And Laura at the back, they have a sign-up sheet as well for that, and thank you again for worshiping with us.

Thank you, Joe. Thank you, Joe. Good morning, church. Good morning, church.

A couple of other small things as far as announcements goes. You can bring the lights up for us, that'd be great.

I want to make sure you know in the back, in the corner back there, we have a stock to shelves for the Carbos.

The Carbos had a little baby Olivia. I think they're out. Oh, there's Matt right there. Yeah, a little baby Olivia.

She's almost two weeks old, almost, right? Not quite? Friday she was a week.

So yeah, she's almost two weeks, not. So Friday was a week, yes. Friday was a week.

She, she's a beautiful little girl, and so if, something's ringing up here.

If you guys could help us out, that would be great. It's in the back, back there.

I see the pile gathering and going, and so when he gets up to the ceiling, take it home, Matt.

That's how we work it, okay? How's it going?

At this time, we wanted to go ahead and dismiss our children.

If you guys will follow Mr. Taylor, K-5 through 5th grade this morning.

And Bobby's teaching children this morning too? No, no, no, Bobby.

Bobby shook his head emphatically.

The rest of us, let's open up our Bibles and turn to Genesis chapter 41.

As we continue our journey and study through the book of Genesis, we have reached chapter 41.

Yay.

And before we get to chapter 41, just want to say we had, just want you to know that this past Friday and Saturday,

our elders were able to get away for Friday, and most of Saturday, we go down to the team effort camp every year, once a year,

and we spend our time in prayer and planning, preparation, trying to hear from the Lord about direction and vision for our church.

And it's always an encouraging time.

You have some amazing elders here in the life of your church, and I just want you to know that,

that these men love you and love this church greatly.

And so we're excited for what God is doing and will continue to do in the life of the church.

It was, I believe, just one day this past week.

This is kind of a funny thing, not funny, but just really a cool thing.

But Jill was driving home.

She had Caroline in the car.

And she was going down the road, and Jill pulled off to stop, and Caroline said,

I'm like, Mommy, why are you stopping?

And she's like, well, there's a funeral, honey.

There's a funeral going by, and whenever there's a funeral, you stop, and you show respect, and the people have to go by.

And she goes, oh, what's the funeral?

Well, that's when somebody dies.

Well, how come, Mommy?

Well, more than likely, maybe it was somebody that was old, and they've died, and they've gone on to, and if they know Jesus,

then that means that they've gone, and they're living with Jesus right now.

And she's like, oh.

And so she sat there in the car as the car procession goes by.

And then she says, well, Mommy, why are they going that way?

Jesus doesn't live that way.

I was like, that's awesome.

She said, well, where does Jesus live, Caroline?

She goes, that's awesome.

I thought to myself, man, I've got to remember that.

Why are we going that way?

He didn't live that way.

So that has nothing to do with today.

I thought that was just hilarious.

And spiritually true, right?

Right.

Today we find ourselves rags to riches.

Rags to riches in our study and in our continued study through the book of Genesis.

We left off in chapter 41.

Joseph has been put into prison.

Okay?

He was a slave.

He was in Potiphar's house.

He's been accused of rape to Potiphar's wife.

Falsely accused.

Potiphar throws him in prison.

And then all of a sudden, Pharaoh has an issue.

We don't know what those issues are, but he has an issue with the cupbearer and the baker.

He throws them into prison, too.

And it's really Potiphar that puts Joseph over the cupbearer and the baker.

And Joseph tends to serve these guys.

He's serving these guys in prison.

And these guys have this earth-shaking dream, and they can't figure it out.

They have a dream.

They both have a dream one night.

And so Joseph comes to him, and he says, listen, God can interpret this dream for you,

and I'll give you the interpretation.

And he gives them this interpretation.

He tells the cupbearer, hey, in three days, in three days, Pharaoh is going to restore you to your position.

And you're going to place Pharaoh's cup.

Back .

Joseph said. And Joseph tells the cupbearer, hey, remember me. Remember last week? Remember me when you get in front of Pharaoh because I don't deserve to be here. I'm a Hebrew. I was taken as a slave and I was falsely accused. I've been brought here. Please remember me. Give me an audience with Pharaoh. Let him know I'm here. And it tells us at the end of chapter 40 that the cupbearer did not remember Joseph. He didn't remember him. I mean, how many times do we have that in our life where people,

people think there's going to be something, there's an opportunity in our lives, somebody's going to speak something into my life, or this is going to happen in my favor. And it never comes about. And you keep waiting and waiting. And it's like, wow. Remember me. Remember me. And so now we find ourselves in chapter 41. It says, after two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the now. Two years. Two. This isn't a couple days that have passed.

Two whole years have gone by. You would think three days later, after the interpretation of the dream that was given, Joseph's waiting to hear the keys ringing down the hall, man. We're coming to get you. Your time's up. He's thinking past.

If I were to write a proverb at the beginning of chapter 41, I would write Proverbs 21.1. And I would place that there. And that says that the king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord. And he turns it where he will.

And that's what God is doing. That's what God is doing in the life of Joseph. Now, why did God wait two years? I don't know. I can't answer that. I could give you some fancy theological reason as to why I think, but I think it would fall very, very short. We don't know why.

But I do think I'm safe in saying that God is still, let's say, putting some finishing touches on Joseph.

God is still, he is still working some deep things in Joseph's life. He's still working in him a heart of trust.

A heart of trust.

And if you remember, when Joseph first started, he was a little brash and maybe very naive.

He was pampered. He was spoiled. He didn't have to work, okay?

He had the coat that said he's the supervisor, right?

Okay, that's what he had.

You might be the youngest brother, but you're in charge of the other brothers.

You put this coat on. I want you to go spy on your brothers and you tell me if they're doing something bad.

Okay, that was Joseph's life.

That's what he was used to.

God's working something deep in Joseph's life right here.

Again, it says, after two years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, okay?

This dream is going to need Joseph's unique skill set to interpret this dream.

And here's a thought that I want to put in your mind and I want to capitalize on it through this study and at the end and probably next week as well too.

And I hope you hear me on this.

You have no idea.

You have no idea what God is preparing for you right now that may not come to pass for two years.

You don't know.

You have no idea what God is working in you right now that may not even come to pass for two years down the road.

You know, do you ever think that way?

Do you ever think when you're deep and down in the muck and the mire?

Is that where your mindset goes?

Wow, God's preparing something great for me.

See, when you're in the midst of all this mess, that takes a little bit of faith foresight to be able to think that way.

That in this, God is doing something, don't know what it is.

I believe A.W. Tozer was right when he said that,

I doubt that God has ever blessed anyone greatly before he has hurt them greatly.

You know, what if Joseph would have just gone from being a spoiled kid,

watching over his brothers, favored by his dad, coolest coat in the town,

okay, to the second in command, basically, of the world.

What if he had done that?

You know, what would his story be then?

Well, I've kind of always had, everybody's always seen the best of me.

They kind of saw it in me.

Everybody saw all the gifts and graces that I bring to the table and everything.

You know, my dad saw it in me.

Pharaoh saw it in me.

You know, but now he's going to have no way to boast.

In this, when he's raised in this position, it's going to be all about the Lord.

Not his own doing.

Not his own merits.

Not his own gifts and graces.

So, after two years, Pharaoh has this dream.

1647 miles long. It's the longest river in the world, okay? It starts from Equatorial Africa and goes all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. When it gets to the Mediterranean, it fans out into this massive delta. And because of that Nile delta and the silt and the water and everything, Egypt has been known, we talked about how it was very rich in farming. It's been known as the breadbasket of the world during this time, okay? Other places would have a famine, but Egypt didn't have a famine.

That's why everybody goes to Egypt when there is famine in the world, okay? And so, there was this flooding every year of the Nile. Every year the Nile would flood, and they would capitalize on this by diverting the Nile in what they would call rivulets.

And these rivulets would run through, like they do in the Rio Grande here, but on a much grander scale, okay?

But, and the cows would come down to the river, and they would feed. And what they would do, they would, the cows would submerge themselves in the water, okay?

Up to their neck. So, they'd keep some nice and cool, out of the heat, and the flies don't bite them.

And they would eat the reeds on the riverbed, all right? So, this would be nothing unusual to see this vision of the cows coming out.

So, you have these big fat cows, which is a good sign, and then there's these ugly, thin, emaciated looking cows, which is not a good sign.

It's a little troubling. So, verse 4, it says,

That'd be troubling. You know, you have that in your dream, okay?

You know, you have these things, you ever have these things in your dreams, where you dream these things, and you try to tell it, and it just doesn't make sense?

You know, it's not making a connection. It's like, they seem really weird, okay?

And they seem to disconnect, and it doesn't seem logical, but it's a dream. It's what your mind is producing, okay?

And it's what you're dealing with. And in this case, God is speaking to them about something, speaking to Pharaoh, and really the nation, about something, okay?

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you dream something, it's really weird, and you're like, man, that was, you wake up and you go, that was weird, okay?

I need to go back to sleep. I hope I don't dream that. But then you dream it again, and it gets even worse.

It's like the dream goes to another stage, like, what is up? Is that bad pizza? Bad sushi? What's happening where I'm having these really crazy dreams?

But this gets worse. Verse 5.

And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time, and behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on a stalk.

And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind.

And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump ears, and Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.

Okay? I could see this guy, he's breaking out in a cold sweat, okay?

He was like, man, this is weird. This is very unusual.

And just a little bit about the topography and the geography of this area.

When it says right here, blighted by the east wind, this is a phenomenon in the Middle East, in this area, known as the Homsin, okay?

The Homsin, the east wind.

And this Homsin would come about during the springtime.

It's very common in the springtime during this region.

And overnight, it can wither crops.

Overnight, this east wind, they say it can raise the temperature anywhere from 50 to 60 degrees overnight.

Just because of when this wind comes about, okay?

When it hits.

And so the temperature in the springtime easily get to 105 degrees.

And so that's the blighting east winds that he's talking about.

It's a regular occurrence.

He sees it in his dream, and it wakes him up.

But verse 8 says,

So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men.

Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them to Pharaoh.

Now, Pharaoh's troubled, and it's for a good reason, because his dreams focused on the two greatest assets from Egypt, cows and grain.

All right?

He sees them.

The entire economy is supported by the Nile River, but cows and grain, it's huge.

And moreover, to the ancient Egyptian, okay, the cow was a symbol of the goddess Isis.

All right?

And so the goddess of agriculture and fertility of the land symbolized the cow.

They believed in Mother Earth.

They believed that the earth, symbolized by the goodness of herself, gave Mother Earth, gave us all this.

They call everybody in saying, I've got this crazy dream.

Can somebody interpret it?

And then enters Joseph into the picture, okay?

And it's going to bring Joseph into Pharaoh's court.

And the reason why that's good is because then Joseph's going to bring his family eventually down to Egypt.

I know we're getting ahead of ourselves just a little bit.

But he's going to bring his family down.

The children of Israel are going to grow in the land, fulfilling Genesis 15.

It's going to fulfill.

All of this is in fulfillment.

And Genesis 15 talks about for 400 years, he says, your nation, this nation, will be down in Egypt.

Then you're going to populate.

Then after that time, send them back to the land of Canaan, giving the Canaanites a chance to repent to God, all right?

And as he said earlier in Genesis, and then giving the children of Israel this land.

He's going to give it to them, this land, subsidized by the Egyptian government.

All right?

Now, listen to what I said.

They're going to give them back the land, subsidized by the Egyptian government, okay?

They're going to spoil the land of Eden, the Egyptians.

They're going to end up taking their loot with them, okay, when they leave the land.

That's God's economy.

I love God's economy.

I think God cares about economy, you know?

Remember when Paul was interested in going to Rome?

He wrote to the Romans, I want to go to Rome.

I want to go to Rome.

By the grace of God, I'm going to go to Rome.

I'm going to go to Rome.

And so he, but he didn't know how he was actually, how the Lord might arrange for him to go to Rome.

He did go to Rome, but how did he go there?

He was arrested.

He was arrested.

He became a prisoner for two years.

And he stood trial before Festus, Felix, and to Agrippa.

And finally he says, I'm tired of all this nonsense.

I appeal to Caesar.

And the procurator said, you appeal to Caesar?

To Caesar you will go.

To Caesar you will go.

And so Paul is placed on a prison ship, an Egyptian grain ship, that is hired by the Roman government, paid for by the Roman government.

Paul is placed in custody of the Roman government, and he gets an all expense paid trip to Rome by the Roman government.

There you go.

That's how you're going to get to Rome.

He doesn't have to go raise missionary support.

He doesn't have to do anything like that.

It allows him to give his defense before the king, King Caesar Nero, to strengthen the church in Rome, to write letters to the other churches from Rome,

and to even strengthen us today during this time, during that paid, all expense paid trip to Rome that he finally got.

God's economy.

God's economy.

And so, you'll notice something in verse 8, though, that it says, but he was troubled.

He was troubled that no one could interpret the dreams of Pharaoh.

I find that kind of puzzling and interesting at the same time.

We know that they couldn't interpret the dreams because these dreams were from God.

All right?

We understand that.

But you would think at least somebody would have given it a shot.

Somebody would have come up with something crazy.

Okay?

Somebody would have come up with something.

And so, but, I mean, they don't want to just come up with anything because if it's not right, guess what happens?

Okay?

We just saw what happened to the baker.

Right?

We don't know what the baker did, but anyway.

The people that interpret these dreams were the priestly caste of the Egyptians.

And it was believed in Egypt that the gods would give you a dream, but they wouldn't give you an interpretation.

It was your job to figure it out.

Your job to find out.

Okay?

And there were clues, but these guys would search the hieroglyphics from the tombs.

And they had all these little, these dream literature things.

And this is how they would try to, it was quite a science for them.

But the problem was this isn't a science.

It's a setup.

God's setting them up.

He's setting up this whole thing.

Look at verse 9.

Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, I remember my offenses today.

Today, ah, when Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in the custody of the house and the captain of the guard,

we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation.

A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard.

When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dreams.

And he interpreted to us, so it came about, I was restored to my office and the baker was hanged.

So, I mean, all the time.

riches to rags. But today, it's going to go from rags to riches. Verse 14. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh. Now, why did he do that? Well, he's just an upstanding young man, and he's really concerned about his personal hygiene. No, he's a prisoner, okay? He's a prisoner. He doesn't, they don't afford him personal

hygiene stuff. They did it because of, according to Egyptian customs, men were completely shaven, okay? You had no beards, no mustaches, no goatee, no soul patch, no hair on your head. You were a cue ball, okay? And so, that's why they shaved Joseph like this. Joseph wouldn't have shaved as a Hebrew. He would not have shaved the corners of his beard. He would not have shaved his beard whatsoever.

It was a sign very unique to the Hebrews, okay? But he's in Egypt now. He's a prisoner now. And so, when you are in Egypt, you break out into the Bengals song, and you walk like an Egyptian. You talk like an Egyptian. You do all these things just as in Egypt. Some of you have no idea what I'm talking about, and that's okay, okay? But he was clean shaven. He's a cue ball, alright?

They had to get him ready. And so, then in verse 15, and Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have had a dream. And there is no one who can interpret it. I've heard it said of you that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it. Now, listen to his answer. This is awesome. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, it is not me. It is not in me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer. I'm always amazed.

I'm amazed at Joseph's answers. I'm amazed that the first words out of his mouth aren't words of blame. He finally gets an audience to Pharaoh. I'm amazed that he doesn't say, I don't deserve to be here. That Potiphar creep, okay? And his wife, she has falsely accused me. And that cupbearer, I told him two years ago, come get me. I told him two years ago. But there's none of that. None of that.

And his words to Pharaoh are honest. But there's a hint of boldness in there as well, too, as you look at that. He's standing before the ruler of the world. And he goes, no, really. It's not in me at all. It's the Lord. It's his gig. It's his God's gig.

You know, somebody once told me years ago, and I believe this with everything in me, that if you kneel before God, you can stand before anyone.

If you are a man or a woman of faith, and you are willing to kneel before God, you can stand before anyone.

And that's what's taking place right here. And so, you know, he doesn't care who Pharaoh is. He cares about who God is.

He doesn't care what Pharaoh thinks about him. He cares about what God thinks about him.

That's the exact tenacity that John the Baptist had when he was before Herod.

That's the exact tenacity that Paul had before Festus and Felix and Agrippa.

That's the same tenacity that Elijah had before King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.

It's that tenacity. If I kneel before God, I can stand before anyone.

But God is with me. God is with me.

And God, it's not in me, but God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.

And in verse 17,

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Behold, in my dream I was standing before the banks of the Nile.

And then he goes through the whole story again.

We don't have to read that whole story. It recaps everything that we've just read.

But the second part of verse 24, he says,

And I told it to the magicians, and there was no one who could explain it to me.

Then Joseph said to Pharaoh,

The dreams of Pharaoh are one.

God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.

Okay?

And so Pharaoh got two dreams.

But they meant the same thing.

Okay? They had the same meaning.

Pharaoh got two dreams, and they meant the same thing.

Joseph got two dreams earlier, and they meant the same thing.

Some familiar ground here.

Two dreams.

are seven years and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine

it is as i told pharaoh god has shown pharaoh what he's about to do there will come seven years of

great plenty throughout the land of egypt but after them there will arise seven years of famine

and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of egypt the famine will consume the land and the

plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will that will follow for it will

be very severe and the doubling of pharaoh's dream means the thing is fixed by god and god will

shortly bring it about and so now he's going to give him some helpful advice in in this whole

situation and and the first first bit of advice is first thing god pharaoh you need you need a good

some good management you need to have some good management here verse 33 now therefore let pharaoh

selected discerning wise man and set him over the land of egypt let pharaoh proceed uh to appoint

overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of egypt during the seven

plentiful years okay it's time to start saving pharaoh right now not spending it's time to start saving uh

and so when the future looks really bleak and so uh take 20 percent and store it up because when this

country really goes into economic downfall you're going to be prepared for it this is good advice

good advice we have some people here that work in the banking business right here this morning they

would say that's good advice in the years of plenty save put it away right and so he goes on to say in

verse 35 and let them gather them all all the food of of these good years that are coming up and store

up the grain under the authority of pharaoh for the food for the cities and let them keep it

that the food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that occur in the land of

egypt so that the land may not perish through the famine this proposal pleased pharaoh and all of his

servants joseph is very forthright he's very honest and he gives the interpretation but but then he gives

him advice he gives pharaoh advice and it's amazing advice and his advice his advice is that well you

know pharaoh let me tell you something i've i've got some experience in this i worked at potiphar's house

for a while and i understand how it is and what it means to uh to really uh uh work through all these

servants and to really be a good steward of all these things you know he doesn't sell himself

he doesn't sell himself listen a good servant a good employee is always thinking what is best for

the boss and the organization not what's best what's easiest for him not what's easiest for him

and moreover there's a great spiritual principle in here that if if if you're faithful in something

small then you'll also be faithful in something large that will be given to you luke chapter 16

there's a great spiritual principle in here so it's good advice the servants say it's good advice

pharaoh says it's good advice and then we continue on in verse 38 and pharaoh said to his servants can

we find a man like this in whom the spirit of in whom is the spirit of god then pharaoh said to joseph

since god has shown you all this there's no no one so discerning and wise and you as you

i mean this is a pagan king okay and he looks at this godly young man and he sees something special

in him okay and and he's willing at this point because of the situation the setup of the dream

and the crisis that he's facing maybe he's learned a little bit about joseph and all this stuff

in the backstory but he's willing to put everything in joseph's charge this is a pagan king he's going to

put a hebrew in charge of everything you know good strategy this is a good strategy for pharaoh

because if this dream if he didn't interpret it right it doesn't work out right okay all we've done

is save a bunch of grain and guess what we take care of joseph we'll just off him we'll get we'll get

rid of him and so he's going to employ this uh he's going to he's going to employ the strategy and

really that's that's a strategy that i love to employ in our in our fellowship in our church

someone comes to me i've got this great idea for a ministry uh brother curtis we need to be doing this

in our church

no i don't need any more to do if god's laid it on your heart your ministry then do it and that's that's what i was like that's that's a great plan i didn't come up with that plan let's do it let's put it together and so joseph comes up with with the interpretation by the spirit of god and so joseph is put in charge over egypt and i know we read this and and uh you know and i think the idea of of unbelievers looking at

believers and saying wow there's something special about that guy and special about that girl there's something wonderful about that person i want to entrust them with more of my business okay we think about that in the natural but quite often i i hear the opposite let's be really honest i hear people that come to and complain to me and say you know curtis i don't want to i don't want to hire any christians in my business because they all want the bro deal come on i'm your bro

we're brothers sisters in christ you can treat me a little differently can't you you can cut me some slack on this i'm i'm your brother i'm your brother in christ okay and so they say that they try to take advantage of this spiritual relationship we have but he saw something in joseph

he must have heard the reports and he gives him this position and now watch what he does this is this is absolutely amazing in verse 40

you shall only as as regards the throne will i be greater than you and pharaoh said to joseph see i have set you over the land of egypt then pharaoh gave him his signet ring

a checkbook that's what that means his signet ring from his hand and put it on joseph's hand and clothed him

in garments of fine linen and put a mr t starter set now put a gold chain around his neck gave him some bling

and made him ride his second chariot and called and and they all called out before him bow the knee

bow the knee and thus he set him over all the land moreover pharaoh said to joseph i am pharaoh and without

your consent no one shall lift a hand or foot in all of egypt it's as if if for all intents and purposes

joseph is giving carte blanche to the whole kingdom right here he has he has rule and he's been put in

charge of all the financial control all the geographic control uh he's in charge of this plan

and then he's given this fine linen and he's given a gold chain and he's given an upgraded wardrobe and

all this stuff and then he's given the he's given his own private limousine of course his license plate

will say number two on it okay because sparrows will be number one all right now we understand that

but all of that talk about an upgrade in your life instantaneously he had no idea what god was doing

behind the scenes no idea an upgrade in his life from prison to prime minister okay second in command

and there are people who have read this and said this is impossible i want to touch on this briefly

this morning because there are intelligent people who do not believe the bible and the scripture for

this very reason because they will say that this kind of sudden elevation from a low status could never

happen and i beg to differ with you there are plenty of records in the egyptian papyri and the

hieroglyphics found in the tombs that give example of people who have been in low positions and almost

instantaneously have been raised to a level like this one is a a uh a guy whose name was uh suno suno hay

suno hay is how you say his name he was a runaway he was exiled for a number of years he was he was

degraded from court and then he was brought back from exile returned to the throne brought back in

the court and given and given a high example i mean given a high uh position that's just one example

of many many but and then people will say well that was that was an egyptian all right that was an

egyptian who was lifted like this they weren't somebody of another race you know a hebrew a semite

like joseph would never be elevated to a position like this in egypt again i beg to differ with you because

some years ago we will found some letters

you

quote-unquote the greatest mouth okay that was that was he was called the spokesman in all the land of egypt okay so given some sort of quite high authority just under pharaoh so both the bible and outside the bible this practice that's taken place has been confirmed so i tell you that don't let people tell you that the bible just has these elaborate stories that could never be true history shows us scripture shows us

the validity of this verse 45 the validity of this verse 45 and pharaoh pharaoh called joseph joseph's name zephanath penea and he gave him in marriage to um asenath the daughter of pataphira priest of on so joseph went out over the land of egypt now we we covered this months ago i'm not going to get into this but zephanath penea in the egyptian one of the egyptian translations

of that name means savior of that name means savior of the world again that we talked about that in the and when we talked about the foreshadowing of the life of joseph and the and and christ again savior of the world okay and um he's he's married to a high-ranking uh daughter of a priest okay and this is the priest of on he would be the priest who's in charge of all the other priests in charge of the every festival and everything that goes on in the temple

and so joseph is married into this family and now there are some people who would object to this and say no wait a minute why would joseph this devout hebrew

go and and and marry this egyptian egyptian woman this is easy to explain he didn't have a choice

he didn't have a you are a prisoner you might be second in command joseph but guess what you are still a prisoner

all right this was conscribed to him by the king you're going to do this you're going to marry this girl

she's your wife and he's given this task for verse 46 is that where we left off yes so joseph was 30

years old when he entered the service of pharaoh the king of egypt and joseph went out from the presence

of pharaoh and went through all of the land of egypt 30 years old so he was how old when he was taken

when his brothers threw him in the pit 17 he's 30 now

that's a long time man that's all he is 30 years old but still so young

30 years old and he's elevated to this position elevated overnight 30 years old j oswald sanders had

a saying he said um very few men can hold this full of a cup and do it well it's one thing to go

through adversity and it's quite another temptation to handle prosperity and not get taken in by pride

because of that sudden elevation you know i have i have watched people that have been elevated to a

place of status to a place of authority that it goes to their heads and they don't handle that cup

very well i've watched i've seen stories of people who have won the lottery and what happened their

whole life has gone south in a heartbeat they can't handle that cup that's that's full very well it gets

to them it gets to them 47

during the seven plentiful years the earth uh produced abundantly and he gathered all the food

in these seven years which occurred in the land of egypt and he put the food in the cities

he put in every city the food from the fields around it and joseph stored up grain in great abundance

like the sand of the sea until he ceased to to measure it for it could not be measured

before the year of the famine uh came two sons were born to joseph now aseneth the daughter of

potaphera the priest of on bore them to him joseph called the firstborn manasseh for he said god has

made me forget all my hardship and my father's house manasseh you know i love this guy i mean

here's a guy instead of holding on to a bunch of regrets you know but i've been slighted

i've been forgotten about my brothers i've been forgotten about my families he's just like

forget about it

you know

I've forgotten

all this bad stuff

I've forgotten all this bad stuff

52

the name of the second

he called Ephraim

means double fruitful

for he has made me fruitful

in the land of my affliction

you know this is very similar to the

apostle Paul forgetting the things

which are behind me

I press forward to the things which are before me

right

there comes a

point in time that you

just have to let go of your past

hurts

there comes a point in time in your life

where you've just got to build a bridge

and get over it

if you need help getting over it

then get that help to get over it

but you just have got to get over it

otherwise it's going to be crippling

in your life

it's going to be crippling

you know

and this you know

Joseph is saying this has happened

but like the gentleman we ended with last week

I'm going to count my blessings

instead of zeroing in on my sorrows

and zeroing in on all those years

God has made me fruitful

my son is named

and I'm naming the other son

I'm forgetting

I'm choosing not to remember the past

so he's got two boys

let's wrap this up

the seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end

and the seven years of famine began to come

as Joseph had said

there was famine in all the lands

but in all the land of Egypt there was bread

when the land of Egypt was famished

the people cried to Pharaoh for bread

and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians

go to Joseph

and do what he says to do

so when the famine had spread over all the land

Joseph opened up the storehouses

and sold to the Egyptians

for the famine was severe

in the land of Egypt

now again

I just want you to stop just for a minute

and consider

consider what Joseph's

first order of business might have been

now that I'm prime minister

there was maybe a whisper of it

but I see it's really happening now

I'm the prime minister

I got the ring

I got the clothes

I got the ride

my first order of business

my first thing

my first command is

bring out Potiphar

bring out that lying woman

because nobody

I don't have to answer to anybody but Pharaoh

but Pharaoh said

this is not a throne issue

bring out Pharaoh

and bring out that idiot

stupid cup bearer

and they're all getting

they're all getting some

some baker redemption today

they're all getting hung

everyone sees a little piece of rope today

case closed

and would I be right?

I'd be right in doing it

right?

these people were terrible

it's paid by

but listen

not a word

not a word

in any of Joseph's words

there's no pettiness

there's no bitterness

he has to let it go

he has to let it go

and I just want to say to you this morning

listen

as we draw this to a close

listen

please hear me

we need to

you need to

I need to

let God

handle your Potiphar's

let God

handle your cup bearers

let God

handle these things

the people who forget about you

the people who lie about you

the people who

mistreat you

on purpose

give it

to

the Lord

I know that's hard

but give it

to the Lord

because you and I

both know that God

is better at handling

those things

than we are

he is so much better

at handling

those things

than we are

he's more effective

I mean there have been times

when I wanted to lash out

I had the temptation

to do something

in righteous vengeance

too

you know

seriously

and all this

but I realize

that God

is much better at this

and if God says

vengeance is mine

says the Lord

then guess what

all I have to do

is give it to God

and say

okay

it's your job

you said

vengeance is yours

I'm going to leave it

in your hands

and give it to him

and leave it there

leave it there

you know

you know

I've been told this

and I believe it's true

that if you want to

defend yourself

God will let you

God will let you

Or you can just simply say

The Lord is my defense

The Lord is my defense. He is the righteous one

He is the righteous one

All things come to bear in light eventually now, maybe not in our timing, but eventually before he who sees all things

and he who is the

ultimate judge and just one

just one

First 57 ending

moreover all the earth came to to Egypt

to Joseph to buy grain because the famine was severe over

all the earth

And again as we as we close this morning

I just want to put something in your mind and your heart and let you walk with it this week and I pray you just mull it over

and

You know

I don't I don't know what you're going through today

I don't

This is a

This is a big enough and yet a small enough crowd. I know some of you I know

I know some of you what some of you are going through and what some of you are

Experiencing, but I know I know well enough to know that some of you are going through some difficult waters

I

I get that some of you may even feel forgotten

Forgotten by God

In this journey this christian life thing forgotten by the lord and maybe joseph even felt forgotten

And he could have been tempted at least in this regard

But listen

Who knows what god is right now preparing for you in the next couple of months?

In in in in the next few years

Who who knows he is using this time listen church he is using this time to shape you

To mold you we all know romans 8 28

Okay, we all know romans

Romans 8 28 you know all things work together for good for those who love the lord and call accordingly to his purposes

We all know that but I wonder how many of us really remember romans 8 29

That says that that we we are we are

Predestined by god to be conformed in the image of christ

And if you and I are predestined by god to be conformed in the image of god guess what that means

There's a whole lot of shaping needs to be going on

There's a whole lot of molding that needs to be going on and that comes with

Trials that comes with hardship that comes with pain

I'm, sorry

That's just that refining process when you are in the hands of the refiner it is not always comfortable, but it is always best

It is always best and so if we are going to be shaped and molded into the into the

Uh image of christ we have to know that when these things are happening to us when we find ourselves in these hard moments

These hard times these hard things know that you are being shaped you are being transformed

You are being molded into christ

And as I read this and I read this and I look at my life

I'm

I'm well aware of the fact that

There's a lot more to come

I'm not there yet

And if i'm not there yet guess what I got a lot more to come I got to go through

To be made more in the image of christ

But i'm also cognizant

That all this is in preparation for something else

That i mean i may be made in the image of christ

For the glory of god

And you know what when I understand that the scripture tells me that in romans 8 29

Then you know what I can live with that then no no

I can rejoice in that

I can rejoice in that

The scripture again back it up doesn't say god uses all good things to to those who love him and call the corny to his purposes

All the good things that happen in your life are from god

Well, maybe yeah

God is the father of lights and he gives all blessings and but what about that is that really from god?

Did god do that to me no god didn't do that to you

But god can use that to shape and mold you into the man and woman of god that he desires you to be

Did god put joseph in the pit? No, did god make potiphar's wife lie?

No, god didn't do any of that, but god used all of that for his glory

Church understand the things you are going through in your life

All right

He does this to curtis because he loves him

Because he loves him

When you discipline your child you don't do it because you were bored to tears that day

When you discipline your child it's not because

You just feel like being mean and horrific to them

No, I love you

And we have got to do something to help change your direction

To change your direction

And because we can rejoice in that

We have the we have the strength to be able to let allow god to handle all of our potiphar's

And to allow god to handle all of our cupbearers

And in life

There are times we just need to we need

Maybe I should change what I say and not not we need to let the lord build a bridge

So that we can get over some things

Yeah

This morning I'm going to end just a little bit differently

I know sometimes I say that we see

We didn't we didn't any different

Well, we're going to end differently this morning

Um, I'm going to use this mic jules microphone right here greg

Um

This morning

Uh, my dear sister

Uh angel tatum

This is going to be her

Her last sunday worshiping with us for a while

She'll come back and visit us from time to time

Angel's been part of this fellowship for I don't want to say a whole lot because I want her to just share for a few minutes because

She uh, she just has

I can't say any of this without crying sorry

Some some of you might know angel some of you don't

And i'm sorry if you never got the chance to meet her and understand her sincere heart for the lord

Her brokenness for the lord

But she has she served on staff here for for for some time as well, too

Uh over our hospitality and some of our outreach stuff

But she brings so much more to the table because she is a woman of such deep faith

And such a deep love for the lord jesus

And there's going to be a void right over here

and so

Um, I hope some of you in this room can step up and sit over there in that in that space over there and take up that worship void

and the next in the next few uh

Months and and years to come

She's going to chicago

So obviously she's lost her mind. She's not listening to the lord. She i'm kidding. I'm kidding

I'm kidding

Um

I mean didn't it didn't one of the disciples say how can anything good come from chicago? Oh, no, that was that was so nazi. Sorry

I'm, sorry. I'm just kidding. Some of you might be

From chicago. Sorry

Anyway, I've said too much, but I just want angel to just share a word with you this morning real quickly

Uh, I just ask her to say what come on up angel whatever's on her heart and then as the when she finishes up on the worship

Team is going to come up and I would just invite those of you who would like to come and just have a word of prayer

Over my sister and with my sister as we close the service

That's why I want to end today is praying from praying for my dear sister

whom I love greatly

Praise god

Um

So just really quickly uh ray my family. I journeyed here with my kids and then oh can't do this in a minivan in 2007

Um, we didn't know what we didn't even know about a brunswick in chicago

Um, and I packed them up in the minivan van and I couldn't even see one of them in the back because we had so much stuff in there

I just kept saying sean you okay i'm okay

So he was over like the covers and stuff

And uh, we just journey here truly trusting god to do something different in our life

We didn't quite know what we needed at the time. We just knew we needed something different

And um

God in his faithfulness. I I kind of uh

Identify with joseph like he had the family structure, but there was some things going on in that family structure

That even though

He

Bring me here to change my identity. So when I go back before my family, they won't even recognize me anymore. Like when joseph stood before his brothers

They couldn't even recognize him. He had to reveal to them that he was joseph. And that's because of the refining that God did in his life. It wasn't just a physical change, but it was a spiritual change. It was emotional change. It was just a new joseph.

And and um, I've always received that I am the joseph of my family. I'm the one who has been uh chosen by God to change some things and change some some ways that we had and I know that I'm the definitely the priest of my family. God has told me that. And so if you would have asked me even a month ago, if I was going to go back to Chicago, I would have looked at you crazy like no, I'm not going, you know, and I I had like, Oh, I might move here. I might move there.

But Chicago wasn't even on the radar. I rep my city all day long, but I didn't want to live there anymore. Um, but then God began to reveal this to me. And I know that it's time to reconnect with my family. I know it's time to reconnect with my city is some things in the city of Chicago that I need to to touch or impact or heal. I don't know. I'm just so open to whatever God wants to do.

But I know he had to pull me out for me to be able to see it differently. And I and I'm so grateful for that. So that's where this journey has come. So I've been able to be the only female member of the block party, you know, because God brought me here. I've been able to be a downtown disciple.

Because God brought me here. I've been able to to minister to a choir and can't sing a lick because God brought me here. I've been able to get out of debt and get and change the mentality of poverty. Because God brought me here. I've been able to raise three boys who are in college now and one girl who's about to graduate.

Because God brought me here. Because God brought me here. I've been able to heal in a lot of broken, very broken areas, a broken marriage, a broken relationship with my father, you know, low self-esteem, lack of confidence, a lot of self-doubt, a lot of pain, a lot of dysfunction.

God used this area to be, um, there's a catalyst for change and for healing for me. And then I thought, what I thought was going to be the, the resting place for me, far as spiritually and where I would continue my journey of faith.

God shifted that even. And then here comes Rhema Community Church. God put you in my life, Rhema, in a time where I had lost faith in the body of Christ. I had lost faith in church leadership and church love.

And, Pastor Curtis, I told you this privately, but I'm going to tell you again publicly, your love for me personally, but what I've seen you demonstrate was so restorative for me.

I really didn't think that leadership could love you without you just laying down everything for leadership. And even when you did that, I thought, well, they still will hurt you.

And the way you have listened to me and covered me and supported me and corrected me was so necessary for that time. And this really brought out a lot of stuff that was still lingering in me and in trying to please man and not having confidence.

You just let me be me. And you respected that and you honored that and you covered that. You covered me. And I so appreciate that. It really restored me.

And I don't know if you guys know that about your pastor, but he was used to restore somebody who already had faith, who already knew the word, but still needed that, that spiritual father.

And for that, I'm very grateful. I will always be grateful for that. And then, Rhema, your love.

One thing I share with Pastor Curtis is that this church is a church of love. Protect that. Protect that with all you have, because I don't care what's going on, what's up or down, what changes in this church.

One thing has been consistent for the five years I've been here. I feel loved here. I feel like a part of a real family. That's why I call you guys Rhema family.

I'm not just making that up. I feel that down in my soul. I don't want to call out names, but y'all know who I am, who I'm talking about.

Downtown Disciples, that love, that constant love. I felt everything.

Keep the kids and got to serve. But that was the first time coming into a Wednesday and I was woosah. And Wednesday night service gave me that. And then, of course, these invaluable friendships I've made here. And Michelle, she was here. Friendships I never knew I would be able to have and embrace. And so you guys gave me that. And I'm so grateful and I will forever be grateful for that.

Encourage you, Rhema family. And I do mean Rhema family. Protect the love here. Protect each other. Continue to have that safe space that you have here. I love you guys.

Come on down here, Angel. Come on up, worship team.

See, I was going to, Lonnie has always told me that it's a sight to see. They went, their home group one Thursday went bowling. And they said, it's a sight to see Angel bowl.

The way she dances down the way she dances down the aisle to try to throw the ball in the gutter.

And so I was going to throw that up on the video screen.

You got the video?

No. Lonnie's got the video. But I don't want to do that to you.

Because I wanted to. But that's what family does, right?

Yeah, yeah.

As the worship team leads us out, I'm going to invite all who would like to come.

I know our elders are going to come up.

We want to just have a word of prayer over you.

But, Angel, love you so much.

So grateful for just how you have served the Lord and loved people well while you've been here.

And while there is a huge void, you always have a home.

You always have a home.

Please continue to be faithful to pray for us as we lift you up on a regular basis.

We're so excited for this new season.

We're jealous that we don't get to be standing right there with you, but we're there in spirit.

We're there in spirit.

And so, I'd like to invite those who would like to come.

Let's all stand and sing as we close this morning.

Just come and let's pray over our sister.

Let's pray over our sister.

Let's pray over our sister.

Let's pray over our sister.

Let's pray over our sister.

Let's pray over our sister.

Thank you.