Sunday
Morning Bible Study
September 23, 2007
Introduction
We’ve been following the story of Joseph. When Joseph was young, he had
dreams that seemed to indicate that one day he would be a great man. But at
home he was just the little kid brother who did nothing but bother his older
brothers. One day they sold him as a slave into Egypt.
He served for awhile in the house of his master, Potiphar, but when Potiphar’s
wife began making advances towards Joseph and he continued to refuse her, he
ended up being thrown into prison, falsely accused of attacking her. In prison,
God was still with Joseph and he worked his way up inside the prison until he
was the favorite prisoner. One day Joseph found himself interpreting the dreams
of two of Pharaoh’s chief men, and though he expected that this would end up
being his ticket out of prison, Joseph was forgotten and spent two more years
in prison. Finally, when Pharaoh himself had a dream that needed explaining,
Joseph found himself before Pharaoh, even being promoted as the Prime Minister
over all Egypt.
If you recall, Pharaoh’s dream was a message from God that there would be seven
years of prosperity followed by seven years of famine.
Genesis 41
:46-49 The prosperity begins
:46 Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt.
And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land
of Egypt.
For those of you who like to track the chronologies of the Bible, this
verse is important. It will lead to the linking of Joseph’s age with his
father’s age. Nine years from now Jacob will tell Pharaoh that he is 130 years
old (Gen. 47:9).
It also reminds us of someone else who began his ministry at age 30, Jesus.
:47 Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly.
:48 So he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the
land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities; he laid up in every city the
food of the fields which surrounded them.
:49 Joseph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he
stopped counting, for it was immeasurable.
Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh was to increase the tax on the people in order
to store up grain to be able to take care of the country when the coming famine
would hit.
Because of Pharaoh’s dream, even though things were good, the nation was
careful to save from their abundance instead of just spending all their money.
:50-52 Joseph’s sons
:50 And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom
Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him.
:51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: "For God has
made me forget all my toil and all my father's house."
I think that in the naming of Joseph’s two sons, we have the two most
important principles in the life of Joseph. Pay attention to his son’s names –
I think their names are intended to teach lessons.
Joseph – Yowceph –
“Jehovah has added”
Manasseh – M@nashsheh –
“causing to forget”; Forgetting isn’t always a good thing:
Illustration
Joseph said God had caused him to forget two things:
toil – ‘amal – toil,
trouble, mischief, labor; probably referring to his time as a slave and as a
prisoner.
my father’s house – the pain he endured by being kidnapped and sold
as a slave by his brothers.
Lesson
Let it go
This is the essence of what forgiveness is supposed to be all about.
This is how God forgives us:
(Jer 31:34b NKJV) …For I will forgive their
iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
When God forgives our sins, He forgets we ever committed
it.
(1 John 1:9 NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
If you confess your sin to God, He will forgive you in
this way. This doesn’t mean that you might not face earthly consequences of
your sin – if you robbed a bank you will still face an earthly court – but it
means that in heaven your sin has been paid for and forgotten.
In heaven our sins can be forgiven and forgotten because
of what Jesus did on the cross. Jesus paid the price for our sin. He paid the
consequences of heaven’s judgment on Himself. God is completely correct in
forgiving you because the price has been paid if you will ask for His help and
trust in Him.
Some people find their way out of prison like Joseph, but remain caught in
bitterness. They can’t let go of the things that have been done to them.
We read last Thursday about a man named Simon. When Peter confronted Simon,
he said,
(Acts 8:22-23 NKJV) "Repent therefore of
this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be
forgiven you. {23} "For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and
bound by iniquity."
There was something in Simon’s life that was poisoning his
heart. There was bitterness that he wasn’t willing to let go of.
The writer of Hebrews says,
(Heb 12:15 NKJV) looking carefully lest anyone
fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause
trouble, and by this many become defiled;
The key to avoiding bitterness is to forgive. You must
forgive, not just for the other person’s sake, but mostly for your own sake. Don’t
poison yourself with unforgiveness.
Perhaps you think is impossible to forgive that person of
what they’ve done. If you told me your circumstance I’d probably agree with
you. I’d like to suggest that the first step you take is asking God to work in
your heart – ask God to help you be willing to forgive. I believe God will
answer that prayer.
Joseph said that “God
has made me forget…”. Joseph learned that forgiveness of the kinds of
things he went through required God’s help.
Illustration
I read the story recently of how Louis XII of France
treated his enemies after he ascended to the throne. Before coming to power, he had been cast into
prison and kept in chains. Later when he
did become king, he was urged to seek revenge but he refused. Instead, he prepared a scroll on which he
listed all who had perpetrated crimes against him. Behind every man’s name he placed a cross in
red ink. When the guilty heard about this, they feared for their lives and
fled. Then the king explained, “The
cross which I drew beside each name was not a sign of punishment, but a pledge
of forgiveness extended for the sake of the crucified Savior, who upon His
cross forgave His enemies and prayed for them.”
We’ll see it pretty clear later that somehow Joseph has forgiven his
brothers.
When Joseph’s brothers one day stand before him after their father dies,
they are afraid that he’s going to release all his pent up bitterness and
revenge on them.
(Gen 50:19-21 NKJV) Joseph said to them, "Do
not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? {20} "But as for you, you
meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as
it is this day, to save many people alive. {21} "Now therefore, do not be
afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." And he comforted
them and spoke kindly to them.
But we see the seed of that forgiveness being planted right here.
He didn’t suddenly forgive them in chapter 50, when they were begging for
mercy, he forgave them here, without even seeing them face to face.
:52 And the name of the second he called Ephraim: "For God has caused
me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction."
Ephraim – ‘Ephrayim – “I
shall be doubly fruitful” (sounds like a combination of Juicy Fruit and Double
Mint gums)
affliction – ‘oniy –
affliction, poverty, misery. What are the things in your life that cause you a
sense of “affliction, poverty, or misery”? Is it a difficult physical ailment? Is
it a struggle with your finances? Is it a tough situation at work? Is it a
person in your life that makes you miserable?
Lesson
Fruit in affliction
We don’t like going through “affliction”
Illustration
Jill Briscoe writes, “Not too long ago I was babysitting one of our three,
3-year-old grandchildren. In our family, we had twins and a single birth all
within 24 hours. We call them Search, Destroy, and Demolition. I was to babysit
Demolition. As I waved good bye to his parents, he looked perfectly all right.
We had a little story out of his favorite book Alexander and the Terrible,
Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I put him to bed and went to sleep.
“In the middle of the night, I felt a little hand, and I turned on the
light. I looked at Drew: chicken pox from the top of his head to the soles of
his feet. “Nana,” he said, “Me’s having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad
day. Why should some things like this happen to I?”
“I thought how like Drew we all are. Why should something like this happen
to me? We cannot believe it. As Miss Piggy says, “Moi? Not moi.” We cannot
believe that God would allow something to happen to such nice people like us.”
Yet for Joseph, it was through his time of affliction that God brought him
to the place of being fruitful.
Joseph was fruitful in having a family and two sons.
Joseph was fruitful in being used to guide the nation of Egypt,
not only through a time of prosperity, but soon a time of famine.
One of the main purposes of the book of Hebrews was to encourage the
believers who were going through difficult times, trials, persecution, trouble.
He writes,
(Heb 12:11
NKJV) Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful;
nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those
who have been trained by it.
chastening – paideia – the
whole training and education of children; it’s whatever it takes to cultivate
the young child and make them an adult. It might involve going to school where
you have to study hard and take tests, it might involve a spanking or some form
of punishment or correction now and then, it might involve teaching your child
manners, it might involve encouraging and developing your child in the things
they do best.
who have been trained – gumnazo
(“gymnasium”) – we would think of this word as “getting a workout”,
exercising hard and working up a sweat. If you learn to discipline yourself and
exercise, there is a benefit to your physical body. Your heart becomes
stronger, your muscles become stronger, your stamina increases, you sleep
better at night, your body burns more calories, you even cause your “good”
cholesterol levels to go up. But it only comes if you work at regular exercise.
Illustration
Vince Lombardi, the legendary coaching genius who was the
only man to ever coach three consecutive world championship football teams once
said, “I’ve never known a man worth his salt who, in the long run, deep down in
his heart, did not appreciate the grind and the discipline. There is something
in good men that truly yearns for and needs discipline.”
We may learn to appreciate these things, but no one “enjoys” the things
that are really necessary for our maturity, our growing up. “Chastening” is
painful, not pleasurable. But if you are willing to go to the “gym” and work
out with it, you will receive a benefit in your life – the peaceable fruit of
righteousness.
The result of learning to submit yourself to this
spiritual workout is that you grow in doing the right things (righteousness),
and this righteousness in your life brings peace.
(Heb 12:11 NLT) No discipline is enjoyable while it
is happening--it is painful! But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of
right living for those who are trained in this way.
Are you aware yet of how your “affliction” might be used by God to make you
fruitful?
Illustration
When spring came to England
after the devastating bombing raids of 1941 by Nazi Germany, a strange thing
occurred. It brought a beautiful, botanical resurrection. The explosions
brought to the surface seeds of plants which were thought to be extinct. Some
95 different flowers and shrubs were found suddenly growing and blooming in the
bomb-pocked landscape of England.
Illustration
In 1986 two brothers who live in a kibbutz near the Sea
of Galilee made an incredible discovery. As these two Israeli
fishermen monitored their equipment on the beaches of Gennesaret, they noticed
something they’d not seen before. Something covered with mud glistened in the
sun. Upon examination, archeologists determined that what the brothers had discovered
was a fishing boat dating from the time of Jesus.
The only reason the artifact was discovered was because of
a three-year drought, resulting in unusually low water in the lake. The
“dryness” led to a fantastic discovery.
Illustration
Booker T. Washington wrote, “No man should be pitied because every day of
his life he faces a hard, stubborn problem. It is the man who has no problems
to solve, no hardships to face, who is to be pitied. He has nothing in his life
which will strengthen and form his character, nothing to call out his latent
powers and deepen and widen his hold on life.”
I know it’s hard being under affliction. But it helps to know that it’s
doing a good work in my life.
Illustration
Brother Lawrence in Practicing
the Presence of God writes, “Pain is only intolerable when seen in a
distorted light. But when we know it is the hand of a loving God that shapes it
all, and that it is our Father who gives us the cup of sorrow to drink, there
is no distortion and so no unbearable burden.”
When you put the two names together, I think there’s a lesson as well.
Lesson
Forgiveness leads to fruitfulness
The blessings in Joseph’s life seem to be expressed most in his sons. And
the order of the sons was: “Forgive” and then “Fruitful”.
I’m not sure you can be too fruitful in your land of affliction unless you
learn to forgive and forget.
Illustration
There was a story about two unmarried sisters who lived together. Because
of a slight disagreement over an insignificant issue, they stopped speaking to
each other. Unable and unwilling to move
out of their small house, they continued to use the same rooms, eat at the same
table (separately), and sleep in the same bedroom. Without one word. A chalk line divided the sleeping area into
two halves, separating a doorway and fireplace.
Each could come and go, cook and eat, sew and read without crossing over
into her sister's domain. Through the night each could hear the breathing of
the foe, but because neither was willing to take the first step to
reconciliation and forgiveness, they coexisted for years in grinding silence.
Their unforgiving hearts left them in a prison of
affliction.
It’s learning to forgive that gets us out of prison and into fruitfulness.
Illustration
Years after her concentration camp experiences in Nazi Germany, Corrie ten
Boom met face to face one of the most cruel and heartless German guards that
she had ever contacted. He had humiliated and degraded her and her sister. He
had jeered and visually raped them as they stood in the delousing shower. Now
he stood before her with hand outstretched and said, “Will you forgive me?” She
writes: “I stood there with coldness clutching at my heart, but I know that the
will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. I prayed, Jesus,
help me! Woodenly, mechanically I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to
me and I experienced an incredible thing. The current started in my shoulder,
raced down into my arms and sprang into our clutched hands. Then this warm
reconciliation seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. ‘I
forgive you, brother,’ I cried with my whole heart. For a long moment we
grasped each other’s hands, the former guard, the former prisoner. I have never
known the love of God so intensely as I did in that moment!” To forgive is to
set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you.