Today's readings from the Chronological Plan are taken from Genesis 40:1-23; Genesis 35-28-29; Genesis 41:1-57. Click here to read online.
This is one of my favourite stories in the Bible!
The last chapter in yesterday's readings go hand in hand with today's passage. And what I love about this passage is the fact that no matter Joseph's circumstances, God was with Joseph.
Genesis 39:2 The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.
Genesis 39:20b-21a But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him
God was with Joseph in the pit, when his brothers sold him, when he moved into Potipher's house, when he prospered, when he was resisted the temptation of Potipher's wife day after day after day (who, you may have noted, was only interested in him and his fabulous looks after he prospered), when he was imprisoned for making the morally correct choice, when he waited for two long years after asking the cupbearer to remember him to Pharaoh, when Pharaoh called on him to interpret his dreams, when he gave the glory to God for the interpretation and when Pharaoh elevated him to second in command of all of Egypt. God was with him the whole time.
What comfort we can find in that! No matter our circumstances, God is with us, too.
What is perhaps even more remarkable (from a human standpoint) is that Joseph knew that God was with him and he remained faithful to God despite his circumstances. We know the whole story of Joseph. We know that he would eventually be elevated even beyond his first success as Potipher's second in command. But Joseph didn't know. He didn't have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight vision. And yet he was faithful to God. He never wavered.
While in prison he served the other prisoners. The word used implies that he ministered to them, he didn't just take care of them by rote. He cared about them. This is seen by him noticing the distress of the cupbearer and the baker after their dreams. And he was fully confident in the interpretation of the dreams that God had given him - he asked the cupbearer to remember him to Pharaoh, knowing the dream would be fulfilled, and he did not ask anything of the sort to the baker because he knew how that would turn out as well. He trusted in God completely.
And when he was finally brought in front of Pharaoh, he did not even mention is wrongful imprisonment. He gave Pharaoh the interpretation of the dreams as God had instructed him, and gave him administrative advice on how to deal with this, drawing upon the skills he had learned in Potipher's household.
God will work through every circumstance. And often we do not see the what, where and why behind it all. Joseph didn't either. But he trusted God.
Those additional two years in prison after the cupbearer/baker dreams must've been long indeed. I don't know that I wouldn't have given up hope. But had the cupbearer remembered Joseph immediately, as he had promised, Joseph may no longer have been in prison at the time Pharaoh had his dream.
One faulty conclusion to draw from this story would be: if we remain faithful God will eventually bless us with prosperity like He did with Joseph. This is a wrong conclusion! God may bless our faithfulness with prosperity, or He may not.
God will do whatever He needs to do to accomplish His will and purpose for His glory.
In Joseph's case, that included imprisonment. This was so that he could meet the cupbearer who would later remember him to Pharaoh. And it would also include elevating him to an incredibly high position so that Joseph could use his God-given gift of administration to save not only himself and the land of Egypt - but his family as well. It would pave the way for the Israelites to move to Egypt where they would remain for 400 years, just as God had said.
But things don't always end in prosperity for those who are faithful.
Joseph and Moses are two great men of faith in the Bible, but their lives took very different directions.
Joseph went from prosperity, to imprisonment, and back to prosperity again.
Moses was born in poverty, then raised in the palace, and then lowered to the status of shepherd.
We cannot count on our circumstances. But we can count on our God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
That doesn't necessarily mean that our circumstances will be worked together for good. But God will work through all our circumstances. God will be glorified and God's plans will never be thwarted.
May we be faithful as Joseph was faithful!
Tomorrow's readings are Genesis 42:1-45:15. Click here to read this passage online.
2 comments:
I love these passages too! Joseph is such a shining example of the faithfulness and opptomism that we should have no matter what the circumstances. He carries such a great testimony, as I started to touch on in my comment to the last post. People trusted him and looked up to him because of his testimony and seeing God in his life. I think it would be worth the time to go back through all the scriptures about him and see how many times GOOD things happend to him becase they saw that God was with him. There are A LOT! We know things aren't coincidence, we know that God ordained all this to happen, but He was able to do it in the manner He did, because of Joseph's testimony. Absolutely awesome!
Wouldn't it be great if we could affect change in other people's lives because of our testimony...because they saw God in our lives and wanted a part of that themselves?! Sometimes I worry so much about what people think about me, if they like me, am I being a good person? I forget that just being faithful to the Lord's commandments and showing genuine love is all that's needed. God will do the rest. It's more important that they see Him through me, than whether they like me or not!
Can you imagine the feeling he must of had when he was cleaning up and preparing to go stand before the Pharoah? And then how he felt when Pharoah placed his ring on Joseph's hand, and dressed him in fine linen and a gold chain? My eyes were tearing up thinking about how he must of felt. From rags to riches. To be able to know he wasn't returning to the dungeon that day, but that he was now above all of Egypt! I'm sure he spent that whole night giving thanks to God!
IYou put it so well Tammy, that being faithful doesn't always bring about the prosperity we would hope for. I get so upset about false preachers who proclaim that. But we must always remember that being faitful serves God's will and purpose, whatever that may be and that's what's important. Our prosperity and true rewards are waiting for us in Heaven!
Great thoughts, Tammy! I agree that it's dangerous to think that if we aren't prosperous by today's standards then we haven't been faithful. I attended a church briefly that preached that if you were faithful, you would be rewarded with wealth. I was very uncomfortable with that.
Another thing I noted in this story is that Joseph always gave God the glory, no matter what the circumstances. Too often it's easy to call on God when we need help, or praise him for helping us to get through a difficult situation, and forget him when things are going well. Joseph remembered God when he was Pharoah's second-in-command, and even gave his children names that reflected God's goodness to him.
Did anyone else think Cinderella while reading this? It occurred to me that Joseph's story is a little like a Cinderella story in some ways. I'm not sure why I thought of it today... I never have before when reading this story.
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