PREPARATION. > Determine which discussion points and questions will work best with your group.

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1 OUR MESS, HIS MASTERPIECE SUCCESS GENESIS 41:46-57 SEPTEMBER 4, 2016

2 GENESIS 41:46-57 SEPTEMBER 4, 2016 TEACHING PLAN PREPARATION > Spend the week reading through and studying Genesis 41: Consult the commentary provided and any additional study tools (such as a concordance or Bible dictionary) to enhance your preparation. > Determine which discussion points and questions will work best with your group. > Pray for our pastors, the upcoming group meeting, your teaching, your group members, and their receptivity to the study. HIGHLIGHTS BIBLICAL EMPHASIS: In God s perfect timing, He promoted Joseph to a position of great influence and authority. Thousands of people s lives would be spared as a result. TEACHING AIM: God uses the hardships we endure to prepare us for service that blesses other people and brings glory to God. 2 Our Mess, His Masterpiece Brentwood Baptist Church

3 INTRODUCTION As your group time begins, use this section to help get the conversation going. 1 There are some people who seem to spread blessing wherever they go. Who are the individuals in your life who consistently bless other people? How do they do it? 2 Do you think it s more difficult to handle adversity or success? What are the pitfalls of each? 3 Do you know someone who has handled success with a humble attitude that brings glory to God? What characteristics do they possess that make them humble? Abraham Lincoln said, Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man s character, give him power. Certainly, Joseph had experienced a great deal of adversity. In a storyline with a great number of twists and turns, Joseph had been through a substantial amount of difficulty since being sold into slavery by his own brothers. But God had used every bit of adversity to refine Joseph s character and to prepare him for a task that would save thousands of people from famine. Finally, after years of waiting on God s perfect timing, Joseph s time had come. God promoted Joseph to a position of great authority in a foreign land where he would serve under an ungodly ruler. UNDERSTANDING Unpack the biblical text to discover what Scripture says or means about a particular topic. > Have a volunteer read Genesis 41: Our Mess, His Masterpiece Brentwood Baptist Church

4 How much time had passed since Joseph s brothers sold him into slavery? Why is this significant? Why is it sometimes difficult to wait on God s timing? How can we be more patient as we wait? According to the text, what leadership skills did Joseph use to prepare Egypt for the famine? Thirteen years had passed since Joseph s brothers sold him into slavery. Surely, there were times Joseph had grown discouraged as he waited on God to act. God s timing is not always what we perceive it should be. But as Joseph waited, he developed a strong relationship with the Lord, and God used the adversity Joseph experienced to produce godly character in him. Joseph had gone from being a prisoner in a foreign land to the second most powerful man in Egypt. God had prepared Joseph to serve in a significant way and lead Egypt through an imminent famine. As predicted by Joseph, Egypt was experiencing a time of abundance. Wisely, Joseph was preparing for the coming famine and would ultimately oversee a project that saved thousands of lives. > Have a volunteer read Genesis 41: In addition to Joseph s leadership promotion, how else did God bless Joseph? Glance back at verses 51 and 52. What did the names of Joseph s sons mean? 4 Our Mess, His Masterpiece Brentwood Baptist Church

5 Why is it sometimes difficult for us to forget our hardships when they are inflicted by other people? The name Manasseh means forgetting. Of course, Joseph hadn t literally forgotten his family or the events that had taken place, but rather, he was able to move past the suffering and pain they had caused. By God s grace, Joseph was able to let the pain go and no longer dwell in the past. Joseph understood that God had used these unfortunate events to bring about great good (Gen 50:20), and he would soon see that countless lives would be saved by it. With God s help, how is it possible to forgive even when evil things have been done to you? Do you think forgiveness is important? Why or why not? What are the consequences of not forgiving? Considering the names Joseph gave his sons, do you think Joseph was able to recognize God s provision and grace in the midst of his difficulties? Explain why you feel the way you do. In what ways can we give public credit to God? Despite the fact that Joseph had been treated unfairly by a number of people, he saw the hand of God in his circumstances. Not only was Joseph able to say, God made me forget all my hardship in my father s house, he was also able to say, God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. 5 Our Mess, His Masterpiece Brentwood Baptist Church

6 What would have been the results if Joseph had chosen to dwell on the bad things that had happened to him? According to the two statements above (the meaning of his sons names), where did Joseph focus his thoughts? If Joseph had chosen to dwell on the bad things that had happened to him, it is doubtful that he would have been promoted to a place of authority in Egypt. Instead of dwelling on the past, Joseph chose to dwell on God. God gave Joseph the strength to move past the hardship he had experienced in his father s house. Also, Joseph understood that God gave him the favor to be fruitful in the land of his affliction. Joseph s decision to focus on God, rather than the offenses he endured, showed great spiritual maturity. Practically speaking, what are ways we can dwell on God s provision rather than on hardship or offenses we endure? What does Joseph s story teach us about the character of God? > Have a volunteer read Genesis 41: The famine arrived as Joseph had said it would. According to verse 54, where was the only place to get food? 6 Our Mess, His Masterpiece Brentwood Baptist Church

7 How did Joseph respond to the famine (v. 56)? Which nations did people come from to buy food from Joseph? As Joseph had predicted, after seven years of abundance, a great famine struck every country in the region. Even beyond the borders of Egypt there was no food. Pharaoh instructed the people to go to Joseph. Because of Joseph s wise planning and leadership, he was able to sell the people food and save the lives of the Egyptians. As other nations heard of the food supply in Egypt they, too, came to Egypt to buy food from Joseph. For years to come, Egypt would be the food source for the Mediterranean world. We don t always understand God s ways or His timing, but we can trust Him. During the 13 years that Joseph had waited, God never left his side. God allowed blessing and prosperity to flow through him, even in the midst of great adversity. When Joseph s time arrived, he had the character and the skills he needed to lead the nation of Egypt through a perilous time. APPLICATION Help your group identify how the truths from the Scripture passage apply directly to their lives. 1 How can we challenge each other to focus on God s provision, rather than on offenses inflicted by others? 2 When we live with our eyes on God, what do we show the world about our faith? 7 Our Mess, His Masterpiece Brentwood Baptist Church

8 3 Is there an offense you need to forgive and quit dwelling on? How will you seek God s help to do so? 4 Are you able to look back at difficult times in your life and see God s provision? P R A Y Give thanks to God for His perfect plan and His perfect timing. Ask Him to help each group member to be able to forgive past offenses and dwell on Him. Pray that God will use times of adversity to strengthen His people to serve others and bring glory to Christ. 8 Our Mess, His Masterpiece Brentwood Baptist Church

9 FOLLOW UP Midway through this week, send a follow-up to your group with some or all of the following information: > Questions to consider as they continue to reflect on what they learned this week: Are there any offenses you need to forgive and quit dwelling on? If so, how will you seek God s strength and guidance to do so? > A note of encouragement, following up on any specific prayer requests mentioned during your group gathering. > The challenge to memorize Colossians 3: Our Mess, His Masterpiece Brentwood Baptist Church

10 COMMENTARY SEPTEMBER 4, 2016 GENESIS 41: : The note of Joseph s age punctuates a story that began when he was seventeen (Gen. 37:2) and will reach its climax in another nine years time (Gen. 45:6), more than twenty years after the first breach with his brothers. It is comparable with the length of time for Abraham between promise and fulfillment (Gen. 12:4, 21:5), and for Jacob in the service of Laban (Gen. 31:41). Each of these delays was fruitful, but no two were alike in form or purpose. The note that Joseph traveled throughout the land of Egypt, almost repeating, emphasizes the personal energy of his administration potentially enhanced by the joy of release. 41: These names, which are Hebrew, not Egyptian, tally with the two sides of Joseph s experience. With Manasseh there were still the mixed feelings that go with the closing of a chapter in life, voiced in the two phrases of verse 51. With Ephraim there was a more buoyant sense of fulfillment, perhaps owing something to the phenomenal fruitfulness of the land at this moment (v. 47), according to the promise. 41:55. There may be an intended echo of this story of the great provider, in John s record of the similar words ( Do whatever he tells you. John 2:5) which made way for the miracle at Cana. What Joseph was to the men of his day (John may imply), this and more would Jesus be to the world. 41: How severe a famine could be in Egypt, which is a thin fertile strip between deserts, is twice indicated by records of its inhabitants resorting to cannibalism. But because Palestine was watered by rainfall and Egypt by the Nile, the harvest seldom failed simultaneously in both (Gen. 12:10, 26:1-2). This time it was only the exertions of one man that averted a multiple disaster. 10 Our Mess, His Masterpiece Brentwood Baptist Church