Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 5 Lesson 47
This week in Sunday school, we’re looking at Joseph’s dramatic rise from slave and prisoner to second-in-command of Egypt. What brought about this incredible reversal of life situation? What important work did Joseph accomplish in his new position that would affect his family in Canaan (and the Abrahamic promise)? And should we expect similar kinds of reversals in our lives?
Our main text for this lesson is Genesis 41:1-57.
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well good morning and welcome back to Sunday school we’re continuing on with our study of the Bible and our study of the book of Genesis in our study of the life of Joseph last week we saw God blessed Joseph in Egypt yes that look like we thought we saw God blessed Joseph in Egypt even while Joseph suffered various in Justices Joseph could not see at the time why he was suffering these hard setbacks but his suffering was not for sin he was actually doing what was right instead the reason for Joseph’s suffering was that God was working out a precise and beautiful plan that would result in God’s glory and the good of Joseph and many others even us today we are benefits from the in Justices that Joseph suffered now today we’re looking more specifically at where Joseph’s trials were ironically leading to and that is Joseph becoming the de facto ruler of Egypt how did that happen why did that happen and what does it mean for us we’ll find out after we pray so let’s pray our gracious Father and our God we thank you for your word that you have revealed this mystery you have revealed things that we would never know unless you had actually written them down for us through your servants so god I pray that you’d help me to be able to explain this word now and God I pray that there would be a level of expectation now that your people Lord would expect to see you and to be transformed by your word I pray God that you would accomplish that by your spirit and that you would make us all more into Christ’s image grow us in faith grow us in love for you in Jesus name Amen one motif we see throughout the Bible is the sudden reversal brought about by God many times God takes someone lowly and suddenly exalts that person or brings them into prosperity but also many other times God takes someone elevated and suddenly cast them down either to suffering or to destruction can you think of any of examples of this kind of reversal in the Bible yes Roy that’s right we see both his sudden exultation but also his sudden fall in the life of King Saul very good who else or what where else do we see that maybe in the life of the Apostle Peter who was kind of up and down highs and lows inconsistent okay to some respect Peter yeah he does have moments of moments of triumph but also moments of very great humiliation especially his denying Jesus Christ that was a big low point for Peter though maybe he’s not quite as Extreme as some of the other examples in the Bible can you think of another one yes he had a somewhat gradual rise but a very sudden casting down because of his hubris because of his pride and his own accomplishments before God says is this Babylon not this great city that I have built and God says you’re gonna be like an animal for the next periods of time so yeah there’s another great example and we could point to many others job righteous man suddenly brought into suffering the book of Esther is all about reversals we have Vashti being brought down Esther being raised up Mordecai being raised up Haman being brought down and then the Jews as a whole being exalted while their enemies are cast down or even the life of Hezekiah you look in the book of kings or you look in the Book of Isaiah God allowed the Assyrians to invade the kingdom of Judah and take over every city except Jerusalem I mean Judah is at an extreme low point it looks like they’re about to fall and then when Sennacherib boasts against God God says I’m gonna take care of this and in one night he destroys a hundred eighty-five thousand soldiers of the Assyrian army that was basically the whole army and they have to retreat in disgrace God delivered the city a sudden reversal at the last minute and Assyria was cast down and of course the greatest example of a sudden reversal would be Christ’s own life God Himself the son of God put to death on the cross can’t get any lower than that and yet right at that moment of extreme defeat it was actually accomplishing the greatest victory and a few days later he rises from the grave so this theme this idea of sudden reversal it’s all over the Scriptures but we might ask why why does God emphasize or what does God emphasize about himself by accomplishing these reversals what do you think I think I heard somebody say quietly he’s in charge right this is emphasizing God’s sovereignty he’s in control men are not in control by the way if you ever want to be humbled in life just try and predict the future because you think you think you can understand what’s going to happen and how things are going to turn out but then God shows you know you don’t know there are tons of factors outside of your control tons of things you don’t understand and so it is every time we see a reversal God says look I’m the one who’s in control I know what’s going on but you don’t you also see that nothing is too hard for God there’s no situation where someone is so secure that they can’t be cast down but there’s also no situation where someone is so so abandoned that God cannot raise him up even in the most exalted way and many of these reversals that we see in the Bible probably all of them you could say they are directly connected to the promises of God why is it that God cast down and raises up it’s because he’s acting according to his promises remaining faithful to his promises so these reversals they show to us God is sovereign we’re not nothing’s too hard for God and God keeps his promises and this is true even for the reversals we see today because we still do see and you can see them in the headlines right you always see news items along the lines of these types of things a successful company suddenly falls apart with an economic crash or a viral video turns a nobody into a star overnight great ruler suddenly brought down by scandal or that team it makes that last-minute comeback in the championship game we see these reversals even today and even in our own lives maybe you’re in a situation where you were enjoying prosperity and blessing and then suddenly tragedy hits your life or maybe you’ve been in a difficult situation for a long time and then suddenly it turned around suddenly there was deliverance and we learned the same truth or were reminded of the same truths about God and those reversals that we experienced God is sovereign we are not nothing too hard for God either to raise up or to cast it and we are encouraged to trust in God’s promises because even when deliverance or provision seems impossible for us God is able to reverse everything to keep his word we are reminded of these things but do we believe these things do we believe that God really is sovereign and nothing’s too hard for him and that he will keep his promises account we’re going to look at today is another example of a sudden divine reversal and it’s there to encourage us to trust in our good and loving and sovereign God please open your Bibles to Genesis 41 Genesis 41 is page 44 if you’re using the Pew Bible Genesis 41 picking up again with a life of Joseph last time we were with him he was left to languish in prison cupbearer even though Joseph had done a kindness for him and interpreting the cupbearers dream he forgot about Joseph and so joseph spends more time in the prison we’re gonna look at the whole chapter in Genesis 41 today but it’s rather long so we’re gonna take it in two parts we’ll start with just verses 1 to 36 Genesis 41 verses 1 to 36 now it happened at the end of two full years that pharaoh had a dream and behold he was standing by the Nile and lo I’m the Nile there came up seven cows sleek fat and they grazed in the marsh grass then behold seven other cows came up after them from the nile ugly gaunt and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the nile the ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows then Pharaoh woke I fell asleep and dreamed a second time and behold seven years of Graeme cain’t came up on a single stalk plump and good then behold seven years thin and scorched by the east wind sprouted up after them the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears then Pharaoh awoke and behold it was a dream and in the morning his spirit was troubled so we sent and called for all the magician’s of Egypt and all its wise men and Pharaoh told them his dreams but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh saying I would be mentioned today of my own offences the Pharaoh was furious with his servants and he put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard both me and the chief Baker we had a dream on the same night he and I each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream now Hebrew youth was with us there a servant of the captain of the bodyguard and we related them to him and he interpreted our dreams for us to each one he interpreted according to his own dream and just as he interpreted for us so it happened he restored me in my office but he hanged him then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon when he had shaved himself changed his clothes he came to Pharaoh Pharaoh said to Joseph I have had a dream but no one can interpret it I’ve heard it said about you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it Joseph then answered Pharaoh saying it is not in me God will get Pharaoh a favorable answer so Pharaoh spoke to Joseph in my dream behold I was standing on the bank of the Nile and behold seven cows fat and sleek came up out of the Nile and they grazed in the marsh grass lo seven other cows came about them poor and very ugly and God such as I’ve never seen for ugliness in all the land of Egypt and the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows yet when they had devoured them it could not be detected that they had devoured them they were just as ugly as before and I awoke I saw also in my dream and behold seven years full and good came upon a single stalk and lo seven years withered thin and scorched by the east wind sprouted up after them and then the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears and I told us the magician’s but there was no one it nittany a Joseph said to Pharaoh Pharaoh’s dreams are one in the singing God has told us about what he’s about to to the seven good cows are seven years and seven good ears are seven years the dreams are one of the same the seven lean and ugly cows that came after them are seven years and the Seven thin ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine it is as I’ve spoken to Pharaoh God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do behold seven years great abundance coming in all the land of Egypt and after them seven years of famine will come and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt and the famine will ravage the land so the abundance will be unknown in the land in the land because of that subsequent famine will be very severe but as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice it means that the matters determined by God and God will quickly bring it about now that Pharaoh looked for a man discerning and wise and set him over the land of Egypt left Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers in charge of the land and let him exact 1/5 of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance then let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s Authority and let them guard it but the food become as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt so that the land will not perish during the famine all right we’re gonna pause there and we’ll make some observations there’s how much longer Joseph is left in prison two full years but then critically Pharaoh the king the ruler of Egypt gets to dreams the same night now like other dreams we’ve seen in the previous chapters these pairs or dreams have many parallel elements here in these dreams we see seven fat and healthy things and soon by seven ugly and thin things by the way fat and the scriptures always associated with healthiness what’s ferry’s reaction to these dreams does a wake up saying man that was appeared in verse 8 it says in the morning his spirit was trouble there was anxious its depressed he’s anguished about these troubling dream is disturbing dreams remember what we said last time ancient Egyptians considered dreams to represent omens of the future and Pharaoh’s dreams to be considered especially important the king he’s the ruler he’s even God in the eyes of many of the Egyptians he’s considered to be God so what do Pharaoh’s dreams mean what do they pretend what does fara do about this he calls for all his dream specialists tell me what this means but the problem is as the anniversay tells us no one can interpret the dreams Rivera doesn’t mean that none of them tried maybe they did but if they did offer an interpretation of Pharaoh it was not convinced it did not Olay his fears but suddenly the cupbearer remember something he speaks up first in verse nine cupbearer mentions his offences plural the fact that he uses this term probably indicates that he’s not only bringing up whatever he did to offend Pharaoh but also the other inexcusable action of the past which is forgetting Joseph in prison it’s like let me mention some things that were bad that I did cupbearer tells Pharaoh about Joseph so Pharaoh sends for this Hebrew man right away notice verse 14 says they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon and they prepared him for Pharaoh Joseph had to shave probably his beard because the Egyptians were not into beards maybe even all the hair of his head and he’s given a change of clothes and then brought before fitrah now notice the exchange that takes place when Pharaoh and Joseph first meet verse fifteen Pharaoh says I’ve heard it said about you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it Joseph says it’s not in me God will give a favourable answer so quite obviously to whom does Joseph give all the credit for interpretation gives it to God I notice also that Joseph states that the interpretation will be favorable the Pharaoh this is not to say that the contents of the dream are not going to be difficult but that when Joseph tells Pharaoh what it means it will some sense set his mind at ease I notice in verse 25 after Joseph hears the dream that Joseph doesn’t miss a beat and interpreting the dream he’s not like hmm let me think about that or you know what hold on let me pray to God about this rather Joseph immediately understands the dream and begins explaining it to Pharaoh and Joseph says Pharaoh these dreams are one it described the same reality fact that there are two dreams is to show that two dreams in the same thing is to show that this man has been determined by God and he’s going to bring about quickly he also interprets the different elements of the dream fat cows that bad music mainly represents seven years of abundance bountiful crops in Egypt skinny cows and the blighted ears of grain they represent seven years of famine terrible famine famine so bad that the abundant years will not be remembered at all during the years of famine all of Egypt resources will be used up and be long gone but notice Joseph doesn’t stop with the interpretation of the team in verses 33 to 36 Joseph offers some counsel to Pharaoh based on the dreams revelation I wasn’t asked for this but he offers it and notice what Joseph advises verse 33 that Pharaoh appoint a wise and discerning man over all of Egypt and then verses 34 and 36 left Baro a point overseers to help this central man and let them gather grain and store it during the abundant years that it will be available during the coming years of famine I remember who Joseph is he’s a displaced slave he’s a foreigner and he’s a prisoner and he not only confidently interprets the dream for Pharaoh but he gives this unsolicited advice about what Pharaoh should do about this dream house fare we’re gonna react to this Hebrew slave we’re not going to interpret just yet let’s actually read the rest the passage look at verses 37 to 57 and we’ll finish this section verse 37 now the proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants then Pharaoh said to his servants and we find a man like this in whom is a divine spirit so Pharaoh said Joseph since God has informed you of all this there is no one so discerning and wise as you’ll you shall be over my house and according to your command all my people shall do homage only in the throne I will be greater than you Pharaoh said to Joseph see I have set you over all the land of Egypt then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand and clothed him in garments a fine linen put a gold necklace around his neck you had him ride in the second chariot and they proclaimed before him bow the knee and he set him over all the land of Egypt moreover Pharaoh said to Joseph though I am Pharaoh yet without your permission no one shall raise hand or foot in all the land of Egypt then Pharaoh named Joseph zaphenath-paneah and he gave him Isana the daughter of Potiphar priest of on as his wife and Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt and Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt during the seven years of plenty the land brought forth abundantly so we gathered all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and placed the food in the cities placed in every city the food from its own surrounding fields thus Joseph stored up reigning in great abundance like the sand of the sea until they stopped measuring it for it was beyond measure now before the year famine came to sots are born to Joseph who math not the daughter of a fair priest of on board to him Joseph’s name the firstborn Manasseh for he said God has made me forget all my trouble in all my father household and he named the second Ephraim where he said God his name be fruitful in the land of my affliction from the seven years of plenty which had been in the land of Egypt came to an end and the seven years of famine began to come just as Joseph had said and there was a famine in all the lands but in all the land of Egypt there was bread so when all the land of Egypt was famished the people cried out the Pharaoh for bread and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians go to Joseph whatever he says to you you shall do and the famine was spread over all the face of the earth and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians are and sold to the Egyptians and a famine was severe in the land of Egypt the people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph’s because the famine was severe in all the earth alright let’s observe some more notice the reaction to Joseph’s interpretation and council is pretty good verse 37 everyone likes Joseph’s proposal over in verse 38 Pharaoh recognizes that there is a divine spirit in Joseph so Anne also in verse 39 Pharaoh commends Joseph with the same two descriptors that Joseph said would be needed in the man’s people appointed over Egypt he is a wise and discerning so what does this mean for Joseph Farah says I’m putting you in command does nask Joseph’s mission for this doesn’t give him an invitation he just says this is what’s gonna happen you shall be over my house verse 4 essentially Pharaoh makes Joseph’s second-in-command in Egypt everyone is under Joseph’s Authority aside from Pharaoh and he gives Joseph any signs of authority and we see verse 32 243 Pharaoh gives Joseph his signet ring a seal that would allow Joseph to mark documents with pharaohs and authority it gives Joseph fine clothing it gives a gold chain for his neck it gives them the ability to ride in Pharaohs second chariot half people bow before him by the way these same symbols of authority are tested elsewhere in Egyptian history as being given by Pharaoh to those he exalts in authority in Egypt the Bible is totally accurate in describing what pharaoh dies but there’s more that pharaoh does for Egypt than merely investing with authority and the signs of it it gives Joseph a new name an Egyptian name zaphenath-paneah don’t exactly know what that means there’s a lot of debate around it it does seem to have something to do with life no and salvation besides giving him a name he also gives Joseph a wife and a wife from a good family he marries Joseph marries a Sanath whose daughter Potter Farrah and pas de faire is a priest in the city of on a major city in Egypt also known as Heliopolis so this name this marriage these symbols of authority Joseph is firmly established in Pharaoh’s Co Pharaohs court and given great honor verse 46 gives us Corona a chronology update says that Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh now how old was Joseph when he was sold into slavery he was seventeen so that means that combination of his time enslaved prison he’s been in Egypt for thirteen years and those were 13 long years for Joseph any of them very difficult but notice how things have turned around he has experienced a great reversal no longer in prison but ruling over Egypt and justice Joseph foretold seven years of abundance come upon Egypt Joseph and his team of officials they gathered the food to get ready for the coming years of famine and they’re very successful in doing so verse 49 says they stopped measuring the grain because it’s beyond measurement that must have been a ton of food and extra sips wife beautiful as well and we see this in verses 50 to 52 she bears Joseph’s two sons Manasseh and Ephraim and notice said these are Hebrew names non Egyptian names were also given explanations of the name in the text and notice these explanations both involved God Manasseh means forgetful or causing to forget and we’re told why because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household by the way this statement here about forgetting his father’s household it probably does not mean that God caused Joseph to forget his family in Canaan only that God caused him to forget the trouble he experienced with his family that’s because these two phrases all my trouble and all my father’s household they actually are to inform each other they need to be understood together it’s kind of like how in Genesis 3:16 God tells the woman I’m going to multiply your pain in childbirth literally the Hebrew there is I will multiply your pain and your child births is he saying that he’s gonna multiply two different things no they’re actually describing the same thing I’m going to multiply your pain in childbirth the grammatical check for this is called hend iotus it’s the same thing here not saying he’s forgotten his family quite the opposite we’re gonna see that when his family comes he’s gonna be quite emotional about them but he forgets the trouble he forgets the trouble that he experienced with this family because God is so blessed him it’s actually quite interesting Joseph’s experience is somewhat opposite so what Egypt is experiencing Egypt is going from prosperity – amnesia causing famine but Joseph is going from famine – amnesia causing prosperity and Joseph 2nd child’s name emphasizes the same truth Ephraim means fruitfulness are fruitful and it’s because as Joseph says God made Joseph and the land of Joseph’s affliction so seven years of abundance come upon Egypt just as Joseph said but then seven years of famine also come notice not only is that Egypt that experiences this famine but all the surrounding regions verse 54 says there was famine in all the lands and then verse 56 the famine was spread over the face of the earth over all the face of the earth and verse 57 says the famine was severe in all the and these phrases don’t indicate that literally every place on the planet earth was experiencing famine it says hyperbole this is used to emphasize how widespread this famine is all the known lands all the lands surrounding Egypt and Canaan are experiencing it but what is causing this famine it’s interesting we don’t get a specific description of what this damn it was well the locusts was like rainfall was it some sort of environmental disaster we don’t know ultimately though we know the cause it was odd I was in control of the earth he brings upon the seven years of famine but what do all the people in these famish lanten’s do they go where there’s food where is the only place that there’s food in Egypt verse 55 57 say all the earth was coming to Egypt to buy green from Joseph and who would be part of that group of all the earth who would need to come down to Egypt for food Joseph’s family Israel and his sons were currently living in Canaan Moses is already for shouting for us the family reunion that’s going to take place in the following chapters because remember God foretold God foretold Joseph was still in Canaan that his family would one day bow down to him that is still yet to happen alright so we made a ton of observations on this chapter let’s ask a few of interpretation questions why is it that only Joseph can successfully interpret Pharaoh’s dreams what do you think yes yes you like has the power of God on his side like there’s God is giving him the ability to interpret I think Craig did you say something – okay yeah this is not credit to Joseph this is not just like a man I can interpret dreams no this is God at work God gives both the dreams and the interpretation that’s what just gives all the credit to God and here we see a theme we also see throughout the Old Testament and throughout the Scriptures and that is God is able to do what no man and what no false god and do no one can interpret the dream God nature there’s even a little bit of a polemic here a little bit of a showing up a pharaoh and of all the false gods of Egypt they can’t provide the answer they can’t tell what the future is going to be but Yahweh cannon and Yahweh does because there’s no God like God there’s another question did Sarah or Egypt deserve what God does for them you know anything about what the Bible says about man’s depravity the answer has to be no it’s a godless nation I’m sure there’s common grace there but they do not serve okay they do not uphold his good his good law those things that are consistent with who God is Pharaoh acts as if he is a God on the earth how can you more directly try to steal the glory of God than by saying that you are God they do not deserve these kindnesses that God chose him so why does God do it why does God show such kindness to Egypt and to Pharaoh ideas it has to be of course it’s because this is who God is God is a merciful God God is this saving God even for those who don’t deserve it he shows mercy he does that for Egypt in Pharaoh here remember what God does with Jonah and in ‘va Jonah doesn’t care about those people he wants them all to die God says don’t you think or do you do you find fault with me because I have compassion on these people and because I have compassion on their little ones and their animals so God has compassion on Egypt it showed and so God has had compassion on all peoples of the world throughout history they think about the people who didn’t follow God for centuries yet they experienced good God’s and just allow the people there to just die out to be obliterated sometimes he has certain judgments to fall on them but he did them good even though they didn’t follow him and you know what the Apostle Paul in act 14 X 14 verse 17 he says this is testimony that God exists the good Providence that every person experiences in this world whether they follow God or not is a testimony that God is there and that they know it Paul says God did not leave himself without a testimony because he gave you reign and did you good he allowed you experience good and we see that here with Egypt but there’s more to it than that it’s not merely goth compassion for Egypt which they didn’t deserve this is also God showing that loyal love to his chosen people because we’ve already seen God determined to bless and preserve the seed of Abraham and there’s gonna be a famine there’s gonna be a famine that’s going to affect that seed God’s people God’s chosen people could need food and God raised up Egypt and Pharaoh and Joseph in Pharaoh’s court to provide that necessary provision for God’s people now Egypt as the agent of this blessing would been as a result but Egypt was not God’s chief concern Israel was God’s people were and isn’t this exactly what God said in the Abrahamic covenant those who bless you I will what I will bless and those who treat you lightly I will curse Egypt blesses Israel God raises up Egypt to do this therefore Egypt is blessed their entire people are blessed Pharaoh included but what happens when Egypt turns later to oppress Israel well they remain blessed not at all God judges it curses Egypt for Israel’s sake just as he promised in the Abrahamic covenant so behold then how wonderful it is to be part of God’s chosen people God’s people will be blessed and surely they will be blessed amazingly in the end though they will suffer at times and for various times in this life but those who are not in Christ those were not part of God’s chosen people they may experience blessing for a time out of God’s undeserved mercy but they will not be blessing again they will be cursed in the end so if you are currently in rebellion against God yet still experiencing his patient mercy need to lay down your arms you need to repent and turn to God your rebellion in spite of the good he’s doing you is actually laying up more of his holy wrath against you this is why the Bible urges you to come to Christ while there is time before God ends his patience and pours out his anger how good it is to be part of God’s blessed people God’s preserved people now question along a different plane why did God choose to so dramatically Excel ptosis clearly again here there is another example of God’s loyal love not just for his chosen people as a whole but even for its individuals God will permit his people to suffer for a time but his intention is to ultimately bless them and Joseph is in the line of Abraham he was the son of blessing just as Isaac was and just as Israel was and God had already promised via Joseph’s dreams that he would one day exalt Joseph and we see him bringing part of that prophecy to pass and God saw fit to do this suddenly he went straight from the prison to the palace from ruling over the pit to ruling over all of Egypt from bowing down before all to having everyone bow down before him and all this in a matter of hours and let’s note Pharaoh didn’t have to exalt Joseph it didn’t need to place Joseph in a position of power even if Joseph interpreted the dreams and gave good counsel but he did why did he do it this is God working a hardest arrow but not sure there are practical reasons to appoint Joseph but again ultimately this is God this is God just as the proverb says the king’s heart is a channel in the hand of the Lord he turns it whatever he wishes God has Pharaoh’s heart in his hand and God oops fare to exalt Joseph because it fit God’s purposes this is really another divine reversal just like we described in the beginning of today’s lesson nothing is too hard for God he’s in control not Pharaoh not the cup bearer and not even Joseph God had promises to keep he had intentions to bless to fulfil and he waited to just the right moment to spring the next phase of his promises said Evan can see that it is God who is sovereign it was out of love for his own glory none of love for Joseph out of the love for his chosen people that God suddenly reversed the state of Joseph’s life now perhaps the next big question related to that is well God do the same for you and we’re getting a little bit into application now well God suddenly exalt and bless you after all Galatians says you are spiritual child of Abraham if you are in Christ will you experience a similar exultation as Joseph does answer is yes but I need some explanation in this life to be very frank with you you should prepare both for sudden tragedies and sudden mercies because as we saw last week no one can completely understand what is what God is doing in any particular moment of life you may experience terrible tragedies he may be suddenly rejected by your friends and family because of Christ may suddenly lose your life savings due to someone else’s shady business dealings you could get in a terrible car accident and half of your family perishes you could be the victim of an unspeakable crime or you might have a dear friend suddenly depart the faith these things do happen in Christians they have happened to Christians but when these things happen to you there will be pain there will be sorrow great sorrow but do not despair because God ordains these things the only reason he causes and permits these things is to bring about a greater good just as he did in the life of Joseph Joseph had terrible turns around but they were for an amazing and mysterious end God was even in those tragedies that you experienced God is going to bring glory to himself and is going to do you transcendent good and good to others sudden tragedies are actually part of God’s love to you it’s just that mysterious transcendent love but it is love so when they happen trust your Heavenly Father keep walking with him these will happen to you in your life so be ready for them be ready for those trials deep trials that don’t have an immediate explanation but on the other side be ready also for sudden deliverances many of you are or will be stuck in situations that are difficult for a long time and you might be tempted to think things will never change and you know what you could be right maybe they won’t but you might be wrong maybe they will never give up hope in what God might do because you see amazing deliverances also happen to Christians even in this life a family full of God haters becomes a family of true believers I was just talking to a guy the other day he was thinking about coming to seminary and that’s his experience when he came to faith his whole family hated the Lord and hated him but now they’re all believers who brought about the sudden deliverance God did a wayward spouse can return a genuine affection and devotion a necessary financial provision it can happen in the nick of time a ruthless dictatorship can be overturned and a spiritual revival can spread across an entire nation God can do these things and he sometimes chooses to do so so this should motivate us to pray this should motivate motivate us to remain faithful to God this should motivate us to continue doing what’s right because you never know what God might do with it how does the god of reversal he turns mourning into gladness now we don’t want to idolize these hoaxes you want to say God must do this or else I’m not gonna be content anymore God and his wife Soren T he may determine it’s not good for these things to change or it’s not good for these things to change right now but sometimes he determines that it is when his people persevere he often brings some deliverance so as the great missionary to India William Carey once said expect great things from God attempt great things for God in this life be ready both for such tragedies and for sudden mercies both of these come from your God your good and loving God they are from his hand but in addition to that and this is why I can say yes confidently to the question I asked earlier in addition to being ready for sudden reversals in this life be ready for the great reversal that will take place at the end of life there’s so many scriptures that testify that what we believe there’s experienced now will be changed and it will become the opposite of what we experienced when we are with the Lord now when you’re persecuted ostracize humiliated but when we’re with Christ will be glorified and rewarded now we experience oppression and injustice but then we will rule with the king of righteousness and justice now we experience deep pain and sorrow but then we will only know comfort and joy and why is this because we’ve earned it by no means it is because of the abundant love and faithfulness of God it is because of the incredible salvation work of Christ on our behalf talk about reversals he made him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him we do not deserve the everlasting inheritance that we have in Christ but make no mistake one day we will have it things will be reversed you will have it if you are in Christ like Joseph when we experienced the blessing of what is to come that blessing will make us forget all the troubles all the strokes that we presently experience listen to wait listen to the way the Apostle John talks about it in Revelation 21 he’s speaking specifically here about the new heavens and the new earth but a revelation 21 verses 1 to 8 John writes this and I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth passed away and there’s no longer any sea I saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God made ready as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold the tabernacle of God is among men and he will dwell among them and they shall be his book God Himself will be among them and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and there will no longer be any death no no longer be any mourning or crying or pain the first things have passed away and he who sits on the throne said behold I am making all things new and he said write for these words are faithful and true then he said to me it is done I am the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end I will give to the one who thirst from the spring of the water of life without cost he who overcomes will inherit these things and I will be his God you will be my son but for the Cowardly and the unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all Liars their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death you see there’s such a great reversal coming and it is reversal of whatever happens in this life the lowly ones in Christ will be exalted unto eternal life but the proud and stubborn ones those who never turned from their sins they will be thrust down into eternal death which rehearsal do you want to be on it will come that’s why if you haven’t yet the Scriptures verge you flee to Christ its yet welcome all sinners will repent all those who believe in Christ all who believe in him to be what he said he actually is the Lord the Messiah the Savior God those who turn to Christ they will experience life with him forever but those who do not it says I think it’s John 18 those who believe are not condemned but those who have not believed are condemned already because they have not believed and the only Son of God only Jesus can make you right with God so that’s why you must turn from your students trust in Christ and follow him as we close just a few more questions to help you and think about application already we mentioned be ready for the reversals of life and for the great reversal at the end of life but also here are some other questions if you were to die right now right now today tonight its reversal would you receive which you be lifted up by God or would you be cast down by life reflect that you expect great things from God even sudden deliverances and exultation if God should determine that such as ultimately glorious for him and good for you and others do you expect that that’s the way that God acts we see it in the scriptures why should it be any different in your life and then finally do you marvel at the undeserved kindness that you receive in every situation even in the hardships you experience even in the blessings you experience but especially in the blessing that is to come that is undeserved kindness remember you are like that man but my thigh Bichette it was a descendant of Jonathan David’s friend he was lame in his feet but because David loved Jonathan you wanted to do a kindness for him so he brought my chef into his own court he provided for all his needs mephibosheth couldn’t understand it said Who am I that I should receive this blessing I’m just a dead dog that’s you that’s you before your great and love God do you marvel at undeserved kindness did you receive even when it’s hard because you know that that is God loving I reminded of experience of Jonathan Edwards wife her name was Susannah Jonathan Edwards didn’t live to an old age great theologian great preacher pastor he died of a the inoculation against tuberculosis you know at that time they were they were advancing in their techniques for venting disease but they gave him the little dose of TB but it actually ended up killing him when his wife wrote about it to her daughter she talked about how the Lord has seen fit to take Jonathan from us but let us kiss the rod that strikes us because God was good you allow us to enjoy Jonathan for so long and even when he takes him be home with him he’s doing good to us God is always kind to us because we’re in Christ do we marvel at their questions or comments about what you heard today all right well we’ll end a little bit early if you have questions or comments that you’d like to send to me be email at welcome that that’s all for this week next week we look at the conclusion the culmination of this saga that we’ve been following with Joseph in Genesis and we see the salvation of joke Jacob’s family from the famine and the reconciliation of Joseph with all his brothers look forward to talking about that with you next time wasn’t prayer well Lord God we know that these things are true they are beautiful wonderful words that your scripture has given to us but God they can be hard Lord I know I have not experienced the level of trial that many of your children have experienced I know that’s true for many of the people at Calvary Lord they’ve not yet experienced the tragedies of life to the level that some of your children have and when they come god they are hard they’re painful they are sorrowful but you are good even in those things because your word tells us that you are your word demonstrates that you are we see it in the life of Joseph we see it in the life of many others in Scripture so we know it’s true so when these things come maybe they’re being experienced right now for people at Calvary I pray Lord that not just there even into the sorrow God that they would rejoice in you that they would marvel at your love and God I pray also that for every one a Cowrie they’d be thinking to the reversal that is to come everything will be made new amazingly God you will cause us to rule and reign with your son why should we why should we be exalted to such a position there is no reason except from your kindness your undeserved kindness to us O God I pray that as we look forward to that that it would do as first John three talks about he who has this hope purifies himself but I pray that we would walk in a in a way that progresses in faith that progresses in holiness because of your kindness and because of the blessing that is to come we taste it now God by just walking with you in this life but Lord caused us to meditate more on the world to come so we’ll be not distracted by the follies of this world nor be made to despair by the difficulties of it you are with us God thank you for your spirit thank you for your promises I pray that you bless the rest the service at Calvary today in Jesus name Amen thank you you get