#19. Genesis 37-41 | The LORD Was With Joseph In... The Prison
God's presence provides favor and blessing... right? Is that biblical? We can see that in some passages, but not in all. What if God's presence IS our greatest blessing? It seems Joseph's life confirms this. Listen to hear why difficult circumstances do not indicate that God has abandoned you... it might mean just the opposite.
Do you have questions about Genesis and Job or about parenting? Email Stephanie!
Today's Reading: Genesis 37-41
Scripture Read or Referenced:
Genesis 37:3-11, 18-36
Genesis 39:2, 3, 5, 21-23
Genesis 41:14
Do these brothers make you think about a difficult you're having with one of your kids? Listen to the lastest episodes of AGAIN in which Emily and Jake Deyo give hope regarding our parenting of kids with ADHD.
Transcript
Welcome to The Dwelling Place
from Entrusted Ministries.
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:I'm Stephanie Ax, and in this episode
you might be surprised that the
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:presence of the Lord doesn't always
indicate what we think it should.
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:We'll be talking about Joseph.
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:He's one of my favorite
characters in all of scripture,
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:his story is pretty well known.
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:But I wanna remind us to be so careful
when we come to passages of scripture
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:that we've heard or read over and over.
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:I feel a little zealous to redeem
some moments of Joseph's life that
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:I think he gets a bad rap for.
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:Let me show you what I mean.
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:We'll begin in Genesis 37, 3.
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:He is 17 at this point, and we're told.
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:Now Israel loved Joseph more than
any other of his sons because he
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:was the son of his old age and he
made him a robe of many colors.
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:But when his brothers saw that their
father loved him more than all his
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:other brothers, they hated him and
could not speak peacefully to him.
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:Now, Joseph had a dream, and
when he told it to his brothers,
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:they hated him even more.
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:He said to them.
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:Hear this dream that I have dreamed.
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:Behold, we were binding sheaths in
the field, and behold, my sheath
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:arose and stood upright and behold,
your sheaths gathered around
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:it and bowed down to my sheath.
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:His brothers said to him, are
you indeed to reign over us or
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:are you indeed to rule over us?
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:So they hated him even more for
his dreams and for his words.
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:Then he dreamed another dream and
told it to his brothers and said.
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:Behold, I have dreamed another dream.
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:Behold, the sun, the moon and
11 stars were bowing down to me.
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:But when he told it to his father and
to his brothers, his father rebuked
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:him and said to him, what is this dream
that you have dreamed shall I and your
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:mother and your brothers indeed come to
bow ourselves to the ground before you?
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:And his brothers were jealous of him,
but his father kept the saying in mind.
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:Then Joseph is sent to check on his
brothers while they're pastoring the
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:flock and will pick up in verse 18.
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:They saw him from afar and
before he came near to them, they
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:conspired against him to kill him.
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:They said to one another.
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:Here comes this dreamer.
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:Come now.
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:Let us kill him and throw
him into one of the pits.
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:Then we will say that a fierce
animal has devoured him and we will
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:see what will become of his dreams.
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:But when Ruben heard it, he
rescued him out of their hands,
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:saying, let us not take his life.
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:And Ruben said to them, shed no blood.
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:Throw him into this pit here in the
wilderness, but do not lay a hand on
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:him that he might rescue him out of
their hand to restore him to his father.
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:So when Joseph came to his brothers,
they stripped him of his robe, the
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:robe of many colors that he wore, and
they took him and threw him into a pit.
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:The pit was empty, there
was no water in it.
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:Then they sat down to eat and looking
up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelite
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:coming from Gilead with their camels
bearing gum balm, and meh on their
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:way to carry it down to Egypt.
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:Then Judah said to his
brothers, what profit is it?
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:If we kill our brother
and conceal his blood?
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:Come let us sell him to the Ishmaelites
and let not our hand be upon him for.
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:He is our brother, our own flesh,
and his brothers listened to him.
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:Then Midianite traders passed by and
they drew Joseph up and lifted him
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:out of the pit and sold him to the
Ishmaelites for 20 shackles of silver.
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:They took Joseph to Egypt.
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:When Ruben returned to the pit and
saw that Joseph was not in the pit,
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:he tore his clothes and returned
to his brothers and said, the boy
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:is gone and I, where shall I go?
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:Then they took Joseph's robe and
slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe
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:in the blood and they sent the robe
of many colors and brought it to their
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:father and said, this, we have found,
please identify whether it is your
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:son's robe or not, and he identified
it and said, it is my son's robe.
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:A fierce animal has devoured him.
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:Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.
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:Then Jacob tore his garments
and put sackcloth on his
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:loins and mourned for his son.
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:Many days, all his sons and all his
daughters rose up to comfort him,
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:but he refused to be comforted.
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:The code of many Colors represented
that his father intended for him to
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:be the future head of the household.
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:And it's understandable why all of his
older brothers would resent him for this.
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:But remember, Joseph is the oldest
son of Jacob's preferred wife, Rachel.
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:When we think about Joseph sharing his
dreams with his family, I definitely
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:understand why this would've rubbed his
brothers the wrong way, and do I think he
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:was probably a pretty confident teenager?
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:100%.
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:But I also believe that this was exactly
what God used to infuriate his brothers
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:so much so that they would sell him
into slavery, eventually rescuing his
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:entire family from the coming famine.
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:When I see dreams in scripture, it
seems God either wants the person to
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:act upon them, to interpret them or to
record them because they're prophetic.
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:And I believe God was
calling Joseph to act.
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:His intention was for Joseph to tell his
brothers so that it would provoke them
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:to a level of anger that would cause
them to sell him to the coming caravan.
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:It reminds me of the week before Jesus
died, how he cleared the money changers
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:tables in the temple and how he issued
the seven woes to the Pharisees.
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:He did all this in righteous anger,
but God also used that to make
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:them angry enough to crucify him.
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:Joseph will not save his
family spiritually, but he's
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:going to save them physically,
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:Maybe Joseph did share about his dreams
and pride, but just because it bothered
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:his brothers doesn't necessarily mean
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:that he was wrong in speaking.
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:Truth
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:When Joseph arrives in Egypt and is a
servant, he conducts himself with complete
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:humility and integrity and doesn't take
credit for any of the Lord's blessings.
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:And that's why it makes me
pause a bit here when others
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:assume he's so full of pride.
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:It's possible that the moment he was
sold into slavery provided real clarity
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:and repentance for him, But perhaps
we're also assigning too much of a
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:character trait to summon in scripture,
and I think it's interesting to ponder.
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:The sovereignty of God is on full display.
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:In the story of Joseph.
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:God sent the caravan before
his brothers threw him into
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:the pit, this is no accident.
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:Ruben has an honorable moment
trying to save Joseph, but he must
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:have been away when his brothers
actually decided to sell him.
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:Did you notice that when they tore
Joseph's robe, they put goat blood
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:on it to deceive their father?
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:Can you think of a time,
a couple chapters ago.
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:When a goat was used to deceive another
father, Jacob himself used goat hair
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:to deceive his father into blessing him,
and now the deception comes for him.
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:I once heard a pastor preach
that this is evidence of a lie.
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:His sons never said
what happened to Joseph?
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:He assumed, and it seems without
questions or investigation.
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:Israel assumes that his son is dead.
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:There have been many times, especially
in my motherhood, when I see a symptom
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:or a sickness in one of my kids and
my mind races and I have to remind
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:myself of this story, how even when
you have a really discouraging or
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:frightful piece of information in
front of you, that we can be careful
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:to not think we have the whole story.
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:With the Lord, there is hope.
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:This was quite a deception
for these brothers to pull off
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:together and this secret will
torment them for years to come.
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:Chapter 18 has a meanwhile,
Beck at the ranch flavor.
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:It's known as the Judah Interlude,
and it might feel a bit odd
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:that it's inserted right in the
middle of the Joseph narrative.
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:But it actually builds suspense and
gives time for Joseph's story to develop.
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:But it also tells us more about
how God will bless Abraham's line
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:God uses Joseph to spare the family
from the famine, but he will send
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:the Messiah through Judas line.
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:Ruben, Simeon and Levi have disqualified
themselves for various reasons, and Judas
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:character up to this point, and certainly
in chapter 38 is anything but honorable.
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:But it does seem that he has a
turning point at the end of it.
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:Spiritually, he's humbled, and
in the rest of the chapters
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:he'll be presented differently.
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:It shows us, once again, God isn't looking
for perfect people to use more so he's
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:looking for repentant people who know
they earn desperation of God's grace.
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:That'll preach for our
motherhood, won't it?
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:We also see a juxtaposition of Judah.
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:Definitely not walking in integrity,
but when we come to chapter 39, Joseph
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:certainly is, and this chapter reminds
us that even when things seem to be
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:going horribly wrong, God can still
bring good out of a circumstance.
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:Chapter 39 is so encouraging when
we're going through difficult times,
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:and I encourage you to read it today.
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:If you haven't already, I'll
read just a few verses over you.
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:Joseph had been sold into slavery and
now he's serving in Potiphar's home.
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:Verse two tells us the
Lord was with Joseph.
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:And he became a successful man and he
was in the house of his Egyptian master.
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:His master saw that the Lord was with
him, and that the Lord caused all
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:that he did to succeed in his hands.
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:In verse five, the Lord blessed the
Egyptian's house for Jacob's sake.
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:The blessing of the Lord
was on all that he had.
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:Now, Potiphar's wife attempts to
draw Joseph into temptation, and he
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:passes the test with flying colors.
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:But he is wrongly accused,
even though he's walking with
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:full integrity and honoring the
Lord, he's thrown into prison.
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:And verse 21 tells us, but the
Lord was with Joseph and showed him
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:steadfast love and gave him favor in
the sight of the keeper of the prison.
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:And then at the end because the
Lord was with him and whatever
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:he did, the Lord made it succeed
even in a difficult circumstance.
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:Even when it's not your fault that you're
there, even when it's the result of
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:someone else's sin, the Lord is with you.
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:In chapter 40, we hear more about
what happens in prison, and Joseph
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:interprets the dreams of the chief
cupbearer and the chief baker, and
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:at Pharaoh's birthday party, Joseph's
interpretations come to pass.
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:The Rosetta Stone has done a
lot to confirm the validity
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:of scripture, and it mentions
Pharaoh's birthday and a pardoning.
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:In chapter 41, Pharaoh has
dreams and the chief Cup.
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:Bear remembers, oh yeah.
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:Two years ago, there was a guy in
prison able to interpret my dreams.
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:In 41 14, scripture tells us that they
quickly brought Joseph out of the pit.
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:He humbly says that only God
can give the interpretation.
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:Not only does he interpret the dreams, but
he provides a really wise path forward.
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:And Pharaoh elevates him
to second in command.
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:In a moment, he's vindicated,
honored and elevated.
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:It's been 13 years since his
brother's betrayal, but God has
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:been with him through it all,
and God wasn't just with Joseph.
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:He's with you too If you've accepted
Jesus Christ as your savior.
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:Let's pray.
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:Heavenly Father, we thank
you that you are with us.
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:I pray for endurance and joy in the
mundane and that we would sense nearness.
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:I pray you would help us to have eyes
to see how you might be working, and
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:that we would allow you to transform
us through all of our circumstances
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:guide us to walk in integrity whenever
there's a hint of temptation, give us the
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:strength to flee from it, just as Joseph
did, and we pray this over our children
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:as well, that you would hope their lives
to be characterized by self-control
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:and honor, and that you would protect
them from being falsely accused.
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:We thank you that most of us have
plenty to eat, that we're not
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:experiencing a famine like this.
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:And Justice Joseph encouraged them
to store up in times of plenty.
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:Help us to honor you with the way we
handle our resources and our blessings.
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:In Jesus' name we pray.
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:Amen.
