Lessons From Joseph

Joseph's story from the Bible is being discussed and related to lessons that can be learned from it. Joseph was the youngest of his siblings and his father's favorite, which caused jealousy among his brothers. He had dreams that showed his superiority over his brothers, which made them hate him even more. His brothers plotted to kill him, but one of them, Reuben, convinced them to instead throw him into a pit. Joseph was eventually sold into slavery and taken to Egypt. However, he remained faithful to God and used the skills he had learned from his father to succeed in his new life. He was wrongly accused of a crime and thrown into prison. But even there, he continued to trust in God and was eventually summoned by Pharaoh to interpret his dreams. Joseph predicted a coming famine and was put in charge of Egypt's food supply. When his brothers came to Egypt looking for food, Joseph recognized them, but they did not recognize him. He tested them before revealing his true identity. Greetings brethren, and happy Sabbath to all those in the United States and in the United Kingdom, and for those of us down under, good evening. It is very significant that the coronation is on today, and it just coincided with the subject that I have, because, well, Joseph is one of the most popular stories in the Bible, in the Old Testament, the most well known. As children, many of us would have been familiar with the story of Joseph and how it all panned out. So the purpose that I have in this message is to relate to you some of the lessons that Joseph learnt, and relate it to us, so that we can learn from it ourselves in our growth and what's in store for us in the future. Most of the Scriptures are going to be in Genesis, in this case, so we start off in Genesis 37, starting with verse 2. And Joseph, to start off with, he was the youngest of the first eleven children. Now, because there were four women involved, there wasn't a great age difference between them, but Joseph was the youngest of them, and he was the only one born from Rachel, who was the wife that Jacob loved the most. So it was a rather dysfunctional family, and there was the danger of favouritism being involved. So we just begin here with verse 2. This is the account of the family of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, came tending the flock with his brothers. He was a youth with the sons of Bilhar, and with the sons of Dilpar, his father's wives. And Joseph brought to his father an evil report of them. Okay, and Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was a son of his old age, and he made him a tunic, reaching to the soles of his feet. And there was a movie made of a coat of many colours. Just continuing on, and when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him. Jealousy was involved. And Joseph dreamed the dream, and told it to his brothers, and they hated him still more. And he said to them, I pray you, hear this dream which I have dreamed. For behold, there were binding sheaves in the middle of the field, and lo, my sheaves arose and stood upright, and behold, your sheaves stood around and bowed down to my sheaves. And his brothers said to him, shall you indeed reign over us, or shall you have the rule over us? And they hated him still more for his dreams than for his words. So Joseph Bilhar, he wasn't perfect, and the impression was that at this stage, he had the feeling of superiority over his brothers. He said, oh, I had this dream, and they're bowing down to me, so I'm going to rule over them, and therefore I must be better than them. So perhaps the vanity got to his head a bit. And discretion would have been far more appropriate if he only told the dream to Jacob, his father. Rather than his brothers, who had more fuel to the fire. Now in verse 9, he dreamed still another dream. He told it to his brothers. And he said, behold, I have dreamed another dream, and behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars bowed down to me. Well, imagine the reaction to this dream from his brothers. He told his father as well. But his father did review him. However, although his brothers were jealous of him, his father was mindful of the saying. In other words, he kept it in his mind. He said, oh, there must be some meaning here. And there's no doubt that Jacob spent far more time with Joseph than any of the other brothers. Why? Because, oh, he loved Jesus more than the others. And as a result of this, Jacob, Joseph, was his favourite son. Go to verse 14 now. There, Jacob said to Joseph, please go see whether he's well with your brothers and well with their flocks. They lose their flocks. To Shechem, bring me word again. And he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a certain man found him. And behold, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, say, what are you looking for? And he said, I'm seeking for my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks. And the man said, they are gone from here, for I heard them say, let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan. Now, two things. Why would they want to, why would they move their flocks from Shechem to Dothan? And we can think of reasons. They want to make sure that Joseph wouldn't find them. They don't want, they didn't want him spying on them. Another question is, who was the man who found him and knew that they were going to Dothan? Well, it's quite likely that it was an angel who gave him the directions to find his brothers. Or in verse 17, Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan. Okay, in verse 18, they saw him at Baralt, even before he came near them. They conspired against him to kill him. And they said to one another, behold, this dreamer comes. Therefore, come down, let us kill him and throw him in some pit, and we will say some evil pieces about him, and we will see what will become of this dream. And Reuben heard, and he delivered him out of the hand and said, let us not kill him. So, at least Reuben had some, he had good intentions here. And they didn't all want him dead. Continuing on, Reuben said to them, shed no blood, throw him out of this pit in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him, in order to rescue him out of his hands and deliver him to his father again. So, it came to pass that Joseph came to his brothers, and they stripped him of his tunic, the tunic reaching to the soles of his feet, and that was on him. Well, Joseph had no idea that there was this conspiracy against him. And they took him and threw him into a pit, and the pit was empty with no water in it. Well, the pit couldn't have been too deep to have hurt him too badly. However, it was too deep for him to climb out of by himself. And they sat down to eat bread. Well, how long Joseph was in the pit, we don't know. Obviously, all the brothers would have talked about it among themselves, saying, what are we going to do with him? No, Reuben was not there. And they lifted their eyes and looked, and behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, on their camels, bearing spices and balm and myrrh, to take them down to Egypt. And Judah said to his brothers, what profit is it that we should kill our brother and hide his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brothers hearkened. Oh, how's that for brotherly love? Don't kill him, just sell him. Just sell him and sell him into slavery. That all solved the problem. When the Ishmaelite traders passed by, and they threw up Joseph and took him out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver, and they brought Joseph into Egypt. And Reuben returned to the pit. So it was too late. And by the time Reuben came back, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit. And he tore his clothes. And Reuben, in despair, he returned to his brothers and said, the boy, he is not there. And I, where, where shall I go? So, one sin leads to another, as we will see. They took Joseph's chenic and killed a kid of Reuben, and sold him to the Ishmaelites. And killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the chenic in the blood. They took the chenic, reaching to the soles of his feet, and they brought it to their father. And they said, we have found this. Do you know whether it is your son's, or it is not? Not our brother's, but your son's? And he knew it. So, by this time, Reuben, Reuben is in on the calvary. And he knew it, and said, it is my son's chenic. An evil beast has eaten him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces. And Jacob tore his clothes, and put satin on his lines, and mourned for his son. Then he died. And all his sons and his daughters rose up to comfort him. But he was curious to be comforted. And he said, for I will go down into the grave, into my son mourning. And his father wept for him. So, they underestimated, they underestimated the extent, the input on how much, how much this would damage Jacob and his feelings towards Joseph. The complete, they totally underestimated it in the short term. And in the long term, as Joseph, or Jacob, mourned Joseph for years. And the Midianites sold him into Egypt, to Qaraqa, an official of Bararu, the king of the executioners. Well, as bad as the situation was, it was a forerunner of what was going to happen to Joseph in the future. Now go to, and this is 39. 39 in verse 2. This is under Qaraqa. And the Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man. He was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. So, Joseph was applying the skills that Jacob had taught him growing up. His master saw that the Lord was with him, and the Lord made him, made all that he did prosper in his hands. And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him, and made him overseer over his house, and he put him in charge of all that he had. And Joseph, oh God, this time he had learned some lessons. We just want to go to Proverbs here. Yeah. Proverbs back, chapter 3. I'll just read, this is 11, 13. My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be weary of his correction. For whom the Lord loves, he corrects, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights. Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gets understanding. Now Joseph had learned some lessons, even in spite of the fact that he was in slavery. He was applying these lessons that he was learning from his father, and applying them in this situation. In verse 5, it came to pass from the time that he made him overseer in his house, over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake. The blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the land, in the house, and in the field. And go back to Proverbs 11, verse 25, I wanted to get to that scripture as well. The soul who gets generously shall be made prosperous, and he who waters shall also be shall be made prosperous, and he who waters shall also be watered himself. So this was certainly applying to Joseph in the way that he was developing his skills. And we're going to, in also Ephesians 2, verse 10, Ephesians 2, in verse 10 it says, we are his workmanship, being created in Christ Jesus under the good works that God ordained beforehand in order that we might walk in them. And the whole earth is going to be blessed by Jesus Christ. But the time came for Joseph to be tested. It's 39, verse 7. And after these things it came to pass that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and she said, lie with me. But he refused and said to his master's wife, behold, my master does not know what is in the house with me, and he has given me all that he has into my hand. There is none greater in this house than I. Neither has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How can, how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? Well, he certainly passed this first test with lying colours. But God of his wife was persistent, and she spoke to Joseph day after day, and he did not listen to her to lie with her or to be with her. And it came to pass on a certain day that he came into the house to do his work. None of the men of the house were inside, and she caught him by his robe saying, lie with me. And he left his robe in her hand and fled and got out of the house. Well, he did the right thing there, and it says, 1 Corinthians 6, verse 18, complete sexual immorality. So he did what was right. We go to verse 15, and when he heard, okay, 14, verse 14, she called to the men of her house and spoke to them saying, see, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice. And when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried aloud, he lifted, he left his robe with me and fled and got out. Who do you think what I was going to believe? A Hebrew slave or his wife? And yet, Potiphar knew Joseph's character because he entrusted him with all the things in his house except for his wife. But a charge of fornication would have brought death. But in this case, it wasn't death. In verse 20, Joseph's master took him and put him in the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound. And he was there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor inside of the king's prison. But when you're in this situation, when you're doing everything right, you will be accused of fornication, put in prison. The temptation then to throw in the towel. You would think, oh, I'm doing everything right here. I've done the right thing, and they're accusing me of doing this. What's the use? What's the use of doing the right thing? But Joseph didn't give in. And he, as it said in verse 21, gave him favor inside the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison gave all the prisoners in the prison to Joseph's hand. And whatever they did there was his doing. The keeper of the prison did not concern himself with anything under his hand, because the Lord was with Joseph. And whatever he did, the Lord made it possible. And in Ecclesiastes 9 verse 10, it says, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. And the account in chapter 40, the account in chapter 40, is where we had dreams by two of the prisoners. One, the king's top bearer, and the other one was the king's baker. And Joseph asked them, of the dreams? So in verse 8, he said to them, they said to him, we have dreamed a dream and there is no interpretation of it. Joseph said to them, do not interpretations belong to God, now tell it to me. So he had to hear the faith in God, and God was going to work this out. In verse 14, when they had told him their dream, it was going to be in the top bearer's favor. But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this place. So Joseph was planting a seed here, trying to get him out of prison. However, one lesson is here, a lesson for all of us, is that God does things in his time, in his time, for we want it to be done. Joseph wanted to be out of prison there and then. But, as we'll see, he had to wait another two years. And that was when Pharaoh had his dream. So in chapter 41, and we'll pick it up in verse 14. Okay, Pharaoh had these two dreams and he tried to have them interpreted by all the wise men up there, the magicians. However, nobody was able to do that. It was then that the top bearer remembered Joseph, and Joseph interpreted his dream. And that's when we go to verse 14. Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they hurried him out of the dungeon. He shaved and changed his clothing and came into Pharaoh. So when you're coming against the most powerful ruler in the land, and possibly the world at the time, it had to look presentable. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have dreamed a dream. None can interpret it. And I've heard said about you, that you can understand a dream to interpret it. Well, you think you'll be overwhelmed when you're in, when you're confronted in front of the most powerful ruler of the land, and possibly the world. Well, perhaps Joseph had a background training through Omar Pogba, and also other charities that he's had even in the present. And Joseph answered Pharaoh and said, not I, but God shall give you an answer favourable to Pharaoh. So he looked to God to guide him in answering Pharaoh. Page was sent. We go to verse 28 here, where he interprets the dream. This is the thing which God has spoken to Pharaoh. What God is about to do, he has shown to Pharaoh. Behold, there are coming seven years of great plenties throughout the land of Egypt. And the plenty shall not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it shall be very dreamless. So how do politicians handle this? I think modern politicians today, they take credit for, oh, we've got the solution here, we've got the solution to this, and if you elect me, I will do this. And then when the seven years of plenty are over, resign, go on the pension, or let anybody else worry about the famine. Well, no, Joseph made the lesson here in verse 32. Since the dream was repeated to Pharaoh and given twice, it is because the matter is established by God and God will shortly bring it up. Now, therefore, let Pharaoh look for a man who is discreet and wise and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh act and let him appoint officers over the land and take up the pit, pole and trodges of the land of Egypt in the seven plenties here. Let them gather all the food of those good years that come and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh and let them keep food in the cities. That food shall be a store to the land against the seven years of famine. It shall be in the land of Egypt so that land does not perish throughout famine. So Joseph offers solutions here, but he does not promote himself. And verse 37, the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh. So none of his people did he send. So it was good in the eyes of Pharaoh in the eyes of his servants. And then Pharaoh appointed Joseph. Verse 39, Pharaoh said to Joseph, since God has shown you all this, no one is as discreet and wise as you. You shall be over my house and all my people shall obey your word. Only in the throne will I be greater than you. Pharaoh said to Joseph, see I have set you over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, put it upon Joseph's hand and pressed him with fine linen robes and put a gold chain around his neck. And Pharaoh in verse 44, Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh and without a word from you, no man shall lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Stephanapenaia. So in the margin it says, God speaks. He gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potipara, Isavon for his wife, and Joseph went over all the land of Egypt. So that was quite a change from being a slave in the prison to being governor of Egypt, second in charge over all the land of Egypt, the most powerful country on earth at the time. Now we come to chapter 42. Chapter 42. So the land had the seven years or maybe even more. Just think of the promotion. Just compare that with what we are in this world. The majority of us don't have any significance to this world at all. Not many wise men are called. We're either in the graves, we're resurrected. All we are is nothing on the earth. We're instant, instantaneous resurrection of spirit beings with awesome responsibility. And also the seven years are plenty, might be compared in some ways to millennium, where there's going to be righteous rule and there's going to be abundance. Something to think about there. In verse, in chapter 42, and we pick it up in verse 5. And when the famine came, it wasn't only in Egypt, it was over all the face of the earth, as it said in verse 15. Chapter 41. In chapter 42, verse 5. So we'll see that the famine had reached the land of Canaan. The sons of Israel came to buy on those that came. For the famine was also in the land of Canaan. And Joseph was potentate over the land. He was the one selling to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves down before him with their faces to the earth. And Joseph saw his brothers and he knew them. Well, perhaps if he was carnal, he may have thought, this is my chance. He may have come out, remember me? I'm the one you sold into slavery. But now the ball's in the other court. You are going to be my slaves. No, he didn't do that because Joseph knew that God had a purpose. He didn't exactly know what purpose was at the time, but it was being worked out. But he remained a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them and said to them, where do you come from? So he didn't reveal himself. And they didn't recognise him because it's been 20 years since they last saw him. And they said on the land of Canaan to buy food. Joseph knew his brothers, but they did not know him. And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them and said to them, you are spies. You have come to see the nakedness on the land. And they said to him, no, my Lord, your servants have come to buy food. We are all one man's son. We are honest men. Honest men. Your servants are not spies. Well, how honest were they? They had a history of sin, of their sins. And some of them were murdered. And it was a sin to sell them into slavery in any case. So they were not as honest as they said. Let me, um, place here, verse 9. And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamt of them and said to them, you are spies. You have come to see the nakedness on the land. And they said to him, no, my Lord, your servants have come to buy food. And he said to them, you are spies. You have come to see the nakedness on the land. And they said to him, no, my Lord, your servants have come to buy food. We are all one man's sons. We are honest men. Your servants are not. In verse 13 they said, your servants are 12 brothers, whose son formed one man in the land Canaan. And behold, the youngest is this day without father and one is no more. And Joseph said to them, it is as I spoke to you saying you are spies. By this you shall be proved as Pharaoh lives on. You shall not go forth from here unless your youngest brother comes here. In verse 18, Joseph said to them the third day, do this and live and fear, sorry, do this and live for I fear God. If you are honest, that when your brothers be found in your prison house, you go carry grain to the famine of your house. Bring your youngest brother to me. Let your words be confirmed. He proved true this and you shall not die. And they did so. They confirmed all themselves. There were three days in the prison. They said to one another, we are only, we are truly guilty concerning our brother. Talking about Joseph, in that they saw the anguish of his soul. Then he begged us and we would not hear. Therefore, this distress has come upon us. So they were, their minds were not so far removed. And they remembered what they did to Joseph. And Reuben answered them saying, did I not speak to you saying, do not sin again for years? And you would not listen. Therefore, behold, his blood is required in our hands. And in verse 23, they did not know that Joseph could understand them or the interpreter years between them. And he turned from them and wept. He returned to them again and taught them. So the emotions were very high here. Joseph, he had to control his emotions. The best of, because he wanted to know whether they had changed three years ago when they sold him into slavery. So he couldn't reveal himself. He couldn't open himself out at this stage. He took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. Well, why Simeon? Because he was the most bloodthirsty? And it was quite likely, just remember Simeon and Levi, it's Shechem. Yes, the slaughter they did there. And also, it may well have been Simeon that made the suggestion to kill Joseph. Don't bring him in the pit and put him in the slavery. In verse 25, and Joseph commanded the sacks to be filled with grain and return their silver each to his sack to give them provision for the way. And so we did to them. They loaded their dolphins with grain and parted from there. And we come to verse 28 when they discovered the silver. And he said to his brothers, My silver has been put back here in my sack. And their heart sank. And they each were afraid, saying to one another, What is this? God has done to us. And so they went back to Lancanum. And they relayed the story to Jacob, his father. And this is the result of what Jacob or how Jacob responded in verse 36. Jacob their father said to them, You have bereaved me. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more. And you will take Benjamin. All these things are against me. And Reuben spoke to his father saying, Kill my two sons if I do not bring him to you. Deliver him into my hand and I will bring him to you again. So there were fruits of repentance here. Jacob would not relent. He did not want Simeon to be taken down to Egypt. Then we come to the next chapter, 43. In verse 8. This is when the famine was still in its early stages. And they were running out of food again. They had to go down to Egypt again. And Judah said to Israel, his father, Send the boy with me and we will arise and go so that we may live and not die. Both we and you and also our little ones. I will be surety for him. You will require him of my hand. If I do not bring him to you and set him before you, I shall be a sinner against you all the days. Judah is taking responsibility here. And Judah had his own trials in chapter 38. And had two of his own sons killed. In verse 16. So all back they went. Jacob finally agreed Judah to be responsible for Benjamin. And allow them to go back to Egypt to purchase more grain. So verse 16. When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring the men into the house and slaughter an animal and make ready. The men shall dine with me at noon. And the men did as Joseph said. The man brought the men into Joseph's house. And the men were afraid, all afraid of this, because they were brought into Joseph's house. And they said, because of the silver that was returned in our sacks at the first time, fear brought in that he may seek something against us and fall upon us and take us to slaves. And we go down to verse 24. And the men were brought in, brought the men into Joseph's house and gave them water and washed their feet and gave water to their gold sheets. And they made ready the presents for the coming of Joseph at noon. And they heard that they should be there. But they had to make themselves presentable because they were going to be guiding for the governor of the land. And when Joseph came home in verse 26, they brought him the presents in their hands into the house and bowed themselves to the earth. And he asked them to their welfare and said, is your father well? The old man of whom is, if he's still alive, will obviously Joseph good take us again. And they answered, well, sir, our father is in good health. He is still alive. And they bowed down their heads, fell before him, lifted his eyes and saw his brother, Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, is this your younger brother of whom you respect me? He said, I bless you, my son. Joseph made haste for his heart yearned for his brother. He saw a place to weep. He entered into his room with tears. So this was very emotional, very emotional for Joseph to repeat control. And it does remind me of scripture in 2nd Timothy, 2nd Timothy, where it says, For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of might and of sound-mindedness. And Joseph's in his own spirit, and of sound-mindedness. And Joseph's in this scenario, in this situation, where he saw Benjamin for the first time in over 20 years, had to control himself with his sound mind. In verse 31 of verses 43, he washed his face and went out and controlled himself and said, served the food. Verse 33, And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth. And the men marveled at one another. So here we are in a completely unknown country, for the governor of the land. They were seated there in chronologic war. And here they were, before the governor of the land, one, having a delicious fine meal. But their trials were to begin, or their big test was to begin. Come, we go to the next chapter. Chapter 44, where Joseph had everyone's sack, with silver put into every wool sack, with a silver cup put into each of the sacks. This was going to be the trial, the wool trial. In chapter 44, verse 15, when they were brought back by the steward of Joseph's house. And Joseph said to them, what deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that one like me can certainly divine? And Judah said, what shall we say to my Lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your slaves, because we are my Lord's servants. Both we and he also with whom the cup is found. So Judah at this stage realised that there was no way out, no way out of this. And he, Joseph said, but be it for me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my slave. As for you, you go in peace to your father. Well, this is the test here. Joseph is waiting for what response is going to be. And here we have the, from verse 18, we have the intercession from Judah. One of the most heartfelt intercessions that you can imagine. And Judah realised that because there was no way out, he had to come all out, this intercession, and lay his own life on the line, really. And he said, we come to verse 33. From here, from verse 18, right to the end of the chapter. In verse 33, he says, and now please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a slave to my Lord, and let the boy go up to his brothers. He told him this whole scenario that his father, Jacob, will not survive the ordeal of Benjamin not being brought back. In verse 34, he says, how shall I go up to my father, and the boy is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that will befall my father? Well, this was the moment Joseph was waiting for. And as a result of this, he couldn't control his emotions anymore. He caused everybody to go out, caused everybody to leave the room, and left himself there with his brothers. In verse 3, Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph. Is my father still alive? His brothers could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence. They were terrified because of the history of 20 years before. But Joseph said to his brothers, please come near me. They came near, and he said, I am Joseph your brother whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. These two years of famine have been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be no ploughing or hut. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. Well, this is a type, this is a physical salvation. And also it's there in all surrounding districts. And perhaps when they look at this as a type of, a type of spiritual salvation. Jesus Christ, by his death, the shedding of his blood, was a spiritual salvation for the whole world. Okay, and also the other thing to think about is, the boy already mentioned this, the seven years, seven years of plenty were a type of medium. The first age, and now you did not send me here but God, and he made me a father pharaoh, and lord over all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, that says your son Joseph, what has made me lord of all Egypt? Come down to me and do not wait. And you shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your sons, and your sons' sons, and your flocks, and your herd, and all that you have. I will nourish you there, for there are still five years of famine, and that's you and your household, and all that you have come to be. So can you imagine the room? Imagine the family reunion at that time. Imagine the emotions. And please think of this in our own lives. Think of this in our own lives, with loved ones, with family and loved ones, that obviously have done wrong to us, but there will be a reunion. There will be a reunion. Well, I remember saying to my own mother once, a few months before she died, she had a Protestant background, so she had no real understanding, but it gave a culprit, and I said that when she wakes up, she wakes up from death, she will be in the greatest family reunion she will ever experience. Now, in Genesis 46, an angel, Jacob is spoken to in a dream, encouraging him to go into Egypt. The three said, I am the God, father of your father, God of your fathers. Do not fear to go down into Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation. I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will surely bring you up again, and Joseph himself shall put his hand over your eyes. And Jacob was actually in Egypt for 17 years, and incidentally, Joseph was 17 years old when he was taken from Jacob down into Egypt. And since Joseph was born in born in Iran, the land of Iran, he was only a few years in Canaan. You see, verse 40, chapter 40, chapter 48, was when Jacob sees Joseph's sons Ephraim and Manasseh, promises, and chapter 49, is when Jacob gave promises to his own son. But we pick up on, in chapter 50, verse 15, and this was after 17 years, 17 years after the reconciliation, when Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they saw that Jacob died. They said, Joseph will perhaps hate us, and will certainly repay us all the evil which we did to him. In verse 18, his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, Behold, we are your servants. And Joseph said to them, Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? And as for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it to pass, as it is this day, to save a great many people alive. And now do not fear, I will nourish you, and your little ones, any comfort of them, in the depths of your hearts. Well, Joseph lived to the age of 110, and he died. Now, to put this last scripture up to, late to Psalm 103 verse 12, where it says, As far as the east is from the west, so far has he revered our transgression with promise. Well, Joseph, once the reconciliation was made, Joseph had no grudge against his brothers. And he exercised humility. Once he became governor of Egypt, he never changed from the humility that he had, and he showed grace, mercy, and love towards his brothers. And that is the same principle with us in the church, our conversion, with our own relatives, loved ones, friends, family. In the second resurrection, you're going to have to be very merciful to them, but it's going to be easier for us, because we'll be spirit beings. Whereas Joseph, well, he had to fight against, fight against the potential carnality. See, now Joseph is, it's in the faith chapter in Hebrews 11. Joseph remained faithful to the end, in the end of his life. And he's listed in the Hebrews 11 faith chapter. In verse 22, there it says, By faith, Joseph, when he was dying, spoke of the coming exodus of the children of Israel, and gave a command concerning his bones. And we knew that when the exodus was coming, bones would be carried out immediately in the land of Canaan. And also included in verse 39, that these all included Joseph. Though they had received a good report through faith, did not obtain, did not obtain the promise. So Joseph has not yet been resurrected. Because in verse 40, God had determined in advance to provide something superior for us, so that without us they would not be made perfect. Well, on the Sea of Glass, when we're resurrected, the day of Pentecost, we're resurrected under the Sea of Glass, we will have the opportunity to meet Joseph, and be able to relate more to the experiences that he had in Israel. And he was a great example to us. And it says in, sorry to think of the scripture in 1 Corinthians, Heberton 1 Corinthians, these are examples to us. Joseph was an example to us. We, I hope this has made encouraging for you all.