Family School at Faith Baptist
S.S.S. Study
Joseph
Part 1
Childhood: Growing up as your fathers favorite (Genesis 37:3) sounds like a great childhood, but when you have a bunch of older brothers who hate and envy your fathers love and favor towards you life can get complicated.
Genesis37:4 Sums up the feelings Joseph's brothers had towards him, and why.
The Dreamer: Having a prophetic dream is a wonderful thing,
Genesis 20:2-9 (Abimelech) This is the first time God speaks to man through dreams and Abimelech is a heathen, just a reminder that God can reveal His word to anyone He wants
Genesis 31:4-13 (Jacob)
Genesis 40:5-41:15 (Joseph interprets dreams)
Numbers 12:6 "And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream."
1st Kings 3:5-15 (Solomon's dream)
Matthew 1:18-21 (Joseph's dream concerning Mary)
2Times after Christ's birth Joseph was directed in dreams (Matthew 2:13,19)
The Wise men were also warned through a dream in Matthew 2:12
Acts 2:17 "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:"
Joseph's dreams to him were a blessing (showed him as ruling his brethren), to his father they were something to rebuke openly but ponder inwardly, but to his brothers they were unbearable (37:10-11).
Never worry yourself about what others think of Gods plan for you.
Joseph's pit: Genesis 37:19-24
This is the first time in Joseph's life that we see him in absolute danger, suffering betrayal, an uncertain future, and in a position where if nothing changes then he will soon die. No water, no food, and no chance of escape.
Joseph's price: Genesis 37:25-36
Joseph was sold for 20 shekels of silver (37:28) very similar to our Lord Jesus Christ being sold for 30 pieces of silver. (Matthew 26:15) The attitude
shown by Joseph's brothers about the transaction is also similar to many Christians attitudes towards personal the Holiness that we can gain through Christ. Most times, most of us would rather trade our side by side relationship with our Creator and Savior for a little of this worlds goods (sin) instead of living with a "perfect brother" (Romans 8:17, Matthew 12:49).
Joseph's place: Genesis 39:1-6
Because Joseph was an upright man through his trial of fire, God blessed him greatly, we as American "christians" overreact to any slight inconvenience, or perceived offense in our lives but Josephs reaction to his situation was much more Christ like, after all when Christ prayed to His Father in the garden before His crucifixion He, knowing Gods plan ended His prayer (Luke 22:42) "nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.".
Did you know that this is the ONLY place in the entire Bible where the phrase "not my will" is found (Matthew 26:39 reads:"not as I will,") imagine the problems that would not exists today if we had "not my will" attitudes!
Joseph's temptation: Genesis 39:7 "And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me."
Every day you and I face many temptations, come watch me, come drink me, come laugh with me, come fit in with me, come lie with me. We act as though we are such great Christians because we don't immediately fall into sins traps, but that causes us to let our guard down.
Soon the good Christian teen boy believes that just because he isn't physically lying with a woman he isn't committing a great sin looking at that website. (Matthew 5:25)
Soon the good Christian teen girl believes that just because she isn't physically rebelling against her parents that she isn't sinning in her disobedient heart.
Joseph's reaction: Genesis 39:8-12
Joseph not only refuses, but he explains (rather politely) to the sinner why he will not sin with her, he continues to refuse her (10) and he makes God the topic (39:9) how many temptors in our lives would flee if we made God the topic?
When you hear someone use Gods name in vain while handing out John and Romans at the Big House, quickly turn to him/her and offer him/her one saying "I noticed you talking about my God, would you like to read about Him?"
Memory Verse:
Genesis 39:21 "But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison."
Family School at Faith Baptist
S.S.S. Study
Joseph
Part 2
Joseph's False accuser Genesis 39:13-19
I believe one of the most aggravating things that can happen to a Christian is that when we do the right thing we still get accused of being in the wrong. Remember though the accusations Christ endured, He was often accused of blasphemy (even though He is God) (Matthew 9:2-4), breaking the sabbath (Mark 3:2-4), and more. But what does Christ teach on the matter? (Matthew 5:11-12)
Joseph'sTask Genesis 39:21-23
Joseph is again noticed by worldly men to be prospered by God and is given charge over the kings jail, many times if we were thrown in jail we would not be willing to take extra responsibilities much less have a Godly attitude about our circumstance.
Joseph's honesty Genesis 40:1-22
Many times when we are asked questions about Gods word in specific, we tend to try to play the pleasing game, (John 12:42-43), but God (knowing our tendencies) teaches us in (Acts 5:29) what's most important.
Joseph's forgotten years Genesis 40:23-41:1
What do we do when we feel forgotten, misused, and under appreciated? Do we patiently wait on The Lord as (Psalm 37:7,34, Psalm 27:14 Proverbs 20:22) teach us? Or do we try to force things to move forward? (1st Samuel 13:7-14)
Joseph's meeting with a king Genesis 41:1-16, 17-37
Joseph did not add to or take away from Gods interpretation of Pharaohs dream, and in verse 16 Joseph makes sure all the credit goes to God for the interpretations, how often do we rob God of His glory in the things He does for us?
Joseph's Promotion Genesis 41:38-46
Just when we think God may have forgotten us He blesses us beyond compare, Joseph remained faithful, and continued to have a right, and Godly attitude through all his troubled times, notice God rewarded Joseph AFTER Joseph proved himself extensively for years. We as American "Christians" expect the blessings of God without ever living for Him, we believe that if we are "good Christians" for a day we should get a year of blessings, but we must remember God WILL bless us WHEN we faithfully serve Him, even though we don't deserve it. (Romans 5:8, Titus 3:5.)
Memory Verse Galatians 6:14 "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."
Family School at Faith Baptist
S.S.S. Study
Joseph
Part 3
Joseph's dreams come true Genesis 42:5-8
God's plan may not seem plausible, remember Joseph was a young teen when God first revealed His plan to him. And the years that followed were filled with betrayal, blessings, false causation, silence and a lot of jail. Yet we as American Christians are programmed from birth to expect immediate gratification, quick results for as little work as possible, and if God chooses to take His time (in our minds) we get impatient and sometimes even lose our faith. (Remember Saul in 1st Samuel 13:5-14)
Joseph's reaction to his brothers Genesis 42:9-44:34
There is an overwhelming amount of truths that can be gleaned from this portion of scripture in between Joseph's first reuniting with his brothers and the point at which he actually reveals himself to them. There are also many opinions as to why he handled it the way he did but for this study we will focus our attention only on the initial reunion.
There are two main points here (many others can be noticed he did not reveal himself, he did not gloat to them, he did not lose his head etc):1 that Joseph did not have them arrested and killed for what they did to him :2 Joseph recognized his brothers but his brothers could not recognize him.
1: Joseph did have them arrested as spies and held for three days, all the while Joseph must have been thinking back to the day they betrayed him. But instead of using the three days to build up his own hatred he devises a plan to allow him to meet Benjamin and eventually be reunited with his father Israel.
2: Joseph recognized his brothers but his brothers could not recognize him, when you obey Gods plan for your life and allow yourself to be separated from the things and the people who would keep you from following God, your life changes, but those who fight against God almost never change. The drunkard stays drunk, the druggie overdoses (or trades a life of hard drugs for a life of prescription drugs) the adulterer continues in sin, the fornicator end up in depression, and aside from turning and following God the lives of sinners for the most part stay the same, that is why more than 77 percent of felony criminals are repeat offenders with one prior arrest. Of these criminals 35% of them have 10 or more prior arrests. No doctor or shrink or medicine can do for a sin sick sinner what Jesus Christ can do!
Joseph's reveal Genesis 45:1-8
Joseph's reveal shows absolutely no sign or hint of the past, he makes the statement "I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt." Not with malice or anger but as an assurance that it is I, Joseph again gives God glory, tells his brothers not to feel bad, showers them with gifts, and sends them to get dad! A reaction completely contrary to human nature.
Joseph reunites and relocates Israel Genesis 45:27-46:29
Israel hearing of his sons living state rushes off, not directly to Egypt as most would have done but first goes to Beersheba to offer sacrifices to God and seek His face, God meets with him and instructs him to go to Egypt, and now when Israel gets to Joseph the meeting is sweet (vs29). Joseph then gives his family the best land in all of Egypt to live in. Passing what God had blessed him with onto those who had betrayed and sold him.
The rest of the story Genesis 46:29-50:26
Joseph's family continued to live in Egypt, eventually his father Israel died, at this point his brothers once again feared him that he would get back at them now that Israel was gone, but Joseph replied to them with a well known and God honoring response in Genesis 50:19-20. Also it is interesting to note that in the beginning of Genesis man was in perfect harmony with God in the garden, and the book ends with the phrase "and he was put in a coffin in Egypt." A sad picture of the workings and results of sin.
Memory Verse: Genesis 50:19-20 "And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."
Faith Baptist Church
Chelsea, Mi
www.fbcchelsea.org
Jeffrey S. Lynn.
No comments:
Post a Comment