Take your Bibles this morning, if you will, and turn to Genesis, the 37th chapter. Genesis chapter 37. I trust you've been reading in Genesis. we're going through it but we can't cover all of it because we're doing it a rapid rate so I hope you'll be reading you remember what we're doing is we're doing a kind of a background for the study of Deuteronomy I thought it would be good if we kind of get how did we get to Deuteronomy so we started in creation and we talked about how the Lord is sovereign over everything and then last week we talked about the great patriarchs Abraham Isaac and Jacob You remember when we find the phrase in both the Old and the New Testament about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It's about the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Though they were heroes of the faith, the people didn't look to them, but they looked to their God. We want to always remember that you remember we read it in Psalm this morning Psalm 105 it gave a review you remember that God gave that great promise he get he made a covenant with Abraham and in that were great promises the promises of the land and the promise of many descendants and those descendants were to come through Abraham Isaac and Jacob So I want to ask you a question this morning we're going to fast forward a hundred and sixty years from the time God made the promise to Abraham Abraham you remember was seventy five hundred and sixty years later. God had promised him many many descendants. Did he have many descendants one hundred and sixty years later. OK now I'm not trying to trick you but I want to make this clear and I had an advantage. I got to look this up. He had to. 160 years later, you know who they were? Isaac and Jacob. Now, we don't count Ishmael because he was, the New Testament says, he was born of the flesh, okay? We don't count Esau because he was not a part of the godly seed. He had Isaac and he had Jacob. Now remember they lived pretty long lives then, you remember Isaac didn't have kids until he was 60. Abraham, I mean Jacob, didn't have kids until he was about 75. But once Jacob began to have kids, the descendants did begin to multiply quite rapidly. Now today, we are going to look at the sons of Jacob, but particularly one son. This is a son that is featured in chapters 37 through 50 of Genesis. It's not the oldest son. He was not the son through whom Jesus would come. He was not an ancestor of Jesus, if you want to put it that way. But he is the one that's featured now. Now you remember Jacob had twelve sons. Now let me see if I get this right. Reuben Simeon Levi and Judah. Dan NAFTA lie. Gad Asher is a car in Zebulun. Now that's just 10. OK. Who was the 11th son. Joseph was the 11th son. Now you want to keep that in mind because it bears on our story. And then after Joseph there was another son who was born. Who was that? Benjamin. That's right. I know you've been reading the story. When we come to the end of Genesis which we will do next week we will find that the descendants have multiplied more but they're going to discover they're in the wrong country. So this morning I can't tell all the stories of Joseph in detail. We're going to read some I'm going to tell some but we're going to try to focus on the stories that keep us in line for what God is doing through Joseph. So let's pray the Lord would guide us this morning. Father this morning I just ask that you will give us a childlike enthusiasm about these stories sometimes we might think they're kids stories we know they're not there for all of us. But give us a child-likeness in pursuing your word. At the same time, give us a maturity in wisdom that we might interpret and apply these things in our own lives for your glory. In Jesus' name, Amen. So we want to set the stage for this whole story about Joseph. Chapter 37, I want to read the first four verses of chapter 37. Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojournings in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being 17 years old, was pastoring the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel now remember that's another name for Jacob that's the name God had given him. 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. 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. Now. We want to dive right in here and the first thing we see is we see the seeds of hatred being sown in Joseph's brothers. Now you get the picture. Jacob and his family they live in Canaan the land that will eventually be theirs the land that was promised Abraham Joseph Joseph is seventeen years old and he tends sheep with his brothers. Now we're told specifically that he was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah his father's wives now that's not exactly the way it was it's it's that way in a sense but you remember there were really two wives Leah and Rachel and each one of them had a handmaid a servant girl and you remember Jacob had his twelve sons by these four women Now they kept sheep because there was many of them and Jacob was very rich I'm sure this encompassed a large area but we're told specifically that he was with the sons of Bill Hall and Zilpah that would have been for because six of sons were born to Leah and then to to to Rachel which would leave for one is it say with these four I think it's because Jacob was favoring Joseph at this point he thought there would be more resentment from the children that directly came from Leah so he has him more intimately involved with the sons of Bilhah in Zilpah. Now, this thing of favoritism, when you read these verses, it is a recipe for disaster, and it begins with favoritism in the family. Now, you remember this goes back a generation. You remember Isaac and Rebecca? Isaac had his little hunting buddy, Esau. and Rebecca had her indoor boy mama's boy Jacob and they favored them very obviously and it was not good at all well Jacob learned that from his parents and Jacob had a favorite wife and who was his favorite wife Rachel you know you've read that story the favored wife You remember there was great envy and rivalry between his two wives Rachel and Leah they strove to give him more sons in the other one and so forth and it's it's kind of a sad picture. So the question is why did Jacob favor Joseph. Well there are some reasons. One we're told in the text. He was the son of his old age and you know you kind of know how that some of you probably experienced that. It also says that he was his brother. That may be later. Anyway, the fact that Joseph, well we're going to get down later to that, so let me skip that for now. He was the eleventh son of twelve, but he was the son of his favorite wife. Because Jacob favored Rachel, it was natural for her to favor her son. Here's the question I want to ask you. OK. I'm going to give you younger ones a chance to answer first. OK. So Jacob's favorite was Joseph. Did he. Did he do anything that let people know that Joseph was his favorite. Do you remember. What did he do. You remember. Yes he made him a special coat you remember what we call it the coat of many colors when we do the walk through the Bible this is Joseph this is his coat of many colors he did not try to hide that Joseph was his favorite he just put it out there he made him a coat of many colors and he wore it now Joseph's brothers hated him. They hated him because of the favoritism, and it also says that they were jealous of him. And you can understand why they were jealous. So one day, Joseph brought back a bad report about his brothers. It probably means he just told what they were doing. and because of the bad report they hated him all the more and so we're told in the text they hated him so much they could not speak peacefully to it I mean they just it was deep they hated him and they couldn't say a nice kind word to Joseph now then we come to verse five and let me begin in verse five not joseph had a dream and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more he said to them here this dream that i dream behold we were binding she's in the field and behold my she for rose and stood upright and behold your she's gathered around it and bowed down to my sheet His brother 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. Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, behold, I've dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and 11 stars were bowing down to me. But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, what is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you? And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind. So we have these dreams. You can understand why when he told the dreams to his brothers, that made him even more angry and jealous. They hated him all the more, we're told in the text. Now this raises a question. When Joseph told the dream to his brothers, was it a demonstration that he was arrogant and cocky? He was trying to just make them even more jealous of him? Or was he just stupid and naive and he didn't realize this would rile his brothers up? I think there's a third option and I favor this option and maybe next week I can tell you more about why it could be that these dreams came from God and I don't think there's any question about that part the dreams came from God. and Joseph recognized that the dreams came from God and he thought they ought to be made known now it's obvious that his father Jacob he knew the meaning of the dreams because he tells us right in here. So kind of just hold that in mind you know mostly what I've heard and kind of thought as well Joseph was just a little brat that was his problem remember he's seventeen years old he's not dumb he doesn't think he knows good and well this is going to rile his brothers up but I think he knew that these dreams came from God and they needed to be revealed now so the seeds of hatred are sown and now they're going to ripen I want us to begin reading now in verse 12 I think we're going to read that yeah now I just tell you some of it so I can't read all of it sorry about that So the rest of the chapter is going to show what happened out of that hatred. Jacob sent Joseph out to check on his brothers does it kind of remind you when David's father sent him to the front to check on his brother so he sends him out to check on them and his brothers seem coming and so I want to pick it up down in verse 18. they saw him from afar and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill they said to one another here comes this dreamer 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 but when rubin heard it he rescued him out of their hands saying let us not take his life 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. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore, and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty, there was no water in it. Then they sat down to eat and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 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. Then Midianite traders passed by and they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt. Now, can you hear the animosity in their voice when they see Joseph coming? Here comes this dreamer. We'll see what happens to his dreams of course they see him in his coat and so forth. They hate him. So immediately they form a plot to kill him and of course if they're going to kill him they're going to have to tell Jacob something. So they say we'll take his his coat and we'll dip it in blood and he'll think a wild animal killed him that's very believable but Reuben Reuben didn't want to kill him and so he convinced them instead of killing him to throw him in a pit and Reuben's plan was he'll come back later and rescue him. Now let me ask you a question. Why Reuben? Why do you think Reuben was the one that had some concern? Reuben probably had a child that age. That's possible. I think it's because he was the oldest and I suspect dad had told him you better take good care of Joseph and I think he felt some responsibility for Joseph at any rate Reuben is the one but before he gets back this caravan comes by and Judah and of course he frames this in a very good sense you know we don't want to kill our own flesh but for whatever reason instead of killing him they decide to sell him and so they sell him to this caravan that is headed to Egypt now pick it up in verse we've already read that part so they sold him the brothers agree they finalize a sale he's on his way to Egypt so now what we want to see is what happened to Joseph once he gets to Egypt The stage has been set, and now he's in Egypt. So pick it up in chapter 39, verse 1. We're skipping chapter 38 because it's not about Joseph, it's about Judah. thirty nine one now joseph had been brought down to egypt and potter for an officer of pharaoh the captain of the guard and egyptian had bought him from the ishmaelites who had brought him down there the lord was with joseph and he became a successful man and he was in the house of his egyptian master his master saw that the lord was with him and that the lord calls all that he did to succeed in his hands 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. from the time that he made him overseer in his house and overall that he had the lord bless the egyptians house for joseph's sake the blessing of the lord was on all that he had in house and feel so we left all that he had in joseph's charge and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food you get the picture uh... he had great favor and Potiphar's eyes and Potiphar didn't have to worry about anything in his house he just put Joseph in charge now did you notice what the text said the Lord was with him and he became a successful man now success let's talk about success in the old covenant success often meant riches of health all of those outward things But even for Joseph. Now we're getting a little ahead but in Joseph in Egypt was everything smooth for Joseph. No I mean we're coming to it but he's going to land in jail. OK. But there's another sense in which he was very successful in everything he put his hand to. The Lord blessed it. So it was in Potiphar's house. Potiphar liked Joseph and that's why he would put him in charge of everything. He did a good job. Joseph Potiphar prospered as a result of what Joseph did. Joseph was gifted. He apparently had God's guidance and he was good at what he did so he lived happily ever after. Not quite. Now we have to tell you some of the story now so the Bible tells us here if you read on in the text that Joseph was a handsome man and Potiphar's wife was attracted to Joseph and so one day she tells Joseph says Come lie with me. and Joseph's response is beautiful Joseph responded like this he said don't you know that your husband has put me in charge of everything the only thing that he's held back for me is you his wife and so I cannot do this wickedness I cannot sin against God. Not, I cannot sin against my master. I cannot sin against God. Joseph recognized that all sin is against God. David came to recognize it, but oh that he might have recognized it before he called for Bathsheba. So there's a lesson here for us. We need to recognize, not just from this scripture, but this scripture demonstrates it. All sin is against God. It may immediately be against a human being, but ultimately it is against God. So what did Joseph do later on? So after a few days, she just kept on, she kept on. So one day again she says, lie with me, and this time she grabs his robe. And Joseph did what every servant of God should do. He ran. Just as fast as he could. He fled out of that place. She still got hold of his robe. And then she revealed her true character when the other servants come in and say, well, yeah, yeah, look what he did. And when Potiphar comes home, she tells him the same thing. Basically, he tried to rape me. Potiphar, I mean, this is his wife. he believes her and joseph lands in prison so he goes to jail and it's told in very brief terms But same thing happens. The guy who's in charge of the jail he trusts Joseph and he begins to put Joseph in charge of the prisoners down to verse 23 summarizes it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge because the Lord was with him and whatever he did the Lord made it succeed. So he rises to prominence right there in the prison. He's basically in charge. Can you just see the warden of the prison he just sit back and he just watching it. It's smooth. Great. Again, he succeeds because the Lord is with him. Now, after years, a specific event took place. Now, I need to explain the years, so let's get this straight. So, he's 17 when he's sold by his brothers. Okay? And then we'll see this later when he rises and Pharaoh makes him second in command in Egypt. He's 30. OK. So that's 13 years that he was in Potiphar's house and in prison. Now we're not told how many years in each place but I don't think it takes a genius to figure out that most of it was in prison and just go back to the event that took place in Potiphar's house. owing to what we see about the character of Potter for his wife she didn't wait around for this all this stuff happened pretty quickly so I would say he was in prison at least ten years probably more like twelve years he's in prison so after years passed by maybe maybe eight to ten years one day Joseph notices a couple of prisoners and they look sad now that tells me something about Joseph I've been to jail a few times and prisons. And let me tell you the men I've seen in charge of the prisoners. They're not concerned about sad looks on the prisoners faces. OK. And I'm not faulting any of the ones who watch prisoners. I wouldn't want to do that. That is difficult work to say the best. But you just don't notice that kind of thing. But Joseph wasn't focused on himself. And he sees these two men who are troubled and he responds to them and ask them why they are trouble well he finds out that these two guys had been the servants of the pharaoh the king the butler in the baker now the newer translation has a cup bearer and the baker okay and so they tell joseph that they've had dreams and joseph immediately responds do not interpretations belong to god Notice how Joseph doesn't say Hey I can interpret your dreams he says interpretations belong to God. Very much like Daniel did if you go read that story and so he says tell me your dreams so they tell him the dreams and I won't go into the detail of the dreams but here's Joseph's interpretation in three days. You guys are going to be tried basically and to the cupbearer he says you are going to be restored to your position to the baker he says you're going to be hanged. OK. And then he tells the cupbearer he says when you go back and you're serving Pharaoh again would you remember me and tell him about me that I'm down here in this prison. two years pass by and Pharaoh himself has a couple of dreams he calls all the wise men of his kingdom and says interpret these dreams no one could interpret the dreams and suddenly the cup bearer Oh yeah I forgot there's this guy down here in prison I was a prisoner with him down there and he interprets dreams and so very quickly Joseph is standing before Pharaoh chapter 41 verse 16 it is not in me God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer same thing again Joseph said no I'm not the interpreter dreams but God will give the answer and you remember the dream the dreams were very simple I'll put it in just simple terms the dream was there were these seven fat healthy cows and there were these seven scrawny skinny cows and the skinny cows ate up all the fat cows and then there is dream about some stocks of grain same thing has same meaning so Joseph tells him here's what it means there's going to be seven years of plenty that's what the seven fat cows represent there's going to be green more than enough for everybody but after that there's going to be seven years of famine now he told him the dream the interpretation dream but he didn't stop there he goes on and now this is Joseph who's down here in prison and he's he's going to give the Pharaoh some advice so he says here's what you need to do Pharaoh you need to put a man in charge who will store up grain for those seven years from there's lots of grain and then there will be plenty because it's going to be in storage people can come and get the grain during the seven years of famine and so Pharaoh comes to a quick conclusion. He says, OK, Joseph, since you are so wise to interpret these dreams, you're the one I'm going to put in charge. I'm going to put you second only to me and do whatever needs to be done to save up this grain so we'll be preserved in the years of famine. Now get this. In those 13 years Joseph starts as a slave in Egypt and after 13 years he is second in command to Pharaoh. Pharaoh puts him in authority and it says that the people bowed down to Joseph. He answers to no one except to Pharaoh. Now the scene shifts back to the land of Canaan where Joseph's family is still living. This these years of plenty and years of famine it wasn't just for Egypt But it was for the nations around and of course back where the family lived they didn't know to save up grain They didn't know the famine was coming and so what happened they got hungry chapter 41 verse 56 and So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth. I want to pause for just a minute. Remember the we the first study we did in Genesis was about how God was sovereign over everything over creation over man's sin over mass rebellion and over everything he had made not only was he sovereign to bring a worldwide flood but now we see in his sovereignty he brings a famine this famine didn't just happen OK because the famine was severe over all the earth God brought this family favor had the dream Joseph interpreted this is God's work now if that seems harsh to you stays to stay tuned for the rest of the story now come to chapter forty two verse one when jacob learned that there was grain for sale in egypt he said to his sons why do you look at one another and he said behold i have heard that there is grain for sale in egypt go down and buy grain for us there that we may live and not die so ten of joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in egypt but jacob did not send benjamin joseph's brother with his brothers for he feared that harm might happen to him thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came for the famine was in the land of Canaan now try to put yourself in jacob's place he knows nothing about what's happened with joseph uh... down in egypt all he knows in his mind joseph was mauled by some animal in twenty years before he mourned over joseph but i'll tell you it was still fresh in his mind he had not forgotten what happened to joseph jacob was convinced of two things one is There is a famine and it's threatening our lives. Number two is there's grain down in Egypt. So for him it was a no brainer. You guys have got to go down and get grain so that our family can be preserved. Now why did he send ten sons. Why didn't he send three sons. I think the reason is because now the family is larger now. Now there's around 70 of them. And they needed to bring back lots of grain. He doesn't know how long the famine is going to last. You know they didn't have cargo trailers. They're carrying this probably on some kind of animal donkeys whatever. And so they need to get lots of grain. So he sends down his sons. Well not exactly. He sent 10 of his sons. Who's left. Little Benjamin now we don't know how much younger Benjamin was than Joseph probably a good while by the way if you don't know Benjamin was not born in the far land where the other eleven were born they were on their way back to Canaan and Rachel went into labor and she had Benjamin but she died in childbirth and this is another reason why Benjamin was especially special to his father. So again, our text says, verse 4, But Jacob did not send Benjamin Joseph's brother. Joseph's brother that is put there very deliberately I thought they were all brothers they all had the same father but they had four different mothers only two of them were born to Rachel Joseph and Benjamin they are absolutely the two favorites if he if Jacob favored Joseph how much more now does he favor Benjamin because he's lost Joseph and this is a little Benjamin his youngest one the son of his favorite wife who had died when she was burying him Verse six. 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. they came just like people from other nations on the surface it looks like there's nothing unusual about this at all till we get to verse seven joseph saw his brothers and recognize them but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them where do you come from he said they said from the land of canaan to buy food and joseph recognizes brothers but they did not recognize here's the question Why was it that Joseph recognized them but they didn't recognize him. Well the reason he recognized them is there's a bunch of them. And even though it's been a long time, by the way, it has been 13 years from the time he rose up in Pharaoh's court, he's 30 now. And then it's been another seven years, the years of plenty, right? Now we know when the brothers came the second time, it had been two years of famine, so now we're up to 22 years. This is the first visit, maybe a year before, so I'm going to round it off. Twenty one years it's been a long time but let's face it. I mean you'd look at some of your baby pictures some of you I hate to say it but you're still recognizable. He recognized these brothers they were older they were adults when he had known that but the question is why didn't they recognize Joseph. Well it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. He hadn't shaped. OK. All right. Because he's in the Egyptian court. That's right. He's not dressed like the rest of them. He is an Egyptian in their eyes. But also, they didn't expect this. I mean, they don't see him... Imagine, second-in-command Joseph, they sold him. They figure he's still a slave down in Egypt. And it's been a long time. Mainly, they had no idea this was the case. So they don't recognize it. Now, it's very interesting. Go to verse nine now and Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. Now this immediately comes to his mind that his brothers because we just read that they bowed down to him. So this comes to his mind and then we read. He says to them you are spies. You have come to see the nakedness of the land. They said to him No my lord your servants have come to buy food. We are all the sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies. Now, we've already read he spoke roughly to them, and now he accuses them of being spies. Why? We're not told why, and I don't know, but this is my speculation. You weigh it. I think Joseph was kind of in his head he's thinking what he's going to do. How's he going to handle this. I think at the bottom he would like to know if his brothers have changed. So if he chooses them of being spies and we're going to see what he does does next. It gives him a little time to think what what am I going to do because he's surprised certainly to see his brothers come. He wasn't expecting this at all. Now come to verse twelve. he said to them no it is the nakedness of the land you have come to see and they said we your servants are twelve brothers the sons of one man in the land of canaan and behold the youngest is this day with your father and one is no more now let me pause joseph's finding out a whole lot as he takes his time with him verse fourteen but Joseph said to them it is as I said to you you are spies by this you shall be tested by the life of Pharaoh you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here send one of you and let him bring your brother while you remain confined that your words may be tested whether there is truth in you or else by the life of Pharaoh that's kind of a way of swearing or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you were spies and he put them all together in custody for three days now so he's got three days now to think this over what he's going to do at the end of three days he he does change his plan a little bit he still says your brother must come but now instead of saying I'm going to keep all of you and you send one back he says I'm going to keep one and send the others the rest of you can go back but he tells him very clearly you will not see my face again unless your brother comes with you don't think you're going to come down here and get more green unless your brother comes with you now it's very interesting in there. Where was it. Did I read the part where it says he wept. OK I'll just tell you that part then. Thank you. Thank you for keeping up with me here, Scott. I appreciate it. OK, we're. All right great verse twenty three they did not know that Joseph understood them for there was an interpreter between them then he turned away from them and wept and he returned to them and he spoke to them and then he gives them the plan so it's very interesting that when they they heard Joseph it's somewhere in the text here it says they begin to talk among themselves and they thought God is punishing us because of what we did to Joseph and Joseph was so overcome by emotion he still he's not revealing himself to them and he knows he's going to cry and that'll make him suspicious so we immediately excuse himself and he goes and he weeps then he tells them the plan that's where we're going to leave it today I know it's right in the middle of it but this is a perfect place to leave it. So so next time the question is so how is Joseph going to handle it how is Jacob going to handle it when the boys come back home and they run out of food and he says go get some food and they will we can't go back down there because he said Benjamin must come. Now the other thing that I want you well let me let's sum the passage up now a little bit. I want you to just think for a minute about Joseph. Now we see that God blessed him and he used him in a great way to preserve the nation of Egypt and we're going to see more next time. Go back to when Joseph was 17. The favorite of his father and hated by his brothers and both of those things are very unhealthy. So one day when he goes out to check on his brothers He never dreamed that he wouldn't come back home to Dad. He had no way of knowing that his brothers were going to take this opportunity and they were going to sell him. He could not have known that he was going to be charged criminally in Potiphar's house and then spend years in prison and apparently from what we read in Psalm 105 it wasn't pleasant at first in prison. He didn't know these things. So how does a 17-year-old kid, young adult, prepare himself for that kind of unknown? Now, let me ask you the question. Consider yourself. You know the unknown is not reserved for 17-year-olds. There are some of you here this morning that you could testify there have been times in your life when you would have never dreamed that you would be in those circumstances. Some of you may have gotten a diagnosis of a disease. Or maybe there was a car wreck that altered your life because of something that happened to you or someone else. Maybe you lost a spouse and you had no idea it was coming. These things happen sometimes the changes are gradual but sometimes an event like this a Joseph type event takes place. How do you know that a Joseph type event won't happen to you today or tomorrow. Whatever it is we have no guarantee of that. So the question is how do you prepare yourself for the unknown. Well I want to suggest to you that Joseph was well prepared. And how do we know that we see the evidence in the scripture. The Lord was with him. and we see it in what happened the rise in Potiphar's house the rise in the prison he earned the trust of others quickly the Lord was with him surely God was with him because he feared God he trusted his God he gives new meaning and you look this up or I'll read it to you to this little proverb we've looked at this before but it bears repeating this proverb nineteen twenty three and it reads like this. the fear of the Lord leads to life and whoever has it rest satisfied he will not be visited by harm in other words the one who fears the Lord and rest in him will not be visited by home now Immediately you say, well, I know plenty of people that have trusted the Lord and they've been visited by lots of harm. Well, Joseph was. I mean, look at it. He was sold by his own brothers. He was accused falsely and so forth. He was in jail due to no fault of his own. So how can it say, how can we interpret that to mean that he suffered no harm? If we restrict our view to just human thoughts and the short term we see all the harm. But if we lift our eyes above and we take the eternal perspective we see that Joseph really didn't suffer any harm because God was with him all the time and God used him greatly and blessed him to his own glory. And that's what we find in our own lives. You say, well, is this a promise for me? If you are a child of God, and if we trust our Lord and rest in Him, nothing can touch us. Now, we may get sick. We may be crippled. Our minds may get foggy. You name it. but in reality nothing can touch us because nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord everything we have that these eyes can see may be taken from us but the simple faith we have in him nothing can take that what a promise it is So, this is your assignment for next week. Please read chapters 43 through 50. There's one in there, I think it's 49, it's about Jacob blessing his sons, and if you want to skip over that, that's fine, although it's good to read. But I want you to think about this question. How was Joseph like our Lord Jesus. I'm going to say to you next week that Joseph is a beautiful picture of Jesus and I want you to think about how is it is our Lord Jesus pictured in the life of Joseph. We saw that somewhat you remember when Abraham took Isaac up on the mountain. What a picture. Jesus going up at Mount Calvary and God the Father offering him as a sacrifice that's a beautiful picture we find these in the Old Testament Joseph is a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and I want you to think about that for next week let's pray together father thank you these are exciting stories thank you Lord that it's not just history but you've given us these truths that you might mold and shape us you've given them for our good and Lord as we think about the unknown that we face whether we're seventeen or were six or ninety doesn't change the fact that we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow and Lord I pray that we won't focus on the outward preparation Material security we know you're the sovereign Lord you could take that away in a moment But Lord help us to focus on what really counts Fearing you trusting you resting in you day by day looking to you as our father Now just give you a little time to meditate Oh God, we acknowledge that your word is powerful to shape us and mold us. Give us grace to bow before you and before your truth. Use us for your glory in Jesus' name. Amen. This won't play out all the way till next week, but I think it's fitting that we close our service with that verse that we know so well. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God to them who are the called according to his purpose for whom he did for no he also did predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. God bless you.