg. 67)
And this is what you and I must see.
We yield providential control to God,
And submit our lives to be used by Him for His great purposes. And we know that rather through prosperity or pain,
God will use us for His good purposes and reward us in eternity.
That is the life of Joseph.
Joseph’s story is the anti-prosperity gospel.
Joseph’s story reads as follows:
“Trust God, and obey him and then be sold into slavery, removed from your homeland, falsely accused, and thrown into prison.”
I know that is harsh, but thank God He used Joseph in such a way.
Because Joseph’s sacrifice saved Judah,
Through whom Jesus Christ would come who would save us.
It was a good purpose
It was a good plan
Paul said:
Romans 8:35-39 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
And so the question before you and I is whether or not
We will surrender our lives to be used of God.
Whether or not God’s purposes are more important to us than our own.
Whether or not we will be totally submitted to His kingdom and His work.
And make no mistake, this is what Jesus was asking
When He asked you to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him.
And though the road maybe hard, we have the promise that
God will reward us for our suffering and it will be worth it all!
Matthew 19:27-29 “Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”
WILL YOU FOLLOW HIM?
