Theme: GOD IS SOVEREIGN OVER OUR PERSONAL HISTORY (part3)
Text: Genesis 37-50


6. Joseph was accused of a crime he did not commit.

“And about this time, Potifar’s wife began to desire him and invited him to sleep with her. But Joseph refused. ‘Look,’ he told her, ‘my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. No one here has more authority than I do! He has held back nothing from me except you because you are his wife. How could I ever do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.
She kept putting pressure on him day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. One day, however, no one else was around when he was doing his work inside the house. She came and grabbed him by his shirt, demanding, ‘Sleep with me!’ Joseph tore himself away, but as he did, his shirt came off. She was left holding it as he ran from the house.
When she saw that she had his shirt and that he had fled, she began screaming. Soon, all the men around the place came running. ‘My husband has brought this Hebrew slave here to insult us!’ she sobbed. ‘He tried to rape me, but I screamed. When he heard my loud cries, he ran and he left his shirt behind with me.’
She kept the shirt with her, and when her husband came home that night, she told him her story. ‘That Hebrew slave you’ve had around here tried to make a fool of me’, she said. ‘I was saved only by my screams. He ran out, leaving his shirt behind!” Genesis 39:7-18.

After failing to tempt Joseph, she is now trying to represent him as a criminal, to get even.

a. She accused him to his fellow servants and gave him a bad name among them.
b. She accused him to his master, who had the power to punish him.

7. Joseph was imprisoned on the grounds of false accusation

“After hearing his wife’s story, Potifar was furious! He took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held. But the Lord was with Joseph there, too, and he granted Joseph favor with the chief jailer. Before long, the jailer put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. The chief jailer had no more worries after that, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him, making everything run smoothly and successfully” Genesis 39:19-23.

Isn’t that unjust? Where is God during this time?
Is He busy now cutting His finger nails that He missed this one event in the life of Joseph?
Put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. You’re accused of something you did not do—isn’t that unjust? Would you not be hurt? Would you not fret? Would you not question God?
And to add insult to injury, he was thrown into prison on the grounds of that false accusation.
Isn’t that unjust? To be accused with something you did not do is one thing. But to be imprisoned, your freedom taken away, to suffer for something you did not commit—ibang usapan na iyan! Hindi na masamang biro iyan! Where is justice here?
Prisons were used to house force laborer or those accused and awaiting trial like Joseph. Many prisoners ever made it to the court, for trials were held at the whim of the ruler.

But look at what happened next?

“Before long, the jailer put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. The chief jailer had no more worries after that, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him, making everything run smoothly and successfully” Genesis 39:22-23.

God’s will will not lead you where God’s grace cannot keep you!

The Bible says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31. God was with Joseph even while he was suffering in that dark, stinky prison cell. God has never left him nor forsaken him. This is not a detour from God’s plan but a part of God’s overall program for Joseph.

8. Joseph’s kindness was reciprocated with forgetfulness

The baker and cupbearer were two of the most trusted men in Pharaoh’s Kingdom. The baker was in charge of making the king’s food, and the cupbearer tasted all the king’s food and drink before giving it to Pharaoh, in case any of it was contaminated or poisoned. These trusted men must have been suspected of a serious wrong to be thrown into prison.

“Sometime later, pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer and chief baker offended him. Pharaoh became very angry with these officials, and he put them in the prison where Joseph was, in the palace of Potifar, the captain of the guard. They remained in prison for quite some time, and Potifar assigned Joseph to take care of them.
One night, the cup-bearer and the baker each had a dream, and each dream had its own meaning. The next morning Joseph noticed the dejected look on their faces. ‘Why do you look so worried today’ he asked.”
And they replied, ‘We both had dreams last night, but there is no one here to tell us what they mean.’
‘Interpreting dreams is God’s business,’ Joseph replied. ‘Tell me what you saw.’
The cup-bearer told his dream first. ‘In my dream,’ he said, ‘I saw a vine in front of me. It had three branches that began to bud and blossom, and soon there were clusters of ripe grapes. I was holding Pharaoh’s wine cup in my hand so I took the grapes, and squeezed the juice into it. Then I placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.’
‘I know what the dream means,’ Joseph said. ‘The three branches mean three days. Within three days Pharaoh will take you out of prison and return you to your position as his chief cup-bearer. AND PLEASE HAVE SOME PITY ON ME WHEN YOU WERE BACK IN HIS FAVOR. MENTION ME TO PHARAOH, AND ASK HIM TO LET ME OUT OF HERE. FOR I WAS KIDNAPPED FROM MY HOMELAND, THE LAND OF THE HEBREWS, AND NOW I’M HERE IN JAIL, BUT I DID NOTHING TO DESERVE IT.’
When the chief baker saw that the first dream had such a good meaning, he told his dream to Joseph, too. ‘In my dream,’ he said, ‘there were three baskets of pastries on my head. In the top basket were all kinds of bakery goods for Pharaoh, but the birds came and ate them.’
‘I’ll tell you what it means,’ Joseph told him. ‘The three baskets mean three days. Three days from now Pharaoh will cut off your head and impale your body on a pole. Then birds will come and peck away at your flesh.’
Pharaoh’s birthday came three days later, and he gave a banquet for all his officials and household staff. He sent for his chief cup-bearer and chief baker, and they were brought to him from the prison. He then restored the chief cup-bearer to his former position, but he sentenced his chief baker to impaled on a pole, just as Joseph had predicted. Pharaoh’s cup-bearer, however, promptly forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought” GENESIS 40:1-23.
Joseph asked for favor but he was forgotten.
Isn’t that unjust? You help others in their misery. But no one helps you when you are in your misery. Isn’t that unjust? You do a kind thing to someone but that someone has selective amnesia – he immediately forgets all about the kind thing you did. Isn’t that unjust?


IV. JOSEPH WAS ELEVATED FROM PRISON TO PALACE (41:1-36)
Pharaoh had a dream. The magicians and wise men of Egypt could not interpret the dream. The king’s cupbearer remembered Joseph and referred him to the king.
“Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was brought hastily from the dungeon. After a quick shave and change of clothes, he went in and stood in Pharaoh’s presence” v.14.
After two full years in prison, Joseph now had the chance to appear before Pharaoh not to stand trial but to interpret a dream.
This was the interpretation of the dream according to Joseph:
“Both dreams mean the same thing,” Joseph told Pharaoh. “God was telling you what he is about to do. The seven fat cows and the seven plump heads of grain both represent seven years of prosperity. The seven thin, ugly cows and the seven withered heads of grain represent seven years of famine. This will happen just as I have described it, for God has shown you what he is about to do. The next seven years will be a period of great prosperity throughout the land of Egypt. But afterward there will be seven years of famine so great that all the prosperity will be forgotten and wiped out. Famine will destroy the land. This famine will be so terrible that even the memory of the good years will be erased. As for having the dream twice, it means the matter has been decreed by God and that he will make these events happen soon” v. 25-32.

After interpreting Pharaoh’s dream, Joseph gave the king a survival plan for the next 14 years.
“My suggestion is that you find the wisest man in Egypt and put him in charge of a nationwide program. Let Pharaoh appoint officials over the land, and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops during the seven good years. Have them gather all the food and grain of these good years into the royal storehouses, and store it away so there will be food in the cities. That way there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come. Otherwise, disaster will surely strike the land, and all the people will die” v. 33-36.

Joseph rose quickly to the top, from prison walls to Pharaoh’s palace:
“Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his advisers. As they discussed who should be appointed for the job, Pharaoh said, ‘Who could do it better than Joseph? For he is a man who is obviously filled with the spirit of God.’ Turning to Joseph, Pharaoh said, ‘since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, you are the wisest man in the land!’ I hereby appoint you to direct this project. You will manage my household and organize all my people. Only I will have a rank higher than yours!’
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.’ Then Pharaoh placed his own signet ring on Joseph’s finger as a symbol of his authority. He dressed him in beautiful clothing and placed the royal gold chain about his neck….And Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I am the king, but no one will move a hand or a foot in the entire land of Egypt in the entire land of Egypt’” v. 37-44.

Joseph was 17 when he received Gods dream for him and when he was sold into slavery by his brothers. He had spent 11 years as an Egyptian slave and 2 years in prison. For 13 years, he was enrolled in the School of Suffering before moving to the School of Leadership. He was 30 years old when he became governor of Egypt.
When God wants to make a mushroom, He does it overnight, but when He wants to make a giant oak, He takes a hundred years. Great souls are grown through struggles and storms and seasons of suffering.
An egg must first be broken and beaten. A garlic must first be minced. Before God can use you, He must first break you.
When suffering comes, it is not an accident, but a necessity; an essential part of the Christian life.
What does God wants to produce in our Christian lives? Patience, endurance, and the ability to keep going when times are tough. Immature people are always impatient. God wants to make us patient because that is the key to every other blessing. The only way the Lord can develop patience and character in our lives is through suffering.

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are, and He will increase what you have, and He will not leave you where you are.”