Joseph

The podcast episode discusses the story of Joseph from the Bible. Joseph is Jacob's favorite son and has special gifts from God. His brothers become jealous and sell him into slavery in Egypt. In Egypt, Joseph becomes successful but is falsely accused and thrown into prison. Despite his hardships, Joseph remains faithful to God. He interprets dreams for two prisoners and asks them to remember him, but they forget. Joseph remains in prison for two more years until he is brought before Pharaoh to interpret his dream. Hello and welcome to the Biblically Wired podcast. I'm so excited you guys are here listening today. So I just finished a 35-minute podcast on Joseph and accidentally wiped it out. So here we go again and that's okay. I am so excited about the life of Joseph. So this is Biblically Wired. I'm the host. My name is Barb. This is our 12th episode and we are talking about the 12 tribes today. So this is pretty monumental. Okay, so starting in chapter 37, we have Jacob, the third patriarch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. So 200 years before Jacob, Abraham first got the call to leave Ur. And here we are with Jacob having 12 sons through four women. And we find Joseph, Rachel's oldest, is his favorite. Now Flavius Josephus says the reason Jacob really thought Joseph was amazing is he was extra special, both physically strong, tall, probably stood ahead above his brothers, and he was very intelligent and savvy. And so God had put the gifts in Joseph that he was going to use for one of the most amazing accomplishments in the life of the Israelites. Joseph gets a multicolored tunic. We've all heard this in Sunday school, right? But when we look at this from a new angle, that multicolored tunic was something that someone of royalty would wear. Royalty. So here we have this son, a shepherd, in the open, deserty fields of Canaan, and he is wearing a royal robe. So if someone walked by on their camel, they would be wondering, what in the world is that teenager doing out there in a royal robe? That's basically what it looks like. But Jacob was doing something he didn't realize that I think was prophetic. And I've seen this in our own lives in different weird ways. And I see that here in this story. I want to focus on Joseph in a way that you probably never did in Sunday school. And that is taking his name seriously. Every name in the Hebrew culture was to give somebody their essence, their calling, their ministry, what they signified to the family. Something very important. Prophet Isaiah even had two children that he named basically to reveal to the Israelites their sin. So these names are very important. So the name of Joseph, drum roll please, it means increase. Again, the name of Joseph means to add or increase. And that's what we're going to see in the story of Joseph. We are going to see the enemy trying to stop the life of Joseph for whatever plans God has. And then we will see God repeatedly bring the increase. It's super, super cool. Super cool stuff. So we have to remember the enemy does not know whose boy or which son will carry the seed that will eventually be the Messiah. And Joseph is probably a pretty good pick for this. Joseph also has these two dreams where he says to his brothers and his father that he had these dreams where they bow down to him. One time he's this upright sheaf of hay and their sheaves bow down. The other time it's the sun, moon and stars and they're bowing down to him. That's pretty crazy and monumental, right? It not only invigorated all the anger of his brothers, it also brought some foresight in the mind of Jacob. Because even though Jacob, who is now named Israel, by the way, was a little frustrated and rebuked by Joseph when he talked about these dreams in chapter 37, it also says that Jacob kept the same in mind. So this was a faithful man named Israel. Now, this is not the same Jacob we saw run after getting his father's blessing when he was running and hiding from his brother Esau. This Jacob is Israel, much more full of faith, more mature in his faith. So he kept these things in mind. And it reminds me of Mary. Whenever somebody spoke these like amazing words over Jesus Christ, or talked about prophecies, or someone had a dream, or an angel came to speak to her, Mary would treasure these things in her heart. And I kind of see that same wisdom in Israel or Jacob, same name. Okay, so now we're moving on in chapter 37. And Joseph is sent out to check on his brothers. And his brothers see him coming. And according to Josephus, he is the first century Jewish historian that we can look at these stories for to gain a little more oral tradition. Now, according to Josephus, he says the brothers rejoiced when they saw him coming, because they were ready to pounce. They were ready to end Joseph here and now they had had enough. It was Reuben, the oldest, that took them down a notch from killing him outright. Reuben gave them many reasons to consider this. And it gave me pause today to read Reuben's main point. And Reuben told them, remember, wherever man is, God is also. Whoa, okay, that set me back a bit. I almost felt like convicted in my chair here. That's cool. Remember, wherever man is, God is also. Reuben was reminding them of God's providence. Now we got to think about this. Reuben didn't have scripture. He didn't have YouTube videos. He didn't have podcasts and piles of books. These patriarchal families had bigger faith than us with way less information. And I think that behooves us. It really is cool to me. And Reuben reminds his brothers that blood on your hands will always come back to us. This will not go without consequence. And instead, they lower Joseph into a pit. They take that multicolored royal robe they're sick of, and they lower him into this pit. And later they decide to sell them to a caravan that's coming by. Now this caravan is distant cousins, but they're Egyptian. They don't even speak the same language. Joseph, you guys, he would have had to walk bound to this caravan 30 days to Egypt. 30 days wondering where he's going to go, what's going to happen 30 days farther from the father that loves him, from his brother Benjamin, and from everything he's ever known. He is 17 years old. I can't even for a second imagine what's going through his mind. But again, remember his name, the Lord brings the increase. So Joseph is taken to Egypt. And Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, he bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. But the Lord was with Joseph. So he became a successful man. I'm in chapter 39 right now. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. So this Potiphar, he was an important man to the Pharaoh, and had servants, and I'm sure a lot of money. And Joseph became his chief servant. He was the overseer of his house. Joseph must have quickly learned the language. And wow, I mean, here he is, the Lord has given him this increase in this very sad, sad place that he's in. And it says in 39, verse six, Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And the master's wife looked at Joseph, and she desired him. She wanted him to lie with her. But Joseph being very chaste, very much a person of God, denies her. And eventually, she gets so frustrated and her anger burns so much. She accuses him of attacking her. And Joseph is put into prison. So Joseph takes another punch from the enemy, right? He's now in prison. And it just seems like everything Joseph does, we never really hear him complaining. We see later that he's very hurt by his brothers, extremely hurt, very afflicted. This isn't a grand story in his own life right now and in his own mind. But we will see it become that way in his life. So there's a theologian named Boise. And this is what he says about Joseph. He writes, he was loved and hated, favored and abused, tempted and trusted, exalted and abased. Yet at no point in the 110 year life of Joseph, did he ever seem to get his eyes off God, or cease to trust him. Adversity did not harden his character. Prosperity did not ruin him. He was the same in private as in public. He was a truly great man. I mean, best of all, Joseph is also a remarkable, powerful picture of Jesus Christ. And we're going to see that in his story. And we already do. We see Joseph, destined for greatness, despised by his brother, sold with silver, put into prison, falsely accused. We could go on and on with how he is a picture of Jesus Christ. So here in prison, Jesus brings the increase again. And the chief of the prisoners makes Joseph a keeper of the prisoners. And he puts him in charge of the prisoners, their well being. And he somehow takes care of them throughout the day. And we see two prisoners come to Joseph, who the Egyptians called the Revealer of Secrets in their language. I couldn't quite say it in their language. So I avoided that. But one of the things they called him was the Revealer of Secrets. So the Pharaoh's cup bearer and chief baker were both in prison. And they both had dreams. And Joseph told them the interpretation of both of them. For the cup bearer, the cup bearer in three days was going to be returned to Pharaoh's side, and everything was going to be okay. And Joseph told him, please remember me when you're with Pharaoh. The chief baker, though, in three days, he was going to hang and the birds will eat his flesh. And both of those things happened. And the chief cup bearer was restored to his office. And he put the cup into Pharaoh's hand. But the chief baker was hanged, just as Joseph had interpreted. Yet the chief cup bearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. He went on his merry way, super excited to be back in the good graces of the Pharaoh and forgot about him. And I think that's a key point for us. God had a different plan. We often might see a human to be a deliverer. But God is always the deliverer. He might use a human, he might not. Punch it out there, Joseph. But if God wanted to use the cup bearer, he would have. But no, Joseph is in prison for two more years. And who knows why? Probably for the protection of the entire nation of Israel at this point, because this is what this is about. The entire nation. So two years later, Pharaoh has a dream and the cup bearer wakes up to the fact, Joseph, who's in prison, is a revealer of dreams. So Joseph is brought out of the dungeon. And I love these little parts, guys. Maybe it doesn't interest you. But there's no little detail that doesn't give us an indication of God's perfect hand. So they rushed to get him. And the Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph and they hurriedly, in a hurry, brought him out of the dungeon. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh. So apparently, Joseph made sure he got cleaned up. And if he was going to interpret the Pharaoh's dreams, can you imagine what he looked like? He's been in prison for years. His beard is probably so long. His hair is all bedraggled. I mean, he couldn't have lice, right? His outfit was probably gross. So he got changed up. And guys, this might be a huge key point to Pharaoh taking him seriously. Nothing in the word does not point to something big. So Pharaoh gives him his dream. He talks about seeing the Nile, seven fat cows come out of the Nile, and then seven skinny cows come after them and eat the fat cows. Then there's seven big, chunky ears of corn that come out of the Nile and then seven withery pieces of corn eat the big pieces of corn. So Joseph, even before Pharaoh told him these dreams, he said, Pharaoh, it is not in me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer. I mean, that's huge. It's always huge for us guys to realize, guys, don't look at me when I use my gift. Look at the glory of God. This has nothing to do with me. God has given me this gift, this voice, this word, these dollars, whatever it is, this time, these homemade cookies. But look at God, right? Look at God. Okay, so Joseph, it seems almost immediately he's got the answer. And he says to Pharaoh in verse 28 of chapter 41, Wow. So there is a huge thing going on here. We're going to have all these abundant years. But after that is all this famine. So Joseph, in his wisdom, tells Pharaoh in verse 34, Wow. So Pharaoh ends up choosing Joseph to be second in command and be over this whole project. Okay, he was in prison this morning. And now, guess what he will be granted? The royal robe. A similar robe that his father gave to him when he was 17. Okay, you can't make this up, you guys. His name is Increase. His name is Increase. So what did he do? Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand, clothed him in the garments of fine linen, and put a gold necklace around his neck. He had him ride in his second chariot. And they proclaimed before him, bow the knee. And he set him over all the land of Egypt. Are we remembering the dreams he had about people bowing before him? So, in verse 49, this is how much grain Joseph got. It says, Thus, Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he had stopped measuring it, for it was beyond measure. All that grain. All that grain. What is God behind here? What is going on? I want to say something a lot of you probably know. It is rumored, some say proven, some say very solid proof, that the pyramids in Egypt were used for Joseph's grain. Whether they were built for his grain, or whether they were used for his grain, there is grain, old grain, in the pyramids, deep down. So that's always cool when things we see, which, yeah, this is real history, we should see something that matches the story. But it's always cool. It's always cool. So I'm not sure if you knew that, but that's kind of a big deal. All right. We have Joseph now in Egypt, and he gets married, and he gets married to the daughter of a Potiphar priest. So an Egyptian woman, and they have two sons. And I just get into this stuff. So what does Joseph, who has been under this huge trial, who's probably very lonesome for home, what does he name his first son? He names him Manasseh. It is the word for forgot. Forgot. And it says here in verse 41, God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household. Manasseh was this balm, this little bit of payback of family. Family, a blood relative he could hold in his arms, and an extension of God's promise of these generations that are to come through the life of Abraham. And then his second son, Ephraim. And this is the word fruitful. And what does he say? God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. And then he says, God has made me fruitful in the land of my sin. That is just, that is just super cool. It just puts a bow on stuff for me. So when I see on Instagram, these fluffy statements about God will repay all your trials, that is not true. When God has given a soothing balm to his life, as a moment of reflection, as like a grounding piece, and some of his sorrow and grief, this doesn't replace the almost 20 years he was not with his father. So these fluffy statements on Instagram, I can't imagine someone who's been child trafficked. There's people I follow that were in the witchcraft world that were raised in satanic homes that were used in child porn for years. No, that doesn't get repaid. Those trials, those traumas, they put someone in a place, yes, where we have to hold on to Jesus and lean into him for every breath some days. They bring incredible faith and fruit. But what was stolen, it's not brought back. You can't just replace what is taken. But God gives in a million other ways, increase, increase. Look at Joseph with these two healthy sons. Now these sons, guys, this is what's cool. These sons end up getting named in the 12 tribes. In my next podcast, we're going to do some itty bitty on Jacob. And we're going to bring it to the place where he blesses each tribe. So Joseph is passed over and his sons divide Joseph's blessing. So this inclusion of Joseph's sons, not anybody else's, is also this crazy increase God brings because of the suffering Joseph had to go through. So yes, we get bonuses for suffering. But it is not dollar for dollar repayment. And we need to give trauma people time and love and gentle care through their recovery, so to speak. So that's a little soapbox item for me. Okay, so now what's going on back in Canaan? Israel or Jacob and company, they're starting to feel the famine. So Jacob is going to send some of these brothers to Egypt, and he wants them to go and ask for food. Now we're going to talk about the brothers here. Okay, so in chapter 42, we see Jacob realizing that Egypt has food. And he says to his sons, why are you guys staring at one another? And a lot of scholars feel like they were sheepish because they remembered what they did to Joseph. And they've been waiting for God's hand to come slamming down. And they deserve it, right? So they went, 10 of them to Egypt, and they did not take Benjamin because Jacob could not handle any harm coming to the other child of Rachel. Rachel had passed by now. So when Joseph sees his brothers, they do not recognize him. But the first time they see him, you guys, they bow down to him with their faces to the ground. They were so desperate for food. And I think, edgy. They were on edge. They felt guilty. And they told him, you know, we've come from Canaan. And Joseph's like, there's no way. There's no way you've come from Canaan. And they said, yes, we did. And he says, no, you're spies, for sure you're spies. Come from one man from Canaan. We are all brothers. We are all brothers. We have one brother at home and one that has passed away. But they don't recognize Joseph. And Joseph, you can tell, is a little peeved at them. And he is going to test them a bit. Now, why don't they recognize Joseph? Because I would recognize my brother anywhere, anywhere. Now, yes, they have not seen him for quite some time. But also, these Egyptian leaders, these in major pharaohs, major inner circle, they wore eyeliner and touch up paint on their face. And that can really change somebody. Also, they wore headdresses where they might not have been able to see his hair. So they wouldn't have probably recognized him. He could have also had a little bit of an accent by now, being he was speaking Sanskrit or what other language they had there in Egypt at the time, Aramaic. And here we are. So Joseph keeps one brother, Simeon, and he sends the other brothers away. When he makes this announcement, these brothers start speaking in Hebrew. In chapter 42, verse 21, they say to one another, truly, we are guilty concerning our brother, they're talking about Joseph, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us. Yet we would not listen. Therefore, this distress has come upon us. And Reuben answers and says, did I not tell you, do not sin against that boy, and you would not listen. Now comes the reckoning for his blood. They did not know that Joseph understood their language and Joseph, he had to turn away and weep. That is a crazy scene. Oh my gosh, my heart. They're brothers. Wow. So Joseph sends them away and he asks the servants, give them a lot of grain, but put their money back in their sacks. As they go down the road, they see they have the money too. And they freak out. But we have to remember his name, Increase. He was giving them grain and money. They were showing a very guilty conscience. So they needed to bring Benjamin back in order to get Simeon and Jacob was not happy about this. So he wasn't going to allow it. So it takes some time before they come back and they bring Benjamin. And can you imagine how fun it was for Joseph to see him? Benjamin came. I just love it. So when Joseph saw Benjamin in chapter 43, he said to his house steward, bring the men into the house and slay an animal and make ready for the men are to dine with me at noon. And I have to tell you guys, this is pretty cool situation. So in Egypt, the Egyptians did not eat with anyone else. The Egyptians thought they were all that in a bag of chips. And they were the pure brads. And they were grossed out about the Hittites. So the Hittites and the Egyptians were the two big groups in Egypt. They couldn't stand each other. They didn't intermarry. And they didn't eat from each other's dishes, nor at the same table. So because Joseph wasn't Egyptian, he could have eaten with his wife and kids. But anywhere else he went, he wouldn't have eaten at the same table as the Egyptians. So in this setting, it's kind of interesting. They set the table for his brothers in birth order, which should have been a major hint. And then they had to set a table for Joseph in a separate place. And then if there was Egyptian servants there, they were yet at a different table. So I thought that was kind of cool. And it was kind of weird too, that they were all in these different tables. And it says in verse 32, so they served Joseph by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is loathsome to the Egyptians. And I want to point out something super duper cool here. What is God doing? What is the master plan? God is not just trying to save the Israelites from dying of famine. He is also bringing them to a land where they will not intermarry. Okay, do a dance around your house. If you're running, do the hurdles. This is huge, guys. This is huge. Do you remember his promise to Abraham? I'm going to make you a father of nations. If he brought these Israelites to Goshen here in Egypt to live, and they began to intermarry with everybody else, his whole plan would have gone to nothing. But he brought them to a land that was so arrogant. The Egyptians couldn't stand the Hittites. And both of them couldn't stand the Israelites. They thought they were gross. They were so beneath them. They were shepherds. They were dirty. They were gross. And this is a good thing. Because the Israelites are going to go from 70 people, it has taken 200 years to get 70 Israelites. And in the next 400 years, they are going to grow to 2 million before Moses comes. Okay, this has always baffled me. So you guys don't know me. But my husband comes from a family of 14. And his mother came from a family of 14. And all of her siblings had large families. And all of Mark's siblings have large families. So Mark's grandfather, Charlie, he would be about 120 years old. At 120, Charlie, who only had one brother, has over 9000 descendants in 120 years. I know that that is way more than the average family in America. But I want to point this out. Because how are the Israelites only at 70 in 200 years? And the only thing I can come up with, and I think this is true, the very thing God promises to do will be something that appears like only He is doing. I don't know if I can say that in the right way. But what I mean is every single male born in these patriarchs stories is a major celebration. It isn't like boys come easy. It isn't like we all have 16, 18 boys. One of my husband's cousins family has 18 boys. And it's possible, right? And it's not like this is happening. And Jacob has four wives. And he had 12 sons. So I believe a promise that God puts into your life. I believe this is biblical. You will not only be promised that, but there will be some waiting and some suffering within that so that you will see God move. And God will always get the glory. The glory will stay with God. So that's what I see here. Okay, so I'm kind of going to rush through a little bit here, and I don't mean to. But when Joseph finally believes that my brothers, they are good people, and he decides, his heart goes out to them and he decides to announce who he is. He starts to weep. He weeps and weeps. In chapter 45, then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him and he cried, have everyone go out from me. So there was no man with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. He wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it and the household of Pharaoh heard of it. Then Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph. Is my father still alive? That's his first question. He loved his dad. But his brothers could not answer him because they were just amazed at his presence. Okay, I absolutely love what the Jewish people say about this moment. It's so funny to me. So there's a Jewish legend, and it's only a legend. It says the brothers were so shocked that their souls left their body. And it was only by a miracle of God, their souls came back. That's what it says. And it's just incredible. So Joseph goes on to assure his brothers that God had sent him to Egypt to preserve the life of the Israelites. That's so cool. And he goes on to say that you shall live in Goshen, you shall be near me. He brings complete forgiveness. And he says, tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt. He basically was sending his dad a message, I am okay. I survived this trauma and affliction. I can still weep sometimes. But I am okay. And my family is returning to me. And now I see what God meant in this. And I think that is such cool reflection that we get to have in hindsight. Joseph is seeing every single increase that God was going to do. Ah, so cool. So now they're going to move to Egypt. And here we sit. In the next teaching, we are going to go into, like I said, the blessings and what goes on in Egypt. But I want to just thank you so much for joining me on these teaching of Joseph, whose name is increase, who represents Jesus Christ in 1000 different ways, and brings just this blessed, blessed story so that we can see God working behind the scenes, even when things look so miserable. And look at the end of this. Look at the obedience of Joseph and what it brought to the Israelites. Now Joseph believes so much in the coming generations that are going to come from these 12 tribes. He believes that they're going to go to the land that God has set apart for them. So much that when he dies, he keeps his bones buried above the ground, under dirt and rock. And they sit there for almost 400 years. As a sign to the Israelites of faith in abundance. Joseph wanted his bones brought to the promised land. He wanted his bones carried to the promised land. Doesn't that make you emotional? It just, it's so beautiful. It's so beautiful. So that's where we're going to start in our next teaching. We're almost done with Genesis. Like I said, I want to get a sticker made and I'm going to send it to you guys in the mail. If you go through Genesis with me, because it really, really, really encourages me. This is what it's all about. I'm spending hours and days doing this. It is a work of love. If even one mom gains the answers for her children in high school and college, if even one person understands the uniqueness of God's love and realizes that the new covenant roots are right here, and that their salvation is secure in the person of Jesus Christ, it is worth it. It is worth it to me. So I love you guys. Let's, as a group, keep our chin up and let's gather together again for lesson number 13. Ta-ta for now.