Week Two: Kingdom-sized Dreams - Genesis 30:22-24; 37:1-50:26 Overview Three strands from the past shape Joseph s life: family dysfunction, God s promises, and the gap life between promise and fulfillment. Abraham s son of promise, Isaac, marries Rebekah and prays for twenty years for her to have children. When she finally becomes pregnant, the twins in her womb come with a promise: Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger (Gen. 25:23). Isaac greatly favors Esau, the elder, and attempts to subvert God s promise by blessing Esau over Jacob. Jacob schemes to gain the blessing and finds himself a fugitive from his brother s wrath. But Jacob is not immune to favoritism either he openly prefers Rachel to her sister Leah and Rachel s children to Leah s children, leading to animosity toward Joseph, Rachel s elder son. This jealous anger blooms into destructive hatred, resulting in Joseph s being sold as a slave. Talk about sibling rivalry A unique relationship develops within this dysfunctional family, however, as God calls each generation into His promises. God s promises to Abraham set the stage for everything to come in Joseph s story: Genesis 12:1-3 God promises a land, a nation, blessing, fame, and a blessing on all the families of the earth. Abram believes God and God accounts him righteous (15:6). Genesis 15:13-16, Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now, as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. No people group intentionally walks into 400 years of oppression God is making a promise that He will keep in a most unexpected way, to create a nation uniquely shaped by His faithfulness. Genesis 17:7-14 God instructs Abram to circumcise all of the males in his family as a sign of the covenant between God and Abram. God s promises extend to Isaac (26:3-5) and to Jacob as well (28:13-15). Joseph enters this family line when he dreams at seventeen years old that his father, mother, and brothers will bow to him (37:5-10). For every generation of this family, however, God s promises involve a time of waiting before their fulfillment. Abraham waits for 25 years before he receives the son of promise, and, as to inheriting the land, the martyr Stephen relates, And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants
after him (Acts 6:5). God uses the 25-year-gap between promise and fulfillment to shape Abraham into a man who walks with Him by faith. The gap life reveals Abraham s struggle with faith and allows God to show Himself unerringly faithful. Joseph, too, will live the gap life, as he lives for thirteen years as a slave and a prisoner (Gen. 41:46), and then another nine years before he reveals his identity to his brothers (45:6) and sees his dreams fulfilled when Jacob travels to live with him in Egypt. Joseph, like Abraham, has a choice throughout the gap will he walk by faith, believing what God has told him, or will he walk by sight? Joseph s story begins in one strange country (Padan Aram) and ends in another (Egypt). Joseph spends the fewest years in the promised land of any of the 12 patriarchs, yet his life has the most influence of the brothers. Joseph s life passes through five stages: preferred offspring, spoiled dreamer, betrayed servant, falsely accused prisoner, and, mighty ruler. Each stage is marked by the clear interaction between open human activity and the ever-present but veiled hand of God. Lesson Objective: At the conclusion of this lesson, students will be able to connect Joseph s problems to the providence of God and the promises given to Abraham in Genesis 15:13-16. Key Truths Joseph s life demonstrates God s providential care in the worst of circumstances. The refrain of Joseph s life is the phrase, and the LORD was with Joseph. In every situation, God revealed His power to bring Joseph through trouble to victory. God obligates Himself, His power, and His resources to those to whom He makes a promise. God uses the purifying time of servitude to perfect His choice vessel. God fulfills the dreams He gives, but the time between vision and fulfillment may be many years. God s person learns that God s presence matters more than all human achievement. God s people learn the value of forgiveness because they see God at work behind the scenes, using the very hurts of others to accomplish bigger purposes. God s people learn the wonderful truth of Romans 8:28, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purposes.
Lesson Outline Genesis 30:22-24; Genesis 37-50 As you teach this lesson, draw a timeline on the whiteboard to illustrate the truth that spiritual formation is a process and mark the following five periods in Joseph s life. 1. God s work through Joseph begins innocently enough with his birth to Rachel, Jacob s favored wife. After her sister and both servant girls have given birth, finally Rachel bears a son (Gen. 30:22-24). Rachel calls his name Joseph, meaning, He [God] will add; his name also may be a play on the word taken away as she says, God has taken away my disgrace. By this name, she expresses her faith both that this child has removed her shame and brings the promise of more children. 2. Joseph appears again around the age of 17 (Gen. 37). He is his father s favorite son, evidenced by the tunic of many colors. This favoritism (Gen. 37:3) brings upon Joseph the envy of his brothers that eventually turns to hatred (37:4). Joseph dreams two dreams that depict his family s submission to him (Gen. 37:5-11). These dreams only reinforce his brothers resentment. Jacob sends Joseph to inquire after his brothers welfare (37:12-17). When he arrives, however, his brothers determine to kill him. Reuben rescues him from death, but at Judah s counsel his brothers strip him of his coat, sell him to a passing Midianite caravan for 20 pieces of silver, and report to their father that Joseph has died. Jacob s mourning continues unabated for about 25 years (37:33-35; 45:27). 3. The Midianites take Joseph to Egypt, where he becomes a slave in the house of an Egyptian officer in the court of Pharaoh (Gen. 37:36; 39:1). The LORD s presence with Joseph grants Joseph several levels of success. He begins as a field slave (common practice in any country) He becomes a household slave (Gen. 39:2) He becomes Potiphar s personal servant (39:4) He becomes overseer of Potiphar s house (39:4-5) Joseph is handsome in form and appearance, and Potiphar s wife takes notice of him (39:6-7). She seeks to entice him to lie with her in a carnal relationship, but he refuses. Eventually she traps him in the house alone (probably by design), but even when she seizes his garment, he resists her temptations and flees, leaving his garment. She tells Potiphar that Joseph sought to rape her, and Joseph ends up in prison, falsely accused. 4. Potiphar delivers Joseph to prison, but the LORD does not forsake him. Even in prison, the LORD shows him mercy and gives him favor in the sight of the
prison keeper. Joseph eventually becomes the prison keeper s overseer (Gen. 39:20-23). During his time in prison, two of Pharaoh s servants, the butler and the baker, offend Pharaoh and end up in prison (40:1-23). In the night, each man dreams a dream and tells the dream to Joseph. Joseph interprets their dreams; just as he interprets, so they come to pass. He implores the chief butler to remember him, but he forgets Joseph for two full years. Pharaoh dreams a dream (41:1-13), which none can interpret. At this juncture, the butler remembers Joseph; Pharaoh sends for him to interpret the dream. Joseph comes immediately to interpret the dream. 5. God gives Joseph wisdom to interpret Pharaoh s dream, and Joseph tells Pharaoh that the dream indicates seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. (41:25-36) Joseph suggests that Pharaoh appoint a man to store up grain in the years of plenty for the years of famine (41:33-36). Pharaoh then promotes Joseph to prime minister of Egypt. Joseph s days of suffering end; his Egyptian wife bears him two sons, the land bears its plenty, and he stores up grain for the famine that arrives in the 8 th year (just as Pharaoh dreamed and Joseph interpreted). Joseph s brothers come from the famine in Canaan to buy grain. Joseph recognizes them as they fulfill his dream when they bow down to him (though they do not recognize him). He challenges them as spies and then keeps Simeon as the other nine return to their father (42). He commands them to bring Benjamin (his full brother) before they return to Egypt. Joseph s brothers promise Jacob they will care for Benjamin and return to Egypt to buy grain. He sets up a trap to keep Benjamin, but Judah intervenes and offers himself in place of Benjamin. At this point, Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, inquires after his father, and calls them to come and live in the land of Goshen in Egypt (43-45). Jacob s spirit revives when he hears that Joseph is alive (45:27), and he goes down to Egypt. Before Jacob s death, he blesses his sons. Judah s blessing includes kings, lawgivers, and a Messianic promise (49:10). Jacob s death brings fear to the brothers, but Joseph weeps when they ask him a second time to forgive them (50:17). He reveals his confidence in God s overruling providence, saying, But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive (50:22). Joseph dies, but only after he secures a promise from his brothers that they will take his bones back to Canaan when God brings them out of the land of Egypt. Application - What does this lesson teach us about God? Man? Sin? Redemption?
Joseph s dreams reveal God s good plan for Israel s descendants; God s people still may have dreams communications from God about future usefulness but the time between vision and fulfillment may be long and may include hardship. Joseph, without a Bible (he only had the stories handed down to him), a church, or even Christian radio, remembers God in temptation; he lives in such a fear of God that he tells Potiphar s wife, How can I do this great evil, and sin against God? (39:9). God s presence changes everything; Joseph survives and even thrives in servitude and prison because the LORD was with him. Never underestimate the importance of God s awesome presence in your life. God s people are called to be instant in season and out of season (2 Tim. 4:2). Joseph had no time to prepare for his meeting with Pharaoh, but he had spent years learning to live in the presence of the LORD, so standing before Pharaoh was no great challenge. Joseph saw the divine plan in all that had happened. He says God sent him to Egypt (Gen. 45:5, 7, 8; echoed in Ps. 105:17), and shows the interplay between the divine plan and human actions in Gen. 50:22. Summary God speaks to Joseph through dreams, both his and others. God acts to deliver Joseph from death at the hands of his brothers and at the hand of Potiphar. He delivers Joseph in prison, keeps him for Pharaoh, and then exalts him as the prince/prime minister of Egypt. God steadily operates in the affairs of man to fulfill promises made in the Garden of Eden (a coming Redeemer) and to Abraham (a people and a land). God reveals His providential work through Joseph s trials and his exaltation. Discussion Questions How does Jacob s favoritism influence the entire family? How does it affect Joseph? What life lessons does Joseph teach from his time in Potiphar s house? In the prison? How do Joseph s brothers reveal the guilt they felt all those years for their treatment of their brother? How does Joseph s forgiveness demonstrate Christ s forgiveness of His people? How does Joseph s perspective on his journey to Egypt change by seeing God s work behind the scenes?