God’s Timeline – Part 45 Joseph Imprisoned

 God’s Timeline – Part 45

Joseph Imprisoned

Pastor Bruce A. Shields

House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org

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SERMON TIMELINE (2021 A.D. = 5781 Jewish Calendar Year)

 

-   Creation Week (Approximately B.C.)

o   Adam, Eve, and the Fall

 

-         Cain and Abel

o   Evil Fills the World

 

-         Noah Did All God Commanded Him

o   The Flood (B.C.)

o   God’s Covenant with Noah

o   Noah’s Sons and Ham’s Sin

o   Nations of Noah’s Sons

 

-         Tower of Babel

 

-         God calls Abram (B.C.)

o   Abram and Lot part ways (B.C.)

o   Rescue of Lot (B.C.)

 

-         The Lord’s Covenant with Abram for Isaac

o   Hagar and Ishmael Born (B.C.) Abram 86 years old

o   Sarai and Isaac

o   The Three Visitors

o   Abraham Pleads for Sodom

 

-         Birth of Isaac (2066 B.C. Abraham 99 years old Sarah 90-Hagar and Ishmael sent away)

o   The Lord tests Abraham (B.C.)

o   Sarah Dies 127 years old (B.C. Abraham is 136)

 

-         Isaac marries Rebekah (B.C. Isaac was 40 when he married Rebekah)

 

-         Jacob and Esau are born (B.C. Isaac was 60 Abraham 159)

o   Abraham dies at 175 (B.C. Isaac was 75)

o   Isaac receives the Birthright and his father’s blessing

o   Esau marries two Hittites at 40 (B.C.)

o   Esau marries a daughter of Ishmael

o   Jacob travels to his grandfather’s family to find a wife (B.C.)

o   Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

o   Jacob marries Leah then Rachel

§  Levi is born (B.C.)

§  Joseph is born (B.C.)

o   Jacob fled Laban and is pursued (B.C.)

o   Jacob Prepares to meet Esau

o   Jacob Wrestles with God & Becomes Israel

o   Jacob Meets with Esau after 20 Years

o   Jacob’s Daughter Raped by Shechem (B.C.)

o   Jacob Returns to Bethel

o   The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac (Isaac was 180 years old)

 

-         Joseph’s Dreams (Joseph is seventeen at the time)

o   Joseph Sold by His Brothers

o   Joseph Imprisoned

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Last week in Genesis 37 we read about Joseph having two dreams and how he shared those with his brothers and father.

 

We looked at how the dreams were Joseph’s future, but also a prophecy of the Second Coming of Christ, which Joseph is referred to as a “Type of Christ” in scripture.

 

We know that he was favored by his father Jacob and receiving the ornate robe from him signifying he would receive the father’s blessing and birthright, though he was second to last on the list of son’s birth order.

 

Jacob’s brothers hated him, and they hated him, even more, when he revealed his dreams to them at the age of 17. His brothers were jealous, and his father rebuked him for his dreams. Now his brothers have come up with a plan to get rid of Joseph.

SCRIPTURE READING

Genesis 39:1-23

“Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.

 

2 The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

 

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”

 

8 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. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

 

11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

 

13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 14 she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. 15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

 

16 She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. 18 But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

 

19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. 20 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.

 

But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.”

 

        I.         JOSEPH SOLD TO THE ISHMAELITES

a.      Sold and taken to Egypt to be sold again

                                  i.      Jealousy and hate towards Joseph by his brothers caused them to first plot to kill him, then sell him into slavery.

                               ii.      Reuben was against the murder and helped talk them into putting him into a well, where he would sneak back later and rescue him, however, the brother sold him before that happened.

                            iii.      Reuben, after finding out his brother Joseph had been sold, went along with the lie to their father Jacob, that Joseph was killed by a wild animal.

 

b.     Remember, Joseph was a type of Christ

                                  i.      So many of the things taking place not only happened to Joseph but were a foreshadowing of what was to come in Christ Jesus.

                               ii.      Joseph was loved by their father, adorned in an ornate garment, and favored. Hated by the 11 brothers, when Joseph shared the truth of his dreams with them, they hated him more and plotted to kill him.

                            iii.      This reflects Jesus, having the love of the Father in heaven, receiving the ornate garment covering of the Holy Spirit symbolizing the approval of the Father, the blessings of the Father as well as the promise of the birthright. The brothers symbolizing the tribes hating Jesus, and wanting to put Him to death.

 

c.      Eight times this chapter states the Lord was with Joseph

                                  i.      Telling us that all may look bad for Joseph, but the Lord is with him and a resurrection, NEW BEGINNING by the Hand of God is coming!

                               ii.      Eight are the number of days until the circumcision

                            iii.      Eight is the number of days in Passover (8 days from Jesus appearing to be tested by the High Priests until His sacrifice on the cross as the perfect unblemished lamb)

                             iv.      It represents a new beginning, a new order, or a true ‘born again’ event when he is “resurrected from the dead” into eternal life.

1.      Jesus appeared 8 times after His resurrection from the dead

2.      God saved 8 people on the ark, remember

a.      Matthew 24:37-39 “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

 

   II.         THE LORD WAS WITH HIM

a.      Blessings flowed for Joseph and his master

                                  i.      Why did God bless the household of Potiphar even though he was not a believer in Jehovah?

                               ii.      It wasn’t for Potiphar’s sake, but Josephs

                            iii.      Potiphar recognized God’s protection and blessing on Joseph, so he treated him kindly as a servant. Then, he realized the better he treated Joseph, the more he was blessed. So, he promoted Joseph.

 

b.     Joseph was promoted

                                  i.      He was put in charge of EVERYTHING

                               ii.      He didn’t ask to be, he didn’t work to be, he just lived as a follower of God and God took care of the rest.

1.      Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,”

2.      Paul goes a step further,

3.      Philippians 4:11-13 “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

                            iii.      We don’t do what we do for reward or recognition, but because it is right.

 

c.      Joseph wrongly accused by Potiphar’s wife

                                  i.      We see from the scriptures here that Joseph was a strong, good-looking man.

                               ii.      Add in the fact that he was put in a powerful position, in charge of all things in Potiphar’s house, Potiphar’s wife began to take notice.

1.      Potiphar’s wife asked Joseph to go to bed with her

a.      He refused and rebuked her for the thought saying it would be a wicked and sinful thing

2.      We then read, day after day she continued to ask, and Joseph refused her, and even refused to be around her after that.

3.      One day she caught him alone and grabbed him, asking again

4.      The fact that he left his cloak when he refused her showed she had some grip on him.

                            iii.      She then lied to the servants about what took place, and then to her husband, who of course was furious.

                             iv.      Because Potiphar was the King's right-hand man, master of the guard, and watched over the King’s prison, this is where he placed Joseph.

 

III.         EVEN IN PRISON, THE LORD WAS WITH HIM

a.      Joseph exchanged a palace for a prison

                                  i.      Remember, he is a type of Christ, Joseph leaving the palace for a prison reminds us of what Jesus did for us!

1.      Psalm 105:18-19 “Joseph, sold as a slave.
¹⁸ They bruised his feet with shackles,
    his neck was put in irons,
¹⁹ till what he foretold came to pass,
    till the word of the Lord proved him true.”

2.      2 Corinthians 8:9 “you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

3.      This IS NOT some scripture on prosperity preaching where the riches promised by God fill our bank account and wallet.

4.      How did Jesus become “poor”? He left heaven and the presence of God the Father to come to earth as a substitutional sacrifice for our sins.

5.      “For YOUR sake He became poor, so that YOU may become rich”

a.      So, what are the “riches” this verse is speaking of? Heaven, Salvation, and being in the presence of God the Father for eternity!

 

b.     Blessings and protection continued

                                  i.      Though Joseph was in prison, God’s blessings, benefits, and protection continued

                               ii.      Content in all situations, remaining obedient to God, working, and serving as though he was serving the Lord Himself, Joseph was a light in the dark world, and a beacon, drawing the lost to Jehovah.

                            iii.      Joseph understood something that we could all learn from. We do what we do, not because of others or outside influence, but because of our inward influence by the Holy Spirit.

                             iv.      It is in obedience we find favor from God which is available to all who choose to submit and be obedient.

1.      Remember, the Lord spoke to Cain before he killed his brother, telling him he too could be accepted if he would just obey.

                                v.      To those who confuse submission and obedience with works, don’t.

1.      Submission to God’s commands is not a work, but a “giving up of self-will”

2.      Submitting to God is a surrendering, not a work.

3.      When we surrender to the Lord, He begins a good work in us.

4.      That work the Lord begins in us starts with His Holy Spirit, and once we receive the Holy Spirit, we THEN have the ability to OBEY all that the Lord commands.

The GREAT COMMISSION

In Matthew 28, when Jesus gives the Great Commission to the Disciples, there is an order and purpose to it.

1.      go and make disciples of all nations

2.      baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

3.      and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you

Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, so go make disciples of ALL NATIONS (everyone)

Baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

THEN teach them to obey all that Christ commands.

They cannot obey if they have not received the Holy Spirit, because there is no good in us and our righteousness is as filthy rags.

 

However, through Christ Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, we CAN OBEY CHRIST.

 

c.      Joseph was promoted once more

                                  i.      Made a trustee because of the blessings of God being recognized by others.

                               ii.      They knew they could trust him, and he never gave the reason not to.

 

CONCLUSION –

 

Though we live the way we are supposed to, even in submission to the Lord, content in all situations, working for our masters as if for the Lord, people can still lie about us.

 

We may even have to pay debts that are not ours to pay.

 

But we continue to live for the Lord regardless of outward circumstances, and the Lord is with us! We continue to receive His blessings, benefits, and protection as His faithful servant.

 

Therefore, do not fret when others lie about you, cheat you, steal from you, wrong you.

 

Be content when you have plenty or nothing at all.

 

Always carry the joy of the Lord with you in all situations because we serve a mighty God who will be our stronghold, our fortress, and shield.

 

 

Next week we will read about Joseph, the cupbearer, and the baker.

 

 

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