Bulletins - Formosa Baptist Church -k

- - Ephesians 4:30-32ESV
- - Ephesians 5:1-2ESV
Abide
Main Idea of The Story: God is redeeming a people for himself from every nation, tribe, people, and language, for his own glory through Jesus Christ.
Text for the Chapter:
Text for the Sermon:
Each sermon should answer these questions:
Key Verse: Genesis 50:20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
Main point: Even when terrible things happen in the lives of God’s people, God is always in control, using the same events that others may intend for our harm to bring out our salvation and his glory.
Intro
Following Noah and the great flood, the next person that we saw God choose to work through was Abraham. God gave Abraham a promise and a covenant, to make him into a great nation, to bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him, to give his descendants the land of Canaan, and to use his offspring to bless the entire world, even Gentiles.
Abraham and Sarah had a lapse of faith at one point and Abraham, at Sarah’s request, has a child with Sarah’s servant, Hagar. The child’s name is Ishmael. But, God rejects Ishmael and instead reiterates that Abraham and Sarah will have a natural born child of their own to inherit the Covenant. Abraham and Sarah miraculously have a child in their old age, when Abraham is 100 and Sarah is 90, and they name him Isaac. God rejects Ishmael for the Covenant promise and chooses Isaac instead.
Isaac later has two sons, Jacob and Esau. Esau was the firstborn, but God rejected Esau and chose Jacob, the youngest son, instead. So, Jacob grows up and ends up having 12 sons. God renames Jacob “Israel,” and it will end up being through his 12 sons that the nation of Israel is born.
So we pick up today’s story following the lives of Jacob’s sons primarily.
Now, when you get to the book of Exodus in the Bible, the descendants of Abraham have become a giant multitude of people in Egypt, so one of the things that we learn from this story is how we get from Abraham’s small family in Canaan to a nation of people in Egypt. So, this story is important because it helps explain how that happened.
But, this story also tells us a lot about God and how he works out his plan. We know that he has a plan, because he has already revealed a teaser for us in Gen 3:15
Genesis 3:15 ESV
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
But we don’t know how that’s going to play out. How is a Son of Eve going to crush the serpent? How is God going to bring about his plan? And the story of Joseph gives us some insight into that.
In the story of Joseph, we see that even when terrible things happen in the lives of God’s people, God is always in control, using the same events that others may intend for our harm to bring out our salvation and his glory.
This morning, we’re going to spend most of our time reflecting on one verse, a kind of summary verse that Joseph gives for his life. But, before we get to that verse, we’re going to do a quick overview of Joseph’s story. So, turn with me to Genesis 37.
Summary of Joseph’s life:
Jacob has four wives, Rachel is his favorite.
Rachel only has one son at this point, Joseph.
Jacob, who had been favored by his mother, continues the bad habit of choosing favorites. Jacob favors Joseph because he was the only son born to Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel.
Joseph was favored by Jacob.
When Joseph was 17, his father, Jacob, makes Joseph a fancy robe that would have been expensive and not something you would work in.
Genesis 37:3–4 ESV
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.
His other brothers are jealous of him and hate him for this.
Now, this would have been bad enough, but...
Joseph was chosen by God.
Genesis 37:5–8 ESV
5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
He has another dream where the sun, moon, and eleven stars are bowing down to him. (At this time, Joseph only has 10 brothers, but by the end of the story, he’ll have 11.)
Jacob knows firsthand that God seems to have a penchant for choosing the younger child instead of the firstborn, so he makes a mental note of the dream, but even he rebukes Joseph.
His brothers sell him into slavery in Egypt.
Genesis 37:19–24 ESV
19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” 21 But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. 24 And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
Genesis 37:26–28 ESV
26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.
Genesis 37:31–34 ESV
31 Then they took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” 33 And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.
Genesis 37:36 ESV
36 Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.
Joseph faces victory followed by defeat.
Potiphar recognizes that Joseph is a trustworthy man and that everything he does prospers, so he puts Joseph in charge.
Genesis 39:3–4 ESV
3 His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.
But, Potiphar’s wife also takes notice of Joseph.
Genesis 39:6–10 ESV
6 ...Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 7 And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “...How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” 10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.
Joseph shows integrity and stands firm, but Potiphar's wife doesn’t give up.
Genesis 39:11–13 ESV
11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, 12 she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 13 And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house...
She makes up a story and accuses Joseph of assaulting her. Her husband is enraged and has Joseph cast into prison.
Over time, the prison guard grows to admire and trust Joseph, and puts him over the other prisoners.
Genesis 39:21–22 ESV
21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.
A couple of Pharaoh’s servants, a baker and Pharaoh’s wine taster, have dreams foretelling the future, which Joseph accurately interprets. The baker is going to be executed—and he is—and the wine taster is going to be restored to his position—and he is.
Joseph asks for the wine taster to tell Pharaoh about his case and the false accusation, hoping that he’ll get released, but the wine taster forgets about him, and Joseph stays in prison for two more years.
Genesis 40:23 ESV
23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
Joseph is elevated to authority.
Then, after two more years in prison, Pharaoh has some weird dreams, and he can’t find anyone to interpret his dreams.
Genesis 41:1 ESV
1 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile...
He has these two dreams about skinny cows eating fat cows and dried up ears of corn eating juicy, plump ears of corn, and none of his people can make any sense of it.
Then, finally, the wine taster remembers Joseph and tells Pharoah, “I know a guy who can help interpret your dreams.” Pharoah summons Joseph from prison...
Genesis 41:15–16 ESV
15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
So, Pharoah tells him the dreams, and God gives Joseph the interpretation. The seven good ears of corn and the seven healthy cows represent seven years of plentiful harvest and abundance. But the seven withered ears of corn and the seven skinny, gaunt cows represent seven years of famine that will follow.
Joseph suggests that Pharaoh appoint someone to stockpile grain during the seven years of plenty so that the country will be able to survive during the seven years of famine.
Pharoah is impressed and recognizes that the Spirit of God is with Joseph...
Genesis 41:38–43 ESV
38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. 40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. 43 And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt.
Pharoah gives Joseph a high-ranking woman in the kingdom to be his wife and things are going pretty well for Joseph finally.
The seven years of plenty go by, and then comes the famine. But, because of Joseph’s wise planning, things in Egypt are going pretty well. But, back in Canaan, where Jacob and his brothers are...not so much...
The famine has hit hard there, and they’ve run out of food. But, Jacob hears that there’s food available for purchase down in Egypt, so he sends his sons—the remaining 10 of them—down to Egypt to buy food.
Joseph is reunited with his brothers.
When they arrive, they have to go to Joseph in order to get permission to purchase food.
Genesis 42:6 ESV
6 Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.
Joseph probably doesn’t look anything like what they remember him. He was 17 years old the last they saw him, and about 20 years have passed. Joseph is now around 37 years old, he’s married, has two sons. He’s no doubt wearing traditional Egyptian garb instead of Hebrew shepherd’s outfits, he’s probably wearing fine linen robes, gold jewelry, cleanly shaven, probably some kind of eye paint or makeup, maybe wearing a wig that was traditional for rulers, and he’s speaking in Egyptian through a translator. And, no one is calling him “Joseph,” they’re using his Egyptian name “Zaphenath-paneah.”
So he recognizes them immediately, but they have no idea who he is.
Genesis 42:8–9 ESV
8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them...
Joseph learns that he’s got a younger brother now, Benjamin. Joseph’s mother, Rachel, had another child after Joseph went to Egypt, but Benjamin, now Jacob’s new favorite child in Joseph’s place, has stayed home with Jacob lest anything happen to him.
So, Joseph puts his brothers through the ringer for a bit as he struggles to forgive them. But God works in his heart, and eventually Joseph forgives his brothers for all the wrong they had done to him.
They’re all reconciled and eventually Jacob and the whole family move down to Egypt. Jacob is reunited with his father and mother, and the whole family is given a great place to live and riches and all is well.
But as we have seen already in The Story, there are two layers to what is going on. In the story of Joseph, we see all kinds of evil, despicable actions committed by people. So, in the lower level, we see what people are doing.
And yet, it’s painfully clear that all of this was divinely orchestrated by God himself. There’s an upper level to this story as well, where God is working.
In fact, this very truth is what enables Joseph to forgive his brothers. Listen to what he says to his brothers when he reveals his identity to them:
Genesis 45:4–8 ESV
4 So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
What does Joseph mean here? At one point he says “you sold me here.” Joseph clearly acknowledges that the brothers conspired against him and that it is their fault that he ended up in Egypt.
And yet, ultimately, he concludes that the same actions can be attributed to God. He concludes that God sovereignly orchestrated the whole thing, and that ultimate credit goes to God.
And he doubles down on this and repeats this exact sentiment later on after his father’s death. His brothers fear that after Jacob dies, Joseph will exact his revenge upon them. They even acknowledge that what they did was evil.
Genesis 50:15 ESV
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.”
So they come trembling before him and offer themselves up as his slaves if he’ll spare their lives. But Joseph assures them he has no ill intent, harbors no hatred for them, and he appeals to the exact same truth as the source of his ability to forgive.
Genesis 50:19–20 ESV
19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
And this passage reveals a deep truth about how the world works, and how God is working to bring about his plan.
There is no human action beyond the sovereignty of God.
When we say “sovereignty,” we’re talking about the authority of a king to rule over his kingdom. We’re talking about God’s ability to make things happen in his Kingdom.
There’s no human action that is outside of God’s control, no human action capable of derailing his plan.
So, God’s sovereignty is not like the sovereignty of human kings. A human king’s sovereignty CAN be derailed, through rebellion or a coup. But God’s sovereignty CAN’T be derailed, his plan always comes about.
In fact, there’s a great example of this in the book of Daniel, where a mighty human king named Nebuchadnezzar runs headfirst into God’s sovereignty, and listen to what he concludes:
Daniel 4:34–35 ESV
34 At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
Now, if that doesn’t make your head spin, then you probably haven’t let that truth fully sink in.
We don’t really have to explain or justify it when the brothers say “we did evil to him” or when Joseph says “you sold me here.” We get that. We are fully comfortable laying the blame for evil actions on the shoulders of the humans that do them.
We intuitively understand that we have moral responsibility for our actions. We may try to evade that responsibility from time to time when it’s ours, but when other people sin against us, we have no trouble laying the guilt at their feet.
But Joseph says
Genesis 45:8 ESV
8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
and
Genesis 50:20 ESV
20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Now before you rush past that verse, look at the word “it”. God meant "it” for good. What is “it”? The context is clear. “It” refers back to all the suffering that Joseph’s brothers inflicted upon him that they intended for evil: when he was ripped away from his family and presumed dead, when they sold him into slavery, when he was thrown in prison. The worst suffering that Joseph endured in his life was directly caused by his brothers for his harm. And yet, Joseph attributes these events ultimately to God.
Now, don’t misunderstand. Joseph doesn’t say they’re not responsible or that what they did wasn’t evil. It was evil. They are still responsible for their sins.
So, there are two sides to this coin. The first side of this coin of Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility is that...
God’s sovereignty does not diminish human responsibility for sin.
When you sin, whether you see something good come from it or not, you cannot turn to God and say, “Well, you’re sovereign over every human decision, including that sin I just did, so I guess my sin is really your fault.”
No, you are still responsible for your sin. How can God hold you responsible for your sin when he allows it to take place?
This is a mystery, and by that I mean that the inner workings of God’s sovereignty over human actions are not fully revealed in Scripture. There are some things that are too deep for us to understand and we have to accept them on faith.
But whether we understand how this works or not, Scripture is painfully clear on this:
James 1:13–14 ESV
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
No one forced Joseph’s brothers to sin. They did it out of their own sinful motives. Stephen in his final sermon in Acts 7 reveals their motives:
Acts 7:9 ESV
9 “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him...
I think that part of the reason that humans are still responsible for the evil actions they do that God permits or ordains comes down to motives. His brothers were jealous of him. They acted not out of a noble desire to provide salvation for many people in the midst of a future famine, but out of jealousy and selfishness and hatred.
They truly meant their actions for evil, to harm Joseph.
And yet, while God’s sovereignty does not diminish human responsibility for sin, neither does
Human responsibility for sin does not diminish God’s sovereignty.
Both of these things are true.
The same actions that the brothers carried out were also, simultaneously, from the hand of God. They could do no more harm to Joseph than what God permitted, and no less than what God ordained.
Nebuchadnezzar says
Daniel 4:35 ESV
35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
Joseph says
Genesis 45:8 ESV
8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
and
Genesis 50:20 ESV
20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
So, if we can’t excuse our sin as “God’s fault,” then neither can we dismiss God as the source of whatever good comes through it.
How is God not guilty of sin or evil if he allows or ordains that evil take place? Because everything that God allows to enter the life of a believer—even that which is painful and tragic—God intends it for your good.
He really means it for your good.
Evil people (and evil beings like Satan, also) may genuinely intend your harm and destruction through the wicked actions they take against you. And they will answer to God for those sins and the wicked motives they had for them. But God works through those same events to bring about your good.
Again, I can’t offer you an explanation for how this works. I can’t give you some kind of mechanistic explanation, because the Bible doesn’t give us that.
But, while you’re sitting there trying to figure out how both of those statements can be true, let me ask you a few questions:
Q: Who gave you life? Your parents? or God? (A: Yes)
Psalm 139:13 ESV
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
Q: Who wrote the book of Genesis? Moses? or God? (A: Yes)
2 Peter 1:21 ESV
21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2 Timothy 3:16 ESV
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Q: Who lives your Christian life? You? Or the Spirit of God within you? (A: Yes)
1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
Ok, but those are all good examples, right? What about sin?
Q: Who crucified Jesus? The Roman Soldiers? The Jewish leaders? Or God the Father? (A: Yes)
Isaiah 53:4 ESV
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
Isaiah 53:10 ESV
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Acts 4:27–28 ESV
27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
How does this work together? I don’t know. But, I think Scripture gives us a really neat illustration to help our feeble minds understand it, and the beautiful thing is that it’s baked right into this verse:
Genesis 50:20 ESV
20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
The Hebrew word translated “meant” (ESV) or “intended” (NIV) is the same word for “weave.”
Now, context determines which meaning is used, but there’s probably a connection between the meanings of the word. Just like in English, we have some words like “grasp” which means “to physically seize or hold tightly with your hands,” but that gets extended and used as a metaphor for “to mentally comprehend an idea.”
And there are a couple of things that are really interesting about weaving. For one, it’s an ancient artform that was very common in ancient Egypt, so it would have been a practice Joseph was very familiar with. The Egyptians were masters of the art of weaving, and the basic process of weaving hasn’t changed much in 5,000 years.
There are slight variations in the process depending upon the culture or style, but weaving first requires a plan. Most weavers start off with a painting, a sketch, or some kind of plan in place for how they want the tapestry to look when they’re done.
Long pieces of threads would be then stretched out between two horizontal beams. These threads were evenly spaced, then stretched tight; these vertical threads were called the warf/warp. Then, dyed threads attached to a wooden shuttle were woven horizontally in and out between the warp threads. These horizontal threads were called the woof.
The Egyptian form of weaving required two people to pass the shuttle back and forth through the warf.
Now, because each different color requires a separate shuttle, the more complex the tapestry, the messier the backside of the tapestry will look. While it’s in progress, the backside of the tapestry looks like a complete mess, not even remotely like something you’d want to display in your home. But, when it’s all finished and the tapestry is cut from the loom and flipped over, you can finally see it from the designer’s perspective.
What’s interesting about Joseph’s story is that the word he uses here to describe the intention of his brothers vs. God’s intention, is actually the same Hebrew root word for “weaving.” Weaving requires careful planning and intentionality.
Genesis 50:20 ESV
20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
And in our lives, both God and humans are weaving in our lives. And, while his brothers were, in a very real sense, “weaving” evil into his life, God’s design ensured that what was “woven” in Joseph’s life was for good. The same actions they intended for evil, God intended for his good.
Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch Christian who helped many Jews escape Nazi persecution during World War II. She lost many family members and suffered terribly in concentration camps.
When talking to people about their purpose in life, she would show a cloth with a messy jumble of colored threads, that seemed to have no order or logic to their arrangement. She would then read this Grant Colfax Tullar poem:
Life is But a Weaving
My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I cannot choose the colors
He weaveth steadily.
Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
And I the underside.
Not ‘til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
And reveal the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
In the weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned
He knows, He loves, He cares;
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives the very best to those
Who leave the choice to Him.
And then she would turn the cloth over, which revealed what the weaving really was: A beautiful crown.
She would say:
“Although the threads of my life have often seemed knotted, I know, by faith, that on the other side of the embroidery there is a crown.” —Corrie Ten Boom
And on the backside of Joseph’s tapestry was a crown.
Joseph points to Jesus.
Joseph’s story isn’t just about Joseph. Because Joseph’s story points forward to a day when another Son would be persecuted out of jealousy by his brothers.
Like Joseph,
Jesus was anointed and chosen by God (Gen. 37:5-7; Lk. 4:18; Act 10:38)
Filled with the Spirit and wisdom of God (Gen. 41:38-39; Is. 11:2; Lk 2:52)
Fed the multitudes when they were hungry (Gen. 41:54-57; Mt. 14:13-21)
Suffered temptation but stood strong (Gen. 39:6-12; Mt. 4:1-10)
Was rejected out of jealousy by his brothers (Gen. 37:4; Act. 7:9; Mt. 27:18)
Betrayed for the price of a slave by one close to him (Gen. 37:27-28; Mt. 26:14-16)
Was falsely accused of crimes he didn’t commit (Gen 39:13-20; Mt. 26:59-66)
He suffered terrible injustices at the hands of evil men, yet forgave them (Gen. 45:5-11; Lk. 23:34)
Was left for dead (Gen. 37:31-34; Mt. 27:57-61)
Received back from the dead by his Father (Gen. 46:29-30; Ac. 1:9)
and ascended to the throne at the right-hand of the King. (Gen. 41:40-45; Heb. 1:3)
And through all of the evil done to him, intended by his enemies to harm him, “God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Gen. 50:20; Rom. 8:28-39)
Benediction
Romans 8:28 ESV
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Adult Devotional Questions:
Family Devotional Questions:
- - Genesis 3:15ESV
- - Genesis 37:3–4ESV
- - Genesis 37:5–8ESV
- - Genesis 37:19–24ESV
- - Genesis 37:26–28ESV
- - Genesis 37:31–34ESV
- - Genesis 37:36ESV
- - Genesis 39:3–4ESV
- - Genesis 39:6–10ESV
- - Genesis 39:11–13ESV
- - Genesis 39:21–22ESV
- - Genesis 40:23ESV
- - Genesis 41:1ESV
- - Genesis 41:15–16ESV
- - Genesis 41:38–43ESV
- - Genesis 42:6ESV
- - Genesis 42:8–9ESV
- - Genesis 45:4–8ESV
- - Genesis 50:15ESV
- - Genesis 50:19–20ESV
- - Daniel 4:34–35ESV
- - Genesis 45:8ESV
- - Genesis 50:20ESV
- - James 1:13–14ESV
- - Acts 7:9ESV
- - Daniel 4:35ESV
- - Genesis 45:8ESV
- - Genesis 50:20ESV
- - Psalm 139:13ESV
- - 2 Peter 1:21ESV
- - 2 Timothy 3:16ESV
- - 1 Corinthians 15:10ESV
- - Isaiah 53:4ESV
- - Isaiah 53:10ESV
- - Acts 4:27–28ESV
- - Genesis 50:20ESV
- - Genesis 50:20ESV
- - Romans 8:28ESV

Ephesians 4:30-32ESV

Ephesians 5:1-2ESV

Intro

Summary of Joseph’s life:

Joseph was favored by Jacob.

Joseph was chosen by God.

His brothers sell him into slavery in Egypt.

Joseph faces victory followed by defeat.

Joseph is elevated to authority.

Joseph is reunited with his brothers.

There is no human action beyond the sovereignty of God.

God’s sovereignty does not diminish human responsibility for sin.

Human responsibility for sin does not diminish God’s sovereignty.

Joseph points to Jesus.

Benediction

Adult Devotional Questions:

Family Devotional Questions:

Genesis 3:15ESV

Genesis 37:3–4ESV

Genesis 37:5–8ESV

Genesis 37:19–24ESV

Genesis 37:26–28ESV

Genesis 37:31–34ESV

Genesis 37:36ESV

Genesis 39:3–4ESV

Genesis 39:6–10ESV

Genesis 39:11–13ESV

Genesis 39:21–22ESV

Genesis 40:23ESV

Genesis 41:1ESV

Genesis 41:15–16ESV

Genesis 41:38–43ESV

Genesis 42:6ESV

Genesis 42:8–9ESV

Genesis 45:4–8ESV

Genesis 50:15ESV

Genesis 50:19–20ESV

Daniel 4:34–35ESV

Genesis 45:8ESV

Genesis 50:20ESV

James 1:13–14ESV

Acts 7:9ESV

Daniel 4:35ESV

Genesis 45:8ESV

Genesis 50:20ESV

Psalm 139:13ESV

2 Peter 1:21ESV

2 Timothy 3:16ESV

1 Corinthians 15:10ESV

Isaiah 53:4ESV

Isaiah 53:10ESV

Acts 4:27–28ESV

Genesis 50:20ESV

Genesis 50:20ESV

Romans 8:28ESV