uh turn your Bibles to Genesis 37.<\/p>\n
Genesis 37. Uh we're going to be looking<\/p>\n
at the life of Joseph and<\/p>\n
we're going look at a few passages. And<\/p>\n
so, but we'll start out with Genesis 37.<\/p>\n
And I'm actually going to invite my my<\/p>\n
wife Mandy to come and to read uh<\/p>\n
Genesis 37 1-1. And then we'll one verse<\/p>\n
in chapter 40 40 verse 23 and then the<\/p>\n
end of Joseph's life 50 through 12<\/p>\n
through 20. So<\/p>\n
and at the end of um and at the end of<\/p>\n
the reading um I will say this is God's<\/p>\n
word and then the congregation will<\/p>\n
respond thanks be to God.<\/p>\n
>> Genesis 37 1-11.<\/p>\n
Jacob lived in the land of his father's<\/p>\n
sojourings in the land of Canaan. These<\/p>\n
are the generations of Jacob. Joseph,<\/p>\n
being 17 years old, was pastoring the<\/p>\n
flock with his brothers. He was a boy<\/p>\n
with the sons of Bilha and Zilpa, his<\/p>\n
father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad<\/p>\n
report of them to their father. Now,<\/p>\n
Israel loved Joseph more than his other<\/p>\n
sons, because he was the son of his old<\/p>\n
age, and he had made him a robe of many<\/p>\n
colors. But when his brothers saw that<\/p>\n
their father loved him more than all his<\/p>\n
brothers, they hated him and could not<\/p>\n
speak peacefully to him. Now Joseph had<\/p>\n
a dream. And when he told it to his<\/p>\n
brothers, they hated him even more. He<\/p>\n
said to them, \"Hear this dream that I<\/p>\n
have dreamed. Behold, we were binding<\/p>\n
sheav in the field, and behold, my sheep<\/p>\n
arose and stood upright, and behold,<\/p>\n
your sheav gathered around it and bowed<\/p>\n
down to my sheep.\" His brothers said to<\/p>\n
him, \"Are you indeed to reign over us?<\/p>\n
Or are you indeed to rule over us?\" So<\/p>\n
they hated him even more for his dreams<\/p>\n
and for his words. And then he dreamed<\/p>\n
another dream and told it to his<\/p>\n
brothers and said, \"Behold, I have<\/p>\n
dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun,<\/p>\n
the moon, and the 11 stars were bowing<\/p>\n
down to me.\" But when it was told to his<\/p>\n
father and to his brothers, his father<\/p>\n
rebuked him and said to him, \"What is<\/p>\n
this dream that you have dreamed? Shall<\/p>\n
I and your mother and your brothers<\/p>\n
indeed come to bow ourselves to the<\/p>\n
ground before you?\" And his brothers<\/p>\n
were jealous of him, but his father kept<\/p>\n
the saying in mind.<\/p>\n
Chapter 40 23.<\/p>\n
Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember<\/p>\n
Joseph but forgot him.<\/p>\n
And now chapter 50 12-20.<\/p>\n
Thus his sons did for him as he had<\/p>\n
commanded him. for his sons carried him<\/p>\n
to the land of Canaan and buried him in<\/p>\n
the cave of the field of Makfella to the<\/p>\n
east of Mamray where Abraham bought as<\/p>\n
the field for Ephron of the Hitittite to<\/p>\n
possess as his burying place. After he<\/p>\n
had buried his father, Joseph returned<\/p>\n
to Egypt with his brothers and all who<\/p>\n
had gone up after him to bury his<\/p>\n
father. When Joseph's brothers saw that<\/p>\n
their father was dead, they said, \"It<\/p>\n
may be that Joseph will hate us and pay<\/p>\n
us back for all the evil that we did to<\/p>\n
him.\" So they sent a message to Joseph<\/p>\n
saying, \"Your father gave this command<\/p>\n
before he died. Say to Joseph, please<\/p>\n
forgive the transgression of your<\/p>\n
brothers and their sin because they did<\/p>\n
evil to you.\" And now please forgive the<\/p>\n
transgression of the servants of God<\/p>\n
your father.\"<\/p>\n
Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His<\/p>\n
brothers also came and fell down before<\/p>\n
him and said, \"Behold, we are your<\/p>\n
servants.\" But Joseph said to them, \"Do<\/p>\n
not fear, for am I in the place of God.<\/p>\n
As for you, you meant evil against me,<\/p>\n
but God meant it for good, to bring it<\/p>\n
about that many people should be kept<\/p>\n
alive as they are today.\"<\/p>\n
>> This is God's word.<\/p>\n
>> Thanks be to God. Let's pray.<\/p>\n
Lord, we just sang, Lord, I need you<\/p>\n
every hour. And so we do need you right<\/p>\n
now. That you would help us hear your<\/p>\n
word. That you would work on our hearts.<\/p>\n
That we would behold your glory. And as<\/p>\n
we behold your glory, would we be<\/p>\n
conformed more to your image, Christ,<\/p>\n
and that the spirit would live inside<\/p>\n
us. And that we would come alive to the<\/p>\n
wonder and the beauty of the gospel. We<\/p>\n
thank you for your word. Now be with us<\/p>\n
as we listen to it as your people in<\/p>\n
Christ's name. Amen.<\/p>\n
Let me begin with a question. What<\/p>\n
positions<\/p>\n
do you have in this world? Are you a a<\/p>\n
boss or a CEO?<\/p>\n
Are you a a father or a mother? Maybe<\/p>\n
maybe you're a an older brother or an<\/p>\n
older sister. Uh maybe you hold a a<\/p>\n
public office. Maybe you hold an office<\/p>\n
in the government or maybe it's uh an an<\/p>\n
office in your flat.<\/p>\n
Uh are you a leader in an organization,<\/p>\n
a teacher, an instructor, a pastor, an<\/p>\n
expert in your field?<\/p>\n
All of us have different positions in<\/p>\n
the world and some of those positions<\/p>\n
have been uh given to us because of<\/p>\n
maybe some achievements that we have<\/p>\n
done and some of those have have been<\/p>\n
given to us because nothing that we have<\/p>\n
done. But every position that you have<\/p>\n
comes with authority. It comes with a<\/p>\n
responsibility.<\/p>\n
Every position comes with power.<\/p>\n
relative power, not absolute power or<\/p>\n
godlike power. You have you have<\/p>\n
relative power over your employees that<\/p>\n
are under you. You have relative power<\/p>\n
over the your students or your children<\/p>\n
that are under you.<\/p>\n
Now, power uh many of us really don't<\/p>\n
like to talk about power in the position<\/p>\n
that you have. We all we all know that<\/p>\n
we have it, right? But it's hard to talk<\/p>\n
about power.<\/p>\n
We know the poison that power can be. We<\/p>\n
know people in positions<\/p>\n
above us to be so destructive<\/p>\n
with the power that they have.<\/p>\n
Maybe we just think or we just close our<\/p>\n
eyes. Just close our eyes and it will<\/p>\n
just kind of go away. this this problem<\/p>\n
of power. But you know it doesn't and in<\/p>\n
fact sometimes it gets worse. Now on the<\/p>\n
other hand there are actually some that<\/p>\n
just all they do is talk about power.<\/p>\n
They see every action as a push to<\/p>\n
power. Every position every action as<\/p>\n
coercion of others.<\/p>\n
And where there might be right is that<\/p>\n
yeah there's a lot of power and a lot of<\/p>\n
that power is being misused. But see,<\/p>\n
they lack something.<\/p>\n
They lack the story that it wasn't so in<\/p>\n
the beginning.<\/p>\n
You see, in the ancient garden, when you<\/p>\n
look at the story of of Genesis, God<\/p>\n
gives tremendous<\/p>\n
power to Adam and Eve. Remember that he<\/p>\n
says, \"You are you are in my image and I<\/p>\n
have given you dominion.\" in this power<\/p>\n
over everything over all of creation to<\/p>\n
be God's steward. So God commissioned<\/p>\n
Adam and Eve with the highest position<\/p>\n
of I mean in creation and it was to<\/p>\n
cultivate it was to create. It was to<\/p>\n
flourish.<\/p>\n
Now that's the reason for power and<\/p>\n
position. It's for flourishing. It's for<\/p>\n
it's for cultivating not coercion.<\/p>\n
But<\/p>\n
now there's a dark shadow over power<\/p>\n
because because in the story Adam and<\/p>\n
Eve took the poison and they grasp for<\/p>\n
power.<\/p>\n
They foolishly chose to be like God or<\/p>\n
creator and power has been misused and<\/p>\n
abused ever since.<\/p>\n
So when we come to the subject power,<\/p>\n
it's no wonder that we are a little bit<\/p>\n
hesitant maybe uh or that we really<\/p>\n
don't want to talk about it or even<\/p>\n
really desiring to have power ourselves.<\/p>\n
History records in every culture in<\/p>\n
every kingdom a story of a people in<\/p>\n
positions who have misused and abused<\/p>\n
their positions<\/p>\n
either by too much or by too little. But<\/p>\n
here's the thing is that that does not<\/p>\n
erase that God has in his design made us<\/p>\n
in our image his image and that we are<\/p>\n
commissioned to have dominion over all.<\/p>\n
We all have positions that we can<\/p>\n
influence others.<\/p>\n
So back to you. How do you see your<\/p>\n
position?<\/p>\n
How do you see power? Is it a necessary<\/p>\n
evil? Is it something that you're really<\/p>\n
grasping for?<\/p>\n
Is it something you want to run away at<\/p>\n
all cost? Or do you maybe see it as a<\/p>\n
good a gift from God? Well, now that<\/p>\n
comes to the story of Joseph. And this<\/p>\n
is one of the greatest stories in the<\/p>\n
Bible. It's because one of the things is<\/p>\n
one of the longest stories. It's from<\/p>\n
Genesis 37-50.<\/p>\n
So we get to see Joseph not as just a<\/p>\n
onedimensional flat character but you<\/p>\n
see him develop over time. He's dynamic.<\/p>\n
He gets to grow. And today we are going<\/p>\n
to trace the arc of Joseph and and his<\/p>\n
multiple positions. And what we'll see<\/p>\n
is<\/p>\n
we'll see how Joseph begins to live for<\/p>\n
himself and then his falls and rises. uh<\/p>\n
and then eventually Joseph will see him<\/p>\n
in a position where he is helping and<\/p>\n
flourishing others. So let's go to the<\/p>\n
text Genesis 37. If you have your<\/p>\n
Bibles, keep them open there. Genesis<\/p>\n
37. So what position is Joseph in?<\/p>\n
Joseph it you you actually see it's a<\/p>\n
juxosition because on the one hand you<\/p>\n
look at verse two and in verse two you<\/p>\n
see that he is just called a boy. He is<\/p>\n
just called he is one of actually in the<\/p>\n
lowest position in his family business.<\/p>\n
Okay, he's uh what it means when it says<\/p>\n
that he was just a boy that means he was<\/p>\n
an understudy. He was a servant uh a<\/p>\n
mere helper to his brothers. So he is<\/p>\n
again he is in the lowest position in<\/p>\n
the family business. But yet on the<\/p>\n
other hand you read verse three and it<\/p>\n
says now Israel and that's Jacob. Jacob<\/p>\n
loved Joseph more than his other sons.<\/p>\n
Now, uh, raise your hands if you have<\/p>\n
siblings. Is anyone I have a I have a<\/p>\n
brotherh and a sister. Um, if if if you<\/p>\n
have a if your parents have a favorite,<\/p>\n
you think that goes well?<\/p>\n
>> No, it this is not going to go well. And<\/p>\n
and so Joseph here is in the favored<\/p>\n
position by his father.<\/p>\n
Joseph even has this lavished uh<\/p>\n
multicolored robe.<\/p>\n
Now back then who wore multicolored<\/p>\n
garments.<\/p>\n
It was only the kings and the queens.<\/p>\n
And so what so what Jacob is saying to<\/p>\n
to Joseph is you should be treated like<\/p>\n
a king in the family. Again, not going<\/p>\n
to go very well. you you begin to see<\/p>\n
that this is a very dysfunctional family<\/p>\n
and there are sins coming from multiple<\/p>\n
directions. So, Jacob's favoritism<\/p>\n
entices Joseph's pride and arrogance and<\/p>\n
and and Joseph grabs this grabs this<\/p>\n
favored position and he uses it for<\/p>\n
himself. Look at verse two. Look at<\/p>\n
verse two. says that Joseph brought a<\/p>\n
bad report of them to their father. Now,<\/p>\n
what's happening here? It's it's<\/p>\n
actually more than just tattletelling on<\/p>\n
his brothers. What Joseph is actually<\/p>\n
doing when he brings a bad report, he's<\/p>\n
actually it means and he it's it's it's<\/p>\n
a it's an evil report, a slanderous<\/p>\n
report. See, he thinks that because he's<\/p>\n
in the favored position that he can use<\/p>\n
that to<\/p>\n
live for himself. So, and he can<\/p>\n
manipulate his father to get more power.<\/p>\n
So, we have established again that<\/p>\n
Joseph's in the favored position. And<\/p>\n
so, and rather than in this position<\/p>\n
being constructive and seeking to bring<\/p>\n
family unity, he's bringing destruction<\/p>\n
with his power and his position. And<\/p>\n
it's it's driving a wedge<\/p>\n
between him and his brothers. And that's<\/p>\n
how the narrative plays out, right?<\/p>\n
Joseph dresses in this robe of many<\/p>\n
colors. And his brothers, well, they see<\/p>\n
it and they hate it and they hate him<\/p>\n
for it. And then uh<\/p>\n
uh they you know they they could have<\/p>\n
group relationships but<\/p>\n
this is a massive relational<\/p>\n
break. See Joseph again is in the lowest<\/p>\n
position in the family. He's in the<\/p>\n
lowest position family but he's in the<\/p>\n
upper position of this family because of<\/p>\n
his father. And so when Joseph is<\/p>\n
walking around<\/p>\n
in the dreams, he's being very<\/p>\n
insensitive. He's being very<\/p>\n
insensitive. And this is true for people<\/p>\n
that are in power in high positions<\/p>\n
seeking power.<\/p>\n
They can be very insensitive. They can<\/p>\n
be very insensitive to the actual<\/p>\n
relationships.<\/p>\n
Now today we call this relational<\/p>\n
dynamics or maybe call relational EQ or<\/p>\n
emotional EQ. It's like if you have a<\/p>\n
boss and if you have a if you have a<\/p>\n
boss and they have authority see yeah<\/p>\n
that position comes with authority.<\/p>\n
They're a boss. It's been given to you<\/p>\n
by the company. But if that boss if if<\/p>\n
you are the boss and you have that<\/p>\n
position and you're seeking power from<\/p>\n
it then what you have is you have<\/p>\n
positional authority but you do not have<\/p>\n
influential authority. What do I mean by<\/p>\n
that? It means that you often lack<\/p>\n
relational connection<\/p>\n
between the people that are under you<\/p>\n
because you you rely everything on your<\/p>\n
positional authority. And this is what<\/p>\n
Joseph's doing right here. So you have<\/p>\n
to shed some of the layers in your<\/p>\n
heart. You have to get why why are you<\/p>\n
in this position? Is it really for<\/p>\n
seeking power to seeking maybe a name<\/p>\n
for yourself?<\/p>\n
If it is power then it usually means<\/p>\n
that you're in a position and what<\/p>\n
you're doing is you're using people for<\/p>\n
your own glory and your own adv<\/p>\n
advancement.<\/p>\n
If you seek power, then only people<\/p>\n
people are only good<\/p>\n
to you as far as they can lift you up<\/p>\n
higher in a higher position or a higher<\/p>\n
status.<\/p>\n
Now, a side note, you might be thinking,<\/p>\n
what's the difference between power and<\/p>\n
control? At least that's what I thought<\/p>\n
when I was thinking of this. See control<\/p>\n
um the idol of control focuses on really<\/p>\n
managing what you have and controlling<\/p>\n
what you have. But power<\/p>\n
lust after growth towards dominance over<\/p>\n
others.<\/p>\n
And so this that's really what's going<\/p>\n
on in in the dreams here. See what's the<\/p>\n
essence of the dreams? What's what did<\/p>\n
the dreams reveal? It's not hard. Look<\/p>\n
at verse eight. His brothers knew<\/p>\n
exactly what was going on. You don't<\/p>\n
need a special interpreter to have to<\/p>\n
understand these dreams. They say, \"Are<\/p>\n
you indeed to reign over us? Are you<\/p>\n
indeed to rule over us?\" And then<\/p>\n
there's a second round of dreams and<\/p>\n
even then his father rebukes him.<\/p>\n
He he he says, \"You're taking your favor<\/p>\n
position even too far. It's gone to your<\/p>\n
head. His father's not even happy with<\/p>\n
this. See, Joseph knows his relationship<\/p>\n
with his brothers is greatly strained<\/p>\n
and he feels it. He feels it. And he<\/p>\n
knows his brother has hatred toward him.<\/p>\n
But does he care?<\/p>\n
Well, it's a sign that it's a sign that<\/p>\n
someone who is lusting for power, he's<\/p>\n
very insensitive. He's rubbing these<\/p>\n
dreams in their noses.<\/p>\n
I mean, think about it. He tells them<\/p>\n
one dream and they get pretty upset.<\/p>\n
Then he goes and tells them another<\/p>\n
dream. And he he rubs his favored<\/p>\n
position because Joseph at this point is<\/p>\n
only living for himself.<\/p>\n
He's living for himself. He'll take all<\/p>\n
the power that he can get. People with a<\/p>\n
love of power and position don't care<\/p>\n
about the relationships and about the<\/p>\n
emotions and about the other in the<\/p>\n
relationship and how they're doing. See,<\/p>\n
this is this is contra to what a good<\/p>\n
leader is. Think of first Peter 5 when<\/p>\n
the Apostle Peter talks about elders in<\/p>\n
a church.<\/p>\n
What's the qualification? One of the<\/p>\n
things is to not be overbearing.<\/p>\n
A good way to understand being<\/p>\n
overbearing is well, have you ever<\/p>\n
tightened a bolt on a car or maybe<\/p>\n
you're a a screw and and on a house<\/p>\n
project? See, you know, there there's a<\/p>\n
balance between being too firm and being<\/p>\n
overbearing with the bolt because you<\/p>\n
can go and you can tighten it with with<\/p>\n
firmness but gentleness and then it can<\/p>\n
lock in, right? But if you if you go all<\/p>\n
power, then you'll strip the threads<\/p>\n
and you will strip the the bearings on<\/p>\n
it. And see, that's what Joseph's doing<\/p>\n
right here. He is going all power and<\/p>\n
he's stripping down the whole<\/p>\n
relationship with his brothers.<\/p>\n
Now what his brothers do? That's evil.<\/p>\n
It's evil. Their response is actually<\/p>\n
even more destructive than what Joseph<\/p>\n
was. As I said, there's sins coming from<\/p>\n
all angles here. But what we see in<\/p>\n
Joseph's life is that he is in a favored<\/p>\n
position and he's only living for<\/p>\n
himself.<\/p>\n
How about you?<\/p>\n
What positions do you have?<\/p>\n
[snorts]<\/p>\n
You have to do some heart questions<\/p>\n
here. You have to do some diagnosis of<\/p>\n
why are you in that position? Are you<\/p>\n
living<\/p>\n
for yourself in that position?<\/p>\n
Are you using the power for yourself in<\/p>\n
that position?<\/p>\n
Now a good indicator and it's it's scary<\/p>\n
to really to know is to look to your<\/p>\n
Now don't ask yourself ask the people<\/p>\n
around you and then be willing to listen<\/p>\n
about the health of your relationship.<\/p>\n
Now this is for all of us but I think I<\/p>\n
have scriptural warrant to admonish the<\/p>\n
younger people here. See, Joseph was<\/p>\n
only 17.<\/p>\n
Boy, I remember when I was 17.<\/p>\n
I wish I would have stopped and listened<\/p>\n
and and and sought to understand others<\/p>\n
because I see a lot of myself here when<\/p>\n
I was 17 or 27 or sometimes even 37.<\/p>\n
Now, now for those who are younger,<\/p>\n
they're so often they're so desiring a<\/p>\n
quick success<\/p>\n
and under lying that is a drive for<\/p>\n
living for yourself.<\/p>\n
And the scriptures talk about youthful<\/p>\n
pride.<\/p>\n
So all I'm saying that if you're<\/p>\n
younger, pay attention to your heart.<\/p>\n
Give permission for others to speak into<\/p>\n
your life, especially in a community<\/p>\n
like this.<\/p>\n
It might save you from a lot of<\/p>\n
heartache.<\/p>\n
See, Joseph receives these two dreams<\/p>\n
when he's 17. Now, what he doesn't see<\/p>\n
is the pathway which God as his good<\/p>\n
shepherd leads him to fulfill those<\/p>\n
dreams.<\/p>\n
God's path and method is to melt<\/p>\n
Joseph's heart<\/p>\n
to shed the callous skin of pride and<\/p>\n
living for himself. See, this is the<\/p>\n
middle section of Joseph's life. And<\/p>\n
what we'll see is through some some<\/p>\n
extraordinary rises and falls, the good<\/p>\n
shepherd is molding Joseph before he<\/p>\n
gets to live out his dream.<\/p>\n
So as the story continues<\/p>\n
between Genesis 37 and 41<\/p>\n
uh Joseph will fall three more times<\/p>\n
further down and then he will rise three<\/p>\n
more times eventually to the position of<\/p>\n
prime minister and it's an expand of<\/p>\n
about 13 years of his life. Now, as a<\/p>\n
preacher, I would love to preach for<\/p>\n
that whole all those chapters, but you<\/p>\n
would be here for 13 years. So, I don't<\/p>\n
want you to do that. So, we're going to<\/p>\n
do a quick chart here and just look at<\/p>\n
the chart. And this is this is basically<\/p>\n
a helpful chart to understand Joseph's<\/p>\n
life. So after the dreams, his Joseph<\/p>\n
had had enough with him and with evil<\/p>\n
intentions sold Joseph into slavery.<\/p>\n
And they put him and his dreams on a<\/p>\n
caravan down to Egypt to be sold into<\/p>\n
slavery.<\/p>\n
But then<\/p>\n
Joseph was bought<\/p>\n
by a man named Potterer.<\/p>\n
And this is his first fall. But then the<\/p>\n
Lord was with him. Actually, we'll just<\/p>\n
switch over to this next slide because<\/p>\n
it does indicate some the Lord was with<\/p>\n
him.<\/p>\n
And Joseph rises to the household<\/p>\n
manager, but then he gets attention to<\/p>\n
from Pottersford's wife. And so she uses<\/p>\n
her powerful position to pursue him in<\/p>\n
an intimate relationship.<\/p>\n
And while Joseph ran away from<\/p>\n
potterer's wife<\/p>\n
then and the openation<\/p>\n
uh temptation and and invitation that he<\/p>\n
could have easily had potterer wife<\/p>\n
accused him.<\/p>\n
So his master sent him into prison but<\/p>\n
the Lord was with him. The Lord's<\/p>\n
steadfast love was with him. And so he<\/p>\n
rises after he falls a second time. And<\/p>\n
then in so in prison he he rises to a<\/p>\n
manager of the prison. And as a manager<\/p>\n
he makes two amazing network connections<\/p>\n
with the chief cup bearer<\/p>\n
and of the chief baker. And these are<\/p>\n
two very influential people. And through<\/p>\n
these connections, he has this amazing<\/p>\n
opportunity to interpret two dreams.<\/p>\n
Joseph interprets these two dreams. And<\/p>\n
he sees it as a way out of this downward<\/p>\n
spiral.<\/p>\n
Maybe he was thinking, \"Now I can live<\/p>\n
out my dreams.\" He even says before the<\/p>\n
chief cup bearer returns to position, he<\/p>\n
tells him, \"All I ask you to do is<\/p>\n
remember me. Remember me.\" And now we<\/p>\n
come to our text.<\/p>\n
Where do we find Joseph? Well, this is<\/p>\n
his lowest moment.<\/p>\n
He's in the prison cell and he's<\/p>\n
forgotten. Look at our text. Genesis<\/p>\n
40:23.<\/p>\n
It says, \"Yet the chief cup bearer did<\/p>\n
not remember Joseph,<\/p>\n
but forgot him.\"<\/p>\n
And we know how long he forgotten too<\/p>\n
because the next verse says after two<\/p>\n
whole years<\/p>\n
two years forgotten after he had been<\/p>\n
imprisoned after he had been falsely<\/p>\n
accused. After he'd been ston sold into<\/p>\n
slavery by his brothers.<\/p>\n
Now we can't know everything what's<\/p>\n
going on in Joseph's heart. the<\/p>\n
hiddenenness of God, the silence of<\/p>\n
prayers, the dark night of the soul,<\/p>\n
all of this can break a man.<\/p>\n
But maybe that was the point that God<\/p>\n
was doing.<\/p>\n
How do you break a man's pride?<\/p>\n
God only knows.<\/p>\n
We don't have Joseph's journals, but<\/p>\n
what we do see in the man that Joseph is<\/p>\n
becoming<\/p>\n
through these trials and sufferings.<\/p>\n
One way I think that the Lord is is<\/p>\n
working on Joseph is teaching him where<\/p>\n
real power comes from.<\/p>\n
From his experience in these middle<\/p>\n
years, he's placed uh in these<\/p>\n
positions. They have very little power.<\/p>\n
Uh they're very controlled powers<\/p>\n
because he's a slave. A slave has no<\/p>\n
power. He's in prison. People in prison<\/p>\n
don't have any power. And so even he's<\/p>\n
in these middle management positions<\/p>\n
that he had. He quickly learned that in<\/p>\n
the snap of the fingers, they can be<\/p>\n
taken away. The position, the power<\/p>\n
gone.<\/p>\n
but God working on him in his forgotten<\/p>\n
stake.<\/p>\n
See, I I don't know all the details, but<\/p>\n
what we do see in the story is that<\/p>\n
Joseph's perspective is being<\/p>\n
transformed to realize that he is living<\/p>\n
under God's sovereignty and power and<\/p>\n
rule.<\/p>\n
What do I mean by this?<\/p>\n
You see a massive shift in Joseph's last<\/p>\n
rise. So again, two years forgotten and<\/p>\n
then one day Pharaoh has a dream.<\/p>\n
None of his wise men can figure out the<\/p>\n
dream. So guess who remembers? Who can<\/p>\n
interpret dreams? The cup bearer<\/p>\n
remembers. And now Joseph is out of the<\/p>\n
pit. And Joseph stands in front of the<\/p>\n
most powerful man<\/p>\n
on earth at that time.<\/p>\n
And Pharaoh request Joseph, Joseph, this<\/p>\n
nobody, this Hebrew, this outsider<\/p>\n
to interpret the dream.<\/p>\n
And as as the reader, we're asking, has<\/p>\n
Joseph changed? What's what's going to<\/p>\n
go on here? And what he says is<\/p>\n
shocking.<\/p>\n
It's strong. It's almost a rebuke to the<\/p>\n
most powerful man on earth. Genesis<\/p>\n
41:16, we didn't read, but basically<\/p>\n
what it says is not me.<\/p>\n
Not me. Don't look at me. I don't have<\/p>\n
any power. All the power to give and<\/p>\n
interpret dreams, all of it comes from<\/p>\n
God. Belongs to God. So Pharaoh, if so,<\/p>\n
Pharaoh, if you are going to have an<\/p>\n
interpretation of your dream, God will<\/p>\n
give it to you. God will decide that<\/p>\n
you're under God.<\/p>\n
This is a massive shift in Joseph's<\/p>\n
mind. Because look,<\/p>\n
Genesis 37, look at Genesis 37. You know<\/p>\n
what you don't see in his younger years?<\/p>\n
What is absent?<\/p>\n
God.<\/p>\n
God is absent. There's no mention of<\/p>\n
Until<\/p>\n
Joseph begins to fall and the text says,<\/p>\n
\"And the Lord was with him<\/p>\n
until he's thrown into slavery.\" Then<\/p>\n
God is mentioned<\/p>\n
and not even by Joseph, by the narrator.<\/p>\n
It's so often in your falls, in your<\/p>\n
losing, in your dying that the present<\/p>\n
of the the presence of the Lord is felt.<\/p>\n
Often it takes the fall, it takes the<\/p>\n
losing, it takes the dying<\/p>\n
that you know the presence of the Lord<\/p>\n
and his steadfast love is working on<\/p>\n
you.<\/p>\n
The Lord always works on you to say<\/p>\n
wherever you're at, he's worked on you<\/p>\n
to say not me but God.<\/p>\n
Grace, this is what grace is. Grace is<\/p>\n
the beginning of God's work where you<\/p>\n
begin to see where the real power is.<\/p>\n
And it's a gift of God. And when you<\/p>\n
know<\/p>\n
power is a gift, then you begin to love<\/p>\n
and to use it for good and for<\/p>\n
flourishing and for cultivating.<\/p>\n
See, Joseph's route to h through<\/p>\n
humility is God's work in reforming him<\/p>\n
and his understanding of power.<\/p>\n
You need to see that God particularly<\/p>\n
works on Joseph like this because he<\/p>\n
also particularly works on you<\/p>\n
because he particularly loves you.<\/p>\n
He might be particularly working on you<\/p>\n
like he's working on Joseph and<\/p>\n
reforming your understanding of power or<\/p>\n
maybe it's something else but he's<\/p>\n
working particularly on you in your<\/p>\n
rises and falls.<\/p>\n
But today we have Joseph in front of us.<\/p>\n
And so maybe you're a lot like Joseph<\/p>\n
and God is really working on you by his<\/p>\n
word right now to really calibrate and<\/p>\n
to reform your understanding of power.<\/p>\n
See, here's the key that you have to<\/p>\n
see. The opposite of humility is not<\/p>\n
power, but pride.<\/p>\n
Both humility and pride have power. But<\/p>\n
pride, as we saw in the beginning of<\/p>\n
Joseph's life, is all about using it for<\/p>\n
yourself.<\/p>\n
God brings these falls, these<\/p>\n
sufferings, these struggles into<\/p>\n
Joseph's teaching<\/p>\n
to teach him humility so that Joseph's<\/p>\n
understanding of inhumility now<\/p>\n
he can use his power<\/p>\n
for the flourishing of others. And<\/p>\n
that's what we get to see in the last<\/p>\n
section of our I mean our last section<\/p>\n
in Genesis 50. So we've come to the end<\/p>\n
of Joseph's life.<\/p>\n
We come to the end of Joseph's life and<\/p>\n
now he's prime minister. His dream has<\/p>\n
been realized and through his<\/p>\n
interpretation of Pharaoh's dream and<\/p>\n
the wisdom of the Phantom, now Egypt<\/p>\n
controls all the food in all the lands.<\/p>\n
And Joseph's family is now in the land<\/p>\n
of Canaan and they're starving. They're<\/p>\n
starving. And so they come down and what<\/p>\n
they what do they do? They bow down.<\/p>\n
They bow down to Joseph. to which we<\/p>\n
come to the climax of the story because<\/p>\n
Joseph<\/p>\n
does now have the power to destroy them.<\/p>\n
The and the one thing that could control<\/p>\n
his power, Joseph's power is his father.<\/p>\n
But what does the text say? It says that<\/p>\n
now he's no more. And so his brothers<\/p>\n
are scared. And the question that looms<\/p>\n
in everyone's mind, what will Joseph do?<\/p>\n
How will he use this position<\/p>\n
of power?<\/p>\n
Let's just re listen to Genesis<\/p>\n
50:19-20.<\/p>\n
It says this, \"But Joseph said to them,<\/p>\n
do not fear, for in for am I in the<\/p>\n
place of God.<\/p>\n
As for you, you meant it. You meant evil<\/p>\n
against me, but God meant it for good to<\/p>\n
bring about<\/p>\n
many people to keep their lives as they<\/p>\n
are today. So do not fear. I will<\/p>\n
provide for you and your little ones.<\/p>\n
Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly<\/p>\n
to them.<\/p>\n
Do you know it's saying here? Do you see<\/p>\n
again this total flip in Joseph? Younger<\/p>\n
Joseph grasping for power, for family<\/p>\n
power. Now he has all the power over his<\/p>\n
family and he willingly lowers himself<\/p>\n
to serve the family.<\/p>\n
So now he has this power to do something<\/p>\n
truly incredible.<\/p>\n
And now he has this power to really<\/p>\n
bring the family, bring unity, to mend<\/p>\n
the relationships where he once was<\/p>\n
insensitive.<\/p>\n
He has the power to do this.<\/p>\n
See, one way you can use power is to<\/p>\n
hold a grudge and to never forgive.<\/p>\n
You see, Joseph brother brothers, they<\/p>\n
come to him and they say, \"Please<\/p>\n
forgive us.\" And Joseph says, \"I forgive<\/p>\n
you.\" He forgives him. He says, \"Am I in<\/p>\n
the place of God?\"<\/p>\n
Now, this has some scary implications.<\/p>\n
You know why? bec because when you hold<\/p>\n
grudges<\/p>\n
and don't forgive people, that's what<\/p>\n
you're trying to do. You're trying to<\/p>\n
sit in the place of God.<\/p>\n
But Joseph now in humility over learned<\/p>\n
in those middle years, he knows he's not<\/p>\n
in the place of God. And Joseph<\/p>\n
now, he doesn't excuse his brother's<\/p>\n
actions. He says, \"You meant this for<\/p>\n
evil.\" Those actions were evil. But in<\/p>\n
those very actions, God by his power is<\/p>\n
using this for good purposes to save our<\/p>\n
family. He's getting this understanding<\/p>\n
of how a humble power.<\/p>\n
Humble power wishes.<\/p>\n
Whether you're a father or or a farmer<\/p>\n
or a king or a manager or an influence,<\/p>\n
whatever your humble real power seeks to<\/p>\n
bring flourishing to others to provide<\/p>\n
for others and their little ones.<\/p>\n
That's what we learn that Joseph got<\/p>\n
that Joseph became.<\/p>\n
Now the question is how how do we get<\/p>\n
it?<\/p>\n
Joseph,<\/p>\n
Joseph in his humble um growing in his<\/p>\n
humble begins to not look to himself.<\/p>\n
See, you have to realize that you don't<\/p>\n
have the power.<\/p>\n
Joseph rightly confesses that he was not<\/p>\n
in the place of God. And you and I<\/p>\n
regularly need to confess, I am not God.<\/p>\n
I am not God. Every morning I am not<\/p>\n
God. I am not God. Every evening I am<\/p>\n
not God. We need to find that so sweet.<\/p>\n
I am not God. Learn that you are not God<\/p>\n
or sit in the place of God.<\/p>\n
That's the first step. But then where<\/p>\n
where is the power come from? Well,<\/p>\n
where does Joseph look? He's not God,<\/p>\n
but he looks to God. He flees to God. If<\/p>\n
you're in sexual temptation, flee to<\/p>\n
God. If you're accused in injustice,<\/p>\n
flee to God. If you're in a really bad<\/p>\n
position, a prison or whatnot, flee to<\/p>\n
God. Or if you're the prime minister in<\/p>\n
the highest positions, flee to God. Go<\/p>\n
to God. Go to Jesus.<\/p>\n
We can have power because Jesus gave up<\/p>\n
his position and gave us the spirit.<\/p>\n
look to Jesus. Our confession assurance<\/p>\n
was from Philippians Philippians 2. And<\/p>\n
in Philippians 2, it says, \"The eternal<\/p>\n
son of God had the position of God, but<\/p>\n
he did not grasp it.\" He did not grasp<\/p>\n
the power for himself, but he willingly<\/p>\n
took on flesh and became a slave, even<\/p>\n
dying on a cross. And on the cross,<\/p>\n
Jesus cried out to God, why have you<\/p>\n
forgotten me? Why have you forgotten me?<\/p>\n
Jesus,<\/p>\n
he is the ultimate Joseph. Jesus is the<\/p>\n
ultimate example of people meaning it<\/p>\n
for evil, but God bringing extreme good<\/p>\n
out of it.<\/p>\n
Jesus says,<\/p>\n
\"Here's a good I died for you. I was in<\/p>\n
the place of God, but I didn't use that<\/p>\n
for myself. I became a servant.<\/p>\n
I became poor<\/p>\n
and was abused under evil power. I<\/p>\n
became killed for you.\"<\/p>\n
See the cross the ultimate example of<\/p>\n
God bring is bringing good out of evil.<\/p>\n
See getting that going to the cross that<\/p>\n
will make you more humble than Joseph<\/p>\n
ever was because you begin to see how<\/p>\n
bad you really are. But on the other<\/p>\n
hand, it will make you more powerful<\/p>\n
than Joseph was because now you have a<\/p>\n
real humble<\/p>\n
heart full of power from Jesus. You have<\/p>\n
his spirit. So take some time today um<\/p>\n
to pray and to see how in faith how or<\/p>\n
who or where<\/p>\n
you can bring flourishing to people in<\/p>\n
the positions that you are near and far<\/p>\n
to bring about the glory of God. Let's<\/p>\n
pray.<\/p>\n
Thank you Lord that you are good and<\/p>\n
that you did um come and that you did<\/p>\n
not count equality with God something to<\/p>\n
be grasped but you made yourself a<\/p>\n
servant. We thank you Lord for your<\/p>\n
grace. Lord it's a gift and we pray Lord<\/p>\n
that we would receive that gift that we<\/p>\n
would continue to to know that gift.<\/p>\n
Lord, if anyone in here is does not know<\/p>\n
the power of the gospel which is unto<\/p>\n
salvation that Jesus came, lived, died,<\/p>\n
rose for them, would they come today and<\/p>\n
to to come to say, \"I am not God, but I<\/p>\n
want to flee to God.\" And there are many<\/p>\n
of of us too that um that do follow you.<\/p>\n
And yet that poison still is there of of<\/p>\n
not wanting to fully repent. Well, may<\/p>\n
the table of the Lord today be a place<\/p>\n
where we come in weakness, but we come<\/p>\n
strengthened by his spirit as we taste<\/p>\n
the elements today of the of the<\/p>\n
communion in Christ's name. Amen.<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20260507","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bHYd8GcnG5I","video_id":"bHYd8GcnG5I","video_duration":"46:02","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1696,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28\/revisions\/1696"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}