Northside Church - Sydney
Superheroes: Life Lessons from the OT Week 4: Joseph
You're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. One of the features of the story of Joseph, of course, is sibling rivalry. Anybody up at this event in sibling rivalry? I heard a comedian recently linking sibling rivalry with where you are born, the order in which you are born, and this girl asked for a show of hands, all the first born. She said, "Now, you were born against the backdrop of passion, your parents really wanted to have you, and so you're very fortunate." And then she said, "Who are the second borns?" People put up their hands, she said, "Well, you know, some of the passion had gone out of your parents' relationship by the time you were conceived, and that was because of the behavior of the first one, they just put their hand up, and so you were mainly born primarily as a playmate for the first one." And it was very distorted, very sarcastic. Then she said, "Now, we're all the third born." And they put up their hand, she said, "Mmm, not many family photos, right?" "You know, as you get further down, don't get the old camera out there all that much." The first one, "Oh, well, look, you know, in the family of Jacob, there was a lot of sibling rivalry, but it was very one-sided because it was everybody ganging up against the youngest, and this was this young fellow, Joseph, 17 years of age when we pick up his story." And look, guys, you can begin to understand why there was so much hatred against Joseph because he was a precocious little guy, but a bit of a smart alec at 17, and came across in a very annoying sort of way. Look at, look at verse three, well, first of all, I mean, Jacob, the thing with Jacob was he made the fatal mistake that every parent should avoid. He developed a favorite, and he made it clear. That's the thing. That's where he made his mistake. He made it clear. Verse three, "Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons because he'd been born to him when he was old. He made a long robe with full sleeves, and when his brother saw that their father loved Joseph more than he loved them, they hated their brother so much that they would not speak to him in a friendly manner." So you see, Jacob, he had this favorite son, and it's OK for parents to have favorites. I mean, I was my mother's favorite. I just know that. My brother and sister keep reminding me of that, first born, but Jacob, if you have a favorite, you've got to be subtle about it, you know, just keep it low-key. So Jacob was, he told the whole, told the movie, and here's the other thing. Verse two says that Joseph would tell his father whenever his brother's played up and messed up, you know, like he would send little dad, "Guess what's been happening?" Now anybody had a brother or sister like that? Really annoying when that happens. We had a little bit of that in our family. Well, the thing that really got up the noses of the brothers was Joseph's tendency to have bizarre dreams. Remember this from your Sunday school days? He would dream these incredible dreams, but then he would, and they must have been very infuriating to listen to, because he had no hesitation to tell people in great detail about the dreams, like the one that was read to us in the reading from James. He says, "Hey guys, guess what, had this dream, and we're out sort of gathering wheat and we're sort of binding it all up, and then all of a sudden my wheat chief stood up really straight, and yours all bowed down." What would that mean? I mean, and then the other one where all the moon and the sun and the stars all bowed down to my star. Oh, embarrassing. What might that mean? And so these brothers, you know, right, so, but it was pretty hard to take, but nothing could excuse the plan that was hatched for Joseph. These guys conspired to murder him. Nothing could excuse that. But then there was one of the brothers, Ruben, who had a soft spot for Joseph, and he convinced the brothers, "Don't kill him. Let's just take him out of pit." And the idea was he was going to come back and rescue him. That was the plan, see? But when they threw him down the pit, then they saw some passing traders, and they looked at the opportunity for a quick dollar, sold Joseph for 20 pieces of silver, and then he began a brand new life, albeit as a slave initially, a brand new life in Egypt. Now guys, this is the background story of a man who in so many ways, particularly from this point on, was treated very, very badly throughout his life by various people. And because of that, when you look at these overall stories, Joseph had every reason to be totally disillusioned with life and with humanity. I mean, this guy had a pretty rough deer. We'll explain some of that. Yes, as a teenager, he'd made some bad choices. He'd acted inappropriately, but we can spill some sympathy for him after all. He was the youngest in a family of 12 sons. I mean, imagine sort of fighting for a place at the table, not to mention the difficulties with getting into the bathroom and so on. So he's the youngest. He copped the fair bit there. But he had other problems. Here's one of them. Those who should have loved him hated him. That's the first thing. Now friends, there can be very few situations, and I think God, I've not experienced this, but in pastoral ministry, and some of you are immediately going to know what I'm talking about. There can be very few situations more heart-rending and more devastating than when members of one's own family develop deep animosity and even hatred toward you or to somebody in the family. I mean, you see it a lot. Significant family moments like funerals and weddings bring it all out. And we in the pastoral ministry, we deal with this sort of thing, and some of you know the pain of this because it continues for some of you, and it's been going for years. So that's the first thing Joseph had to contend with, and then later in his life, those who should have trusted him, accused him. And this takes us up to Genesis chapter 39, where Joseph has risen to a very prominent position of authority in the home of a guy called Potiphar. And usual name, I wouldn't suggest you select that. Those of you, Sam, Kristin, I wouldn't definitely know, be careful with biblical names, Potiphar. He was the captain of the palace guard in Egypt. And Joseph gave that standing service to this man. But the man's wife took a bit of a fancy to Joseph, good looking boy. This is MA rating, by the way, this story of Joseph. This is 15 plus, I've been checking over and over and over, I mean, she couldn't have her away with him. He fiercely resisted all of her approaches, but then finally she cried rape. And Joseph without any trial, without any investigation, without any chance to defend himself, flung into prison. And so those who should have trusted him, they accused him. He built up a reputation as a hard-working, loyal, faithful servant. He didn't deserve this. He should have had a chance to defend himself. But worse was to follow. Those who knew his worth forgot about him. You get a picture of this guy? He's having a rough time. They abandoned him. We don't know for how long Joseph was in prison, but based on the biblical record, it was probably for many, many years. And there's a poignant summary in chapter 40, verse 23. Something happened. You see, one of the King's butlers was thrown at a prison for some reason. And he connected with Joseph, and they developed quite a friendship. And Joseph helped this guy out on a number of occasions, including interpreting one of this guy's bizarre dreams. And Joseph was really in the dreams. This guy had a bizarre dream, and Joseph interpreted, and they built quite a friendship. Now then the butler was released, and you'd think he would have said, "Hey, look, a pot of fire. I've been to have him in the dungeon with Joseph. Man, we're going to get that guy out. Remember, he'd been a fantastic guy. He'd been so unjustly treated. No chance to defend himself. Let's go and talk with the King. You'd expect the guy would do that. But no, no, no. Verse 40, verse 23, look at this, it's sad, "But the wine steward never gave Joseph another thought. He forgot all about him. Can you relate to that, invest heavily in a friendship? Get a great length to help a certain person in trouble, only to find that at your time of need, when you really need them, know where to be found." Have you had those kind of experiences? Well, Joseph certainly did. He knew the pain of that. And so friends, you see that at different points in his life, Joseph must have suffered greatly from what could only be described as severe discouragement and disillusionment. He must have become very, very disheartened with life and with humanity itself. Now discouragement and disillusionment are two of the most difficult things you and I have to cope with in life, would you agree? And the people of God are not immune from it. I mean, when Joseph came to be a mature adult, he was a faithful, dynamic servant of God and yet we see that his journey involved betrayal, false accusation, being abandoned. I'm sure there are people, in fact, I know there are people listening to me now who can identify with one or all of these harsh realities. And with the result that you've found yourself at times withdrawing from people, that's what happens sometimes when we're suffering from severe discouragement and disappointment. You find yourself withdrawing from people. You may start to compare your situation with others, gosh, if only I, you know, if I had that sort of upbringing or if I was in their circumstances, things would be a lot better. And that can lead to a little bit of jealousy and bitterness, you know how this works. You can indulge in a bit of self-pity. Discouragement has the tendency to just sappess of energy, spiritual, emotional, even physical energy. Friends, these are very natural responses to the pain of discouragement. And if not addressed, if these aren't addressed, we may find ourselves permanently robbed of the joy, the peace, the sense of meaning and purpose that God really wants us to have. He's not a main God, he wants us to have these things, even despite the hardships. But overall, as a deep quality of life, he wants us to have these to fall back on. Well, what can we learn from Joseph's story? How did he handle severe discouragement? That is what drew me into this story this week because I've had my moments of discouragement as you have. Well, he is a superhero and many things could be said about Joseph. I've identified several. Look at this first one. Joseph refused to be imprisoned by the pain of the past. Yes, he was imprisoned physically in Egypt, but he could have easily become very bitter, very angry. But we find in drawing deeply on his faith in God to release him from any such tendencies. In fact, as a tangible expression of his victory in this area of his life, he gave a name to his firstborn son. In the name of his special significance, look at verse 50 of chapter 41, "Before the years of famine came, Joseph had two sons by us enough." He said, "God has made me forget all my sufferings and all my father's family." So he named his first son, Manasseh. So obviously, Manasseh and the original language meant something about being able to walk away from the past. God has made me forget all my sufferings. God has allowed me to forget all my sufferings. I'm sure the ability to remember was still there. We never lose that. The hardships you've been through and the hardships I've been through, we'll never erase those from our memory. Only God can erase memory, whatever we are of reasonable fitness, health-wise, mental-wise. The memories are always there. But he was saying, "I won't let these memories impede my movement forward. I won't let these things hinder my progress toward becoming the person I know deep down God wants me to be." Because the apostle Paul had a similar story we know very familiar with in terms of walking away from his past. Not so much things that had been done to him, but things that he had done to others, his relentless pursuit of the Christian church, his criticisms, his arguments, ultimately, the persecutions. He talks about his decision to just step away and the power of the spirit to step away from the past in Philippians 4.13. There's one thing I do, forgetting what is behind me, and he had a lot to drag him back. He would have had some potential nightmares, some of the things he did. Forgetting what is behind me, I do my best to reach what is ahead. Friends, it's a decision. The past for some of us is very, very painful. You can either linger in the past and wallow in the past or reach a point where I've paid enough in terms of mental, spiritual and physical health, I refuse to pay more. You can actually, I've encouraged people over the years to write a note that says, "Paid in full," to list all the things that are holding you back, to list all those memories, and as a spiritual exercise to list it and then be cross, "Paid in full by the blood of Jesus," sometimes physical things, those involved in counseling will tell you, sometimes physical actions can help reinforce the point that's trying to be made. Here's something else about Joseph. He was resolute about living purposefully in the present, and believe it or not, this stance is reflected in the name he gives to his second son. In verse 52, he said, "God has given me children and the land of my trouble," so he named his second son Ephraim. Other versions say, "God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction." He's talking about fruitfulness of children in the first instance, but also fruitfulness in terms of general blessing, but it's also a reference to the fact that this all happened in the land of his affliction, and so despite my affliction, he's saying, "I've still managed to live with purpose and with meaning right here and now." I love this word resolute because it denotes perseverance, it denotes persistence, being staunch and determined, being tenacious and single-minded. Friends, it's a word that speaks about the part we play in the process of recovery from discouragement, and we have a part to play. God has a huge part to play. We have a part to play. God through the Holy Spirit gives us the tools and the resources we need to step away from permanent discouragement, but we are called upon to take action ourselves. It's like Paul says in Colossians 1 verse 29, he's talking about his ministry and how he handles his ministry, and we know only too well that he had huge discouragement in his ministry, huge setbacks, huge disappointments. Look at what he says in verse 29 of Colossians chapter 1, he says, "To get this done, and this is the ministry, to get this ministry done, I toil and struggle, using the mighty strength which Christ supplies and which is at work in me." What a beautiful recognition of the power of God, but his need to be tenacious and to struggle and to really keep pressing on as an act of the world. And just one more, Paul talks about this with Timothy over in 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10, he says, "I struggle and I work hard because I have placed my hope in the living God who is the savior of all and especially of those who believe. I work hard." I bet Joseph had to work hard when his brothers came down to Egypt in search of some grain, it's in Genesis 42, there was a severe drought in the land of Canaan, all the food had gone, who were flocking to Egypt because the brilliance of Joseph had made many store-up lots of grain over the years. And so Joseph is holding in a huge job in the Egyptian government, he is in charge of the sale of all food, big job, big public service job. Well he recognises his brothers, they don't recognise him, I mean last time I saw him he was getting dragged out of a pit and carted off into slavery, and now he's probably wearing beautiful robes and one of those hats like, you know, tooth and carbon and something, he would have looked very, very Egyptian, walked like an Egyptian, all those, all those things and they didn't recognise him. So what a temptation it must have been for Joseph to exercise his power over these guys, throw them in a prison or worse because of what they've done to him. But you know, Joseph's resolved to live purposefully in the present, he clearly recognised the futility of revenge and bitterness and ultimately there's a beautiful reunion, a whole lot of stuff happens as you know, but ultimately there's a beautiful reunion and a very touching scene when Joseph reveals his true identity to his brothers. This is one of the special moments of the Old Testament, it's in Genesis 45, and you do well to read some of this this week, we're just skimming over, Genesis 45, Joseph gets to the point where the emotion is overwhelming and he tells you service to leave and just leaving with these men who have arrived. And then in verse 4 of chapter 45, look at this, Joseph says, "Please, come closer." They did and he said, "I'm your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt." Can you imagine this as like, was this kind of camera or is this like, you know, well, do not be upset or blame yourselves because you sold me here. It was really God who sent me ahead of you to save people's lives, and then down further verse 9. Now hurry back to my father, tell him that this is what his son Joseph says, "God has made me ruler of all Egypt, come to me without delay. You can live in the region of Goshen where you can be near me, you, your children, your grandchildren, your sheep, your goats, your cattle, everything else you have. Come on down, it's all forgiven, fantastic." And in verse 15, and then weeping, he embraced each of his brothers and kissed them. After that, his brothers began to talk with him, and that's just a little sort of footnote there. You can imagine what sort of a reunion those guys would have had in all the stories they would have had to tell. It's all forgiven. I'm not going to live in bitterness and resentment any longer. God, we can make that choice, it's Joseph after all he'd been through. Come on down. Let's have a huge Christmas celebration this year. Let's all live together until this crisis is over. It's fantastic reunion. And guys, that's a perfect segue to the third and final thing we can identify in Joseph in his relationship to God. Here it is. He had a quiet but certain conviction about God's promises for the future. He knew the promises of God about the future of the nation of Israel. He was aware that he in fact was part of the unfolding drama. He'd already played a part, and he would play an ongoing part. He knew that. And the closing chapters of Genesis are a powerful testimony to Joseph's unswerving conviction about God, the God of history, and the way things are unfolding. He even tries to explain to his brothers how in a mysterious way God's hand had been on this whole thing all along, chapter 50. And verses 19 to 21, look at this, but Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. I can't put myself in the place of God. You plotted evil against me, but God turned it into good." Whoa, couldn't we spend a bit of time on that? There's a whole series in itself. You plotted against me, but God turned it into good. In order to preserve the lives of many people who are alive today because of what happened, you have nothing to fear. I'll take care of you and your children. Be reassured with these words. And it says the words touch their hearts. And then in the closing words of Genesis. David's, Joseph's brother's only deathbed. He's only deathbed and he reasserts his, his faith in the promises of God. Look at verse 24, he said to his brothers, "I'm about to die, but God will certainly take care of you and lead you out of this land to the land. He solemnly promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." Can you get the significance of that? Here he is on his deathbed. And after all he's been through, Joseph is reiterating the covenant arrangement given way back to Abraham. He knew that this was all working out to a plan, had absolute confidence in the future promises of God. Friends you and I know only too well life can be full of discouragement and disappointment. And it can be heart-rending. Take some comfort from Joseph. He refused to be imprisoned by the pain of the past. He was resolute about living purposefully in the present. And he had a quite conviction that God would see him through in the future. Now that's why I love this man, because you think about it. Past, present, future, they're, they're the three things we've got to deal with in life. He can be held back by the past. He can make bad choices in the present. He can be terrified out of your mind and anxious and worried about the future. If you, by the power of the Spirit, can get those three areas of our lives in balance, in sync through the power of the Holy Spirit, you're talking, you're talking there about fulfillment, maturity, joy, peace, all the things that God promises. And friends this is a lot of this is a choice. A lot of this is a choice which we can make before Almighty God. Joseph did. Not easy. Not easy for Paul. Paul struggled. Not easy, but it can be done. So where are you up to? Getting held back by the past, making bad choices in the present, anxious about the future. Joseph's got a word for you. And it's a word of God and it's good. Let's bow in prayer. Father God, we thank You for the inspirational example of Joseph, what a man. Lord, with every reason to be angry and bitter and resentful, but a man who ultimately took all those people who had done Him harm, brought them all together for one big, wonderful reunion. And He did it as a matter of choice, not out of weakness, but out of strength. And Lord, we can take such encouragement from His example, "May none of us linger in the hurts of the past, may we be very careful about our purpose, driven life in the present, and may we recognize that you hold a future in your hands and that future will be good because nothing will separate us from Your love." Thank You. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. (gentle music)