We continue this morning in our sermon series in the book of Genesis, but we do so a little differently than we have been tackling it. So rather than inviting you to open your Bible to a particular page, I'm gonna say something unusual and invite you to open your bulletins. If you would please do page six in the bulletin. Joseph's story is one story. If you think about it, the brothers' dramatic reunion is a meaningless thing apart from their earlier mistreatment of Joseph. Nor could I tell you about Pharaoh's dreams and not connect those to Joseph's rise to power. And I guarantee you that chapter 37, which is what comes next in our series, no preacher has ever preached on chapter 37 and let it end the way chapter 37 ends. And Joseph went into slavery in Egypt. Amen, let's pray. That is not how that ever gets preached. Why? Because the story of Joseph is one whole story. And it's centered around one theme. And yet it is rarely preached that way as a whole unit. And though the story of Joseph's life hangs together as a whole, it tends to be preached in these bite-sized pieces. And now to be sure, there's nothing wrong with that inherently. And there are many good sermons that can be brought out of these chapters individually. And yet there is a time and a place to see the forest for what it is. There is a time and a place to step back and look at the big picture of what God is doing in and among his people. There is a time not to get caught up in necessarily, what are these dreams all about? Or to be thinking to ourselves, what is going on with Judah and his, let's play prostitute daughter-in-law? But rather to see how all of that weaves together to tell us about God. And so this morning we're gonna try something a little different. It's not something we're gonna be doing regularly, but we are going to be taking nine chapters all at one time. And I will close my eyes and you can get up and walk out as you feel the need. I know that sounds like a lot, but I think it's an approach that's worthy of the story before us. So it's my hope this morning, by taking the bulk of Joseph's life as one whole unit, we might see God's hand in history. Now, just simply reading all nine of these chapters would take nearly an hour, and so we are not going to do that. Rather, what we've printed in the bulletin is a version of the text. Now, it is those words are the words of scripture, but they've been shortened. So where words have been omitted, I don't want to deceive you and not let you know that that's been done. Printed on the page, you'll see the ellipses, the three little dots that tell you we've omitted words there. And in one or two places where clarifying words have been added, those will be set apart in square brackets. So again, you know that those are not the words of the scripture. And I would encourage everybody to sit down and read this this afternoon. Reading it silently takes less than an hour. And when you do read this, what you're going to see is that the details really do enrich the story. The details do confirm the historicity of the story. And I also think and believe you will find that by reading all of the details, you will see that we have not twisted this by leaving out some of those details. So please do read this this afternoon. But for our sake this morning, we're going to use this abbreviated version that you find there in your bulletin. And then there's one more thing, as I think you'll see right there in the bulletin. We're going to read a section, stop, make a few comments about that section. Do that again, do that again, do that again. And then we're gonna take a look at the theme of the whole nine chapters. Before we do any of that, let's pray and ask God's guidance over these things. Spirit of God, help us to see anew this familiar story. And in seeing it, help us to see your hand of providence at work across all history, working all things to your glory and our good. Amen. Genesis chapter 37 verse 2, beginning there on page 6 of your bulletin. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being 17 years old, brought a bad report of his brothers to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, 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. Now Joseph had a dream. Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field. And behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf. His brothers said to him, are you indeed to reign over us? So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flocks near Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock and bring me word. So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. they saw him from afar. And before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. They said to one another, here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits and we will see what becomes of his dreams. And they took him and they 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 on their way 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 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. Then they, that would be his brothers, took Joseph's robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father. And he identified it and said, it is my son's robe. Joseph is without a doubt torn to pieces. Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. Meanwhile, the Midianites, that's the same group as the Ishmaelites, had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard. Proverbs 29.18 says, where there is no vision, the people perish. Where there is no vision, the people perish. Now this word vision is not the view of the future that is artfully and invitingly cast by some gifted leader. You know, the new CEO of the company, he's got a great vision for where we should head. That's not what this word means. Here, vision means revelation from God. Essentially, it was the word of God. It was to them their Bible. Without God's word, without the Bible, without a vision, people perish. Turning it around, God's word, his vision, gives and sustains life. But where there is no vision, the people perish. So let's join the Midianites on their way to Egypt, this caravan of Ishmaelites. One can easily imagine the conversation happening in that caravan. Did you hear that Hebrew kid we just picked up? He's crazy. He's back there walking on his way to slavery in Egypt, talking about how God's going to make him a ruler someday and how people are going to bow down to him. He's insane. Everything around him says otherwise. He's in chains, he's a slave, and he thinks that God's got a bright future for him. He doesn't seem to understand slavery in Egypt. You know, by all accounts, there was no reason for Joseph to hold to the word of God. All the evidence around him said that God's word to him was not coming true. Every day the world is saying this to you too. Look around. The circumstances disprove your faith. There is no evidence that supports your religion. Wake up, let go of your vision, and believe your eyes. Nietzsche famously summed it up this way, God is dead. The scientific revolution, he said, ushered in an era where it was simply no longer possible to believe in God. The evidence was overwhelming. Can you imagine Joseph, chains on his wrists and ankles, walking in that caravan, bragging to everyone, I'm headed for honor. I'm bound for glory. I'm on my way, even now. he would have been mocked every step of the way. And yet without that vision, without the word from God, he would have had no hope at all. That's how the world sees you and me. They look at all the evidence all around, and they join Joseph's captors, they join Nietzsche, they join the predominant societal voice in our country today, and they say, Christian, your vision of the world is dead. Just look around. There's no glory coming for you. You know, Peter warned the church, scoffers will come. They will say, where is the promise of his coming? All things continue as they have from the beginning. Christian, the world is saying every day, this vision you have of what is to come, well, it ain't worth much. That's where Genesis 37 leaves Joseph. in the pit, in prison, full of doubt, with every reason for despair. Without vision, the people perish. Will Joseph let go of God's word? In short, will Joseph believe God's vision or his eyes? Which will you believe? Our next reading, Genesis chapter 38, feels for all the world like a literary misfit It seems to have nothing to do with Joseph or Egypt, and it seems desperately out of place. And yet I hope that by the end of this morning we will see that it is not. Page 7 of the Bulletin, Genesis 38, verse 1. It happened at that time that Judah took a wife for Ur, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Ur was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, go into your brother's wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother. But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went to his brother's wife, he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also. Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in your father's house till Shelah my son grows up, for he feared that he would die like his brothers. In the course of time, the wife of Judah died, and he went up to Timnah. And Tamar took off her widow's garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute for she had covered her face. He turned to her at the roadside and said, come, let me come in to you. For he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, what will you give me that you may come in to me? He answered, I will send you a young goat from the flock. And she said, if you give me a pledge until you send it, your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand. So he gave them to her, and he went into her, and she conceived by him. About three months later, Judah was told, Tamar, your daughter-in-law is pregnant by immorality. And Judah said, bring her out, let her be burned. As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, by the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant. And she said, please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff. Then Judah identified them and said, she is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son, Sheila, and he did not know her again. Pastors get asked a lot, why is that in the Bible? And of all the passages about which that is asked, this is one of the leading ones. Why is that in the Bible? But the truth is that Genesis 38 is a good reason to do what we're doing today, to look at the big picture, to look at the whole story. For if we take Genesis 38 out of the context and try to tell you what it's about, we risk going horribly wrong. You see, there's some reciprocity going on there. Judah did something that hurt his father, took away one of his brothers, took away his father's son so that his father was hurt. Now Judah's sons are taken away so he's hurt. And we might say, aha, there's the justice of God. Judah got what he deserved. But you may recall some weeks ago, we saw in the lives of the patriarchs, God does not give his people what they deserve. God does not punish his children, but he does discipline them. This is not an account of Judah getting what he deserves. There are many other ways we could go wrong with Genesis 38, but to go right, we need to hear the rest of the story. So for the moment, Note that away. Note how Judah was impacted the way his father had been impacted. That Judah has now lived a life and been affected negatively by sin, his own and the sin of others. He's now lost a couple of his own sons just the way his father has lost a son. That's what we need to file away for right now. Why is that in the Bible? We will see. Picking up in chapter 39, page 8 of your bulletin. Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites. The Lord was with Joseph and he became a successful man. His master saw the Lord was with him and caused all that he did to succeed. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him. And he made him overseer of his house and left all that he had in Joseph's charge. And because of him, he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. Now Joseph was handsome. And after a time, his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, lie with me. But he refused. And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her, to be with her. But one day she caught him by his garment saying, lie with me. But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. She called to the men of her household and said to them, the Hebrew came into me to lie with me and I cried out with a loud voice. He left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house. Then she said, I'm sorry, then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home and she told him the same story. As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, his anger was kindled and Joseph's master put him into prison where the king's prisoners were confined. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison who put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed. Where is God when life falls apart? Is God good when times are not? Is God with you when disaster strikes? And this really is, this section right here, really is in many ways part one of the main thrust of our sermon, the main point of the text. Now imagine for a moment, and this is purely hypothetical, but imagine for a moment that a member of your church was in a terrifying car accident. She was hit at high speed, broadsided, and her vehicle flipped upside down. And she walked away with relatively minor injuries. This Christian woman, this friend, this member of your church is in a terrifying car accident and walks away with very little damage done to her. We're quick to say God was with you. And we're right to say God was with you. I don't have a problem with that. It's what we don't say. when the situation is the other way around. When the young mother loses her infant child, was God with her? When Pastor Reeder died in a car accident this week, was God with him? When the young man's wife just up and walks out on the marriage, is God still good? When we selectively apply the truths of God, we risk doing terrible harm. It's not that the truth itself is the problem, it's our use of the truth. More correctly, it's our fail to use the truth. God's truth is not a disservice, it never is. But our selective application of God's truths can be a great disservice to the church, to ourselves, to our brothers and sisters. When we apply great truths only at the times when they make sense to us, we leave ourselves and our brothers and sisters vulnerable when disaster strikes. You see, it's a mistake to look at the circumstance and draw a conclusion about God. Look, pastor, God spared your wife two weeks ago. He was surely with Becky. Well, yes, he was. But had we lived in a different time or place, had I lost her to that medical condition, would that affect the truth of God? Would he be any less good or any less with me? I had a friend and this is a true story. I had a friend who was 27 years old. I think his wife was like a year older. They had three little girls all under the age of five. They were at church of all places, practicing for the Christmas pageant. And she dropped dead like that. He's 27 and is widowed and has three little girls he's got to raise. Was God with Les? Was God good? We don't get to judge God's goodness or evaluate God's presence based on an outcome that we like. We don't get to proclaim his virtues when he acts the way we want, but withholding such pronouncements when he doesn't. God was not good two weeks ago because he saved my wife. God is good because he is God. The goodness and the presence of God are, for our narrator, absolutes. They're not conditional on what's happening in Joseph's life. Take a look at the text. Look at verse 3. We all tend to live in the way that verse 3 says. His master saw the Lord was with him and caused all that he did to succeed. We go, yeah, that's how it works. When God's with you, good things happen. But we gotta look at the rest of this passage. Verse one, Joseph was sold into slavery. Verse two, and God was with him. Verse 20, Joseph's master put him into prison. Verse 21, and the Lord was with Joseph. The presence of God is not conditional for our narrator, it is an absolute state. Favorable outcomes don't determine the goodness or the presence of God. In fact, this story points out exactly the opposite. Rather than judging God based on the circumstance, this passage takes the truth of God and applies it to the circumstance. Sold into slavery? Doesn't prove anything. God is with you. Falsely accused? Misjudged? Unjustly imprisoned? Beside the point. God is with you. And in this way, the doctrines of God become the starting point of how these biblical thinkers thought about life. Yes, bad things are happening to Joseph, but hold fast, for we know that God is good and God is with him. You see, when we consistently connect the goodness of God, the presence of God, to the positive outcomes only, we unwittingly sow doubt in times of despair and trouble. I'm in an emotional pit. God must not be with me. I'm in a prison of sin. God must not be with me. It's easy to look at this chapter and to think to ourselves, well, sure, I guess that happened, but it's all going to work out because we know the end of the story. But Joseph didn't. In that moment, at that time, Joseph had no idea how things were gonna play out. But God was with him. When times are dark for you, when there is trial in your life, when you are in despair, when you are in the pit, when you are in a prison of sin of your own making, God is with you. The next time you're on your knees begging God to spare the life of a loved one and he says no, I want you to rise up and say God is good. The next time you're sitting there looking back on the sin you just committed that you just keep committing and you can't shake off, I want you to say God is with me. The doctrine of the goodness and presence of God does not depend on the circumstance you're going through. The circumstance you're going through depends on the doctrines of God. We must understand that absolute truth. The Lord was with Joseph. Genesis 40, page nine in the bulletin. Sometime after this, Pharaoh was angry with two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and he put them in the prison where Joseph was confined. The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody, and one night they both dreamed. the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt. Each his own dream with its own interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. So he asked Pharaoh's officers, why are your faces downcast today? They said to him, we have had dreams and there is no one to interpret them. And Joseph said to them, do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me. So the chief cupbearer and the chief baker told their dreams to Joseph and he interpreted to them the meaning of each dream and asked the chief cupbearer to remember him to Pharaoh once the dreams were fulfilled. On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he restored the chief cupbearer to his position, but he hanged the chief baker as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet, the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. Is God still with Joseph? A faithful man who's been forgotten. Joseph has done everything right. He's worked hard. He's been diligent and responsible. He's fulfilled every expectation of him. And in the process, he has given all glory to God. I don't interpret dreams, God does. And yet Joseph is still in prison. It would be easy for Joseph to give up at this point, to throw in the towel. I tried, I did everything I was supposed to do. I did exactly what God wanted of me. And what did it get me? I'm still trapped in this dungeon. Unless we think he was forgotten for only a short time, a passing moment, maybe a week, a month. Look at the first verse of the next section. After two whole years, Joseph did not endure his forgottenness for a day or a month. And this is why we cannot, we must not get in the habit of judging God based on our circumstance. It is precisely at times like Joseph is now in that we need a robust biblical doctrine of God. He is good. He is with me, period, full stop, no doubt, 100%. And we need this attitude, especially around unsaved friends and family. Emphasizing God's goodness and presence in the hardest times. They'll either think you're crazy, which may happen, or they're going to want to know more about this amazing God you worship. Declare the glory of God when your boss passes you over for the promotion. What a testimony to your coworkers. You're gonna be like Paul and Silas singing in prison. Many will scoff, but some will say, tell me more. Joseph has been forgotten. The prime of his life is being wasted in an Egyptian prison. God is good. God is present. Truth is true regardless of circumstantial evidence to the contrary. Be faithful even when it feels like you've been forgotten. Chapter 41, top of page 10. After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed. So in the morning his spirit was troubled, but there was no one who could interpret his dreams to Pharaoh. Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, a young Hebrew interpreted our dreams to us as he interpreted to us, so it came about. I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and said to Joseph, I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it. Joseph answered Pharaoh, it is not in me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer. Then Pharaoh told Joseph his dreams. Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, the dreams of Pharaoh are one. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain and let them keep it. That food shall be a reserve for the land against the famine in the land of Egypt so that the land may not perish through the famine. This proposal pleased Pharaoh, and Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has shown you all of this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. "'Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.' And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "'See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.' Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, "'Bow the knee!' Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. Jesus said in John 10.10 that he came to give abundant life. The TV preacher, he says that means having nice things now. And let's face it, a new car that starts reliably every time, bigger house, Those sure seem like the abundant life. So why shouldn't I pursue the things God clearly wants for me? When we misinterpret God, we get ourselves in a whole lot of trouble. Joseph is facing a similar situation. Events in the world sure look like they are fulfilling God's word. God revealed to Joseph, people are going to bow down to you. And now people are bowing down to him. Is this God's word fulfilled? And you want to talk about abundant life? You want to talk about God being with you and blessing you? Joseph is the prime minister of the richest and most powerful nation on the earth. If that isn't God's word fulfilled, I don't know what is. Should Joseph sit back and soak this in? Isn't it obvious that God has been working everything to this point in Joseph's life? After all, isn't that God's purpose? To take care of us, to provide for us, to give us nice things? Clearly, Joseph didn't see it that way. Why not? How did Joseph know to handle God's word differently. Our confession of faith gives us guidance on this subject. From chapter one, paragraph nine of the Westminster Confession of Faith, it says this, the infallible rule of interpretation of scripture is the pastor. The infallible rule for the interpretation of scripture are the elders together. The infallible rule for the interpretation of scripture is the TV preacher with the biggest following. The infallible rule for the interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself. Scripture interprets Scripture. And Joseph knows this. He said it twice. Now, he didn't word it that way, but he stresses that God interprets the dreams God gives. Joseph doesn't imagine that he, on his own, could interpret God's revelation, but God can. God interprets what God has revealed. God showed Joseph the meaning of what God showed Pharaoh. God interprets God. Scripture interprets Scripture. And so it is with us. Anything that God says to us must be interpreted in light of everything God says to us. So back to the question of abundant life. How do we understand that biblically? How do we use that as an illustration of the situation? Now, just as the adoration Joseph received sure sounded an awful lot like his dream, and just like nice houses and exotic vacations sure sounded an awful lot like the abundant life, it all falls apart when we keep reading. James was beheaded. Stephen was stoned. Peter crucified. Paul beaten. John was exiled. That's to say nothing of the Old Testament prophets. Not one of Jesus' earliest and closest followers experienced luxury and comfort on this earth. The promise of abundant life has got to be interpreted in light of that reality. revealed in the word of God. Joseph never once imagined that his elevation to prime minister was the fulfillment of God's word to him. Yes, people were bowing down to him. Yes, it sounded an awful lot like the truth, but it wasn't. Why did he know? How did he know? Because God revealed to Joseph the meaning of dreams. Joseph knew that anything God said to him must be interpreted by everything God said to him. God interprets God. Scripture interprets scripture. Continuing in 41-46, we're at the bottom of page 11 in your bulletin. Joseph was 30 years old, so 13 years have passed. Joseph was 30 years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured. The seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. 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. 42, 1, when Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die. 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 Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he did not, 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 remembered the dreams he had dreamed of them. And he said 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 never been spies. We, your servants, are 12 brothers, the sons of one man, the land of Canaan. Behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more. But Joseph said to them, it is as I said to you, you are spies. And he put them all together in custody for three days. On the third day, Joseph said to them, Do this and you will live for I fear God. If you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households and bring your youngest brother to me so your words will be verified and you shall not die. And they did so. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain and to replace every man's money in his sack and to give them provision for the journey this was done for them. You know, for all of our love as Presbyterians of the doctrines of grace, we Calvinists can sometimes be a little ungracious discussing God's sovereignty. Joseph shows us what a gracious Calvinism might look like. You know, in this scene, God's sovereignty, which is kind of the central theme of the doctrines of Calvinism, God's sovereignty is revealed to Joseph and for the moment to him alone. In this moment, he is the only one who understands how God has been working everything together, from the drought, to the sin of his brothers, to his dream, it's all coming together for Joseph. And at this moment in history, No other human being is able to comprehend God's sovereignty quite like Joseph does. Joseph is, at this moment, the lone Calvinist in a room full of Arminians. And in that moment, Joseph is gracious. He doesn't yell, see, I told you so. Nor does Joseph make his brothers feel badly for their misunderstanding. He isn't going to, instead of putting them down or belittling them, he's going to take patient steps that will bring his brothers to a point of understanding. And once they do, he's going to comfort them. Do not be afraid what you intended for evil, God intended for good. Joseph sees God's sovereign hand upon all things, but does not bludgeon them, his brothers, with his superior insight. And I'm going to suggest, dear Calvinist brothers and sisters, that this is what gracious Calvinism ought to look like. And I have felt it firsthand. I remember the night in youth group. I was 15 years old, and we were studying Romans 9, and the light bulb went on. God is sovereignly in control of everything. But I didn't have this kind of grace. to wait for the others to come along and see it. Joseph has spent, by this point, 15 years wondering, what on earth is God doing? This has got to be a moment of profound revelation for him. And yet he does not exalt himself. He does not say, look, you are bowing and I am up here. He doesn't say, look, I have insight, and you don't. You need to listen to me. He feeds them, and he patiently waits for God to reveal it to them. Let's be sure we hold forth a gracious Calvinism that extols the doctrines of the sovereignty of God, but not our insight into them. Moving on, picking up with the family back in Canaan. Verse 29 of chapter 42, we're in the middle of page 12 of the bulletin. And in this section, pay particular attention to who takes center stage. When they came to Jacob, their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them. And Jacob, their father, said to them, you have bereaved me of my children. Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin? My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol. Now the famine was severe in the land, and when they had eaten the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, go again, buy us a little food. Their father said to them, but Judas said to him, The man solemnly warned us saying, you shall not see my face unless your brother is with you. If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food. But if you will not send him, we will not go down. And Judah said to Israel, his father, send the boy with me. and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you, and also our little ones. I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.' Then their father Israel said to them, if it must be so, then do this. Carry a present down to the man, take also your brother. May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man and may he send back, notice the wording here, your other brother and Benjamin. How ironic that he doesn't name Simeon. When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present that they had with him and bowed down to him to the ground. And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son. And Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, singular, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there. Then he washed his face and came out. And controlling himself, he said, Serve the food. And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, the youngest according to his youth. And the men looked at one another in amazement. Portions were taken to them from Joseph's own table. But Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him. Then he commanded the steward of his house, fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest. And he did as Joseph told him. As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys. They had gone only a short distance from the city. Now Joseph said to his steward, Up, follow after the men. And when you overtake them, say to them, Why have you repaid evil for good? Is it not from this cup that my Lord drinks, and by this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this. When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words. Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack, and he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city. When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there. They fell before him to the ground for a third time. Joseph said to them, what deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination? And Judah said, what shall we say to my Lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants. Behold, we are my Lord's servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found. But Joseph said, far be it from me that I should do so. Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go in peace up to your father. And Judah went up to him and said, oh my Lord, please let your servants speak a word in my Lord's ears. As soon as I come to your servant, my father, and the boy is not with us, then as his life is bound up in the boy's life, as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol. For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, if I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life. Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my Lord. And let the boy go back with his brothers. For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father. Then Joseph could not control himself before all who stood by him. He cried, make everyone get out from me. So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers and he wept aloud so that the Egyptians heard it and the household of Pharaoh heard it. And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph. Is my father still alive? But his brothers could not answer him for they were dismayed at his presence. A broken and contrite heart. Sin is going to change you. It just will, period, matter of fact. No sin is going to leave you unaffected. David certainly understood the effects of sin, how they could change a person. More to the point, David understood how they should change a person. Psalm 51, 17 says, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Genesis 37 to 46 is mostly focused on Joseph, but if we miss the Judah thread running through these chapters, we will miss a great deal. In chapter 43, Judah is the central figure. It is Judah, not merely Jacob's sons, who report on the visit to Egypt. It is Judah specifically who convinces Jacob to send Benjamin with them on the second trip. It is Judah who guarantees a safe return of the boy to his father. And when Benjamin is found with a missing cup, it is Judah who first refuses Joseph's offer of release and then offers to swap his freedom for Benjamin's. And don't miss this fact. Though Joseph was emotional upon seeing Benjamin, he was reconciled to his brothers upon seeing a changed Judah. Judah is a changed man. He once sold Joseph into slavery, and now he'll do anything to keep Benjamin out of slavery. So what changed him? Why is Judah so radically different? Remember back in chapter 38 when I glossed over it and kind of told you to set it aside? It's time to bring it back. Chapter 38 explains what's going on here. Once cavalier about his father's suffering, he sold Joseph into slavery. Judah is now a man who has lost two sons himself. He's walked a mile in Jacob's sandals, as it were. And he is now a wiser, more mature, more compassionate, empathetic man. He pained his father once upon a time, and he does not want to do it again. Judah is a broken and contrite heart. Once angry at his father over the inequitable treatment of the brothers and their mothers, Judah has, like his father before him, now lived long enough to be humbled by his own moral failings. By virtue of his own sin, Judah is less angry at Jacob's. By virtue of his own loss, Judah is more empathetic and compassionate regarding the losses of others. Judah is a broken and contrite heart. And Joseph is the earthly illustration of a godly response, of the godly response. A broken and contrite heart will never be despised. We are going to sin. That is more certain than either death or taxes. but it is the heart that is broken and contrite because of sin, like Judas, that receives grace and is restored. Sin is inevitable and it will inevitably change you. The question is, in what way? Will you be hardened, sinning all the more casually and comfortably? Every sinner, meaning every human not named Jesus of Nazareth, will one day be broken and contrite. The question is when. If it's at the revelation of Jesus, then you will spend eternity broken and contrite. But if you will be broken and contrite before then, and accept the grace of God, the reconciliation that comes from God, then your broken and contrite-ness will be a temporary thing, and you will be lifted up, and you will sit at the table of the Lord and eat with him, even as Joseph's brothers did. Our final section, picking up in 45.4 at the top of page 15. So Joseph said to his brothers, come near to me, please. And they came near. And he said, I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here. For God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and Lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry, and go up to my father and say to him, Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me Lord of all Egypt. Come down to me, do not tarry. And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here." Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept. And Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all of his brothers and wept upon them. After that, his brothers talked with him. The sons of Israel prepared to return to Canaan. And Joseph gave them wagons according to the command of Pharaoh and gave them provisions for the journey. Then he sent his brothers away and they departed. And he said to them, do not quarrel on the way. So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. And they told him, Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt. And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, it is enough. Joseph, my son, is still alive. I will go and see him before I die. God is not MacGyver. Remember the old TV show where that hero was able to fashion a solution to any problem with a paper clip, some bubble gum, and a can-do attitude? If your mental image of God is as one who makes the best out of a bad situation, saving the day by hook or by crook, that is not the portrait this story is painting. Look at page 15 of the bulletin. Look at verse 5 of chapter 45. Joseph doesn't say to his brothers, you sold me here into slavery, but God has used it for good. What does he say? God sent me before you. Joseph's brothers did not serve up lemons and God went all MacGyver and used the acid from the lemons to eat through the prison bars and free Joseph. God sent Joseph into slavery in Egypt. He did not need to fashion an escape out of nothing. God is not MacGyver. God is not a Boy Scout. He's not the eaglest of Eagle Scouts with a motto of be prepared. A good Boy Scout, if he's camping for a week, he's gonna have rain gear. God does nothing of the sort. It's not as if Joseph is praying one day, hey God, I'm in this dungeon in Egypt, can you help me out? And God looks up and says, no problem. I just happen to have a vacancy for the prime mirror of Egypt. God is not prepared for these situations. God ordained them. Again, look at Joseph's comment in verse seven. God sent me. There it is a second time. God was not prepared for Egypt. He prepared Egypt. God is not a Boy Scout. And neither is God the ultimate chess player. Now to be sure, if God played chess, he would be the ultimate chess player. But speaking metaphorically, God is not the ultimate chess player. God does not look into the future and scheme out two, 10, 20 moves ahead. imagining every conceivability, trying to figure out what everybody else is going to do, and then make his move that he thinks the opponent won't be able to defend. You know, if chess has international masters and grandmasters, do not imagine that God falls on some next tier up, intergalactic grandmaster, or some such craziness. God did not have to think things through. Well, let's see. If Joseph talks about his dreams, his brothers could react badly. But I want to give him the dream. So if they react badly, I've got to have a response for that. And looking 12 moves ahead, if Potiphar's wife lies about him and falsely accuses him, then this is going to happen, and then that's going to happen. I'm going to have to make this move. God is not a chess player. Again, a third time, Joseph makes the point in verse 8. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. That wasn't the brother's move. That was God's. So I guess if you want to picture God as a chess player, you need to picture him on both sides of the board, moving all the pieces. MacGyver, an Eagle Scout, and the reigning world chess champion all react. They respond to circumstances that maybe they imagined, maybe they anticipated as probable, but they could not guarantee them, and they were surely not in control of them. God knows the end from the very beginning. Not one step along the way surprises him, stymies him, throws him off his game. Some 1100 years after Joseph, God said to and through the prophet Isaiah, remember this and stand firm. I am God and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning, saying my counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose. God did not respond or react to the brothers selling Joseph into slavery. Those brothers did not hand God lemons and he went all Eagle Scout and pulled out a lemon press to make lemonade. Potiphar's wife did not accuse Joseph and then God fashioned a MacGyver-esque way for Joseph to get out of it. And the cup bearer forgetting Joseph and leaving him in prison, that did not cause God to draw on his inner Magnus Carlson Greatest chess player of all time. I should have used Bobby Fischer. Whatever. God did not become the ultimate chess player and respond to that move by Potiphar's wife. Earlier we asked, where is God when life goes badly? And remember, we pointed out that our narrator is explicit. God is with Joseph when he is sold into slavery. God is with Joseph when he was put into prison. God does not ride in at the most dramatic moment and seize the day, take over and make everything right. He's there all along. And now at the reunion of the brothers, Joseph is even more explicit. three times in verses five, seven, and eight. God sent me. God sent me. God sent me. Now, a moment ago, I said God does not respond like a chess player, Boy Scout, or MacGyver, because he knows the end from the beginning. But really, even that word no doesn't capture the truth of this doctrine either. Joseph didn't imply mere knowledge. Well, the chess player thinks they know what move you'll make, but God, he really knows. He's really sure what you're gonna do, and therefore anticipates it. Joseph doesn't talk that way. Joseph speaks of intent on God's part. God sent me here to save lives, to preserve a remnant. Joseph's view of God is that God orchestrated these things that happened to him. God ordained all of Joseph's life. That view is consistent with Isaiah's prophecy. I am God, declaring the end from the beginning. God sits at the very start of the chess match and does not predict each move along the way perfectly. He decides what each move will be. He declares the end before any of it begins. Think about it this way. For this story to play out as it did, God was controlling the weather so that the famine arose when and where it did. And God orchestrated events in Judah's life by which he was softened, humbled, and contrite. God had to provide the Ishmaelite Midianite caravan exactly when they came along. And the baker and cupbearer had to annoy Pharaoh and be thrown in prison at exactly the right time. And, and, and. Everything had to be under God's control for anything to be assured. The one who is not master of all may eventually prove to be master of none. You and I cannot guarantee outcomes precisely because we cannot control every detail of every event, every day, everywhere. Dr. R.C. Sproul once put it this way, if there is one single molecule in this universe running around loose, totally free of God's sovereignty, then we have no guarantee that a single promise of God will ever be fulfilled. As a former chemist, I like the use of molecules there. It's kind of cool. But you get the idea, one molecule, God's not controlling that one. Oh, it interacts here, causes some skin cancer. That person dies of skin cancer. Then they don't tell the word, you know, they don't tell the gospel of so-and-so. You can't have events. You can't. God has to be in control of everything if he's in control of anything. There are no maverick molecules. In the Joseph story, Joseph points out that God worked all things together for good, for the saving of many lives, for the preservation of a family remnant. We're talking about the doctrine of providence. Providence. You note takers out there can be thankful for the Westminster Divines, because I would never have summed it up this briefly. But our confession of faith defines providence this way. God preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions. God preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions. Now, how shocking is that? The bad things that happened to Joseph, and make no mistake, slavery is a bad thing. Those bad things were at God's behest. Unless you think that Joseph and I and the Heidelberg and Westminster catechisms, Heidelberg will come later, have gotten this wrong, consider what the psalmist said. 139.16, all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Think about it. If Judah does not, say, sell him, he doesn't go to Egypt. And if he only goes to Egypt, but Potiphar's wife never lies about him, he doesn't meet the cupbearer. And if the cupbearer springs him from prison earlier, maybe he can't be found when Pharaoh has his dreams. And if he doesn't interpret Pharaoh's dream, then millions, including his own family, probably starve to death. The individual steps were not good, they were sin, yet God orchestrated all of it to save the line of humanity, which would one day give rise to the one who would save all of humanity. In some ways, this is actually more incredible, more remarkable, more amazing than creation itself. For in creation, all God did was merely bring everything good out of nothing. The doctrine being taught here is that God brings everything good out of everything that's a mess. He doesn't start with nothing. He starts with train wreck of sinners. and speaks good into the situation. So now the bizarre events of chapter 38 with Judah and Tamar, they begin to fit in. God used the losses in Judah's life to soften him, make him a more compassionate man toward his father. God then used a softer, more compassionate Judah to soften Joseph toward his brothers. All his brothers, not just Benjamin. He was initially softer Benjamin. But after Judah pleads for Benjamin's life, Joseph has softened all of them. And the reunion is affected. God was orchestrating even the train wreck in Judah's own family. Now don't get me wrong. God's providence can be a tough pill to swallow. When I lost my job, I don't know, about 20 years ago now, I was panic-stricken. I had a wife and four children to support. And by God's sovereign decree, I was unemployed. I didn't bask in the doctrine of providence. For a time, I hated it. God ordained that I would be without a job and have five miles to feed. I took a new job and some years later, teacher pulls me aside, teacher, one of my children, pulls me aside and says, just thought you ought to know this. Your child was talking to me and expressed how your change of jobs and the move that that caused, the geographic move that that caused, it took that child away from some bad influences, some bad friends that you and your wife didn't know about. and put him in a place where he or she was surrounded with better friends. God worked through your job loss to protect your child. Well, that puts another spin on providence, doesn't it? My sister had a difficult brush with the doctrine of providence. She went through a horrible, terrifying miscarriage that took the baby's life and nearly took hers. Some weeks later, she was back at church and a woman, I suppose, meaning to comfort her, said this, well, we can know for sure that God didn't want that to happen. Deborah explained how exactly the opposite is true. where I had found frustration with the providence of God that he orchestrates all things. Deborah took comfort that even in her darkest hour, God was in control, working his purposes for his people. Yes, she still wept over the baby. Providence doesn't make evil good. Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus. But God's divine orchestration of earthly events all the time does mean that we're never out of control, no matter how bleak circumstances seem. There are no maverick molecules. There's nothing out there that's going to upset God's plans. I mentioned myself. I mentioned my sister. Might as well throw my brother in here. My brother took three of the nieces and nephews. At the time, they were ages two, three, and four. He took them to the park, and they got on the merry-go-round, and Uncle Brian began to push. They squealed. He pushed harder. They shrieked. He pushed faster. They screamed. He still pushed." Now, you might be imagining to yourself, well, this is a picture of how the ride was terrifying, but in the end, it all worked out great, and that's God's providence. Nope. Not what happened. One of the nieces came flying off the mare ground and skidded across the gravel. That's a better picture of God's providence. It's not always going to be easy. It's not always gonna work out great. It's gonna hurt sometimes. This life is going to bruise you and scar you and mark you. My sister will testify. Joseph will testify. But the important nuance of the doctrine of providence is not merely that God is in absolute control. It is that his control is ruled by his love. I shared the Westminster Catechism's definition of providence, and it is excellent. But our Dutch Reformed brethren have the Heidelberg Catechism, and I love its definition of providence. Providence is the almighty and everywhere present power of God, whereby, as it were, by his hand, he still upholds heaven and earth with all creatures and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and bearing years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, all things come not by chance, but by his fatherly hand." God is not with you merely when you escape harm. He is with you always. God is not good when you like what is happening. He is good always. And there are not things happening in your life for which God is fashioning a rescue out of a coat hanger like MacGyver, or for which he is merely prepared like a Boy Scout, or which he has planned 10 moves ahead like a chess champion. God is governing and ordaining all things with a fatherly hand. You see, dear believer, we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Such is the lesson of Joseph's life. Lord, it can be hard to take your control when things aren't going the way we want. But teach us, show us, remind us, that if anyone else were in control, there would be no hope. We don't always get to know the why behind what you're doing. We don't always get to see the where things are headed. We have simply to believe that you love us. And that there's nothing happening that's out of your control. And therefore, we can rest secure. that you will bring all things to the conclusion for which you have declared them. The glory of Christ and the vindication of those who are his. We pray this in his precious name.