No Ordinary Joe: From the Prison to the Palace
Genesis 41
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
11-28-2021
Over Night Success
At 8:00 pm February 9, 1964, a record 73 million people turned in to the Ed Sullivan show to watch four mop top Brits from Liverpool named John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Many of you can remember watching the Beatles for the first time. [Slide]
Although they were was already popular in England, this appearance started Beatlemania in the U.S. Soon after, the Beatles had the top five songs on the Billboard charts and in 1964 alone they had 29 songs hit the top 100, including 6 number ones!
You may think that the Beatles were overnight successes, but you would be wrong.
Between August 1960 and December 1962, the Beatles played over 250 nights in the seedy seaport city of Hamburg, Germany and venues often demanded they play five to eight hours a night. The shows were not glamorous. They played for audience of drunk sailers and bored prostitutes, and afterwards crashed on bunk beds above the clubs. Early on they were even reduced to playing background music at a strip club.
By the time they played the Ed Sullivan show, the Beatles had played thousands of shows and had perfected their sound.
[Slide] Angry Birds, the successful app game, was software maker Rovio’s 52nd attempt in eight years of trying - an effort that almost lead them to bankruptcy.
[Slide] James Dyson created 5,126 prototypes of his vacuum cleaner before one actually worked.
[Slide] Do you know why it’s called WD-40? Water Displacement - 40th Attempt!
After studying Genesis 41, It might be tempting to consider Joseph an overnight success but we will learn today the truth of Steve Jobs famous quote:
[Slide] “If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.”
Turned with me to Genesis 41.
Prayer.
Joseph forgotten ?
When we last left Joseph in “As Egypt Turns,” he had interpreted two officials dreams and the cupbearer was released.
But Joseph has a request of the cupbearer.
[Slide] “But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.” (Gen 40:14-15)
Joseph is confident that what he had said will come to pass and when it does, he asked the cup bearer to do four things:
* Remember me
Show me kindness. The Hebrew word is “hesed,” better translated mercy.
mention me to Pharaoh
And get me out of here!
Why? Because he didn’t deserve to be there! He was innocent. Not Shawshank innocent, really innocent. He has done nothing to deserve being sold into slavery and the only reason he’s in prison is because of a lie.
I’m sure the cup bearer hugged Joseph and said that he would absolutely remember him.
“The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.” (Gen 40:23)
How could the cup bearer do this? How could he forget someone who literally predicted his restoration to power?
And think through that conversation with me. “Pharaoh, when I was in prison, which of course I’m not mad at you about O great king, I met a guy who wanted to get out and claimed he was innocent.” ?
Pharaoh cocks his head and says, “Sooooo…you are saying that I, a king and a god, made a mistake and put an innocent man in prison? Is this what you are saying? I just want to make sure.”
He had to wait until the time was right. And we will learn next time that that time was two years in the future!
Let’s look at the first five words of Genesis 41:
“When two full years had passed…”
Can you see Joseph the next few days? He would look out the cell windows longingly. Surely, any minute, they will be coming to set him free.
A day goes by. Then a week. Well, that guy has a lot of catching up to do, he’ll tell Pharaoh about me soon. Then month. Then a year. Then another year.
730 days. Over 17,000 hours. Hours of waiting and wondering. I’m sure there were times when Joseph was tempted to despair. He must have at least once looked toward the sky and said my favorite prayer, “Really? Come on!”
But Joseph’s faith and courage were being strengthened and the covenant -keeping God was working behind the scenes for His glory and Joseph’s ultimate good.
Remember John Piper’s quote:
[Slide]“God is always doing 10,000 things in your life and at any given time you may be aware of three of them.”
We are about to find out why the cupbearer forgot Joseph. It starts with Pharaoh having a dream.
Pharaoh’s Dreams
Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile, when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the reeds. After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain, healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk. After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—thin and scorched by the east wind. The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream.
Genesis was written Moses who understood Egyptian culture and had experience with the Nile.
[Slide] The Nile river, running 600+ miles through Egypt was the source of life for the bread basket of the Middle East.
Cows, who were the symbol of the fertility god, Isis, would submerged themselves almost completely in the Nile to escape the heat and avoid the flies.
These dreams were full of violence and cannibalism. Because Pharaoh was considered a god who lived on the edge of the spiritual realm, his dreams were very important.
The Magicians Fail
[Slide] In the morning his mind was troubled, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.
Have you ever sat straight up in bed, startled by a realistic dream? That’s what happened to Pharaoh. He was bewildered and sent for the best and brightest of his wise men and magicians to interpret the dream for him.
These were highly intelligent men who had the books and the knowledge to make sense of any dream but these dreams stumped them.
They were honest enough to say that they didn’t know. But we also see God’s providence again blinding the minds of these advisors because He had someone else ready to help Pharaoh.
Joseph Remembered
[Slide] Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I am reminded of my shortcomings. Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard. Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream. And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was impaled.”
The cupbearer suddenly remembers Joseph. Being the ultimate politician, he didn’t blame Pharaoh for his imprisonment or for Joseph being there either.
He told Pharaoh that a young Hebrew servant was there and he correctly interpreted his dream. He left out the part where Joseph told him that the interpretation of dreams belongs to God alone.
If the cupbearer had remember Joseph right away, then when Pharaoh had these dreams, he would be been back in Canaan with his family.
God’s timing is always perfect. He’s rarely early but never late to bring his will about in our lives.
Joseph Summoned
[Slide] So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh.
Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”
“I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”
The doors of the prison open and a voice says, “Joseph, Pharaoh wants to see you right now.”
Can you imagine what Joe was thinking? Was he about to executed? Did the cupbearer finally remember me?
Egyptians were clean shaven, in fact, they even shaved their heads.
So Joseph took a bath, shaved his beard, and changed into whatever clean clothes he might have had.
When he comes before Pharaoh, he was probably surprised to find him shaken by these dreams.
Pharaoh said, “I’ve heard you are the man when it comes to interpreting dreams.”
Joseph answers with one strong word, meaning NO! I can not do it!”
How easy it would have been for Joseph to say, “Why yes, I am the dream man, at your service!”
Instead, in front of the most powerful man in the land, who considered himself a god, he tells Pharaoh that God, the promise-keeping, covenant-making God the Hebrews will provide the answers he is looking for.
Pharaoh isn’t even bothered by this and immediately launches into his dreams.
He adds the detail that the cows were the ugliest he had ever seen and, after eating the fat cows, they were still as scrawny.
Joseph Interprets the Dreams
[Slide] Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.
“It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.
The magicians and wise men didn’t get that the dreams were one and the same. God had given it in two forms in order to show that these events will come to pass.
The dreams were showing Pharaoh seven years of plenty followed by seven years of terrible famine.
The Nile delta doesn’t get much rain and depends on the flooding of the upper Nile to irrigate their crops.
Many times in Egypt’s history, the this flooding didn’t happen, famine would occur, even leading to cannibalism.
Joseph made it clear that the next 14 years were already mapped out and God, and not Pharaoh, was in charge of it all.
[Slide] Joseph’s Recommendation
[Slide] “And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”
I really don’t think that Joseph was angling for the job. He just understood that situation required action, oversight, and wisdom if Egypt were to survive.
Joseph Promoted
The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.
So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.” Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.
Potiphar saw it. The prison warden saw it. Now Pharaoh sees it. There is something very different about this Joseph. Yes, he is wise and discerning. But they also observed that the Spirit of God was in him, directing his actions and attitudes.
By the way, this is the first time in the Bible that we read of the Spirit being in a human.
From the prison to the palace. Joseph, who was in a cell an hour before is now prime minister of Egypt!
Pharaoh took off his signet ring and gave it to Joseph symbolizing his authority, second only to Pharaoh.
He clothed him in royal court attire and that morning, he had prison chains and now he wears a gold chain.
He will ride in Chariot number two with servants running ahead shouting “make way!”
Pharaoh gives him a new name, Zaphenath-Paneah, which means “God speaks and lives” and a wife, who is a daughter of a pagan priest.
Why did Joseph allow that? He really didn’t have a choice.
So at 30 years old, he dresses like an Egyptian, speaks fluent Egyptian, walks like an Egyptian, has an Egyptian name and wife.
Would Joseph become completely Egyptianized and forget about God’s plans?
We know the answer to this because of the name of his sons.
Joseph’s Sons
[Slide] “Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” The second son he named Ephraim and said, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”
While he waited in prison, Joseph might have reminded God that he was approaching 30 years old and didn’t have a wife or children.
Now, two sons are born to him and he names them Hebrew names!
First born, Manasseh, means “made me forget.” It’s not that the bad memories were completely erased from Joseph’s mind and heart but he is able to see with different, bigger, God-sized, perspective.
Second born, Ephraim’s name reminds him that even in the land of suffer, God has made him fruitful.
Joseph was learning that the purpose is in the process and the process is the purpose. I’ll explain more about that in a minute.
All the World
When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt. And all the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere.
All the world came to Egypt, including ten guilty brothers from the land of Canaan that were hungry for more than just food.
Applications
Spirit of God
John Mosley is the coach at East Los Angeles College, known as Last Chance University. It’s where former star recruits land when they get into to trouble, have family issues, or can’t handle college.
You can watch coach Mosley on the Netflix documentary, “Last Chance U.” He’s a coach, a counselor, a dad, a probation officer, a drill sergeant all rolled up into one. And most of his players turn their lives and careers around.
Most of the players come from an unchurched background so Coach Mosley’s love for Jesus is a weird thing for them to get use. He prays for them, takes them to church, and believes that God has bigger plans for them than just basketball.
By the end of the series, the players see him as a father figure and their very own pastor. He never preaches at them or hits them over the head with a bible. He just lives and loves like Jesus.
One player said, “I really haven’t had much support in my life but I know two things for sure, my grandma and Coach Mosley are praying for me.”
You know John Schneider from the Dukes of Hazzard tv show. Fame has hard for John and he got into drugs and alcohol and ended up being invited to live with a couple outside of Nashville.
He said, “the wonderful thing about this man was that he was absolutely, wonderfully flawed and not only knew, but never tried to hide it, never tried to deny it, always tried to be better, but never pretended to be something he wasn’t. And that to me is the most wonderful example of a Christian man that I had ever seen.”
He said “he was a flawed man who was held together by his love of Christ and fear of June.”
Anyone know who I’m talking about?
Johnny Cash.
Pharaoh recognized that there was something different about Joseph and he attributed that Joseph’s God.
Wouldn’t be wonderful for people did the same about you and I? At work, at the grocery store, at the gym, at school? How about if our grandchildren and great-grandchildren would say that something supernatural about that papaw and they were salt and light to those around them?
Manasseh - He has made me forget
I remember once sitting with an individual who was talking about something that happened that was very hurtful to them. I asked when all of this happened. The answer shocked me. They said, “Oh about fourteen years ago.”
For fourteen years, they had been holding on to the pain and the persons that hurt them probably don’t even remember it. My heart was incredible sad for him.
Joseph had an opportunity to be bitter, angry, resentful. He could have rounded up Potiphar, his wife, and the cupbearer and hanged them from the nearest tree. But that’s not what happened.
Joseph jumps into the project with no bitterness or animosity toward anyone else.
It doesn’t mean that God erased the painful memories from his mind. It means God helped him to see things differently. That’s why he named his first born Manasseh, meaning “He has helped me forget” and Ephraim, meaning, “He has made me fruitful in my suffering.”
Some of you are trapped by painful memories. They haunt your dreams and keep you from being everything that God wants you to be.
I know. I’ve been there. But I learned I didn’t have to stay stuck.
Today is our 29th wedding anniversary. A healthy marriage is all about forgiving and moving forward.
Paul’s words in Philippians really helped me to see that it’s all about perspective:
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)
As Christians, we are called to be forward focused and if you have things in your past that pulled you backwards, I would recommend you do what I did and talk it through with a counselor.
Providence
Remember that providence is simply God working supernaturally through natural circumstances.
It’s like looking at the huge tapestries in Europe. From behind, they are a big jumbled mess of yarn. It makes not sense from that angle. But God sees the finished product and it is a masterpiece.
If Jacob had not favored Joseph and gifted him the coat, his brothers wouldn’t have wanted to kill him and end up selling him into human trafficking.
If he had not been sold into slavery, he wouldn’t have ended up in Potiphar’s house and wouldn’t have been falsely accused of rape by Potiphar’s wife.
If we hadn’t of been accused of rape, he wouldn’t have ended up in prison where he met and interpreted dreams for two officials.
If he had hadn’t of interpreted those dreams, he would have never been asked to interpret Pharaoh’s dream and placed second in command of all Egypt.
If he hadn’t have been placed second in command, he wouldn’t have been there to rescue his family from starvation.
If he hadn’t have been there to rescue the brothers, the family line would have died out and the Messiah wouldn’t have come.
There are no miracles. God didn’t say that Joseph was going to feed the Egyptians with two loaves and an alligator.
I want to teach you something that my father-in-law taught me many moons ago:
“The purpose is in the process and the process is the purpose.”
Just like the Beatles, Joseph was not an overnight success. God spent thirteen years getting him ready for this position.
Moses spent forty years in back end of the desert anonymously tending sheep before he appeared on the scene and said to the most powerful man on earth, “Let my people go!”
David was anointed by Samuel as king but then waited fifteen years until actually ascending the throne.
What we often do is miss what God is doing right here and right now because we are looking forward to the next step on our spiritual journey.
God is preparing you, shaping you, humbling you, teaching you what you need to know for the next season. But we are so busy looking toward that next season, we don’t learn all that we need to know.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
What if we planted our feet right where we are, and told God, “I’m here. My ears, eyes, and heart is open to what you have for me today, not tomorrow or the next. I want to learn the lessons so I can serve you better in the next season.”
What is the purpose that is the process?
“But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.” (Gen 50:19-21)
God was up to something much bigger than his brothers could have imagined. This was all part of a rescue mission that He had put in place before time began.
Joseph was sent to rescue the Israelites by providing them food. Jesus was sent to rescue us and said He is the bread of life.
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” (Romans 8:29)
The ultimate purpose for your life is not be happy but to be holy. God is in the process of molding Jeff into the image of Jesus and He will do whatever it takes to get us there.
Our job is sometimes is simply to wait.
While I Wait - Lincoln Brewster
