I’m so glad you’re here as we continue our series on Dreams this week. Last time we met, we studied the dreams of Joseph, the man God called to raise His son Jesus, along with Mary. Today, you and I are going to meet another Joseph. The One who was given the code of many colors, the one who lost and found his family. The one who God blessed in every circumstance that you can fathom. So, what do you say we get to know him.
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Transcription:
But he knows where I am going and when He tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.
We begin today with those powerful words from Job. In chapter 23 of his book in the Bible, he lived out that verse, and so did the man you and I get to meet on the Bible for Busy People today. I’m so glad you’re here as we continue our series on Dreams this week. Last time we met, we studied the dreams of Joseph, the man God called to raise His son Jesus, along with Mary. Today, you and I are going to meet another Joseph. The One who was given the code of many colors, the one who lost and found his family. The one who God blessed in every circumstance that you can fathom. So, what do you say? We get to know him. Join me in Genesis Chapter 37, beginning in verse two.
This is the account of Jacob’s family line. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”
His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind. That was a wise thing to do. For Jacob to keep that matter in mind because next time we meet, we’re going to find out that those dreams were prophetic. They would come true, but a whole bunch of time has to go by before Joseph understands that he was part of a bigger Plan that he could have ever imagined. Let me give you a little bit of the backstory before we cover our next dream today. In a fit of jealousy, Joseph’s brothers wound up selling him into slavery. The deception continued when they lied to their father telling Jacob that Joseph was killed by a wild animal. Can you imagine? Joseph became a slave in the house of Potiphar who was is captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. But if there’s good news, and there is in the midst of this story, we find it in Genesis 39:2.
The Lord was with Joseph…
Those words are so encouraging to me. He made him successful in that great house, and Potiphar made Joseph his personal servant. Things were going really well for Joseph until Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him and he refused. Joseph wound up being falsely accused and sent to prison, and yet in Genesis 39:23, again, we learn the Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed. We’re going to pick up the story of Joseph now in Genesis chapter 40 verse one.
Sometime later,
So he’s been in prison for some time now.
Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer and chief baker offended their royal master. 2 Pharaoh became angry with these two officials, 3 and he put them in the prison where Joseph was, in the palace of the captain of the guard. 4 They remained in prison for quite some time, and the captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, who looked after them.
By the way, you’re going to find out this is not a coincidence.
While they were in prison, Pharaoh’s cup-bearer and baker each had a dream one night, and each dream had its own meaning. 6 When Joseph saw them the next morning, he noticed that they both looked upset. 7 “Why do you look so worried today?” he asked them.8 And they replied, “We both had dreams last night, but no one can tell us what they mean.” “Interpreting dreams is God’s business,” Joseph replied. “Go ahead and tell me your dreams.” 9 So the chief cup-bearer told Joseph his dream first. “In my dream,” he said, “I saw a grapevine in front of me. 10 The vine had three branches that began to bud and blossom, and soon it produced clusters of ripe grapes. 11 I was holding Pharaoh’s wine cup in my hand, so I took a cluster of grapes and squeezed the juice into the cup. Then I placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”12 “This is what the dream means,” Joseph said. “The three branches represent three days. 13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift you up and restore you to your position as his chief cup-bearer. 14 And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place. 15 For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.”16 When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given the first dream such a positive interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I had a dream, too. In my dream there were three baskets of white pastries stacked on my head. 17 The top basket contained all kinds of pastries for Pharaoh, but the birds came and ate them from the basket on my head.”18 “This is what the dream means,” Joseph told him. “The three baskets also represent three days. 19 Three days from now Pharaoh will lift you up and impale your body on a pole. Then birds will come and peck away at your flesh.”20 Pharaoh’s birthday came three days later, and he prepared a banquet for all his officials and staff. He summoned his chief cup-bearer and chief baker to join the other officials. 21 He then restored the chief cup-bearer to his former position, so he could again hand Pharaoh his cup. 22 But Pharaoh impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had predicted when he interpreted his dream. 23 Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought. bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph never giving him another thought.
Here’s the good news; our Lord did not forget about Joseph. Join me next time for the exciting conclusion to this incredibly beautiful Bible story. Till then, remember, you are loved.
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