Voddie Baucham - Joseph Interprets the Prisoner's Dreams
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Speaker 1: Well, to come to Genesis chapter 40, we will actually
spend the next four weeks in the next three chapters.
And we'll, I'm still trying to work out how we
will divide those three chapters. Today we were going to
look at just chapter 40, but we're going to have
to look at chapter 40 and really that first major
section today. chapter 41 as well for it to make
sense the way it needs to and as we come
to Genesis chapter 40 and as we gaze into this
portion of the life of Joseph we see some things
that are recurring we see some themes of which we
desperately need to be reminded for example here as we
get to chapter 40 and chapter 41 dreams occur again.
And not only do dreams occur again, but dreams occur
in pairs again. If you'll remember, when we're introduced to Joseph,
there were two dreams. He had two dreams. He interpreted
both dreams. Now, in chapter 40, we are introduced to
the cupbearer and the baker, two dreams, two interpretations. Chapter 41,
we are introduced to Pharaoh, who has two dreams, and
there are two interpretations from Joseph. So there is the
continuation of this theme of Joseph and the interpretation of
dreams and the theme of God communicating, revealing himself to
and through Joseph. If you'll remember, as we've pointed to
time and time again in Hebrews chapter 1, that famous
passage about the doctrine of revelation. God having spoke to
us in many portions and many ways through the fathers
in these last days, has spoken to us through his son.
So we see here the picture of these many portions
and many ways in which God has communicated to and
through his people. So we see this doctrine of revelation.
We also see continued here this theme in Joseph's life
that occurs again and again and again, that everywhere Joseph goes...
he's put in charge. No matter what happens to him,
no matter how terrible his circumstances, he ends up in charge.
But we also see this theme recurring here, and we're
going to concentrate on it today, this idea that no
matter where Joseph goes, he doesn't belong. No matter where
he goes, he doesn't belong. He's raised... In Jacob's house.
But he doesn't fit. He doesn't belong. He goes to Egypt.
And there in Egypt, in general terms, he doesn't fit.
He doesn't belong. In Potiphar's house, ultimately, he doesn't fit.
He doesn't belong. He's in prison. He doesn't fit. He
doesn't belong. He goes to the palace. He still doesn't
fit and doesn't belong. And yet, all of those places
were necessary. In Joseph's life. Not just for Joseph individually.
But as we look at this and back up and
take our view from 35,000 feet and look at the
picture of redemptive history, we know that all of these
things were necessary not just for Joseph, but they were
necessary in redemptive history as God is using Joseph to
usher in this next phase of redemptive history. we are
going to see a major turnaround in the life of Judah.
And as we see that major turnaround in the life
of Judah, we don't understand it yet in Genesis, but
as we continue to move forward, we will understand the
significance of the tribe of Judah, therefore the significance of
this redemption of Judah in and through the story of
the life of Joseph. So this is important because through Genesis, Judah,
we get the king about whom we read today. Well,
you ask, which king? Because we read about a king
in our Old Testament reading. It was King David. Then
we read about King Jesus in our New Testament reading. So,
which king? The answer is yes. Both kings come to
us from Judah. So it's very important for redemptive history
that these things happen. Now, if we're not careful, what
happens is we get bogged down here, especially in chapter 40,
which is why I decided to incorporate at least the beginning,
that major section of chapter 41. We sort of get
bogged down here in Joseph and what Joseph is doing.
And although those things are important, they are important ultimately
because of their broader implications. So as we look at this,
I want you to Understand this concept that Joseph basically
fleshes out for us. There are a number of things
that he fleshes out for us, not least of which
is this sort of foreshadowing of the life and the
ministry of Christ himself. But also there is this picture
that Joseph fleshes out for us of the covenant people
of God. Always in the world, but not of the world.
That's Joseph. God's covenant people in the world, but not
of the world. That's him. We see a picture of
that in his life. He's in Jacob's family, but really,
he's almost not one of them. Now, after God gets
a hold of the rest of these boys, he fits.
But for now, he doesn't. He goes to Egypt and
he doesn't fit. He's in Egypt but not of Egypt.
Eventually when the nation is born and rises up, they
too will be in Egypt but not of Egypt. They
just won't fit. And for those of us who are
spiritual Israel, as we read there in Romans, as we
started our journey through Romans, we realize that we too
are in the world but not of the world. And
our life often looks very much like Joseph's experience in
many ways, and I want to share those ways. In
some ways, our experience looks nothing like Joseph's experience because
the Redeemer's experience looks a lot more like that. But
here in chapters 40 and 41, I believe there are
some parallels that will help us understand how we are
to live today. As God's covenant people in this world,
but not of this world. It is a difficult balance
to strike. And there's a ditch on both sides of
the road. On the one side of the road, you
can err on the side of in the world. And
there's worldliness. On the other side of the road, there's
another ditch. That's the not of the world ditch. And
there you're completely useless as far as the kingdom is concerned.
So how do we strike that balance? Look with me,
if you will. And of course, we won't read all
of this, but let's read this in order to get
these four major themes. The first is that there's four tensions.
The first is the tension between the word of God
and the word of man. And again, in Joseph's life,
that's attention. In our life, that's attention. Being God's covenant
people in the world and not of the world, there
is a tension between the word of God and the
word of man. Look here in chapter 40. Sometime after this,
the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker
committed an offense against their lord, the king of Egypt.
And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief
cupbearer and the chief baker. And he put them in
custody in the house of the captain of the guard,
in prison where Joseph was confined. The captain of the
guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended
to them. They continued for some time in custody. So
there's pictures of authority here. There's pictures of the authority
of Pharaoh. There's pictures of the authority of the head
of the prison. But then, in the midst of this,
something else breaks in. Because, remember, here Joseph is, he's
a foreigner. Not only is he a foreigner, but he
is a foreigner who's in prison. But as a foreigner
who's in prison, how on earth can this foreigner who's
in prison have any impact whatsoever? The answer? The Word
of God. Verse 5. And one night, they both dreamed.
The cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt,
who were confined in the prison, each his own dream,
and each dream with its own interpretation. When Joseph came
to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled.
So he asked Pharaoh's officers, who were with him in
custody in his master's house, why are your faces downcast today?
They said to him, we've had dreams, and there is
no one to interpret them. Why are you so downcast?
Not because we've had dreams, but because we've had dreams
and there's no one to interpret the dreams. Not a
foreign concept, the interpretation of dreams. Not at all a
foreign concept. However, what we see here is different. In fact,
this is not just something that's an issue in the ancients. world,
where people attempted to interpret dreams. We know, for example,
in Daniel's time, that there were individuals who were trained
to interpret dreams. Unless we think that that is somehow
just far-fetched and way out there... Don't forget that one
Sigmund Freud, perhaps the most famous of all psychologists of
all times, devoted an entire book to the interpretation of dreams.
But there is a difference between the interpretation of dreams
as understood by Sigmund Freud and as understood by the
Chaldeans and as understood by all sorts of ancient people
who have attempted to interpret dreams and the idea that
Joseph has here that is directly related to the revelation
of Almighty God. Listen to what he says. And Joseph
said to them, do not interpretations belong to God? No.
Please tell them to me. This is an opportunity for
the Word of God to break in in the midst
of the Word of men. This is an opportunity for
God's covenant people to be distinguished and to be set
apart because they hearken to a different voice. God's people
do not hearken to the voice of diviners. God's people
hearken to the voice of God himself. And here we
see a picture of the voice of God himself. Later
on in chapter 41, when the king of Egypt has
a dream, upon whom does he call? He calls upon
the one who has the spirit of God in order
to interpret the dream. There is a tension here between
the word of God and the word of man. There
is a tension in Joseph's life as the representative of
God's covenant people Between the Word of God and the
Word of man, there is always a tension between the
Word of God and the Word of man wherever God's
covenant people dwell. And here's why there's a tension. Because
when God speaks, everyone else must be silenced. When God speaks,
every other voice takes a back seat. When God speaks,
there is tension because now we have man in all
of his glory who believes that he runs his own universe.
And in the midst of his own universe that he
believes he controls, in walks God. The cupbearer was more
powerful than Joseph. The baker was more powerful than Joseph.
But when the word of the Lord came, Joseph was
the one on whom they had to depend. The king
of Egypt was more powerful than Joseph. However, when the
word of the Lord came, he had to bend the
ear to Joseph. God's people are in the world and
not of the world. And one of the tensions is
that we hearken to the word of God and not
the word of man. In fact, here's why there is
a tension. All truth is God's truth. Amen? So when
we say we hearken to the word of God and
not to the word of man, do we actually mean
that if a man speaks, that we don't listen to
the man unless he's quoting a Bible verse? No, that's
not what we mean. Again, remember the tension. The tension
is we're in the world but not of the world.
So even in the world, every man exists by the
mercy and grace of Almighty God. Amen? I don't care
who you are in here. There are people in this
room today who are unregenerate men. There are people in
this room today who are not saved, who are not Christian,
who do not belong to God. And yet, God just
gave you your last breath. And it was purely by
His mercy. By the way, He just gave me my
last breath and it was purely by His mercy as well. Amen?
He causes it to rain on the just and the unjust. Amen?
But here's the tension for the believer. When an individual
opens his or her mouth and speaks, just because they
don't belong to God doesn't mean that everything they say
is untrue. But how do we determine what is true
and what is not? How do we determine what to
hear and what to heed and what not to hear
and what not to heed? Here's how we determine it.
God has spoken and everything is weighed in the balance.
compared to the Word of God. That's the distinction. God
has spoken. So, when an individual opens their mouth, our
question doesn't even necessarily have to be, is that a
Christian or is that not a Christian? Because here's a
little news flash. It's not stamped on the forehead. Amen?
And there are a lot of people who tell you
that they belong to God, but who don't. Amen? Amen.
So what do we determine? Let this mind be in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus. The very mind of Christ.
You learn to think biblically and sift everything through the
Word of God. That's why it's so important for us
to immerse ourselves in God's Word, so that we think
biblically and learn to hearken unto the voice of the
Good Shepherd. And whenever we hear something that is not
in line with God's truth, we know it is in error. Why?
Because of some burning in the bosom? No. Because we've
measured it against God's truth. That's the answer. The yardstick
is God's truth. What has God revealed? That's what we
measure it against. So there is this tension. And it
is a constant tension. Because unfortunately, we get used to
hearing the word of man and not the Word of God.
In fact, for most of us, we prefer the Word
of Man to the Word of God. There's also a
price to be paid when you have a commitment to
the Word of God versus the Word of Man. You
don't fit too well in the world of man when
you don't hearken to the Word of Man and instead
hearken to the Word of God. That's where Joseph finds himself.
It's the Word of God. In fact, it's because he
hearkens to the Word of God and not to the
Word of man, one could argue that that's the very
reason that he finds himself in prison right now. Listening
to the Word of God as opposed to the Word
of man. And there is that tension there between the
Word of God and the Word of man. God's Word always, however,
is supreme in these two. What are some of those
areas in our lives where we have this tension between
the Word of God and the Word of man? A
great example of this is in our laws. This tension
between the Word of God and the Word of man.
Over the last several weeks, I've been in my home
state of California a number of times, and again, over
the last several weeks in the state of California, there's
been one thing on everybody's mind. And that one thing
on everybody's mind was, what is this homosexual judge going
to say about Proposition 8? Again, Proposition 8 was the
law established in California a year ago in November that
defined marriage between one man and one woman. 52% of
the population. razor-thin margin, by the way, determined in the
state of California that they would define marriage as between
one man and one woman, and they would put a
stop to all of these same-sex unions that were taking
place in the state of California. Now, a judge, one judge,
not a panel of judges, one judge, decided that he
would speak to the issue, and surprise, surprise, he disagreed
with the people. Now, some think that the state of
California is now in the midst of a battle between
the majority and the minority. They're in the midst of
the battle between the voice of the people and the
voice of judges. No, actually, the battle is between the
Word of God and the Word of man. And while
it's easy for us to say that, here's the question.
What do we do and how do we live when
the Word of man... confronts and contradicts directly the Word
of God? Here's the answer historically. Historically, the church adapts
and compromises. Historically, the church adapts and compromises. By the way,
when I say the church, I use that term loosely.
historically individuals who claim to be the church adapt and
compromise however the covenant people of God are marginalized because
they heed the Word of God as opposed to the
word of man therein lies the tension there's a second
tension and that's the tension between the favor of God
and the favor of man now interestingly enough throughout the
life of Joseph as we've seen thus far, what we've
seen is this ironic pattern where his brothers hate him,
but his father loves him. Potiphar's wife betrays him, but
Potiphar loved him. We see that the cupbearer has his
dream interpreted and is supposed to go remember him to Pharaoh. However,
he doesn't, and Joseph spends another two years in prison
before he's called upon. His brothers put him in a pit.
By the way, they were gracious in putting him in
the pit because they wanted to put him in a grave.
Potiphar puts him in prison. Potiphar was also gracious in
putting him in prison. Because had Potiphar believed his wife,
he would have had him put to death. Now, you
would think if you looked at all of these, just
these surface examples, that Joseph was not experiencing the favor
of men. However... What happens when his brothers put him
in the pit? He comes to Potiphar's house. Potiphar puts
him in charge. What happens when he goes to prison?
He goes to prison and the head of the prison
puts him in charge. What happens when he goes to
the palace? He goes to the palace and eventually the
king of Egypt will put him in charge. There's this
tension between the favor of God and the favor of men.
Here's the tension. The favor of God may at times
look like the favor of men, but it's different. Let
me explain. How could Joseph have experienced the favor of
men with his brothers? The only way Joseph could have
experienced the favor of men with his brothers is to
have compromised, perhaps not tell them about the dream, which
would be to not share the word of God with them.
Perhaps not obey his father the way he had obeyed
his father so that somehow his brothers would like him more.
How about in Potiphar's house? Well, in Potiphar's house, one
could argue that Joseph could have just compromised himself with
Potiphar's wife in order to avoid the whole scenario. Now, ultimately,
we know that that would have just ended up in
a bigger problem later on, but he could have compromised there.
There are a number of ways wherein Joseph could have
compromised himself in order to achieve the favor of men. However,
he did not compromise himself. And in not compromising himself,
at every point, what happens? Men despise him. Men want
to kill him. Men put him in a pit. Men
put him in a prison. But what does the favor
of God do? The favor of God puts him in
authority everywhere he goes. If we try to achieve the
favor of men, we will not experience the favor of God.
If we try to achieve the favor of men, we
will not achieve the favor of God. The question is,
which do we seek? Joseph did not seek the favor
of men. And yet, at every point, he achieved favor
with God. And in achieving favor with God, ended up
in positions that were favored among men. What's our tendency?
Our tendency is to attempt to be liked by men,
instead of attempting to be liked by God. Our tendency
is to sort of stick a wet finger in the air,
find out which way the wind is blowing, But here's
how we justify it. We justify it by saying, no, no, no, no, no.
What I want to do is I want to represent God.
And because I want to represent God and I want
people to hear God's word, what I will do is
I will become more like the world around me so
that when the world around me sees me as one
of them, they will be more likely to listen to me.
So I will go over here and try to achieve
the favor of men so that I can do God
a favor and get the word of God to people
who otherwise would not listen. Ever heard that one before?
You ever heard that one before? We're just trying to
get the word of God to people who would not listen.
So we are compromising, trying to achieve the favor of
men so that men will hear the word of God.
Is that what Joseph did? Never. Never. Joseph, why don't
you become more like your brothers so that they will
maybe listen to you? And in fact, why don't you
just sort of change up the interpretation of the dream
so that your brothers will like you a little more? No,
he didn't do that. He simply opens his mouth and speaks.
And some would argue, yeah, and look at what happened.
His brothers didn't listen to him. Uh, yet. He goes
to Egypt. Does he compromise himself? No. He never does.
He continues to be a distinguished and distinct representative of
God in the midst of this culture of opposition. Now,
does this mean that he sort of, you know, thumbs
his nose at the culture? No. In fact, he's a
representative of God. And as a representative of God, he
comes to Potiphar's house. He doesn't compromise. What does Potiphar do?
Potiphar puts him over all of his house. How does
he perform? Admirably. Admirably. And Potiphar, the Egyptian, prospers because
Joseph is in his house. Is that you? When he
gets to prison, how does he perform? Admirably. And the
prison runs more smoothly because he's in the prison. When
he gets to the palace, how does he perform? Admirably.
And Egypt is rescued because he's there. But at any point,
if he compromises in order to become like them, He
perishes with them. How do we reach people in our
community that are hard to reach? The answer, with the gospel. Amen. Yeah,
but there are people who won't listen to us. Yeah,
there have always been people who won't listen to us.
But I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ
because it is the power of God unto salvation to
all those who believe, the Jew first and also to
the Greek. In fact, turn with me if you will.
I want you to see something. Turn to Acts chapter 17.
Acts chapter 17. This is Paul before the Areopagus. And ironically,
this is one of the passages that people go to
in order to make an argument for seeking the favor
of men. They go here and they say, see, when
Paul was there in Athens, he preached on what would
in our day be the Oprah Winfrey show, basically. Okay?
He made it to the Oprah show. He made it
to that place that everybody goes to watch and just
listen to people talk about whatever is new. Well, how
did he make it to the show? Look at Acts
chapter 17. Look at Acts chapter 17. And look beginning
at verse 16. Now we know later on that he
preaches there and we could say much about his sermon. Which,
by the way, was straight between the eyes, not only
the gospel, but it was the gospel attacking their worldview
at every point. He was not preaching to win friends
and influence people. He was attacking their worldview at every point.
He was not trying to be cool like them. He
was not trying to be accepted by them at any point.
But look at what happens here. Beginning verse 16. Now
while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit
was provoked within him as he saw the city was
full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with
the Jews and the devout persons and in the marketplace
every day with those who happened to be there. Some
of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him.
And some said, what does this idol babbler wish to say?
By the way, that term idol babbler in the Greek
is actually an insult. It's an insult. It's a term
that is used for one who goes around like a chicken,
just sort of bending down, picking things up, and then
spitting them out before digesting them properly. The idea is
that he's spewing ideas that he doesn't really understand himself.
It's an insult. They are not saying, boy, he's cool.
He dresses like us. He talks like us. us. This
is great. He has favor with us. Now we'll hear him.
It's not what he's saying. They insulted him. Some said,
what does this out of Babel wish to say? Others
said he seems to be preaching some foreign divinities because
he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. How about that?
Here's the argument that people make. Here's what you need
to do. You need to go in the culture and
write songs that sound like the culture. And then when
you're famous, write songs that talk about Jesus. You need
to go in the culture. And write books that sound
like the culture. And then when you get on Oprah,
you can talk to more people about Jesus. Because after all,
isn't that what Paul did? No, actually Paul preached Jesus
Christ and the resurrection from day one. And that's in
fact how he made it to the Oprah show. Because
of the favor of God. Not the favor of men.
Here's the beautiful thing about Joseph. When Joseph finally stands
in the palace, no one can come to Joseph and say, Joseph,
will you write down for us all of the techniques
that you used to become so powerful in this culture
so that we can reproduce it in the lives of
others who want to become famous in their cultures? Because
here's what Joseph would have said. God spoke through a
dream I interpreted to my brothers and they hated me.
They sent me to Egypt. A woman made advances and
because of what I believe about God and his truth,
I rejected them. My reward? She had me sent to prison.
The king's cupbearer and the king's baker came into the prison.
They had dreams. I knew something about that. I spoke
the word of God to them. Ask the one who
was going to live. Amen. Cupbearer had a good dream. Hey,
good news. Three days, you're going back to the palace.
The baker hadn't shared his dream. But when he heard
how good the cupbearer's dream came out, he said, you
know what? I need to go ahead and share mine. Joseph,
no soft sell at all. Yeah, yours, kind of the same.
Three days, both of your heads will be lifted up.
He is in one way, yours in another. Joseph, how'd
that work for you? Because again, we're taking notes so
that we can be powerful in our culture. How'd that
work for me? I spent two more years in prison.
But that's okay because after that you got out, right,
and everything was good. No, after that I got out
and I had to be number two in command to
a pagan who does not know my God and does
not serve my God. And I had to be his
number two in command so that I could rescue all
of his people who don't know my God and don't
serve my God. And for another decade and a half,
I wouldn't see my family. That's how it worked for me.
You don't get a strategy from Joseph about how to
win friends and influence people. You don't get a strategy
from Joseph about how to gain political appointment. All you
get from Joseph is, God speaks, I echo. I echo.
Third tension. Tension between persecution and dominion. There is a
tension between persecution and dominion. What do I mean by
this tension between persecution and dominion? Well, on the one hand,
here's this picture of Joseph who ultimately, go with me
to chapter 41. The second dream has been interpreted at
the end of chapter 40. He's told each individual what's
going to happen. After two years, Pharaoh dreamed that he
was standing by the Nile. And behold, there came up
out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump. And
they fed in the grass. And behold, seven other cows,
ugly and thin, came up from the Nile after them
and stood by the other cows on the bank of
the Nile. And the ugly, thin cows ate up the
seven attractive, plump cows. What a terrible dream, by the way. Amen?
That's just bad. What happened? I had a dream and
some fat cows came out of the Nile and some skinny, ugly,
nasty ones came out and then they ate the good ones. Really?
You eat very late often? And Pharaoh awoke and fell
asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven years
of grain, plump and good. were growing on one stalk.
And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted
by the east wind. And the thin ears swallowed up
the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold,
it was a dream. So in the morning his spirit
was troubled. And he sent and called for all the
magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told
them his dream, but there was none who could interpret
them to Pharaoh. Again, there's that tension. Word of God,
word of man. As a result of it, what does
God do? God demonstrates to Pharaoh that there is one
who speaks for God, and he's not these magicians. And
as a result, let's read on. Look at verse 37.
We won't go too far into this because we'll look
at this on next week. But he interprets Pharaoh's dreams
and tells Pharaoh what to do. In verse 37, this
proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. And Pharaoh said
to his servants, can we find a man like this
and whom is the spirit of God? Then Pharaoh said
to Joseph, since God has shown you all this, there
is none so discerning and wise as you are. You
shall be over my house, and all my people shall
order themselves as you command. There's this tension between dominion
and persecution. What do I mean by that? Well, on
the one hand, here we see that God's people, because
we're equipped with God's word, it sets us apart in
the kingdom of men. And because it sets us apart
in the kingdom of heaven, even Pharaoh, and Pharaoh's not
the only one through history to recognize this. Pharaoh recognizes
there is something about you, Joseph, and he says very clearly,
it's God. And because of God working in your life,
I need you to be in this position. That has
happened to the people of God throughout history in lands
everywhere that they've gone. The people of God rise up
in a place and that place flourishes. And there have
been people of God who have advanced to very high positions.
And rightly so. Rightly so. Genesis chapter 1 verse 28 says,
God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful
and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and
have dominion over fish of the sea, over the birds
of the heavens and over every living thing that moves
on earth. This is what God has called man to do.
Even beyond that, look at Matthew chapter 28 verses 18
to 20. Jesus came and said to them, all authority
in heaven and on earth is given to me. Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I
have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always
to the end of the age. Isn't that good? That
we go forth in the power of God with the
Word of God, and as a result of going forth
in the power of God and with the Word of God,
we take this world as we find it, and to
the glory of God make it better when we're gone.
And as New Covenant believers, here's what's beautiful. We go
forth in the power of God and with the Word
of God, and we take men as we find them,
preach the gospel to them, the kingdom advances, and this
world is better for it. However... Turn with me, if
you will, to the Gospel of John. John chapter 15.
Because here's the great irony. And this is why you
need the whole picture of redemptive history. Because oftentimes we
go here and we look at this part of Joseph's story.
And there's a couple of things that we do. We
think that this is actually a lesson on how to
win friends and influence people and how we can take
over government and be in great positions in government and
so on and so forth. And we can change the
government for the better. Folks, Joseph did not change the
government of Egypt. Let me say that again. Joseph did
not change the government of Egypt. In fact, after Genesis
there comes another book. It's called Exodus. Exodus. What do
we find in Exodus? Egypt, not so nice. God did
not send Joseph to Egypt in order to take over
the government of Egypt so that Egypt would become more godly.
God sent Joseph to Egypt for one reason and one
reason alone. That is to rescue his people. After his
people are rescued, they are in Egypt in bondage for
over 400 years. And so, on the one hand, we
have Joseph who has risen to a position of power.
But on the other hand, we do not have this
picture in the history of God's redemptive plan that his
idea is that his people will somehow establish the kingdom
here on earth. But what do we have? John 15,
beginning of verse 18. Go back to 16. Well, 15, yeah, 15, 18. 15,
18 is good enough. If the world hates you, know
that it has hated me before it hated you. If
you were of the world, the world would love you
as its own. But because you are not of the world,
but I chose you out of the world, therefore the
world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you.
A servant is not greater than his master. If they
persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept
my word, they will also keep yours. But all these
things they will do to you on account of my name,
because they do not know him who sent me. Does
that sound like God's plan is for the people of
Christ to somehow establish the kingdom here on earth? It doesn't.
Jesus says, here's a promise, folks. They're going to hate you.
That's not the only place. Look at John chapter 17.
Look at 13 to 16. But now I am coming
to you, and these things I speak in the world,
that they may have my joy. Fulfilled in themselves. I
have given them your word, and the world has hated
them because they are not of the world, just as
I am not of the world. I do not ask
that you take them out of the world, but that
you keep them from the evil one. Verse 16. They
are not of the world, just as I am not
of the world. Sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth.
As you sent me into the world, so I have
sent them into the world, and for their sake I
consecrate myself. that they also may be sanctified in truth.
Turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. And look beginning in verse 26. Verse 26.
For consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were
wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not
many were of noble birth. But God chose what is
foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose
what is weak in the world to shame the strong.
God chose what is low and despised in the world,
even things that are not, to bring to nothing things
that are, so that no human being might boast in
the presence of God. And because of Him... You are
in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God,
righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that as it is written,
let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. And
how can we forget 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 12?
All those who desire to live a godly life in
Christ Jesus shall be persecuted. So there's our tension. The
tension between dominion and persecution. And we see it right
there in the life of Joseph. Is Joseph exercising dominion?
Is Joseph in this point a powerful man representing God? Yes.
Will Joseph's people continue this on? No. In fact, after
a while they're going to leave Egypt. And when they
leave Egypt after their wanderings, they're going to establish a nation.
And it's going to be a powerful nation. However, what's
going to happen to that nation? Well, for a while,
they will be on the top of the heap. Then
they will be divided. Then they will be defeated. And eventually,
we will find them in the New Testament under the
thumb of the Roman Empire, never to rise again. Why?
His kingdom is not of this world. That's why. His
kingdom is not of this world. So what do we
do in the meantime? Do we sort of stick our
heads in the sand and say, well, since his kingdom
is not of this world, let's never do anything. No.
His kingdom is not of this world, but we serve
a God who uses his people to advance his kingdom.
Sometimes that's going to look like us being in the palace,
like Joseph. More often than not, it's going to look
like the next 400 years. And either way, God be praised.
But in the midst of it, here's what we're reminded of.
Don't be upset that Joseph didn't establish that kingdom. Because
the one who would establish the kingdom was the one
who was later to come. It is the Christ himself,
whose kingdom is already and not yet. His kingdom is
established and moves forward as we proclaim the gospel. But
His kingdom is not a kingdom of this world. Do
members of His kingdom, through being faithful to the Word
of God, serve as a blessing to the kingdom of man? Yes,
we serve as a blessing to the kingdom of man.
Does that at times mean that we advance within the
kingdom of man? Yes, at times it means we advance
in the kingdom of man. But there's one kingdom and
one kingdom only that we're worried about advancing, and that
is the kingdom of Almighty God Himself. We have dual citizenship.
And one of our passports always trumps the other. Our
kingdom of God passport always trumps our kingdom of man passport.
So there is this tension between persecution and dominion. And
here's what's unfortunate. What's unfortunate is when we're in the
midst of the dominion part of the cycle... and things
are well with us, we have a tendency to forget God.
When we're in the midst of the persecution part of
the cycle, we have a tendency to remember God, but
only so that we can get back to the other
part of the cycle. Amen. So what does that look like?
Here's what it looks like. What it looks like is
right now, right here in the United States of America,
we have a lot of Christians who are looking forward
with more anxious anticipation to November 2nd than they are
to the return of the King of Kings. Why? Because
we believe that our citizenship is of this world. And
it's not. Let me just let you in on a
little secret. I'm not a prophet or the son of
a prophet. November 2nd is not going to change our plight.
I can guarantee you that. I'm not the prophet or
the son of a prophet. November 2nd is not going
to change our plight. All it's going to do is
put us in another situation where we say, wow, I
thought that if we got those guys in office, things
would be different. Why? We're looking for a city whose
builder and maker is God. Does that mean we give
up on this place? Absolutely not. We've got work to
do here. It's gospel work and it's kingdom work. Does
that mean that we just don't ever think that things
are going to change? Absolutely not. I believe God can
bring revival. I believe God can bring awakening. But what
is that? That is the kingdom of God advancing and
people's lives being changed and transformed because of the advancement
of the kingdom of God, which is precisely what we
saw in the life of Joseph. What we saw in
the life of Joseph was not a political victory. What
we saw in the life of Joseph was the supernatural
hand of God preserving his people and for that moment
he just happened to use a political position. But lest
his people trusted in politics too long, it was over.
Just like that. Don't forget this. Because if we forget this,
we forget the last tension. And that is the tension
between The physical salvation of Israel. And the spiritual salvation
of Israel. What's wrong with the kingdom of man? There's
nothing inherently wrong with the kingdom of man other than
it's made up of men. But what's wrong with the
kingdom of man is that the kingdom of man's solution...
will only solve problems in the kingdom of man, and
man's greatest problem is not a kingdom of man problem.
Man's greatest problem is a spiritual problem. And to the
degree that the kingdom of man can be useful in
advancing God's cause, praise God for that. But to the
degree that it takes worship that belongs to God, God forbid.
To the degree that it takes allegiance that belongs to God,
God forbid. God forbid. To the degree that it causes
God's people to bow their knees there rather than here,
God forbid. If you think the highlight of Joseph's life
is that he ended up in a position of power
in a government of pagans, God help you. The highlight
of Joseph's life is yet to come. The highlight of
Joseph's life is a spiritual redemption. And this little measly
position as Pharaoh's right-hand man pales in comparison to what
God does spiritually with his real Israel. That's the significance, people.
And as you and I exercise our dual citizenship in
the kingdom of man and the kingdom of God, let's
remember these tensions. There's a tension between the word of
man and the word of God. Where do we fall?
Always on the side of the Word of God. There
is a tension between the favor of man and the
favor of God. On what side do we fall? Always
on the side of the favor of God. God can
take care of whatever favor of man we need. There
is a tension between persecution and dominion. Where do we fall?
Always on the side of dominion because we're always advancing
the kingdom of God. We never allow persecution to get
us off message. There is a tension between the spiritual
salvation and physical salvation. On what side do we fall?
Always on the side of spiritual salvation. That is always
what's most important. Does that mean the physical doesn't matter?
Absolutely not. But it means that the spiritual is more important.
It means that the greatest tool with which we are
armed is not the ballot box. It's not the food bank.
It's the gospel. Does that mean that the ballot box
is unimportant? No. Does that mean that the poor shouldn't
be fed? No. But what it means is that if
we are to prioritize in something and to be known
for something, let it be the same thing that Joseph
was known for. Joseph's a man in powerful position. He
must be a great politician. Actually, he's no politician at all.
He's just a man who speaks for God. And more
often than not, he ended up in bad places for it.
In the end, he still ended up in a bad place. Why?
He's number two in command to a pagan king of
a pagan nation. Sparing the lives of his oppressors. Now
you think about that for a moment. God used Joseph,
not only to save his brothers, but to strengthen the
very nation that would crush them for 400 years. Why?
Because God's plan is bigger than the city of man.
I don't know where you struggle with your allegiance in
these areas. But I know you struggle. But as you do,
remember these tensions are real. And our responsibilities are certain.
Always on the side of the Word of God. Always
on the side of the favor of God. Always on
the side of the advancement of the kingdom. And always
on the side of our greatest need. which is our
spiritual need, that is only met with the gospel of
Jesus Christ. If we're not holding to that, believing that,
communicating that, sharing that, hoping in that, trusting in that,
then we are actually trusting and hoping in the wrong
kingdom and one that will not abide. That your trust
be in Christ. If you learn anything from Joseph... Learn that.
His political success happened in spite of his obedience or
disobedience to man. Let that be said of us. Would
you bow with me?