We are about a third of the way through our summer message series, “Liars, Cheaters, Cowards & Other Bible Heroes.” It is rather amazing how God has used some pretty flawed people to do some astonishing things. First there was Adam, the Father of all the Living, who through his disobedience to God brought death to all of us. Yet God did not give up on him, and from him, eventually, Jesus the Savior came to us. Abraham, our Father in Faith, who took a really long time to really have faith in God’s plan for him. Then there was Jacob, the cheater, who contended with God, only to finally give in so to receive God’s blessings. As God used all of them, despite their failures and faults, to do great things, God also wants to do great things with and for us, despite our failures and faults.
This weekend we are going to look at Joseph, one of Jacob’s sons. The story of Joseph is the longest story in the Book of Genesis, and one of the most detailed in the entire Bible. In the person of Joseph, we encounter someone who was blessed with many gifts and talents.
First off, Joseph was very smart, and he was very handsome. He was kind of the guy that all the women liked, and all the guys wanted to be like. However, this was also contributed to one of Joseph’s faults: he was a bit pompous. He knew that he was smart and handsome, and he made sure everyone around him also knew it. He was a little self-centered, a bit of a bragger, and he was also a tattletale. While not a big sinner -- he never murdered anyone, nor was he a cheater or theif -- when we first meet Joseph in the Bible he is a young man who is very immature and self-centered.
Joseph was also his father’s favorite son. The Bible says that Jacob “loved Joseph more than any other of his children because he was the son of his old age.” This did not endear him to his brothers. Not only did they barely speak to him, but after Joseph started having dreams which showed himself becoming someone of authority, power and greatness, ruling over even his father and brothers, his brothers’ jealousy grew into a murderous rage. However, at the last minute they decided to sell him into slavery instead of killing him.
OK, being sold into slavery really must have sucked, but Joseph landed in a pretty good position. Instead of being sent to do hard labor, Joseph was bought by a guy named Potiphar, who was the Pharaoh’s right-hand man. In Genesis we read, “The Lord was with Joseph and he became a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian, and his master saw the Lord caused all that he did to prosper. So Joseph found favor in his sight, and Potiphar made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.”
So Joseph is making the best of being a slave; using his gifts of intelligence and his dreams to server someone other than himself. However, he runs into some trouble. Potiphar’s wife notices how handsome Joseph is and tries to seduce him. Joseph, who is maturing in leaps and bounds, refuses to dishonor his owner. The wife is so angry that Joseph will not comply with her wishes that she goes to her husband and tells him that Joseph did exactly what he refused to do.
Potiphar believes his wife and becomes furious with Joseph. He has Joseph put into the worse prison in the land. However, the Lord’s favor was on Joseph even there, and the warden of the prison took a liking to Joseph. The warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners, and again Joseph was successful in everything he did in prison. Joseph refused to feel sorry for himself or succumb to everything against him. He uses the gifts that God has given him to make the most of his circumstances.
Some time goes by, and the Pharaoh starts having a dream that really disturbs him. None of his advisors seem to be able to make sense of the dream either. Then Potiphar remembered that Joseph was really good at interpreting dreams, so he gets Joseph out of prison, brings him to Pharaoh. Joseph immediately is able to interpret Pharaoh’s dream; it says that Egypt will have seven years of incredible prosperity, but they will be followed by seven years of extreme famine. Joseph recommends that Pharaoh make ready for the famine by storing food and supplies during the seven years of prosperity. Pharaoh is so taken by Joseph that he puts him in charge of the whole project. This basically makes Joseph the most powerful person in the world, being in charge of all of Pharaoh’s possessions.
What Joseph predicted came to be just as he said it would. While the rest of the Middle East experiences a severe famine, Egypt is doing just fine. Back at Jacob’s house things are going pretty bad. The famine has taken most of what they have, and the family starts to turn on each other. Jacob tells his ten oldest sons to go down to Egypt, because he heard that there was grain there, and see if they can get some. So they go to Egypt to speak to the governor, not realizing that it is their own brother, Joseph. Joseph’s original dream, which saw his brothers bowing down to him, has come true.
It had been a long time since they sold Joseph into slavery, so they do not recognize him, and Joseph does what he can to hide his identity. Joseph puts his brothers through some challenges; but not to toy with them, and not for revenge. Rather, he seems to do it to bring them to better place, spiritually. He brings them to a place of repentance and change of heart. When he sees this change and repentance Joseph wepts and says, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold to Egypt. And now do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for having sold me here. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you.”
Joseph might have started off as a selfish brat and his brothers as jealous scoundrels, but now, with his maturity and wisdom, Joseph sees God’s hand and plan in everything that happened.
Joseph’s story is all about learning to use our gifts, our God-given gifts to honor God and to serve others. His story is a story about growing to spiritual maturity. It is an example for all of us, because that should be our goal too: spiritual maturity.
No matter who you are or what your stage or state of life; no matter what you are facing this day, no matter what disappointments, heartaches or frustrations is headed your way, you have gifts that God has given you that you can use in precisely the circumstances you are in. When you do that, you are growing in character. You are moving towards spiritual maturity.