Joseph-Genesis 39-40

Joseph is Faithful-Genesis 39-40

Pray

We started learning about Joseph last week. We will study his life until the end of the year. What have you learned about Joseph so far? (He is a son of Jacob by Rachel, he is favored, coat, sold as a slave by his brothers, dreams that his family would worship him).

We will get to know Joseph a little better this week. We will find out that he is very faithful to God, no matter what happens to him.

Do you remember several months ago when we heard that God told Abram that He would bless those who blessed him? He didn’t just say this about Abram, but about all of Abram’s descendants. We see a great example of this. Joseph was sold as a slave by his brothers. The men who bought him later sold him to a man known as Potiphar. Who was Potiphar? He was the Pharaoh’s head of security, one of the top men in Egypt. It sounds like Joseph was a great slave. He was probably cheerful, helpful and a hard worker. It would be hard to be any of those if you were being held against your will. But Joseph was faithful to God and seemed to understand that everything was in God’s hands. Potiphar noticed that Joseph was different from the other slaves; he saw that everything he did was successful. That was because God was with Joseph. Potiphar put Joseph in charge of his entire household. The Bible said that the only thing Potiphar had to be concerned with at home was with what he ate. Joseph took care of everything else. And all of Potiphar’s household was blessed.

After a while, Joseph had a problem. Potiphar’s wife wanted Joseph to sin. Joseph was very smart, and very loyal to both God and Potiphar. No matter how hard Mrs. Potiphar tried to convince Joseph to sin, he refused. He told her that not only would it hurt Potiphar, but it would also hurt God if he sinned. That is because Joseph knew that every sin, no matter what it is, is against God. What is the last line of the Pledge to the Bible? “Hide its words in my heart, so I may not sin against God.” In another time in the Bible, King David is talking to God about sending Uriah off to be killed in a war. Even though he hurt Uriah, David says this to God in Psalm 51:4, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” So Joseph told Mrs. Potiphar that he would not sin. He did something else really smart. He stayed away from her. Sometimes avoiding something that can get you into trouble is a good thing. Joseph remained faithful to God, and faithful to Potiphar. Anyway, that made her really mad. So mad, that she lied about Joseph and said some really bad things about him. Potiphar could have had Joseph killed because of the accusations that were made against him. But he didn’t. God was protecting Joseph.

Does God ever protect you? I am sure he protects you all the time. You just don’t see it because He keeps the danger far, far away from you. Just like God had a plan for Joseph’s life, he also has a plan for your life.

Joseph was sent to jail. It was probably really bad in jail. I bet it was dirty and stinky and had lots of bugs. But Joseph was still his normal, obedient self. And God was still with him. The prison warden, just like Potiphar, really liked Joseph, and put him in charge of the jail! So even though Joseph was in an awful place, God was still with him and was taking care of him. And Joseph was still being faithful to God.

How do I know that Joseph was faithful to God? There are at least two ways we can tell. The first one is that the Bible says that God was with Joseph and gave him success in all that he did. The other way we know is because God helped him with one particular thing in the prison. He was able to tell two men what their dreams meant! Do you think Joseph, all by himself, was able to figure out what the dreams meant? Nope. Joseph doesn’t try to pretend that he knows anything about the dreams. He says that God can understand the dreams.

Do you remember what the dreams were about and who had them? The cupbearer had a dream about a grape vine with three branches. He was squeezing grape juice into the Pharaoh’s cup. And the baker had a dream about three baskets of bread that were being eaten by birds. They told these dreams to Joseph and God told him what they meant. Which man had the dream with the good meaning? The cupbearer would be freed in 3 days. Joseph told him to please tell Pharaoh about him so he could be released. But the cupbearer forgot. Do you know who never forgets you? God will never forget you. And like a shepherd, He will seek you out until you come to Him.

So what happened to the baker? He was executed.

Pray.