BACKGROUND:
In spite of all the heartache and set backs that Joseph has faced, we see today - we are reminded that God has not lost sight of Joesph. God is always working - especially when we can't see it. Today, we see that God gives Joseph the ability to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams.
God then used two dreams to elevate Joseph from the misery of prison to the splendor of the court. Joseph had proven himself faithful to God and therefore fit for service.
Pharaoh’s two dreams caused him great distress, especially since none of the wise men of Egypt could explain them. God used an Israelite slave to confound the wisdom of Egypt. Later in the days of Moses another Pharaoh would be at the mercy of God’s power.
Egyptian coloring is evident in these dreams. Cows like to stand half-submerged in the Nile among its reeds in refuge from the heat and the flies. They then come up out of the water for pasture. The troubling part of the first dream was that seven ugly and gaunt cows came up and devoured the seven... fat cows. The second dream carried a similar message: seven plump ears of grain... on a single stalk were swallowed up by seven thin and scorched ears of grain that sprouted after them.
The magicians belonged to a guild expert in handling the ritual books of magic and priestcraft. However, they could not interpret Pharaoh’s dreams. A later guild of wise men in Babylon also would be unable to interpret a king’s dream, and God would use another Hebrew slave, Daniel, to show that no matter how powerful a nation might be, it is still not beyond God’s sovereign control (Daniel 2).
Joseph was summoned from prison when the cupbearer remembered that Joseph was gifted in interpreting dreams. Yet when Joseph stood before Pharaoh (shaved, as was the Egyptian custom, and in a fresh change of clothes) he declared that the interpretation was with God alone. After Pharaoh recounted both dreams, Joseph reiterated this conviction as he explained that God was making known to Pharaoh what He was about to do.
Both dreams predicted that seven years of plenty would be followed by seven years of severe famine. Furthermore, Joseph explained that because the dream came in two versions it signified that it was of God, and would be carried out soon. During God’s dealings with him several things must have been on Joseph’s mind: his own two dreams, his two imprisonments, the two dreamers in prison (40:5-23), and now Pharaoh’s two dreams.
God’s revelation demanded a response. So Joseph advised Pharaoh to choose a wise man who would oversee storing 20 percent of the grain during each of the years of plenty for the coming years of famine. Wisdom literature teaches that wisely planning ahead is a basic principle of practical living.
The man whom Pharaoh recognized as capable for such a task was Joseph in whom was the Spirit of God. Centuries later Daniel was chosen to be the third highest ruler in Babylon for the same reason. Joseph had been faithful over all the little things God sent him; now he would become ruler over all the land of Egypt under Pharaoh.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
If you’ve got a God-given dream it’s going to face tests. Guaranteed. One of those greatest tests is really the third point.
#3. WAITING FOR THE DREAM.
A time will come for each of us - the in between time - when you’ve had the dream, you’re excited about the dream, you’re building towards the dream, and the dream falls apart – waiting, waiting, waiting…
What do you do during those times of life? You feel God’s given a dream to my life as a parent, God’s given a dream in my life for marriage, God’s given a dream in my life for a ministry to make a difference in this world but every time I push the button it seems like I'm moving the wrong way. How do you handle those times of life? Joseph shows us. God’s put his story into His word so you and I can face those times of life that all of us have to face. What do I do? Three things:
** You live the dream
Even on the way down, even when it doesn’t seem like it’s real, you live the dream even though you don’t see the dream. Oftentimes what we do is we give up, we feel like it’s going the wrong direction, it’s destroyed and the dream starts to fade. Joseph didn’t do that. God had given into his life a dream to be a leader. He’s sold into slavery and he’s in the household of a man named Potiphar and before long what does he become in that household? He becomes the leader of all the slaves in that household. That’s not God’s eventual dream for his life but even there as a slave he was living the dream. Even though he didn’t see the dream. Joseph shows us how to live the dream even when we don’t see it.
When I say Live the dream, the picture in Joseph's life is…
1. Lead in slave’s clothing. There will be times in your life when you feel like, “I'm not at the place of God’s dream. What do I do? Give up on it?” No. You lead in slave’s clothing. Even if you feel like, “I’ve got greater qualifications than this! This isn’t where I'm supposed to be.” You still do what God’s made you to do.
Joseph did that in Potiphar’s house. You and I are to do that. The New Testament tells us to do that. The Bible tells us that you and I are citizens of heaven. You don’t feel like a citizen of heaven yet sometimes. We’re still in this world. But still, in Colossians, we’re told to act like, live like citizens of heaven because that's who we are. You lead in slave’s clothing. Live the dream even though you don’t see the dream.
2. The second picture is you work while you’re in Egypt. He’s not in Israel. He’s not in God’s Promised Land but he’s working. He’s in Egypt. He did not want to be there. He didn’t deserve to be there. Have you ever been in a place where you didn’t want to be and you didn’t deserve to be? Joseph knew all about that. But there he was. What was he going to do? He was faithful. Even there, even in Egypt, he made the choice to be faithful.
We spend a lot of life in Egypt, don’t we? Places we’d rather not be, doing things we’d rather not do. If you and I are going to be all that God wants us to be, we have to learn to work in Egypt. When we’re in those places we’d rather not be and doing those things we’d rather not do, we need to be faithful to do God’s will. That’s where God’s at work in our lives. The truth is, your real success as a believer in Christ, your real impact on this world, it’s not going to be determined so much by the blessings in Israel but the faithfulness in Egypt, those times you’re in a place you don’t want to be, doing something you don’t want to be doing. But God has you there for a purpose.
Some of you are there right now. Your job is in Egypt. Or your family is in Egypt right now. You’re in a place that you don’t want to be. Joseph teaches us that’s the place to be faithful. That’s the place God builds dreams. That’s the place where God does something powerful.
3. You succeed in Potiphar’s house. Succeed in the house of Potiphar, his slave owner. Here’s Joseph, this great leader. God’s given him some great gifts and abilities and He’s given him a great dream and he’s working in the house of Potiphar making his master very successful. If you have a God given dream, on your way towards that dream, you’ll meet some people who’ll hitch their wagon to your dream. They’re even going to take the credit for some of the things that happened in your life because of your God given dream. You can count on that. Potiphar did. He got a lot of blessings from a man named Joseph using him as a slave. And there are going to be few people who try to use your dream. What do you do about that? Do you just stop dreaming? No. You do what Joseph did. You keep serving Him. You don’t worry about them.
You do what Paul did. He had a God given dream to share the Gospel with everyone. In Philippians he tells us there are people who are jealous of that and tried to make fun of him and his preaching. He said, “I don’t care about that. Only that in every way whether in pretence or in truth Christ is proclaim.” He forgot about those people who were trying to take credit for his dreams. You and I need to, too. Forget about it. God can take care about that.
When someone else tries to take credit for the dream, there’s a test. And the test is this: Who’s dream is it? If it’s your dream – if you and I have started to take possession of it – there’s going to be a lot of anger. But when I recognize it’s God’s dream I realize God can take care of them. He can take care of them real well! He knows exactly what to do to those trying to take credit for His dream. That’s the test.
There’s a second thing you and I need to do during those times of waiting, those long times of waiting sometimes.
** Resist the temptation.
Waiting is filled with times of temptation. Temptations can really come when you’re waiting. Not when you’re working for the Lord and there’s a lot to do but it’s in those down times of life. One of the real dangers of any kind of waiting is temptation. You’re a prime candidate because of the frustration, because of the doubt, because of the untapped time.
If you think you can’t be tempted or you think you’re past this thing of temptation look at this quote: “Sex, money and pride. Those are the three areas I think Satan attacks God’s servants on. I was told that many years ago by an old clergyman and I’ve never forgotten it. I learned from that moment on I would be tempted in those areas. So I never road in a car with a woman alone. I’ve never eaten a meal with my secretary alone or ridden in a car with her alone.” Billy Graham. Billy Graham is not a model of integrity because he felt like he was beyond temptation. He’s a model of integrity because he realized he could be tempted just like everybody else. That’s one of the keys.
Jesus was tempted. He never succumbed to temptation but He was tempted. What makes you and I think that we’re somehow beyond temptation? Forget that! And when you’re tempted don’t let Satan tell you, “Because you’re tempted you should feel like you sinned anyway. Just the fact that you were tempted, why don’t you feel as dirty as if you’d sinned?” When Satan tells you that one just say, “That’s a lie! Jesus was tempted and yet He never sinned and because of the power of Christ in me I can make that choice too.” Every one of us – you’re going to face temptation in your life as a believer. Satan’s going to send it your way. When it comes don’t fall for the trap, “As long as I was tempted, I may as well sin anyway!” That's a trap. Don’t fall for it.
Instead, find out how to resist temptation. Joseph gives us some lessons – three of them.
1. Stay busy in the master’s business. If you want to resist temptation, stay busy doing what God gave you to do. For Joseph that meant staying busy serving Potiphar. He didn’t have any time to sin with Potiphar’s wife. Temptation becomes overwhelming when we stop doing God’s will. As soon as you stop doing what God wants you to do, temptation just starts to overwhelm you. Stay busy doing what God’s given you to do.
2. Tell the temptation the truth. Talk to your temptation! Tell it the truth. Look at the temptation Joseph faced. V. 6 “Now Joseph was well built and handsome [I don’t know how they knew that but somebody knew that and wrote it down.] After a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, ‘Come to bed with me.’ [how old was Joseph? 17, 18? 19? – a young man.] but he refused. ‘With me in charge,’ he told her, ‘my master does not concern himself with anything in the house. Everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. [Then he told the temptation the truth.] How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God.’” He just looked it straight in the eye and said, “This is the truth. This is a wicked thing. This is a sin against God.”
Temptation comes and says, “Why don't you cheat on your wife? It would be so exciting. It would make you happy. It’s what you really need.” Tell it the truth. Look it right in the eye and tell it the truth and say, “Are you kidding me? That’s a wicked thing. That’s going to tear me apart. That’s going to tear my family apart. That’s going to tear my faith apart. How could I do that?” Tell it the truth.
Temptation comes to you and says, “You deserve it. You’ve had a tough week. Go out and get drunk this Friday. You need it. You need to relax.” Tell it the truth. Look it straight in the face and say, “That just makes my life empty. That just makes me sick the next day.” Tell temptation the truth.
Temptation comes to you and says, “You’re in a little trap here. You’ve got a little problem. The easiest way out of this is tell a lie. That’ll get you right out of it. You won’t have to deal with any hassles. Just lie. That will work.” Tell the temptation the truth. “Every time I lie it puts a barrier between me and the people that I love the most and the Lord that I love.” Tell it the truth.
Temptation is going to come, but luckily you and I have a lot of truth to tell temptation. I encourage you at the area of your greatest temptation, find some verses in God’s word that you can say back to that temptation. That’s the strategy that Jesus taught us when it comes to temptation. Find some verses in God’s word that deal with the temptation that you face. If you’ve got a temptation, there’s a verse in God’s word to fit with it. Tell the temptation the truth. If you have to read the whole Bible before you find a verse that fits, that’s ok. It won’t hurt. Whenever you’re tempted, start reading the Bible to find the verse that fits. You’ll be through this book in a week or two. It won’t take long!!!
3. Consider the consequences. You might even make a list. When Satan brings temptation into our life, he always says this is going to make you happy and we start to buy into it in our minds and start to think the wrong direction. Set down with a piece of paper and write down all the things that would happen if that sin of adultery were found out. What it would do to you, to your wife/your kids. Write them all down and scare yourself to death.
You’re thinking, “What if it isn’t found out?” What if the temptation never is found out?” That’s worse! You might make yourself a list of all that would happen if it never were found out. The guilt that you’d have to live with, the pain that you’d have to live with, the secret that you’d have to live with, the hurt that would bring to your life and your relationship with the Lord. Make a list. Consider the consequences.
Charles Spurgeon said about temptation: “Learn to say no. It would be of more use to you than being able to read Latin.” That’s the truth. Who cares about Latin? One word. “NO!” Only God can empower that NO in our lives through His spirit within us, through His word. He can empower that. Joseph teaches us a few simple tips on how.
Discipleship Journal (the magazine) did a little survey on temptation. The top nine temptations in this survey that believers face:
9. Lying,
8. Gluttony,
7. Envy,
6&5. Tie between anger and bitterness and sexual lust
4. Laxiness
3. Self centeredness
2. Pride
1. Materialism
If you look at that and think, “I haven’t faced any of those temptations in my life,” take another look at “Pride”.
The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 10 that every temptation that we face is common to every one of us. If you’ve got a temptation I’ve probably faced it too. Maybe not in the same form, maybe not in the same way but we all have the same common temptations. Don’t think that you’re strange or weird because you’re tempted to do the wrong thing. We’re all tempted. But praise God! He’s given us strategies in His word and His spirit within us to help us to overcome those temptations that especially we face during those times when we’re waiting on a dream.
In this survey, the people who responded said what helped them overcome the temptation and what brought about the temptation.
81% said they were most tempted when they neglected time with the Lord.
57% said they were most tempted when they were tired.
What helped to overcome temptation?
1. 84% said prayer, talking to God about the temptation. Jesus said “Talk to me about your temptations. Pray that you won’t be led into temptation.” Have you done that recently? Talked to God about the temptations in your life? Prayer was the number one answer to what helped to overcome that temptation.
2. Avoiding compromising situations. You don’t want to get into a compromising situation and then try to pray. The percentage goes way down when you try that strategy.
3. 66% said Bible study helped them the most.
4. 52% said being accountable to somebody else.
Those are just some advice from other believer who face temptation like you and I and it helps us to see how God can help us overcome. Resist the temptation.
** Learn to survive the setbacks.
They’re going to happen. You’re on your way down. You’ve reached the bottom. You’re in Potiphar’s house. You’re leading slaves. You’re facing temptations. You’re saying No to temptations. But then look what happens. Genesis 39:11 “One day he went into the house to attend his duties and none of the household servants were inside. She [Potiphar’s wife] caught him by his cloak in her hand and said, ‘Come to bed with me.’ He left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house in his undergarments [which were longer undergarments than we wear] When she saw that he’d left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house she called the household servants. ‘Look! This Hebrew has been brought in to make sport of us. He came in here to sleep with me and I screamed and when he heard me scream for help he left his cloak beside me and he ran out of the house.’ She kept his cloak beside her until the master came home and she told him this story. When the master heard the story saying, ‘This is how your slave treated me,’ he burned with anger.”
The law back in Egypt said that Joseph could have been killed for this. The fact that he was just thrown into prison may mean that Potiphar was just as mad at her as he was at Joseph. He really knew what was going on. That’s a thought about what might have happened.
“Joseph's master took him and he put him in prison where the king’s prisoners were confined.” He’s at the bottom already. He’s a slave. Now he’s a prisoner-slave. Would you call that a setback? A setback when you’re at the top and you go a little notch down but you can still see the top of the mountain that’s a little bit of a setback. But when somebody knocks you all the way to the bottom of the mountain and then they dig a hole for you and they throw you down. That’s a setback!
You and I have a choice. Will we wallow in sel-pity and discouragnment or will we rise again. Will we choose to make the best of our cirmcustances beliving that God is in control and God has a plan or will we become cyical and critical? Whever you are in life, remeber this - know this: God is not done with you. God still has a dream for your life. Don't give up on it.
I love you gusy. Stay faithful. Stay the course.
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